Essential East Coast chocolate adventures

By Samantha Chapnick

Fall is a bittersweet season for most Americans. The pleasure of relaxing fall foliage trips, spooky halloween preparations, and last-chance beach vacations are tempered by the awareness that a blusteringly cold winter is lurking just behind the next calendar page.

Chocolate is one of the only reasons I get out of bed in winter. And, one of the main reasons to travel to New York or Boston in winter. Here are three absolutely essential pilgrimages for chocoholics.

1. The Langham, Boston

I paid $171 to fly to Boston just to do Cafe Flori’s Chocolate Bar (at the Langham Hotel). And I’d do it again. And again.

After 20 years of this over the top 70+ chocolate dessert orgy, the theme has been refreshed and broadened thanks to the new chef Trena Costello and her eating issues. Decades of Decadence may just be the mainstream world’s most inclusive meal yet.

Traditionalists and iron stomachs getnostalgic with the "Past" element including a large Penny Candy store (filled with old-school favorites like kisses and Mary Janes), cotton candy, Moon Pies, and a chocolate fountain with marshmallows, pretzels, strawberries and other dippers.

New twists on contemporary favorites fill the "Present" category for purists and the adventurous. A highlight is the design-your-own-candy bar. Add-ins to complement the base of milk chocolate include sea salt, ginger, cranberries, nuts and sprinkles.

The real star of the show is the "Future" oasis. Chef Costello, born with a gluten intolerance, manages to make desserts fun again for people with all types of food attitudes, allergies and intolerances while still wowing everyone else. Before any of the desserts like the Flourless Decadence Cake (gluten-free, nut-free), Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Cake, or my personal favorite, the Chocolate Walnut Brownie, made it on thetable, it had to completely fool the hotel’s sales team into believing it was the full-fat, full-flour, full-flavor version.

As one fellow attendee noted, the only thing she didn’t include was complimentary liposuction.

Details: $38 for adults and $20 for children ages 5 to 12. September 13, 2008 to June 27, 2009.
Reservations strongly advised: (617) 451-1900, extension 7125.

2. Norma’s New York City (in the Parker Meridien)

Until you actually taste it, $17 does seem a bit steep for French toast, even with a fancy name like Chocolate Decadence. But then it arrives and you just sigh, knowing once again you’ve lost the battle against addiction.

Three inch-thick, dark chocolate layers of brioche are separated by oversized strawberries and dense fresh whipped cream. The tiers are flooded by Valrhona chocolate syrup, taunted with a few healthy fresh strawberries and sprinkled with powdered sugar. More cake than toast, its dense, chewy and sweet enough to put a diabetic into a coma from just a glance.

Other equally bacchanalian choices: Caramelized Chocolate Banana Waffle Napoleon or the Chocolate Hazelnut Fruit-Filled Crêpes. Bringing a friend might make you guilty of enabling, but with easily split portions, it’ll make the prices and calories much easier to digest.

Norma’s: $20 to $25 per entree

3. Mohonk Mountain House
For one weekend in February, this Shining-esque agglomeration of Victorian-cum-Gothic buildings transforms into a Swiss Chocolate Chalet. Although the founding Quaker twin boys are long gone, their restraint is still felt in the ethos of the resort and the chocolate weekend.

Instead of going for the all-out gorge-a-thon, they’ve taken a more hands-on educational approach. Our weekend included a lesson on the composition and terminology of chocolate from a manufacturer, a hands-on tutorial resulting in a chocolate box, a screening of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, and several chocolate desserts accompanying the included meals.

The real reason to venture two hours north of Manhattan is the tranquil setting and all-inclusive activities. In between chocolate sessions, you can ice skate, hike, swim, cross-country ski, snowtube, take a nature walk or just sit quietly by a crackling fire. The absolute quiet afforded by the secluded location and noise-dampening snow makes up for the a little less than luxurious room furnishings — especially the too-soft beds.

Bypassing all physical activity, I opted to excise calories via a spa treatment. The "Mohonk Red Massage" remains memorable because of its connection to the land — integrated with the massage are oils and witch hazel made from locally available ingredients. I still put some of that signature oil into my diffuser to escape some of my more stressful Manhattan Moments.

The Art of Chocolate Weekend: Rates: $250 to $1,000. February 20-22, 2009.

Related Orbitz resources: