First Look: The Best Chocolate Cake in The World

Arthur Bovino — June 18, 2010

The Best Chocolate Cake in the World.

The Best Chocolate Cake in The World is now in New York. We told you about it already. Enough talk. It can be yours right now. For free.

They’re selling slices and giving away samples. Carlos is handing them out himself. They said they’re open until 9pm. Go. Then look at this slideshow to memorialize what you just scarfed down. The full menu is below. Starting next Friday they’ll also be doing:

• House made chocolate drinks (a Chocolate Shot! Iced Chocolate!)
• Fresh-squeezed juices (blueberry, celery, grapefruit, strawberry, and more)
• Gelato (Espresso, Fresh Mint, and others)
• Tostas with baby shrimp, Portuguese Ham, and other meat and cheese combinations.
• Coffees and Affogato.

Now go. And let it pause in the sunlight by the window for a sec before you take that first bite.

The Best Chocolate Cake in the World >>

Always Hungry: O Melhor Bolo de Chocolate do Mundo

Arthur Bovino — June 14, 2010

O Melhor Bolo de Chocolate do Mundo’s “Traditional Sweet” Cake in Lisbon, Portugal.

O Melhor Bolo de Chocolate do Mundo will be opening a shop in NoLita in just a few weeks? The Feed has just made our day. News that the self-described, “Best Chocolate Cake in the World,” will be opening a store at 55A Spring St between Lafayette and Mulberry Streets by June 23rd has us very excited. When it comes to backing up the smack-talk, this is one place that doesn’t disappoint.

For a preview of what you can expect at the New York location, check out this post that features a visit to a São Paulo location as well as the original store in Lisbon.

CLICK HERE to read about The Best Chocolate Cake in the World

Featured Dessert: Il Cantuccio’s Pancioc

Maryse Chevrière — May 04, 2010

Clockwise from top: Pancioc, and Espresso from Il Cantuccio in the West Village.

Walk into the just-opened West Village outpost of Italian bakery, Il Cantuccio, for a coffee and something sweet, and your choice is simple. Obvious, really.

The heralded, namesake cantucci, of course. Small, golden biscotti studded with chunks of chocolate, almonds, and sweet fig that beckon to you from the moment you step inside. Then an Italian gentleman who was on line in front of you walks past with some sort of speckled sweet roll— is that chocolate? Yes, and this treat is called Pancioc.

More at Il Cantuccio >>

First Look: Pichet Ong Desserts Debut at Bubble Lounge

Maryse Chevrière — April 09, 2010

Clockwise from top: Raspberry and Lemon Almond Franzipane Tart, Kir Royale, Chef Pichet Ong passes out his Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Marshmallows that dissolve effervescently on the tongue. Glitter-flecked truffles with a barely-there coating that melts in an instant. A brittle cannoli shell that gives way to a custard-like, frozen tiramisu filling. Often, people talk about foods exploding with flavor, but taste Pichet Ong’s new desserts for The Bubble Lounge, and you will find that this is literally the case.

According to managing director Emmanuelle Chiche, the new menu is a gift. One that the TriBeCa grande dame of all things Champagne will be giving their clients starting next week after 14 years in business. Chef Ong noted that the desserts are intentionally “not very sweet, and quite classic, the sugar has been cut down to the point that it’s elemental.”

More Bubble Lounge Desserts >>

AlwaysInformed: Spiked Hot Chocolate at L.A. Burdick

Maryse Chevrière — March 31, 2010

Dark Hot Chocolate with Scotch.

How do you improve upon one of the City’s best hot chocolates? By adding liquor, of course. For a little over two weeks now, the Flatiron café and chocolatier has added the adults-only option of floating either 12-year Macallan, Kirsch Grande Reserve, Poire Williams, or Ron Zacapa Rum, over a cup of their hot chocolate. As a stand-alone drink, the coat-your-mouth rich dark chocolate is practically unparalleled. Like an only slightly thinner version of the liquid inside the best molten chocolate cake. Introduce a not-so-subtle shot of Scotch, and you have a belly-warming, chocolate cocktail mash-up.

More at L.A. Burdick >>

Featured Dessert: Streit’s Chocolate Covered Matzo

GutterGourmet — March 30, 2010

Chocolate-covered matzo (image courtesy of sfgate.com).

Like Russ and Daughters, Streit’s Matzos is a fourth generation Jewish family business that has been at its current Lower East Side Rivington Street location since 1925. It may be the Jewish equivalent of green beer on St. Patrick’s Day, but the only thing I look forward to more on Passover than Fox’s U-Bet chocolate syrup made with real cane sugar (instead of the non-kosher corn fructose the rest of the year) is Streit’s dark chocolate covered matzo.

Who needs bread? Better than a chocolate babka, the rich dark chocolate turns the dry cracker-like matzo into a luxurious dessert. So at Passover Seder when the simple son asks, “Why is this night different from other nights?” you can shout with glee like I do: “Chocolate covered matzo!”

Now if they could only perfect chocolate-covered gefilte fish.

OnlyLook: Village Tart Desserts

Maryse Chevrière — March 16, 2010

Valrhona Chocolate Dulce de Leche Skillet Torte.

The desserts at Village Tart inspired some high hopes. Afterall, the newish bakery-brasserie sports a pedigree that includes Permanent Bruncher Lesly Bernard and consulting pastry chef Pichet Ong. The dessert menu seduces with words like “Valrhona chocolate,” “butterscotch,” and “dulce de leche.” And early word on their baked goods set inspired more confidence. Sadly, the love affair ends there.

More About Village Tart >>

Always Hungry: The Perfect Chocolate Malted

GutterGourmet — January 28, 2010

A Banana Chocolate Malted at Eddie’s Sweet Shop in Forest Hills, Queens.

Growing up in Queens, little league baseball was life and death. To lose a game invoked serious thoughts of suicide. Fortunately, the coach, who was the father of one of my teammates, knew the perfect way to get us over our shame and mentally prepare us for next week’s game: chocolate malteds! As we only got to go for malteds when we lost, I must confess I might have looked at a few too many strikes.

The thing about the perfect malted is that to construct one, you need specific ingredients and even more specific equipment. The places that have these things are soda fountains like Lexington Candy Shop, Hildebrandt’s in Williston Park, and Eddie’s Sweet Shop in Forest Hills, which has been around since 1909. Never drive through Queens without stopping for one (for a great variation, try their banana chocolate malted).

Of course, you could always make yourself a malted at home. If you do, keep in mind the following:

Click here for more on the Chocolate Malted >>

AlwaysPartying: National Chocolate Cake Day

Maryse Chevrière — January 27, 2010

The Strip House Chocolate Cake.

Today, January 27th, is National Chocolate Cake Day, and while we’ve visited Portugal and Brazil to taste ‘The Best Chocolate Cake in the World,’ New York deserves praise for its chocolate cake game. Case in point: Strip House’s famous Chocolate Cake, the awe-inspring, multi-layered Holy Grail.

In case you needed a little incentive to celebrate, here are photographs of our some of our favorite, most sinfully delicious chocolate cakes around the City.

Click here for photographs of the City's best chocolate cakes >>

AlwaysInformed: The Butter Burger

GutterGourmet — January 25, 2010

Lexington Candy Shop’s Butter Burger goes great with one of their Chocolate Malteds.

The Lexington Candy Shop on the corner of 83rd and Lexington Avenue proudly announces its most well-known specialties beneath its windows: “Malteds, Sundaes and Fountain Service. But it’s most interesting menu item, the Lexington Butter Burger, is curiously less heralded.

The windows contain an amazing collection of international and limited edition Coca-Cola bottles, all full. They still mix the Coke using syrup and soda water in iconic glasses as done in 1925 when the restaurant was established. The soda “jerks” know what they’re doing. They’re equally adept at mixing a mean egg cream, and what is perhaps the City’s best chocolate malted (at $8 it may be the planet’s most expensive). But you’re here for the Butter Burger.

Click here to read about the Butter Burger at the Lexington Candy Shop >>

AlwaysTraveling: O Melhor Bolo de Chocolate do Mundo

Arthur Bovino and Maryse Chevrière — December 10, 2009

Top, “Traditional Sweet” Cake in Lisbon. Left, Lisbon shop. Right, São Paulo location.

You don’t call your store, O Melhor Bolo de Chocolate do Mundo or, in English, The Best Chocolate Cake in the World, unless you have serious chocolate cake to throw-down. But that’s exactly what this self-confident store has done, with locations on both sides of the Atlantic, in São Paulo and Lisbon.

Bras Carlos Lopes created his no-bake, flourless chocolate cake recipe about 20 years ago. O Melhor Bolo’s website notes that the dessert menu of the restaurant where it first appeared “was so successful that he had to open a small bakery to sell only this delicacy.” In 2007, the cake appeared in a sister location in São Paulo, to be quickly followed by two more stores there. There are three cakes: semisweet (70% cocoa), “traditional sweet” (53% cocoa), and “Zero Sugar.”

We first stumbled across the Brazilian outpost, and followed up by visiting the original location in Portugal. Having visited both, we can comment on the assertion inherent to the stores’ name.

Click Here for Two Field Report Reviews of O Melhor Bolo de Chocolate do Mundo >>

AlwaysLearning: Sacher Torte

Arthur Bovino — December 04, 2009

Sign outside the Café Sacher in Vienna. Right, a piece of Sacher Torte.

According to The Nibble, tomorrow is National Sacher Torte day. If you’re an aficionado of chocolate cake then the dry slice you’ll get at the storied Café Sacher in Vienna’s Hotel Sacher probably won’t impress you, but considering its history having a slice there with a Wiener Melange is a must-do food pilgrimage. Not going is like a dessert-junkie visiting New York City for the first time and skipping out on cannolis at Ferrara’s, cheesecake at Junior’s and Frozen Hot Chocolate at Serendipity.

What it is: The Sacher Torte is a bittersweet, dense, chocolate sponge cake covered with a thin coating of chocolate. The cake’s two horizontally sliced layers are separated by a thin layer of apricot jam filling. A sharply-angled slice of the cake is usually served with whipped cream.

Where it’s from: There are several origin stories. They agree on one thing: the cake was the creation of a 16 year-old apprentice cook, Franz Sacher, who was in the service of Prince Metternich. The Times recounts the story told by Sacher’s son Eduard, his father Franz supposedly invented the cake one evening in 1832 when the prince was taken over by a “sudden craving for something dainty to sink his teeth into.” Alone in the palace kitchens, the task of whipping up a chocolate cake was left to Sacher, whose creation won princely favor, and the cook subsequent acclaim.

According to the Hotel Sacher’s website, the cake was created by Sacher when the prince requested “a particularly palatable dessert for spoiled high-ranking guests,” and his chef was ill in bed. In either case, Sacher became a successful chef and confectioner and his son opened a cafe and later, the hotel behind the Imperial Opera house.

How it’s made: While the original recipe may be secret, there has been no shortage of attempts to duplicate the cake. Most involve beating the egg whites with sugar to stiff peaks, adding melted chocolate and butter, and folding the mixture together with flour before baking it for about a half hour and covering it with chocolate cream frosting.

Where to get it in NY: You can order an original Sacher Torte from Vienna online, but if you’re looking for renditions in New York City you can find it at Klee Brasserie and on Wallsé‘s brunch menu.

AlwaysPartying: The Brooklyn Chocolate Experiment

Arthur Bovino and Maryse Chevrière — November 16, 2009

Top, Denise Smith’s Chocolate Chip Cookie. Bottom left judging panel. Right, The Bell House.

Coming off The Brooklyn Cheese Experiment (also hosted by Nick Suarez and Theo Peck) we had high expectations for The Brooklyn Chocolate Experiment (site), their next event at The Bell House.

The event was fun (judges’ and audience awards follow), but several contestants tried to make things a little too interesting. Many savory dishes weren’t chocolate enough, and in some it wasn’t even perceptible. The strongest savory representative was Lei Takahashi’s “Pig in Drag,” which featured a flavorful spice mix, a sauce that was like a smoky chocolate jam, and meat almost as good as some of what we tasted at the Big Apple BBQ Block Party. The other two best savory dishes were Jill Strominger’s Ole! Mole, and BH Squared’s Savory Chocolate Tamales.

The most successful desserts were simple, take the chocolate chip cookie. It had delicious raw cookie dough taste and a cross-section revealed impressive brick-like layering of chips. And while it wasn’t part of the competition, the other notable interpretation of chocolate was Young’s Double Chocolate Stout.

Click Here for Pictures of the Food at The Brooklyn Chocolate Experiment >>

Featured Dessert: Cafeteria’s Chocolate Crème Brûlée

The Gluttoness — November 09, 2009

Cafeteria’s Chocolate Crème Brûlée, $9.00.

Cafeteria (view) is known for its trendy, 24-hour comfort food, but their desserts are spectacular too. Apple Pie Ravioli, White Chocolate Bread Pudding, Waffle Banana Split, Deep-Fried Oreos, and Peanut Butter Cheesecake with Oreo crust and Caramel Bacon Popcorn— they’re all as good as they sound.

The Chocolate Crème Brûlée has become a staple of Cafeteria’s dessert menu, but its executive pastry chef, Matt Joyce, decided to give the dish a little pop, literally. The dark chocolate crème brûlée used to be served with a chocolate chip cookie in the center. Now, two warm, freshly baked cookies are served on the side, making way for Cafeteria’s signature dark chocolate spoon, which is emblazoned with the Cafeteria’s logo. But the spoon isn’t there just to add another jolt of chocolate. It also delivers a heaping spoonful of strawberry Pop Rocks.

While eating the Pop Rocks with the chocolate custard doesn’t create the exaggerated reaction of Coca Cola, they do impart an effervescent sensation to custard’s thick creaminess. You can eat the Pop Rocks in one bite or break the burnt sugar crust and mix them throughout the crème brûlée. Either way, their chatter gets your mouth singing a sweet, happy song. Once your chocolate spoon is gone, don’t bother with other silverware. The soft chocolate chip cookies make the perfect utensils for scooping up the rest of this rockin’ chocolate dessert.

AlwaysInvestigating: Trifle-Spotting

The Gluttoness — November 04, 2009

Left to right, The Standard Grill’s ‘Deal Closer,’ Yerba Buena Perry’s Tres Leches Parfait and Gansevoort 69’s Banana Cream Pie.

During my fall tour of new restaurants, I’ve noticed three desserts that use the trifle composition to reinvigorate familiar dishes. You may recall one, The Deal Closer. It was recently a Featured Dessert.

The Standard Grill’s (view), “The Deal Closer” ($12.00) is fun to eat just because you get to do it with a spatula. Putting that aside, this ginormous dessert actually features trifle-like layers of bittersweet chocolate mousse and moist chocolate cake.

Yerba Buena Perry’s (view) three-layered Tres Leches Parfait ($9.00) features traditional Tres Leches Cake at the bottom of the glass topped with Pisco Panna Cotta and a slightly spiced Mexican chocolate mousse. Tres leches is fantastic alone, but even better topped with two complementary, sinful sweets.

Gansevoort 69 (view) also re-imagines a classic with a trifle composition: Banana Cream Pie ($10.00) built for two. A fudge brownie serves as the “black bottom crust” and a gooey coating of chocolate ganache makes for additional decadence. The rest is true-blue banana cream pie—thick banana pastry cream and bananas, topped with whipped cream that spills over the edges of the ceramic dish.