‘Annie in Paris’: One of the best chocolat chaud

After our first day of French class, I pulled Gabby apart. “Wanna go get scorching chocolate?” I stated. “That sounds good,” stated Gabby. I didn’t know Gabby, not properly. We had mutual buddies. I had met her earlier than. However I needed to strive Parisian scorching chocolate, and it was chilly and Gabby appeared like the correct associate for the job.

It seems Gabby was the proper associate. Gabby loves scorching chocolate, perhaps greater than I do. What started that late afternoon in an off-shoot of the tearoom Angelina subsequent to Jardin de Luxembourg turned a quarter-long quest to seek out the perfect Chocolat Chaud within the metropolis. This isn’t a job that Gabby and I took calmly. Angelina is the vacationer favourite, however we requested locals for his or her opinions too. Our French instructor really helpful locations to us: Le Procope (unhealthy) and La Coupole (additionally unhealthy). The web really helpful Carette, and at first sip it was a delight, however it had this unusual texture that was clearly resulting from thickening brokers that I couldn’t recover from, so it, too, was unhealthy. It was stunning what some locations would attempt to get away with: Amarino charged us 5 euro, and proceeded to serve us scorching chocolate powder blended with steamed milk. As if!

By means of our travels throughout Paris, I saved in thoughts an necessary distinction, which is how to order scorching chocolate in French. Many menus provide a number of issues: Chocolat Chaud is the overall translation of scorching chocolate. Nonetheless, this will generally consult with boring, run-of-the-mill, American-style scorching chocolate. Or it may be the thick and creamy sort — it relies on the institution. Chocolat viennois, (Viennese chocolate) can be scorching chocolate with whipped cream. If chocolat chaud à l’ancienne is on the menu, that is your greatest guess. The purpose is, there is no such thing as a clear distinction between good scorching cocoa and powder blended, so if you happen to’re ever searching for a thick Parisian scorching chocolate, I counsel talking with the workers.

Our Standards:

• Taste: Dense chocolate. Virtually too dense earlier than the whipped cream is added.
• Texture: must be thick, leaving a skinny layer on the sting of the cup. Shouldn’t have the grittiness of added cornstarch or different thickening brokers.
• Expertise: Sizzling chocolate is supposed to be loved, not consumed. We most well-liked so as to add the whipped cream ourselves, having it primarily served in separate trays, not haphazardly piled on prime.

Outcomes:

• Greatest Total: Angelina, Rue de Rivoli
  • Word: I want that Angelina wasn’t the perfect one. I want I may inform you {that a} smaller, quainter, much less touristy store had thicker and extra velvety scorching chocolate. That may merely be dishonest. Angelina, at this particular location, is the perfect. We additionally tried the Jardin de Luxembourg location and the Rue de Bac location, and neither held as much as the model right here. Moreover, we tried it at this location each to eat in and perform. Want I say it? It’s higher if you happen to eat in.
• Shut Runner Up: Grom (close to the Pantheon)
  • The second-best scorching chocolate in Paris could shock you, as a result of it has neither good ambiance, nor self-serve whipped cream, however that could be a testomony to the flavour and texture of this one. Grom is an Italian gelato chain, however their whipped cream was higher than every other I discovered in Paris; I want the density of Italian whipped cream. Don’t miss this surprising gem.
• Additionally is sweet and price ingesting: Pierre Herme 
  • When you’ve got a candy tooth, Pierre Herme’s scorching cocoa just isn’t for you. In the event you like ingesting scorching chocolate that tastes medicinal, buttery and goes straight to your core: come right here and deal with your self to a paper cup together with a flower-topped macaron (word: additionally the perfect macarons in Paris, on this author’s not-so-humble opinion).

Cliche or not, my favourite a part of discovering the perfect scorching chocolate in Paris was not the decadent drink however fairly making a brand new shut connection over mugs of the steamy confection. Traversing by arrondissements, metros and crowded streets, previous Haussmann structure and weiner canines, Gabby and I talked of French males, French politics and dissected our lives — previous, current, and future. Being away from Stanford and the comforts of the US made somebody I barely knew earlier than really feel like residence.