Distillation: Chocoholics Unite, 2005
• Cadbury chocolate bars are awesome. The Dairy Milk, Crunchie, and Whispa bars are fantastic. Also, when in London, try the hot chocolate — tastes just like a liquid Dairy Milk bar.
• After many years of Swiss chocolate adoration, I now bow to the Belgians. They are the masters.
• The best chocolate is in Germany. I lived in Germany for 12 years and couldn’t get enough of their chocolate. Milka and Ritter Sport are great! The Kinder Überaschung (Kid’s Surprise) eggs are very popular. Also, during Christmas they come out with Advent calendars that have chocolate hidden behind the flip-open door for each day. Eating those made the wait bearable. In London, visit Charbonnel et Walker, 28 Old Bond Street, near Kensington, for the best chocolates anywhere.
• My favorite European chocolate: Ritter Sport. It’s German, but it’s sold all over Europe. Ritter Sport is a square bar that comes in a million varieties. My favorite is praline (dark blue wrapper).
• Near Zürich, tour the Lindt factory in Kilchberg. Tours are free (Wed–Fri, catch S-1 or S-8 from Zürich Hauptbahnhof to Kilchberg, walk three min).
• One word: Sprungli, Zürich, Bahnhofstrasse...OK, that was three words, but when in Zürich, go to the Sprungli shop on Bahnhofstrasse and enjoy... mmmm...makes my mouth water just thinking about it.
• We did the equivalent of a pub-crawl in Bruges and sampled truffles at all the small chocolate shops. By noon we were on a major sugar buzz. The best was at Depla’s.
• Once I met a man on a plane who told me he was the chocolate taster for Hershey’s and his job was to travel the world tasting chocolate. His favorite? Belgian.
• Did you know they put the equivalent of 1.5 cups of milk into every huge Cadbury Dairy Milk bar? At last, a palatable solution to the specter of osteoporosis!
• A good friend from Brussels explained that “Mary’s” had the best chocolate in Brussels (and thus the world). He noted that there are two stores of every type, which are appointed by the King. One is a large, commercial place (Godiva in this case) and one is a small place, where the King actually buys his goods. Mary’s is that place.
• If you are a chocoholic, then you must tour the Cadbury factory (train to Birmingham, then local train to Bournville, then a 10-min walk). Upon entering, you’re greeted with the most heavenly smell, a lively tour, and an entire chocolate bar! As you munch, you walk through the history of chocolate.
• Try the hot chocolate in Paris to truly experience it the way it was meant to be. The best place is Angelina near the Louvre, across from the Tuileries on rue de Rivoli. Order the Africain, a pot of liquid pleasure. We loved Angelina so much that we named our cat after it.
• After two trips to Paris, walking everywhere and tasting along the way, we’ve found our favorite chocolatier. It’s Puyricard (on avenue Rapp in the seventh arrondisement).
• The chocolate factory alone is reason enough to visit Köln, Germany. They offer tours with a history of chocolate-making and a great look at all the machines in action.