Sidewalks Paved With Creamy Chocolate - A Sweet-Toothed Trek Through Our Town

By Helen Klein
5/17/2006
Courier Life

At Cocoa Bar, 228 Seventh Avenue, a panoply of desserts – most made with chocolate – entice from inside sleek glass cases where they are lined up for casual or not-so-casual inspection. A densely chocolaty Baci Tart attracted me because of my passion for the hazelnut-crowned Italian chocolate candy for which it was named. With a buttery shortbread crust and a glistening swath of chocolate across its surface, it definitely, to put it mildly, did not disappoint.

Another standout did not contain chocolate. The Pear Cabernet Tart was sweet, yet light. Robed in a buttery crust, it satisfied the sweet tooth without sating. The two pastries were offerings from the nine local bakers who, co-owner Liat Cohen-Reeis said, supply the eatery with its desserts. These form the basis for a Cocoa Bar specialty — a range of dessert and wine pairings that head up the café’s menu.

Cocoa Bar also has its own line of chocolates. Some, such as I Like It Spicy and Nutmeg Nibble, are available in bars which showcase 100 percent Venezuelan chocolates enhanced by sometimes unexpected flavors.

The unexpected recurs in Cocoa Bar’s newest offerings – a line of bonbons made especially for the store. These range from Chocolate Wasabi Truffles – definitely an unusual combination – to cinnamon and Espresso bonbons, which benefit from the interplay of warm, dark flavors. I particularly liked the chocolate spiked with pasilla and cayenne peppers. The chiles’ heat, while subtle, definitely kicked up the chocolate taste.

The store, which opened last August, has become a magnet for the crowds on Seventh Avenue, who stop by for an espresso, a cappuccino, a hot chocolate (made with melted chocolate, not cocoa and topped, if you want, with a homemade marshmallow) or, of course, a nibble or two.

“Seventh Avenue definitely needed something,” remarked Cohen-Reeis, who opened Cocoa Bar with husband Yaniv Reeis. “There was really nowhere kind of cool, a little more upscale, to hang out, no chocolate boutique shop.” Since their summer opening, she added, “The brand has just been expanding and expanding. It’s nice to have it in the neighborhood we’ve been here since we moved to New York.”