Written by 1:09 am FOOD & DRINK

The Best Hot Chocolate in NYC

We tried over three dozen hot chocolates, and one thing is clear: New Yorkers are living in a golden age of hot chocolate. From decadent sipping chocolates to light, frothy hot cocoas, below you’ll find the best takes on this classic treat.

Breads Bakery

The bakery best known for their chocolate babka is also home to a luxurious hot chocolate that, in founder Gadi Peleg’s words, is meant to taste like a bar of melted chocolate. Bread’s offering is one of the simplest recipes, combining chocolate, milk, and salt, and is one of the few which is allowed to crystallize overnight to deepen the chocolate flavor. Breads suggests dipping the bakery’s challah bread as a complement.
1080 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036
(212) 633-2253

Venchi

Offering one of the more diminutive cups available in the city, Venchi’s selection is a good fit for those looking for an intense but measured offering. The Italian gelateria and chocolate shop’s thick hot chocolate uses a combination of cocoa mix, sugar, and whole milk and is available in classic, milk chocolate hazelnut, or 75 percent dark hazelnut variations, the latter based on hazelnut creams sourced from the Piedmont region of Italy and topped with Venchi’s trademark, crunchy “chocoviar.”
861 Broadway, New York, NY 10003
(646) 448-8663

Ladurée

In keeping with their legendary macarons, Ladurée’s hot chocolate is light, rich, and subtly sweet. Using the same recipe as their Parisian locations, Ladurée uses a combination of dark Valrhona chocolate and cocoa paste to give depth of body to the dessert while making it easily drinkable. New for this year, the French pastry shop also offers a spiked version for dining-in only.
398 West Broadway, New York, NY 10012
(917) 846-7847

Lysée

A nod to her culinary and cultural heritage, Eunji Lee’s dairy-free “maeimil” hot chocolate at her French-Korean bakery in Flatiron is made with a base of toasted buckwheat-infused oat milk and a torched homemade vanilla marshmallow. The result is a very light, subtly sweet hot chocolate that has a nutty, nearly malted profile and provides an intriguing departure from the traditional milk or cream-based fare.
44 E 21st St (btw Broadway & Park Ave South), New York, NY 10010
(646) 678-3131

Thierry Atlan

This Soho-based chocolatier and macaron shop offers a hot chocolate that is a celebration of both of its dessert lineages. Blended with a mix of dark chocolate beans, the drink is lightly sweet, chocolaty, while not being too heavy. What makes Thierry Atlan’s offering particularly inviting is the accompanying mound of whipped cream, created with West African dark chocolate, finished with one of Thierry Atlan’s signature chocolate macarons.
436 W Broadway, New York, NY 10012

Santa Chiara Caffe

When you order a hot chocolate from this Long Island City Italian dessert and coffee shop, the barista makes it from scratch, starting with your preference of chocolate, pulled from a row of glass canisters of Northern Italian chocolate callets lined against the counter. The result is light, frothy, milky hot chocolate. Of note is the rarely offered ruby chocolate hot chocolate, made from the pink chocolate varietal with a slightly more fruity, berry-like flavor.
5241 Center Blvd (btwn Borden Ave & 54th Ave), Long Island City, NY 11101
(929) 424-5955

L.A. Burdick Handmade Chocolates

L.A. Burdick has been crafting whimsical chocolates and exceptional drinking chocolate since 1987. At the charming Soho shop, guests can choose between cups of lushly thick white chocolate, milk chocolate, a dark chocolate blend, or a variety of single-origin dark chocolates from Ecuador to Madagascar. Each cup is made with chocolate shavings and steamed milk, lending a melted chocolate bar-type quality.
156 Prince St, New York, NY 10012
(212) 796-0143

Rigor Hill Market

Glace by Noglu

A cynic might suspect that the classic s’mores hot chocolate at Glace, with its ice cream scoop of whipped cream and full collar of burnt marshmallow, might be designed in a workshop for maximum social media virality. But there’s no denying the fun of dismantling this sweet, absurdist dessert drink. Tending on the quite sweet side and difficult to eat without making a mess, the mix of textures and flavors works to create a creme brulee-like effect.
1266 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10128

From thick and decadent to light and frothy, these are some of the best hot chocolates New York City has to offer. No matter your preference, there’s a perfect cup waiting for you this winter.

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