"Pack insulin!" my husband exclaimed as we printed out five pages of New York City establishments that serve highly-rated hot chocolate. I found the list simultaneously exciting and daunting. "Rich, thick and 'a meal unto itself'" proclaimed a review of one Manhattan chocolate drink. "Sweet, smooth liquid" read another. I had not been to NYC since the emergence of my obsession for the perfect hot chocolate, so the prospect of finding my Holy Grail of an intensely rich, flavor-laden European-style beverage in a city renowned for the quality of, well, most everything was as exciting to me as revisiting the Museum of Modern Art or catching a show on Broadway.
Armed with lists, maps and friends' recommendations, Mark and I flew to the Big Apple for a six-day mixture of work, pleasure and a great cup or two of chocolate. The last of that list proved to be more challenging than we could ever have imagined.
Our first stop was City Bakery. Described on its website as "a one-of-a-kind destination on the food map of New York City" and its hot chocolate, according to New York Magazine, "perfection", City Bakery seemed highly promising. It even hosts its own hot annual chocolate festival!
From a long central island behind a curtain of homemade marshmallows strung with twine, young men and women adorned in white caps and aprons dished up monster muffins and cookies the size of saucers. Mark and I ordered a cornmeal ginger pear muffin and a classic dark hot chocolate. As I followed the server towards the rear of the counter, where the chocolate simmered in a large vat, I inquired about the quality of the beverage. "This is no Swiss Miss," the plump adolescent assured me. She did not, however, have any additional information to offer, such as how it was made or what kind of chocolate was used, so I accepted my large ceramic cup of chocolate--freshly frothed with the same type of device I used at home--and seated myself next to Mark at one of the tables that line the perimeter of the retro-looking room.
Mark and I stared down at the pale concoction. "Hmm, it certainly looks like Swiss Miss." The first sip revealed a beverage that was somewhat thicker than average hot cocoa and just as sweet. It was, in fact, like a good quality version of Swiss Miss. It tasted of milk chocolate, rather than dark, but with a slight bitter aftertaste. With great disappointment, Mark and I gave up after consuming only half the cup and then moved on to our next destination.
Jacques Torres--acclaimed French pastry chef, TV food show host and chocolate manufacturer. Surely a visit to his chocolate salon would yield a proper cup of chocolate. Peering through the brightly bedecked windows of his shop on Hudson Street, we watched women working up batches of confections behind shelves of whimsical chocolate sculptures. The interior surprised us with its colorful, kitschy decor--crystal chandeliers, strings of plastic beads, and tropical-colored fake flowers. After debating the menu selections at the chocolate bar, I opted for a Classic, while Mark ordered a Classic with Caramel and whipped cream.
The sullen young woman behind the counter steamed the milk and chocolate combos and poured our beverages into...paper cups! Paper cups. Seriously. I scanned the store and peeked behind the counter. No ceramic or glass in sight. It's understandable to serve hot chocolate in paper cups in "to go" establishments, such as at the Ferry Building in San Francisco. But this was the renowned Jacques Torres. This was a shop selling tins of hot chocolate mix for $18.
Chocolate is sensitive to extreme temperature changes and requires slow melting at a low temperature to prevent burning. Milk, if even slightly burned, acquires its own peculiar flavor. My first sip of Jacques Torres' chocolate burned my tongue, it was so hot. Both milk and chocolate had been scalded. In fact, a skin had formed on the surface of the drink. Returning to the counter with my over-heated hot chocolate, I explained to the now-glowering server that my beverage was scalded and I asked her to prepare a new cup for me. The second drink suffered only slightly less abuse under the steamer; another skin blanketed the top. As the chocolate cooled enough for me to sip it, I contemplated its watery texture and lack of aroma. Mark, meanwhile, found that the whipped cream and caramel sauce added enough texture and flavor to his chocolate to make it palatable, although I personally found it too sweet. We both agreed, however, that my "Classic" was undrinkable. After a few more sips, we left the full cup on the table and walked away disappointed yet again.
The petite, violet-walled boutique of Vosges Haut Chocolat in SoHo beckoned us next. Purple boxes and tins of chocolate and cocoa lined the white shelves along the walls. A crystal chandelier floated above the glass cases stuffed with truffles, and a window sign extolled Vosges's bacon chocolate. After ordering a $5 "flute" of the "Parisienne" hot chocolate, Mark and I sampled a couple of the wonderful confections offered up by the cheerful staff. The solid form of their cocoa bean products were delicious.
Our drink arrived in a tall, slim cylinder that seemed more appropriate to a laboratory than a chocolate shop. The clear glass vessel was too hot to hold anywhere but at the very top, and it was obvious that no dairy was used to make the drink. Although it had no weight to its consistency, the flavor was at least clean and it looked, tasted and smelled of chocolate. Mark was less charitable and deemed the drink "fancy cocoa" and simply watery. Once again, we left behind an unfinished glass of chocolate.
Three chocolate salons and four hot chocolates on our first day in Manhattan, and we ended the afternoon dissatisfied, as well as jittery from the abundance of chocolate. My optimism for finding a great cup of hot chocolate in New York had waned, but I still had hope--and at least three or four additional salons to visit. On to another day!
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In a rating of one to five cocoa beans, the hot chocolate we tasted at each of these three establishments garnered one cocoa bean from Mark and me.
The City Bakery
3 West 18th Street
New York, NY 10011-4610
(212) 366-1414
Hours: 7:30 AM - 7:00 PM
Jacques Torres
350 Hudson at King Street (1 block South of Houston)
New York, NY 10014
(212) 414-2462
Hours: Mon - Sat 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM; Sunday 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Vosges Haut Chocolat
132 Spring Street (between Greene & Wooster)
New York, NY 10012
(212) 625-2929
Hours: Daily 11:00 AM - 8:00 PM
