bite-sized portions of instant goodness

Somewhere on St. Denis is Suite 88 Chocolatier.

The chocolates sit in glass display cases, each single piece on a single square white plate. Two chocolate-coated cherries sit in the next case, along with a handful of chocolate-coated cranberries and three delicate chocolate-coated tuiles. It’s all very minimalist: White walls, white plates, beautiful chocolate. It’s so chic that calling it chocolate makes it sound plain and boorish, it’s definitely more chocolat than chocolate.

I love being adventurous with chocolat with new exotic flavours, especially after my trip to Paris and Bruges last spring. There’s a lovely shop, on île St-Louis along the Seine called Cacao et Chocolat, where I was introduced to strange new flavours like cayenne pepper, cardamom and Venezuelan Tonka bean. (What the hell is a tonka bean?? Don't know but I ate it all the same) In Bruges, the locals showed us the path to chocolat mecca, a place called Chocolate Line where I was rewarded with lemongrass and Wasabi flavours. Yeah, Wasabi, mmmm!

So anyway, i was oohing and aahing at the scrumptious sight to behold and resisting the urge to eat the shop from the inside out, when the salesgirl mentioned that a jalapeño flavour was available. And then I knew it: The bar of dark chocolate with jalapeño (jalapeño!) peppers – it just had to be mine.

This kind of chocolat you put whole in your mouth and let the flavour creep in gently and subtly. The dark chocolate itself was quite exquisite, just bitter enough to make for a good dark chocolate, yet sweet enough to draw out the spiciness of the jalapeños. Halfway as you’re savouring the chocolate, the jalapeños kick in, slowly at first then hard and fast progressively until finally all you have in your mouth is this spicy prickly aftertaste. It’s this aftertaste however, that kind of ruined the experience. It felt like a fake chili aftertaste, kind of like how you can tell when powdered chocolate is used in hot chocolates instead of chocolate syrup.

But the highlight of this chocolat expérience were the shooters. You bite the tip off and knock back the shot of liquor inside, before feasting on the lovely outer shell, letting it melt in your mouth while swirling it lightly with the liquor. Bite-sized portions of instant goodness! Mmmmm dee-lee-cious! I had a Soho lychee liquor one, which blended perfectly with the chocolate without either overpowering the other, making it smooth, fruity and chocolate-y all at the same time. It went down so well, it felt completely guiltfree! I’ll definitely be heading back to Suite 88 for more shooters, Absolut vodka, sake and Kahlua at least. I only wish they had more flavours, like Bailey’s, Manzana, Cointreau or champagne.

Here's a picture: It's amazing what Photoshop can do! And of course, I'm trying to be arty farty. Lindt chocolate shavings lying around!