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NYC’s Most Creative Valentine’s Day Chocolates

val1From the moment we started taking an interest in boys, we fantasized about receiving one of those cardboard, heart-shaped boxes of chocolates for Valentine’s Day.  But our tastes have thankfully changed as we’ve gotten older, and it takes a bit more for our significant others to impress us than with Whitman’s Samplers or packages of Russell Stover.  That’s where New York’s most creative candy companies come in, from Vosges Haut with their sweet and smoky Bacon Bars to the Japanese import Royce’ and their supremely decadent Cocoa Squares and Brooklyn’s Liddabit Sweets, currently selling Passion Fruit Truffles from their brand new outpost in the Chelsea Market!

Jacques Torres Chocolate

Jacques Torres Chocolate
110 E. 57th St.
Midtown East,New York 10022
718-875-1269

New York’s own Willy Wonka, Jacques Torres has opened his fifth brick and mortar candy shop just in time for Valentine’s Day, carrying his famous Wicked Hot Chocolate, addictive Chocolate-covered Cheerios, and a variety of holiday treats.  His edible “I Love You” Puzzles are an extra-sweet way to show that special someone you care; four interlocking pieces made of Milk, Dark and White Chocolate.  And his mouthwatering “Kissing Game” is every bit as playful… a box of Champagne-filled Truffles sitting atop cheeky invites to smooch, like “On The Coffee Table,” “Behind My Knee,” or “In Another Language.”

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Roni-Sue Chocolates

Roni-Sue Chocolates
120 Essex St.
Lower East Side,New York 10002
(212) 260-0421

Making delicious desserts is in the Kave family’s DNA; Alison Kave is behind the popular Smorgasburg breakout, First Prize Pies, and her mom, Roni-Sue, runs a much loved, hand-crafted chocolate shop on the Lower East Side. You can’t go wrong with a box of Roni-Sue’s boozy Cocktail Truffles this Valentine’s Day (try the “Absinthe” with Chocolate Ganache and Fennel, the “Dark and Stormy” with Rum, Candied Ginger and Lime, and the “Manhattan” with Bourbon, Bitters and Cherry), but don’t leave without a tin of her signature “Pig Candy” as well, strips of salty Bacon enrobed in silken, Direct-Trade Dark Chocolate.

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Vosges Haut-Chocolat

Vosges Haut-Chocolat
132 Spring St.
Soho,New York 10012
(212) 625-2929

While it’s common practice for today’s chocolatiers to incorporate savory ingredients and exotic spices into their sugary creations, before Vosges, few places thought beyond caramel, fruit and nuts.  And Vosges most uniquely flavored truffles and bars continue to be bestsellers, like the “Naga” with Coconut and Curry Powder, the “Black Pearl” with Wasabi and Black Sesame, the “Budapest” with Hungarian Paprika, and the infamous “Mo’s Bacon Bar,” studded with Hickory Smoked Bacon and Alderwood Smoked Sea Salt.

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Liddabit Sweets

Liddabit Sweets
75 9th Ave.
Meatpacking District,New York 10011
(212) 229-0022

This small-batch candy company (run by two young FCI graduates) wholesales their Brooklyn-made goodies to shops around the city, but you can visit their dedicated spot in the Chelsea Market as well.  Each of their pieces can be purchased individually, but the $75 “Kitchen Sink” will give your sweetheart a taste of everything in Liddabit’s line, like the Lime-In-The-Coconut and PB&J Bars, Sea Salt, Chocolate-Sea Salt, and Beer & Pretzel Caramels, Milk and Dark Chocolate Honeycomb, and a box of Bourbon Bacon Caramel Corn.

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MarieBelle

MarieBelle
484 Broome St.
Soho,New York 10013
(212) 925-6999

The chocolates at classy MarieBelle are a far cry from those identical round bonbons nestled in flimsy boxes at the drugstore.  Lift the lid on their handmade, red leather containers to reveal a riot of color inside; rows of Single-Origin, South American Chocolates, filled with Whiskey, Saffron, Apricot or Cardamom Ganache, and painted with bright prints like cityscapes, jitterbugging lovers, and Mondrian-style squares.

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Fine & Raw

Fine & Raw
288 Seigel St.
Brooklyn,New York 11206
(718) 366-3633

Involved in every step of the manufacturing process, this Bushwick factory literally takes cocoa from bean to bar.  They work exclusively with sustainable farms in Ghana, Madagascar, Bolivia and the Ivory Coast, and produce a full line of prettily packaged Candy Bars on site, including smoky Mesquite, spicy Chipotle, nutty Almond, and Lucuma (a fragrant Peruvian fruit) & Vanilla, all of which are ideally enjoyed with a glass of good red wine.  (Now, that’s our kind of Valentine’s Day.)

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Royce’ Chocolate

Royce’ Chocolate
509 Madison Ave.
Midtown East,New York 10022
(646) 590-0650

Although we adore their Candied Almond Popcorn and Caramel-covered Potato Chips, this Japanese import is best known for their trademarked “Nama” Chocolates.  The melt-in-your-mouth, Cocoa-dusted cubes are made with high quality Chocolate and Cream, flavored with Champagne, Hennessy or Matcha, and meant to be gently lifted from their boxes with the enclosed plastic spades.

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S’more Bakery

S’more Bakery
80 N. 5th St.
Brooklyn,New York 11211
(718) 928-6603

Who says you need to draw the line at chocolates when it comes to festively packaged, Valentine’s Day treats?  Smorgasburg’s S’more Bakery is offering a holiday special at both their Brooklyn booth and online; Bourbon-Madagascar Vanilla Bean Marshmallows sandwiched between heart-shaped Cinnamon Sugar & Clover Honey Graham Crackers and spread with a layer of Callebaut Semisweet Chocolate Ganache.

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One Comment

  1. We think we’ve got a pretty creative chocolate gift in our Artisanal Beer and Chocolate Box. We’re working with Ritual Chocolate and Charles Chocolates in Denver and San Francisco, respectively. as well as featuring pairings of Alesmith Speedway Stout and Boon Framboise (that’s French for “raspberry” if you know what I’m saying …). Check it out!

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