Chocolate Overload

Yesterday, my internal compass pointed straight towards "chocolate". I was first led to Park Slope's Beso (CLOSED as of Dec. 2007), which served a sublime chocolate crema catalana. This huge bowl of dense cocoa mousse was accompanied by a hot, eggy cinnamon churro (fried donut). Powdered sugar drifted from the churro into the cool chocolate cream, and I swooned with pleasure between each bite.

A couple hours later, of course, this blissful memory had faded, and the next leg of my journey began. The aforementioned compass led me to the Teuscher Chocolates of Switzerland store at Rockefeller Center, where chocolates are prepared in Zürich and flown to New York every week. I admired the various truffles in flavors of orange, cocoa, almond, walnut, kirsch, and nougat. There were also dainty chocolates shaped like animals. My admiration soon surpassed the visual as I bit into a large chunk of dark chocolate marzipan.

Continuing northward towards the Upper East Side, I couldn't pass by Neuhaus without walking in. This Belgian chocolatier has been delighting patrons since 1857. I entered the shop under the pretext of buying a gift, but I found additional reasons to be there once inside! Among them, dark chocolate-covered orange peels: sunbursts of citrus flavor enrobed with some of the deepest, richest chocolate I have ever tasted, and crunchy cacao nib-studded dark chocolate squares. The truffle selection included a cognac buttercream covered with thin almond slices and a classic chocolate buttercream sprinkled with cocoa powder.

My compass does not lead me astray, wouldn't you agree?

Beso: 210 Fifth Ave., Brooklyn. (718) 622-9894. Teuscher: 620 5th Ave., Rockefeller Center. (212) 246-4416. Neuhaus: 922 Madison Ave. (212) 861-2800.