For those with a sweet tooth wanting to explore beyond your everyday chocolate shops, New York City is home to quirky, innovative and experiential cocoa fare.
Carnivores craving candy can head to the Baconery to sink their teeth into bacon brownies, chocolate- and sprinkle-covered birthday bacon, chocolate bacon pretzel rods, chocolate peanut butter bacon cookies and red velvet bacon cakes. Pepper heads should visit Tumbador Chocolate and sample their chile-infused Holy Mole and Dulce de Chile bars or their spicy Hot Hot Chocolate.
Then there’s Max Brenner, which is essentially a chocolate museum, showcasing (and serving!) chocolate nuts, bonbons, truffles, bars, syringes, teas, fondues, cakes, pizzas, cocoas, shots, shakes, cocktails, crepes, waffles and much more.
Interested in learning the art of chocolate-making? Tache Chocolate offers a range of sugary classes at their Lower East Side factory and cafe. While you make your own chocolates — which you’ll artfully package in beautiful wrapping — sip a thick mug of whipped cream-topped cocoa. Classes typically take place daily at 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm and 7pm. You can also head to Mast Brothers Chocolate, a boutique chocolate factory and shop in Brooklyn taking sustainable chocolate making to a new level. Here you can watch artisanal chocolate being made and enjoy free samples.
For some indulgence that’s good for the body, Madison Spa offers a delicious yet holistic “Chocolate Delight Wrap,” which slims the body using fat-free chocolate, and a “Chocolate Caramel Delight Wrap,” where you become wrapped in the sweet treat. And if you’re around in November, NYC hosts it’s annual Chocolate Show, the country’s largest show dedicated to the sweet treat.
Jessica Festa is the editor of the travel sites Jessie on a Journey (http://jessieonajourney.com) and Epicure & Culture (http://epicureandculture.com). Along with blogging at We Blog The World, her byline has appeared in publications like Huffington Post, Gadling, Fodor’s, Travel + Escape, Matador, Viator, The Culture-Ist and many others. After getting her BA/MA in Communication from the State University of New York at Albany, she realized she wasn’t really to stop backpacking and made travel her full time job. Some of her most memorable experiences include studying abroad in Sydney, teaching English in Thailand, doing orphanage work in Ghana, hiking her way through South America and traveling solo through Europe. She has a passion for backpacking, adventure, hiking, wine and getting off the beaten path.
