Few things in life area as decadent and pleasurable as wandering the cold winter streets of New York City and then sitting down to a nice cup of hot chocolate at a local café.
I lost my appetite for hot chocolate a number of years ago after consuming way too much Swiss Miss on camping trips as a kid. It wasn’t until a few years after college that I learned that hot chocolate should never be consumed from a powdery mix; it should have real chocolate and real milk. And, when done properly, it should be a soothing chocolate elixir that melts away the cold and wraps you in a blanket of goodness.
Thankfully, Robin Raisfeld and Rob Patronite, writing for New York Magazine, have wandered the Big Apple on their own and ferreted out the very best cups of hot chocolate the city has to offer.
The City Bakery at 3 West 18th St. (near Fifth Ave) tops off their list with a hot chocolate that offers an “assertive bouquet, signature tang, and soft, aerated mouthfeel.” I’m not entirely sure what “mouthfeel” is, but I’m sold.
The article includes eight other hot chocolate masterpieces throughout the city and mouthwatering photographs that accompany each descrption.
Too bad it’s 80 degrees here in Los Angeles; otherwise I would be jonesing for a mug right now.