How can one resist a chocolate tour? Cho-co-late tour! I never understood people who do not like chocolate. I love it in all the possible ways: drink or food! So, we were thrilled when we found a coupon for $19 for a chocolate tour in the city.
The meeting point was Chelsea market at 11:45am for a 2 hour walking tour that started at 12pm.
Our first destination was Li Lac, one of the oldest chocolate stores in NYC, founded in 1923 and celebrating 90 years of existence. Our tour guide, Brandon, told us that, despite several changes in ownership, the recipe did not change, each owner passing to the next the method used.
Being few weeks away from Thanksgiving, they had some incredible displays of turkeys made of chocolate. And for the ladies, shoes (if Jodi would buy these, I would not mind...):
At Lilac, we got to try two samples:
Butter crunch chocolate
72% dark chocolate
Both were pretty good, but the butter crunch one was a nice discovery: crunchy, buttery with still the taste of chocolate. Too bad Jodi dropped some of hers on the floor...
The next stop was the original location of Magnolia Bakery:
This place became famous after being featured in Sex & The City when Miranda and Carrie sat there for a cupcake.
It is a small place and we got to try their chocolate cupcakes.
It was good, but the frosting was a little too sweet and it was a bit melted...
After that, we went to Milk & Cookies, that was the best part of the tour!
This small place smelled of chocolate and cookies all over!
They sell many items that I will for sure try the next time I go: Rice Krispy treats or whoopie pies are among them!
They also have cupcakes:
But it is their double chocolate chip cookie that we tasted:
It was a regular size cookie, served warm that oozed chocolate!
No complaints here! Who wants a double chocolate chip cookie where you can barely taste the chocolate? If you like this type of cookie, Milk & Cookies is for you!
After Milk & Cookies, we walked on Bleecker to Bisous Ciao:
This place specializes in macarons:
So we got to try their chocolate macaron:
I admit that it was a bit messy to eat as it had chocolate powder on top and we had no napkins. But we needed more than that to stop us!
The macarons were delicious: crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, with a wonderful almond taste. The chocolate ganache that was in the middle was very good.
Would I go back? Certainly! Especially now that I know that they have a roasted banana macaron!!!
The next stop was another fantastic discovery: Pasticceria Bruno.
This place is famous for its cannoli and they even won against Bobby Flay in a cannoli throw down.
This is the kind of place I love: tons of cakes and cookies, you do not know which one to eat...
But then I saw this:
That was torture...
So we sampled their cannoli:
They stuff the cannoli when you order, so it keeps them fresh and crispy. The filling was delicious and not too sweet. It was definitely better than the cannoli I ate at The Cake Boss.
So, stay there: I will come back for the Ferrero Rocher mousse!
At that point we thought the tour was over. But then we walked to Xocolatti:
This place does not look like an artisanal chocolate store, but more an elegant one, with its decor made with and for chocolate boxes.
They surely have interesting creations, such as the marzipan truffles:
Or the rose cardamon, sake, champagne, and many others...
We got to try their mango paprika slate:
It was made with white chocolate and you could definitely taste the mango or paprika. Original and good!
So, if you are looking for interesting creations, Xocolatti is the place to go.
And, again, when we thought we were finished, we ended up in another place. This time, it was the last one of the tour. It was called Vosges.
The owner called it Vosges because of the time she worked in Paris, place des Vosges. There, it is not Haute Couture, but Haut Chocolat!
The place was big, with high ceilings and walls covered in dark wood shelves full of products. It reminded me of an apothecary shop where the potions were made of chocolate.
And for sure they had weird creations, such as:
So the tour was interesting and yummy. However, most of the chocolatiers gave samples you would have if you were just showing up at their door. So, it was good that we only paid $19 per person for the tour, thanks to a coupon. More would not have been worth it.
Enjoy (I did)!
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The chocolate aroma when we entered in they place was fantastic! It is a tiny place with a nice motto:
There, we had a piece of Sea salt dark chocolate:
I really like any salty ingredient with chocolate, like sea salt or caramel sea salt: It kind of enhances the taste of the dark chocolate.
We had a peek at the store and they had some great creations such as the potato stix bar.
The fruit and nut bar:
Or the chocolate bar tea:
I would definitely go there to try these as well as their hot cocoa.
We had a peek at the store and they had some great creations such as the potato stix bar.
The fruit and nut bar:
Or the chocolate bar tea:
I would definitely go there to try these as well as their hot cocoa.
The next stop was the original location of Magnolia Bakery:
It is a small place and we got to try their chocolate cupcakes.
It was good, but the frosting was a little too sweet and it was a bit melted...
After that, we went to Milk & Cookies, that was the best part of the tour!
This small place smelled of chocolate and cookies all over!
They sell many items that I will for sure try the next time I go: Rice Krispy treats or whoopie pies are among them!
They also have cupcakes:
But it is their double chocolate chip cookie that we tasted:
It was a regular size cookie, served warm that oozed chocolate!
No complaints here! Who wants a double chocolate chip cookie where you can barely taste the chocolate? If you like this type of cookie, Milk & Cookies is for you!
After Milk & Cookies, we walked on Bleecker to Bisous Ciao:
This place specializes in macarons:
I admit that it was a bit messy to eat as it had chocolate powder on top and we had no napkins. But we needed more than that to stop us!
The macarons were delicious: crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, with a wonderful almond taste. The chocolate ganache that was in the middle was very good.
Would I go back? Certainly! Especially now that I know that they have a roasted banana macaron!!!
The next stop was another fantastic discovery: Pasticceria Bruno.
This place is famous for its cannoli and they even won against Bobby Flay in a cannoli throw down.
This is the kind of place I love: tons of cakes and cookies, you do not know which one to eat...
But then I saw this:
That was torture...
So we sampled their cannoli:
They stuff the cannoli when you order, so it keeps them fresh and crispy. The filling was delicious and not too sweet. It was definitely better than the cannoli I ate at The Cake Boss.
So, stay there: I will come back for the Ferrero Rocher mousse!
At that point we thought the tour was over. But then we walked to Xocolatti:
This place does not look like an artisanal chocolate store, but more an elegant one, with its decor made with and for chocolate boxes.
They surely have interesting creations, such as the marzipan truffles:
Or the rose cardamon, sake, champagne, and many others...
We got to try their mango paprika slate:
It was made with white chocolate and you could definitely taste the mango or paprika. Original and good!
So, if you are looking for interesting creations, Xocolatti is the place to go.
And, again, when we thought we were finished, we ended up in another place. This time, it was the last one of the tour. It was called Vosges.
The owner called it Vosges because of the time she worked in Paris, place des Vosges. There, it is not Haute Couture, but Haut Chocolat!
The place was big, with high ceilings and walls covered in dark wood shelves full of products. It reminded me of an apothecary shop where the potions were made of chocolate.
And for sure they had weird creations, such as:
- Mo's Dark Bar: 62% dark chocolate, hickory smoked uncured bacon and Alderwood smoked salt.
- Super dark pomegranate and goji.
- Super dark Reishi mushroom and walnut.
We got to try their Gingerbread toffee bar:
I do not know if it is because we went to 8 different chocolatiers, but at that point, I did not really taste all the flavors...So I will need to go back!
So the tour was interesting and yummy. However, most of the chocolatiers gave samples you would have if you were just showing up at their door. So, it was good that we only paid $19 per person for the tour, thanks to a coupon. More would not have been worth it.
Enjoy (I did)!
If you like this post or the photos, feel free to share it using the toolbar below or to write a comment!
And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!
