More Soho Adventures

Last Friday, my mother and I explored SoHo. We walked a lot, saw a lot, and ate a lot! What could be better? Mom met me at my apartment after my morning class, then we were off. We hopped on the F and got off at Broadway/Lafayette.

We wandered the cobble stone streets of SoHo, admiring the mix of old and new. One of the things that I love about SoHo is the fact that I always feel as though I am trapped in a bizarre time warp. The buildings are still so classic and reminiscent of the turn of the century and some of the smaller streets are still cobblestone! This is then juxtaposed with modern stores, cafes, taxis, and artwork. It's a wonderful blend. Mom and I meandered around the backstreets of SoHo for about 45 minutes, eventually arriving at our first stop: Harney & Sons.

In a previous blog post, I believe I shared with you all my love for this store. My family have been long time H&S customers and we used to visit their flagship store in upstate NY. My mother had never been to the SoHo store, so I was eager to take her there. She was very impressed.

In addition to their amazing inventory, I love the fact that Harney sells a selection of tea-related knick knacks. For example, these heavy duty coasters for your tea mug.

So cute! I wish I had bought these.

No visit to Harney & Sons is complete without tasting some tea, of course! Once upon a time, when my family and I visited the Millerton store, we were allowed unlimited tastes, but that is no more. Now, you are limited to one free sample and the option to taste the brewed tea of the day. 

Mom and I happily tasted the teas of the day as well as well as sampled the lychee tea. Normally, I hate fruity tea, but I was intrigued. I love lychees and I love Harney & Sons. Considering that this was a free sample, I figured, "I lose nothing by trying." I am so glad I thought that. It was delicious! I was pleasantly surprised! It tasted like a ceylon and the sweetness of the lychee appeared as an after taste. Yum yum! Mom bought some tea and I bought a tin of the lychee blend.  

Lovely set up as I wait for my tea to brew

I love this map~!

After Harney & Sons, we walked along Broome St. We passed many fashionable stores, but there was one place that I wanted to take my mom to. Pearl River Mart. This is basically a giant store with Chinese knick knacks. It has food, clothes, housing stuff...it's eclectic. The items that I thought would interest my mother the most was the selection of Asian plates/teapots/bowls etc... She is always talking about how she wants to buy new things, but she wants to by Asian designs. Well, she looked like a kid in a candy store! She was having such a ball browsing!

I came across these interesting baggies...

They are lunch bags with a cockroach decal on them. My worst nightmare...

After Pearl River Mart, we continued along Broome St. Mom and I popped into Sunrise Mart for a few minutes. We love Japanese grocery stores and I wanted to show this one to mom. She was incredibly impressed. 

Finally, the main event: MarieBelle. We had been walking around SoHo now for several hours and our stomachs began to gurgle. It was at this moment that we walked past one of our favorite stores, MarieBelle. I have written about MarieBelle in the past, but for those who may not know, this is a delightful chocolate store. The front of MarieBelle is a chocolatier and the back is a lovely little "Cacao Bar." 

The Cacao Bar feels like an 18th century French tea salon!

I took this picture of the store from the cacao bar

The dessert counter

Some of the decor

MarieBelle is famous for its chocolate, specifically it's hot cacao. The cacao is not very sweet, but it is incredibly rich. Yum! There are a variety of "flavors" or levels of bitterness ranging from "Aztec" (65%) and it goes up to about 80% darkness. Since this was our first time eating here, our really nice waiter gave us a sample of the Aztec blend. It was delicious. In fact, my mom ordered a small cup of Aztec hot cacao with her dessert and I ordered a "mocha" cacao. It was essentially the Aztec blend with a dash of espresso taste. Yum yum yum!!!

My mom ordered the "Sacher" cake and a small Aztec Cacao

I ordered Banana Fosters crepe and a Mocha cacao

Our desserts were delicious. I mean, really delicious. They were sort of sweet, but then again, that sweetness was balanced by the rich hot cacao. As much as I love chocolate, I'll be honest, after several sips, the richness started to get to me. As in, I felt a bit sick. I think the problem was that I was lasting my cacao and as a consequence, my cacao cooled down too much. Instead of piping hot chocolate goodness, it turned into thick cool chocolate syrup. It was a bit much to drink, but it made a great sauce for my crepes!  Cloud 9!