5 NYC Chocolatiers Infuse Confections with Culture
New York City
New York City is often referred to as a melting pot, but a closer look reveals a celebration of diversity in people, art, music, and more. One of the joys of New York City is enjoying flavors from a wide array of cultures. You may be thinking of iconic foods like pizza, fried chicken, Peking duck, and sushi, but chocolate also offers the perfect vehicle to impart delectable, culturally rich flavors. Here are five spots to taste some of the finest chocolates, infused with culture.
Jessica Spaulding and Asha Dixon at Harlem Chocolate Factory photo credit Anna Mindess
Located in the heart of Harlem, the Harlem Chocolate Factory was established in 2018 by Jessica Spaulding and Asha Dixon. Spaulding had an early fascination with fine chocolate and taught herself to temper it at the age of 10. “But when my mother and I would attend New York’s yearly Salon du Chocolat, we would see chocolates from every single country and region around the world, but not my culture,” she said. “European is the standard, but nothing represented me.” Spaulding promised herself to change that one day. Now, everything from their gold-dusted Brownstone Bars to their truffles and bonbons is imbued with intentionality to honor Harlem’s past and present spirit of vibrancy and creativity.
Their Sunday Soul collection presents chocolate truffle interpretations of classic African American desserts typically found at Sunday suppers, such as Sweet Potato Pie, Banana Pudding and Red Velvet Cake.
Harlem Brownstone bar photo credit Anna Mindess
“We also want to give Black farmers and other Black owned brands the opportunity to be incorporated into our products,” says Asha Dixon. “Our mission as a brand is not only to elevate ourselves but bring people up with us.”
For example, the Whiskey Truffle in their Speakeasy Collection honors the recently rediscovered story of Uncle Nearest, the first African American master distiller and formerly enslaved master brewer who is credited with developing Jack Daniels Whiskey.
Their Signature Collection includes Afternoon Snack, which elevates a classic PB&J into a bonbon layered with strawberry chipotle fig pate de fruit and milk chocolate peanut almond praline. The effect is a sublime, layered tasting experience, as the strawberry chipotle opens the palette with a slight smoky tingling.
In 2020, they were one of Oprah’s Favorite Things, and have been featured on several television shows. Harlem Chocolate Factory will be a part of this year’s Salon du Chocolat, “And I’m also on their advisory council,” says Spaulding, “so, we’ve come full circle!”
Susanna Yoon of Stick With Me Sweets photo credit Evan Sung
Susanna Yoon, a Korean American chef and chocolatier, credits her grandmother for inspiring her to take care of people through cooking. But before she turned to chocolate, Yoon, who grew up near Seattle, attended college in Seoul, then lived and worked in Shanghai and Beijing for five years.
At her shop in the Nolita neighborhood, which often appears on Best Chocolate in NY Lists, you can pick from two dozen flavors of bonbons. “Nowadays, eating is very visual,” says Yoon. “It needs to look beautiful and taste good.” Her bonbons may display ethereal blue clouds, shimmering golden speckles, or a glowing orange orb. She, and her team of 12 chocolatiers, hand paint the shells of each bonbon. And the tastes inside are equal to the unearthly beauty of the chocolate shells. “Our goal is to put a dessert inside of a bonbon,” she says.
“Every piece tells a story,” says the chocolatier. “The black sesame bonbon reminds me of when I used to roast sesame seeds with my grandma at home. When I roast them now, I think about the aromas of the sesame and sesame oil and the seeds jumping out of the pan. It has a little passion fruit gel – so there are little specks of orange on the shell. It’s a very bold flavor.”
Stick with me Sweets photo credit Anna Mindess
The kalamansi pie came from a guest who asked if Yoon could put her favorite dessert, lemon meringue pie, into a bonbon. She accepted that challenge, but instead of lemon, picked kalamansi, a citrus fruit popular in Southeast Asia. Take a bite and observe the petite layers of pie crust, kalamansi custard, and meringue. It’s like a party in your mouth.
“New York is an amazing place because people from around the world live here,” says Yoon. “You are immersed in everyone else’s culture, so you learn about different flavors from other people.” She gets inspired by eating food from a range of cultures. Her chocolates often feature flavors such as yuzu and matcha. Yoon admired her grandmother’s love language of cooking for the family all day long to cover the entire table with dishes. “When she left us,” the chocolatier says, “I wanted to nurture other people and bring joy through food. I don’t do Korean stews, my vehicle is chocolates, and it’s not like making a cake or a pie with just one flavor, you can have 24 flavors. That’s what we do: take the flavors you know and elevate them.”
Kee Ling Tong of Kee's Chocolates photo credit Anna Mindess
Kee Ling Tong was born in Macau, lived in Hong Kong, then her family came to New York’s Lower East Side and at age12, they moved to Chinatown. The youngest of four girls, the cooking was left to her older sisters.
After 15 years in the world of corporate finance, Tong wanted a change and studied pastry at the French Culinary Institute in NYC. But she found pastry involved too much measurement, “It was all about numbers,” she says, “With chocolate, on the other hand, besides being precise regarding tempering it, you can be as creative as you want.” Since her six months in culinary school only included one week on chocolate, Tong traveled to France and worked in a bakery, but still didn’t get to dive into chocolate. The petite woman, who describes herself as “determined,” returned to New York shortly before 9/11, and when everything closed, stayed home, and mastered the art of tempering chocolate.
The inspiration for many of her chocolate creations comes, improbably, from various noodle dishes she has eaten. “I eat out a lot. I’m more of a savory person,” says Tong. “If I’m eating a dish with spices, I think how would this taste in chocolate?”
Kee's chocolates photo credit Anna Mindess
She credits her father for two of her flavors, Thai chilis and smoked salt. “Dad was a chef, and he taught my sisters how to cook. My family cooked traditionally Chinese, they added a lot of Szechuan pepper and salt.” Another flavor, sesame paste with black sesame, is reminiscent of the sesame balls popular in dim sum.
Tong works in her tiny shop on the Upper West side seven days a week. Her flavors shift seasonally as she insists on using only fresh fruit such as longan, lychee, pineapple, and passionfruit. Other flavors include fennel, ginger, lemon basil, green tea, lemongrass mint, and yuzu.
The signature sweet at Kee’s chocolates, which is also often named one of New York’s best chocolate shops, is crème brulé, which performs a magic trick in your mouth. Impossibly, as your teeth shatter the rich chocolate shell, the creamiest French custard suddenly appears in its place! (Her culinary school professor told her this would be impossible, but Tong liked the challenge.)
Yukiko Hayakawa and Noe photo credit Lanna Apisukh
Dark vegan chocolate imbued with sake lees and adorned with rose petals, or featuring crunchy bits of roast soba and dusted with bright blue spirulina. During the pandemic, Yukiko Hayakawa was looking for a treat she and her 5-year-old daughter, Noé, could make and enjoy together. Although she was drawn to rich sweets with cream, butter, and sugar, she wanted something they could have every day, with some added health benefits. Their participation in a friend’s pop-up led to the birth of Noé No Omise, (which means Noé’s store.)
Yuki bars photo credit Lanna Apisukh
Hayakawa, who hails from Nagoya, Japan, had worked in interior decorating, and had always had an artistic bent. Now, she says she “uses chocolate as a canvas,” adorning her treats with flower petals or pleasingly arranged dried fruit. A strong believer in Japan’s “no waste culture,” she incorporates sake kasu, which she gets directly from a sake maker. These pressed lees, left over from the sake making process, boast many health properties such as protein, B-vitamins, and amino acids. In fact, she says, “Every ingredient in our chocolate has a health benefit,” including Ecuadorian cacao, spirulina powder, activated charcoal, and monk fruit. Hayakawa uses maple syrup instead of sugar. Her vegan chocolates are gluten-free, dairy-free, and soy free. Her white chocolate combines cacao butter with roasted cashew butter. Some bars feature dehydrated orange, key lime, Japanese kumquats, cardamon oil, hojicha, or matcha powder.
Hayakawa says, “I love food that makes me giggle, especially one that tastes good and makes you healthy.”
For now, Hayakawa, who is self-taught, works alone in a commercial kitchen making up to 70 bars a day. She often does partnerships with the sake and soba makers or Suntory Whisky and sells online and at pop-up events. She hopes to open a shop soon.
Gabriela Pires of Brigadeiro Brasilero photo credit Anna Mindess
No party in Brazil is complete without chocolate confections called brigadeiros. Gabriela Pires’ goal is to share this national passion, similar to a truffle, except that it’s made with condensed milk instead of cream.
“Brigadeiros are very important in Brazilian culture,” she said. “You make them with your family when you’re younger. You learn from your parents or grandparents. My grandmother taught me. At any birthday party or wedding in Brazil, there must be brigadeiros. It’s a comfort food, so growing up in Brazilian culture, if you’re sad you make a brigadeiro.”
Pires was born in Rio de Janeiro but moved to the US when she was 7 years old. Her grandmother stayed in Brazil, and she would visit.
Pires, who is also a fashion designer, decided to share these confections because they were so special to her. “I make my brigadeiros with natural ingredients and I’ve added some new flavors,” she says. “I import Brazilian condensed milk, as it’s the key ingredient.”
Brigadeiro Brasileiro Casadinho
The dough, which is classically chocolate flavored, is cooked, with any additional flavors, then cooled, and hand rolled one by one in sprinkles. Timing is of the essence. Pires uses natural sprinkles and may add some non-traditional flavors from fresh fruit such as strawberry, guava and pineapple.
She sells her treats at an underground market near a busy subway station. “When homesick Brazilians see the Brazilian flag, they come over and are so happy that they can get comfort right here,” says Pires. “Other people come by and ask, ‘What’s this?’ I am happy to introduce them to Brazilian culture.”
Brigadeiros play an important role in weddings, where the sweets are called casadinho, which means “married,” and are made with a union of light and dark chocolates.
“There’s another type that many people have at weddings too,” Pires says, “These are made with sugar plums stuffed with coconut and called olha de sogra, or mother-in-law’s eyes—why? because they are always watching,” she adds smiling. Pires hopes to have a shop soon, meanwhile, she sells at TurnStyle Underground Market, under Columbus Circle, at pop-ups around the city, and on Etsy.