NYC’s Most Creative Valentine’s Day Chocolates
From 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
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.”
Read MoreRoni-Sue Chocolates
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.
Read MoreVosges Haut-Chocolat
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.
Read MoreLiddabit Sweets
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.
Read MoreMarieBelle
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.
Read MoreFine & Raw
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.)
Read MoreRoyce’ Chocolate
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.
Read MoreS’more Bakery
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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Check out My Book – Try This
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!