Brenner in New York
I am a major chocoholic. And I have it worked out so that I can have my daily chocolate fix and not have the calories move to my hips or thighs (at least not most of it!). How? I replace a meal with my sweets 
Since I work in an office where most everyone is anything but American so when co-workers say they are going home it often means they are traveling to Europe. And when they come back, we have taught them the value of the 'pasalubong'* and this comes in the form of Belgian chocolates and truffles, huge Cadbury or Toblerone bars (which they claim is different from the ones sold in American stores), or any other fancy, delightful gift to satisfy the sweet tooth. And then there are times when people travel locally and come back with either a box of See's or some other brand not available in New York.
Our office occupies one whole floor of our building and so we have the north end and the south end. On both sides there are baskets that are often filled with bite-sized chocolates (Hersheys, Kitkats, Snickers, Reese's - you name it and we have it). It gets worse post-Halloween when the fathers in the office would bring to the office the excess of their kids' loot, collected during the holiday. Just as when you thought you have OD'd on chocolate bars and just grateful that the last time you checked the basket it was nearly empty, you pass by and realize it has been re-filled to the brim once more.
My boyfriend knows that when my feathers are ruffled, there is only one way to appease me. The closest Neuhaus store is at Grand Central, where the Godiva store is also located and where there is a steady supply of fresh strawberries dipped in chocolate. If I cannot be swayed by Neuhaus then it would have to be La Maison du Chocolat and there is nothing La Maison cannot solve. And within the same area at the Rockefeller Center is the Swiss Teuscher chocolate store where the champagne truffles are to-die-for.
I thought for a while that I have Manhattan's chocolate spots covered. Last Saturday when I stepped off the bus at Union Square, I found myself standing in front of the chocolate store of the 'bald man'. New York had just opened my newest favorite place - Max Brenner. I had not been to the one in Makati, which my daughter had bragged to me was one must-see place the last time I came home but we had no time.
The wait line for a table for two was 20 minutes - not bad for lunch and so we waited. While waiting to be paged, my friend and I roamed around the store and savored the variety of bonbons and other mouth watering goodies displayed behind glass shelves. Some women would pine for diamonds, I crave for chocolates. This is my heaven.
When we were finally seated, we browsed the menu and lingered due to apparent indecision brought about by so much choices that I swear if we could we would have sat there the whole afternoon ordering one item after the other until we have tasted everything in the little orange book.
OK - there will be other weekends to check out the other stuff....so for the meantime we decided to share an order of the Urban S'Mores - you get a tiny stove the size of a teacup and to toast your marshmallow in and a cup of thick warm chocolate to dip it in after you press it between graham crackers and one Melting Chocolate Heart Cake. For drinks, I had the Mexican Hot Spicy Chocolate (a perfect mix of sweet and spice) and my friend had the chocolate with marshmallows.
It maybe major sugar rush to some people but to me - it felt like I had died and gone to heaven.
We live for days like these - when it is a mild late autumn outside and you are sharing nice warm chocolates with a friend indoors. Yum....
Wonka lives!!!
*Pasalubong - something you bring back after a trip : souvenirs, goodies, anything from the place you came from.
Since I work in an office where most everyone is anything but American so when co-workers say they are going home it often means they are traveling to Europe. And when they come back, we have taught them the value of the 'pasalubong'* and this comes in the form of Belgian chocolates and truffles, huge Cadbury or Toblerone bars (which they claim is different from the ones sold in American stores), or any other fancy, delightful gift to satisfy the sweet tooth. And then there are times when people travel locally and come back with either a box of See's or some other brand not available in New York.
Our office occupies one whole floor of our building and so we have the north end and the south end. On both sides there are baskets that are often filled with bite-sized chocolates (Hersheys, Kitkats, Snickers, Reese's - you name it and we have it). It gets worse post-Halloween when the fathers in the office would bring to the office the excess of their kids' loot, collected during the holiday. Just as when you thought you have OD'd on chocolate bars and just grateful that the last time you checked the basket it was nearly empty, you pass by and realize it has been re-filled to the brim once more.
My boyfriend knows that when my feathers are ruffled, there is only one way to appease me. The closest Neuhaus store is at Grand Central, where the Godiva store is also located and where there is a steady supply of fresh strawberries dipped in chocolate. If I cannot be swayed by Neuhaus then it would have to be La Maison du Chocolat and there is nothing La Maison cannot solve. And within the same area at the Rockefeller Center is the Swiss Teuscher chocolate store where the champagne truffles are to-die-for.
I thought for a while that I have Manhattan's chocolate spots covered. Last Saturday when I stepped off the bus at Union Square, I found myself standing in front of the chocolate store of the 'bald man'. New York had just opened my newest favorite place - Max Brenner. I had not been to the one in Makati, which my daughter had bragged to me was one must-see place the last time I came home but we had no time.
The wait line for a table for two was 20 minutes - not bad for lunch and so we waited. While waiting to be paged, my friend and I roamed around the store and savored the variety of bonbons and other mouth watering goodies displayed behind glass shelves. Some women would pine for diamonds, I crave for chocolates. This is my heaven.
When we were finally seated, we browsed the menu and lingered due to apparent indecision brought about by so much choices that I swear if we could we would have sat there the whole afternoon ordering one item after the other until we have tasted everything in the little orange book.
OK - there will be other weekends to check out the other stuff....so for the meantime we decided to share an order of the Urban S'Mores - you get a tiny stove the size of a teacup and to toast your marshmallow in and a cup of thick warm chocolate to dip it in after you press it between graham crackers and one Melting Chocolate Heart Cake. For drinks, I had the Mexican Hot Spicy Chocolate (a perfect mix of sweet and spice) and my friend had the chocolate with marshmallows.
It maybe major sugar rush to some people but to me - it felt like I had died and gone to heaven.
We live for days like these - when it is a mild late autumn outside and you are sharing nice warm chocolates with a friend indoors. Yum....
Wonka lives!!!
*Pasalubong - something you bring back after a trip : souvenirs, goodies, anything from the place you came from.