Day One at the Newly Opened Rock Center Jacques Torres

Jacques Torres at Rock Center
Yesterday the Rock Center concourse branch of Jacques Torres opened. When I heard that JT himself would be on hand for the official opening, and that there was free hot chocolate involved I had to go check it out. I dropped by just before noon and the store wasn’t crowded. Chef Torres himself was greeting people at the door. The shop itself is brightly lit and all done up for Valentine’s Day. There are 3 small tables for eating/drinking in and four additional stools at the bar.

wicked hot chocolate

In addition to an espresso bar they serve both Classic and Wicked Hot Chocolate $3.50 plus tax for a small or $4.90 for a large. The hot chocolate here is rich and satisfying and the wicked one comes with a chili infused kick. Thicker than your standard hot cocoa, this is really more of a drinking chocolate. I’ve made it from the mix at home and instead of a powder, it’s made with melted bits of very good chocolate with steamed milk. A small is more than enough of a decadent treat.

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I admired the by the piece candy but settled on one of their chocolate chip cookies. These cookies are intensely buttery and equally chocolatey. And they make for a fantastic ice cream sandwich. The DUMBO and TriBeCa shops offer these ice cream sandwiches in the summer so I couldn’t resist asking if they might make an appearance in Rock Center when the warmer weather finally arrived. Chef Torres said that thought the shop isn’t set up for a freezer, they’d see what they could do about getting a small one in. Fingers crossed!

Jacques Torres, 30 Rockefeller Center Plaza, concourse level

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