Ode to Vosges

I live in Hershey, Pennsylvania. When I tell most outsiders this, they dramatically throw their hand to their forehead and exclaim that I must be in heaven. Considering that 2 weeks before we moved here Ruby was diagnosed with Diabetes put a damper on the excitement of living in this chocolate crazed town. Another reason I don't share their sentiments is that while I think Hershey is a lovely place to live (if you're going to live in the East), the chocolate itself is pretty much the Wonder Bread of all chocolates in my mind. I am a major chocolate snob. (Are you suprised?) If the chocolate comes from the grocery store, it's most likely not worth eating. I hold back thumbing my nose everytime I drive down Chocolate Avenue underneath the Hershey kisses lamposts. So a couple of weeks ago when we went to NYC, I found Vosges Haut Chocolat, my new favorite chocolate shop. And imagine my suprise when I checked my hotmail junk mail a couple days ago and found an email from Vosges. Salivating, I opened the email and doth my eyes deceive me? Did I just get a personal email from a Vosges employee explaining that she enjoyed my blog and would I like to receive complimentary Vosges chocolates? Did I just die and receive my heavenly reward for being such a good girl? And how did this angel get my email address and how did she find my blog? Ah yes, I had linked their website back when I posted about visiting the store on our trip to NYC.


After some investigation and deciding that the employee was just a very, very nice person and not an internet predator, I emailed back my address. Today in the mail as promised, I received my chocolates. I am waiting until Go gets home to break these bad boys open because I think the next time I'd see him would be in divorce court if I dared to eat these chocolates without him.


Our whole Vosges Chocolates experience has been beyond delightful. Bob, Harry (2 of Go's brothers), Go, myself and the girls were trekking around Soho. We came upon a shop adorned in deep purple. (This image of the shop is a different location than the one we went to, but the same store design.) As I've mentioned before, I am not a fan of the color purple, so I hung back. Bob headed inside with Harry trailing behind him. I wasn't really paying attention to the fact that it was a chocolate shop, otherwise I think I would have been heading the venture inside. "Go ahead. I'll stay out here with the girls." I really just wanted to lean agaist the wall and stare at people. Go shrugged and went inside. Two seconds later, he popped his head out the door and said "Trust me, you're going to want to come in here." We hefted the stroller inside and instantly, I fell in love. Bob was already at the counter, chatting it up with an employee (who I'm hoping was the same employee that emailed me.) Smiling, she presented him with 5 truffles placed on a small retanglular platter. I appreciate good design and this shop was brimming with it. I was even warming up to the purple--it works for them for some reason.


We ordered some chilled haut chocolat, which was divine and worth every penny. Over on the other side of the counter, the employee was explaining that she had placed Bob chocolates on the little platter in the order that he should eat them, that he should start with the least strong tasting first, working up to the strongest, deepest chocolate last.
The truffles, though, were unlike any chocolate I had tasted and I have tried quite a few exotic chocolates in my day. I especially liked the Absinthe truffle, made with Chinese star anaise, fennel, Pastis and dark chocolate. I also tried the Black Pearl truffle, made with ginger, wasabi, sesame seeds and dark chocolate. We talked with the employee for awhile and she showed us some other things, made us smell them and gave us more samples. Snickering, we put my in-laws address on their mailing list in hopes that we would receive Vosges chocolates in our Christmas stocking this Christmas. The girl who helped us was spunky and cute and I was hoping Harry, my unmarried bro-in-law would whisk her away with us and marry her so we could partake in these heavenly chocolates for the rest of our days. Unfortunately, he's shy. Anway, I could have stayed there all day. The whole experience was a delight and my tastebuds have never been more satisfied, I would venture to say. Look into their product--you will not be sorry.
Thank you P.W., thank you for sending us your crazy delicious Vosges chocolates.