DISH OF THE WEEK: Chocolates from KREUTHER HANDCRAFTED CHOCOLATE

Every week, I document another dish that impressed and satiated me during my food adventures around New York City

SADLY, KREUTHER HANDCRAFTED CHOCOLATE IS NOW CLOSED.

For those of us who have been lucky enough to eat at a high-end fine dining restaurant, we know that even after the dessert course is served, there is still more to come. You should expect some little petit fours and a handful of well-crafted chocolates, macarons, bon bons, or truffles. But often times, you are so stuffed from the previous meal that those little chocolate bites are eaten mindlessly.

One such fine dining restaurant is Gabriel Kreuther and his pastry chef Marc Aumont is pretty adept at getting loads of surprising flavors into bite-sized chocolates. I’ve been fortunate enough to try a number of his creations. And now, thanks to the opening of Kreuther Handcrafted Chocolate (right next to the restaurant itself), you can splurge on some of these chocolates without the foie gras and lobster consommé.

I decided to pick up a few of these for Valentine’s Day and needless to say they were a huge hit.

At the Midtown café you get to pick which truffle, pralines, and bon bons to put on your plate. At the fancy restaurants, you don’t have a choice. Made things a bit more difficult for me.

But in the end, I chose and I think I chose well. I started with some festival strawberry and white chocolate truffles, followed by a rich concord grape yogurt bonbon, and then some excellent bites of high quality chocolate – ranging from a tropical mango and passion fruit filled chocolate seasoned with a bit of aleppo pepper to a complex and spicy ceylon cinnamon to an unusual dark chocolate coconut bar with an herb jelly.

Each bite was sweet, satisfying, and endlessly surprising. And I felt like I had just been served a fancy schmancy meal in the comfort of my own apartment without dropping more than a few dollars. Price Varies.