Designer Hot Chocolate in New York City: You Won't Be Able to Resist It

Designer hot chocolate in New York is all the rage. Not satisfied with the powdered cocoa that many of us grew up with, New York chocolatiers decided the Big Apple needed the decadent stuff. So several fancy hot chocolate cafes were born. Of course, the hot chocolate they drink is more expensive than the stuff we're used to but is it worth the extra price?

Vosges Haute Chocolat - New York - SoHo, 132 Spring Street (between Green & Wooster), New York, NY 10012 - Telephone: 212-625-2929

Vosges Haute Chocolat has three different flavors of hot chocolate. The spicy hot chocolate with chili peppers, the dark chocolate with vanilla bean and the white chocolate with lemon myrtle, lavender and vanilla. They also sell packets of the three flavors (either alone or in a mixed box), that you can take home and make yourself a soothing bedtime hot chocolate. The Vosges Haute Chocolat has an exceptional designer hot chocolate. It's smoother than some of the others, not as dense (some are too much like chocolate pudding), and not as sickly sweet. Not the perfect hot chocolate, but pretty darn close.

MarieBelle Fine Treats and Chocolate, 484 Broome Street, New York, NY 10013 Tel: 212.925.6999

MarieBelle, unlike many of the other designer hot chocolate makers, makes her delicious hot chocolate with water and not milk. It's made with pure chocolate and comes in four flavors and three sizes. The flavors are Aztec, Dark, Café Negro (with coffee), and Spicy (with cinnamon and nutmeg). The sizes start at $3 for a teeny tiny one and go up to $8 - a bit steep for a hot chocolate, I think. MarieBelle's designer hot chocolate is supremely delicious but, because it is so thick, the small size is all I can handle. The texture is much more like a pudding than a drink, and very rich, so unlike other chocolatier's designer hot chocolate, MarieBelle's is one I can only drink infrequently. It is delicious, but a little too rich for my taste.

Jacques Torres Chocolate, 350 Hudson at King Street, New York, NY - Telephone:212.414.2462

Ex-Le Cirque pastry chef, Jacques Torres is one of the most famous chocolatiers in New York, so you would expect his designer hot chocolate to be good. For his designer hot chocolate, he uses 2% milk, which makes it less fattening than some of the other hot chocolates, but it's just as delicious. It's thick, rich and creamy and has the most satisfying chocolatey taste. Also try his 'Wicked Hot Chocolate', which he makes with a combination of spices he learned about on a trip to Mexico, where hot chocolate has always been spicy. Don't forget to top off a visit to one of his chocolate shops, with some chocolate chip cookies, chocolate bars or chocolate covered marshmallows - unbelievable. At his store on Hudson, (he has two more in New York), you can even watch the chocolate being made into bars.

The City Bakery, 3 W. 18th Street, (between 5th Ave & Avenue Of The Americas), New York - (212) 366-1414

The City Bakery is huge, so don't worry about not being able to get a cup of their designer hot chocolate. Having said that though, it's not as good as Jacques Torres' or MarieBelle's hot chocolate. They do put a marshmallow on top, which I did like as it melts so deliciously, but the hot chocolate was a bit too rich and sweet for my taste. I also haven't eaten here but had several friends tell me the food is mediocre. If you're in the neighborhood, it's worth stopping in for some hot chocolate, but if you don't mind a bit more traveling time to Jacques Torres or MarieBelle's, I would go there instead.

New York seems to be in love with designer hot chocolate lately. More and more hot chocolate places are opening up, and it is so wonderful in the winter. Well, even in the summer, I've been known to indulge - who can resist thick, hot, rich, delicious designer hot chocolate. And yes, it's worth the extra price.