Ode to the Polar Bear

Or more accurately; my thoughts on a velvety, sweet, slightly clotted cream like white chocolate concoction on 18th street in Manhattan. The whole month of February is hot chocolate festival at The City Bakery. Yay! The City Bakery website has a handy calendar displaying the flavor of the day (http://hotchocolatefestival.com/) and today when I happened to be in the neighbourhood the flavor du jour was Ode to the Polar Bear Hot Chocolate.

After a brief but intense internal debate about whether or not I could with a clear conscience have both hot chocolate and one of their addictive pretzel croissants, I somehow managed to order just the chocolate with a homemade marshmallow on top.

It came in a small white bowl. Very simple and pretty. It reminded me of Danish design but that must be my current furniture obsession talking. Anyway this picture will attest that the off white of the chocolate combined with the chalky white of the marshmallow really stood out against the sleek shiny ceramicness of the bowl.

Taste? mmwaa I have to conclude. It looked prettier than it tasted I am sad to report. The first sip was surprising in a good way but with each additional sip it started to taste more and more like a (not so good quality) melted white chocolate bar. It was just too rich and sweet. Maybe I should have had it without the marshmallow which added to the sweetness. I like the way marshmallows slowly melt when bobbing around in chocolate so trooper that I am, I drank about 1/3 of the bowl and ate some of the marshmallow but I don't think I would try it again. That said, I am a big fan of City Bakery and pretty much any festival that involves hot chocolate so I will go back before the end of the month and try another flavor.

You can find The City Bakery at 3 West 18th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues. My hot chocolate was $5.50.