L.A. Burdick Cafe and Chocolate Shop NYC
L.A. Burdick --purveyors of fine edibles, all involving chocolate--has something of a cultish following in its native New England. Now, we will wolf chocolate-anything quicker than the next two guys, so when we heard that the Burdicks (it's a husband and wife team) were opening a branch right here on 20th Street, it quickly moved to the top of our must-try dessert spots. Because although Walpole, New Hampshire, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, are undoubtedly lovely little towns, New York City, with its many firmly established, supremely delicious chocolate (hot and otherwise) shops already in place, is a different story altogether. Basically, quaint decor and just-serviceable sweets is not going to cut it here in the big city. Can Burdick deliver more?
The good news: the chocolates we tried were excellent, on par with some of the city's best at Roni Sue's and Bespoke Chocolates. And those three shades of mice, and the flock of penguins? Cute as a button! The prices are a little high at the main counter, but the approximately 15-piece, $8 bag of "seconds" we found over by the hot chocolate bar may have looked a bit scruffy, but tasted just fine. Whether filled with pistachio or caramel or raspberry or ganache, in dark, milk or even white, this is rich, honest, sweet-but-not-too-, chocolate.
The less good news: Burdick's chocolate in cake and warm-beverage format was only just OK. The baked goods all looked pretty ordinary (and pretty pricey), and the chocolate-raspberry "Birthday Cake" we tried didn't rise above expectations. The hot chocolate, too--frothy on top, sludgy below--was fine, but nothing to get too excited about either. And with the amazing City Bakery just a couple of blocks away, it seems unlikely that we'll be back to Burdick for more from this section of the shop. Again, we did like that bag of "seconds" though.
L.A. Burdick Cafe and Chocolate Shop details
L.A. Burdick Cafe and Chocolate Shop is located on 20th Street between Fifth Avenue and Broadway, and is open from 9:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday; until 10:00 p.m. on Saturdays; and until 8:00 p.m. on Sundays. The decor is unashamedly New England-quaint, creating a more dowdy feel to the proceedings than we wanted for our Saturday night sweet-stop. For more info, see the Burdick's website, here.
Posted at 05:11PM Jan 28, 2010 by Scott in 10010 |
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