Mast Brothers

More birthday swag, which you might recognize as a beautiful stack of Mast Brothers chocolates.

Takahachi Bakery

25 Murray St, NY, NY 10007

Rating: B - Above Average
Visit #: 1
In brief: Friends brought in this beautiful mocha cake from Takahachi for dessert after dinner last night, enough to feed M. and I for the rest of the week I suspect. I really like this one, the mocha cream especially.

Magnolia Bakery

Rating: B - Above Average
Taste #: 1
In brief: Chocolate cakes may not be our favorite thing but it's fair to say Magnolia Bakery makes a rather good one. The cake is moist, the frosting not too heavy. All in all, a satisfying way to celebrate an office birthday.

Lindt Chocolates via Switzerland

Rating: A - Excellent
In brief: I feel like all Swiss people bring their famed chocolates as gifts. Almost all visitors to Switzerland bring chocolates back as souvenirs. I guess it's easy being Swiss when it comes to bearing gifts. But whether you like Swiss chocolates or not, what makes these chocolates so wonderful is not the quality or flavor, but the sheer thinness of the pieces. It makes all the difference and absolutely enjoyable.

Marou Faiseurs de Chocolat

Le Bon Marche, 24, rue de Sevres 75007 Paris France

Rating: A - Excellent
Taste #: 1

The Vietnamese are not known for their chocolate per se, but it looks like Marou is attempting to change that with the most beautifully packaged and quite delicious chocolates. I could not resist picking up several bars the last time I was in Paris. I haven't seen them in the States yet but I won't be surprised given the rise of artisanal chocolatiers.

Mast Brothers

111 N. 3rd St, Brooklyn, NY 11211

Rating: B - Above Average
Visit #: 1

Last fall when I was visiting the French cousins in Paris I brought along a stack of Mast Brothers Chocolates. You'd think I would be nervous to bring American made chocolate to Paris, but the cousins approved. Brooklyn Blend is not my favorite, but until we blog about more flavors, I can't tell you which other ones to try.

4:40pm chocolates

We are overflowing with chocolates in the office. The Kee's from M's Thanksgiving (gasp I know, that was almost a month ago), a bar I brought back from Saigon by way of Paris and finally a box that arrived from one of our stone purveyors, Stone Source, filled with dusted chocolate truffles from Chocolate Works. Come by and help us eat some!

5:05 pm chocolates

If you're looking to finish up, or maybe even start your Christmas shopping, I can highly recommend a box of Kee's Chocolates. M. received one over Thanksgiving and even though we have exceeded their recommended 1 week to consumption guideline, it matters not a whit. They are still lovely and delicate and all that is divine about little bites of chocolate. Bring them to a holiday dinner and I guarantee you will be a hero.
Kee's Chocolates Midtown West, 315 W. 39th St, NY, NY 10018 (near 8th Ave)

4:10pm mocha chocolate cake

For a brief moment we were tempted by the chocolate lemon cake but only for the photo opportunity. We got the mocha for our taste buds instead.
L.A. Burdick, 5 East 20th St, NY, NY 10003 (btwn 5th Ave and Broadway)

4:21pm chocolate babka

When Y is not around, those days where I forget my camera becomes a problem as I don't have a camera back-up. Today was one such day, and after a quick lunch at Old Town Tavern, I stopped by Bread's Bakery. I had read that their chocolate babka is notable, so while I wouldn't know what to do with an entire loaf myself, there I was standing in line with one. And it does not disappoint. It is really quite good and certainly the most refined babka I've had. Though I must admit I have a soft spot for the gooey one sold at Zabar's.
Breads Bakery, 18 E. 16th St, NY, NY 10003 (near Union Sq)

4:36pm mocha cake

After some attempts at finding a dessert we could go back to, we have arrived at Burdick's mocha cake. The mocha is perfectly restrained, a hint of coffee but not at all bitter. The proportion of dense chocolate cake to mocha frosting made each bite a pleasing balance between heavy and light. Love!
L.A. Burdick, 5 East 20th St, NY, NY 10003 (btwn 5th Ave and Broadway)

4:23pm chocolate caviar tart

We stopped by Dominique Ansel on the way back to the office, way too late for any of the famed new creations. So we tried a different something. Cronuts aside, the guy is a rather amazing pastry chef. He somehow made a dessert that tasted precisely like caviar if it happened to be made of chocolate. Even the texture evoked caviar with its slight slipperiness. Amazing.
Dominique Ansel Bakery, 189 Spring St, NY, NY 10012 (btwn Thompson and Sullivan)

420pm chocolate fondant

It was stupid, but yesterday we ended up walking from the B/D train at Grand St to Shanghai Cafe, to CB2 for a coffee table, over to Greene St for kitchens and then up and up to Laguardia Pl for wood flooring. By the end it was no big deal to continue on another block to Mille Feuille for a very tasty chocolate fondant. I had to doctor the caramel topping because it sort of fell off to the side in transit, so Olivier if you see this, don't be sad that it doesn't look like you meant it to.
Mille-feuille Bakery Cafe, 552 Laguardia Place, NY, NY 10012 (btwn 3rd and Bleecker)  

2:30pm warm chocolate cake

Despite being a non-chocoholic, I've always felt a warm chocolate cake transports the body immediately up into some other plane of pure bliss.
Nougatine, 1 Central Park West, NY, NY 10023 (Trump Hotel Central Park)

3:48pm chocolate mousse

You know we're not big chocolate lovers here at the Lunch Studio, so just this once we'll complain that the chocolate mousse cake from L.A. Burdick was not chocolate enough.
L.A. Burdick, 5 East 20th St, NY, NY 10003 (btwn 5th Ave and Broadway)

3:50pm mini chocolate cupcake

Sorry Tom Colicchio, I ruined the beauty of your mini chocolate cupcake by tossing it carelessly into my rucksack and forgetting about it until snack time. It was good though.
'wichcraft, 11 E. 20th St, NY, NY 10003 (btwn 5th and Broadway)

4:18pm chocolate truffles

Yesterday we picked up 4 chocolate truffles from L'Atelier du Chocolat, ate citronella and praline yesterday, coffee caramel and sea salt today. Coffee caramel, though it did not taste of coffee, was my favorite.
L'Atelier du Chocolat, 59 W. 22nd St, NY, NY 10010 (near 6th Ave)

4:29pm chocolate truffles

To the east of Olive Garden is a tiny little chocolate shop, L'Atelier du Chocolat, where we stopped to pick up a small and pricey trifle of an afternoon dessert.
L'Atelier du Chocolat, 59 W. 22nd St, NY, NY 10010 (near 6th Ave)

4:11pm hokey pokey chocolates

You know what makes life worthwhile? When someone says something nice about something you're doing, you return the nicety with some advice and at the end of the chain of niceness, you end up with a box of chocolates. Especially when the box of chocolates is a delicious box of chocolates that unexpectedly showed up on your doorstep with a handwritten note. Thank you JR and OT, too kind.
Nunu Chocolates, via City Bakery

3:50pm salted caramel

A friend of a friend stayed at our place while we were away over the holidays. The perfect house guest, she left us treats from her home town of San Francisco. I'm happy to lend an apartment that would otherwise be empty in exchange for goodies!