Menna's Blog http://www.mennavanpraag.com/blog Menna Van Praag Blog Mon, 24 May 2010 20:14:00 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 Heaven in Hamburg… http://www.mennavanpraag.com/blog/?p=163 http://www.mennavanpraag.com/blog/?p=163#comments Thu, 06 May 2010 22:05:21 +0000 Menna http://www.mennavanpraag.com/blog/?p=163 Sweet Dreams...It was good!Sweet Dreams

A few weeks ago I was in Hamburg (attending a brilliant workshop with Ariel & Shya Kane) and promoting the fact that Men, Money & Chocolate is now in German! And I came upon (a local told me it was the best in the city) this absolutely beautiful bakery called Sweet Dreams.

Let them eat cakeRobert & SteveFlying Chef

The decor was supurb, fun and fabulous, the cookies were extremely yummy (sadly I didn’t have a chance to try the cakes & chocolates too as was rushing to the airport and only had a few euros left) and the two chaps who own the place (Robert & Steve) were two of the nicest people I’ve ever met. All in all, I absolutely LOVED it!!

ChocolateChocolate 2Chocolate

So, if you live in Hamburg, or find yourself there (do go, it’s very well worth a visit) go to: Lehmweg 41, Hamburg 20251.

www.sweet-dreams-confiserie.de

Idilia & MeGerman CoverCup

]]> http://www.mennavanpraag.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=163 0 Chocolate delights in Paris… http://www.mennavanpraag.com/blog/?p=20 http://www.mennavanpraag.com/blog/?p=20#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:25:22 +0000 Menna http://www.mennavanpraag.com/blog/?p=20 For a recent special birthday treat I visited my brother, Jack, in Paris for a 48 tour of ALL the chocolateries we could possibly find. Needless to say it involved a lot of tasting, helpfully offset by a LOT of walking. By day 2 my hubby was feeling extremely sick and refused to eat another thing, but my brother & I marched on regardless, continuing to stuff ourselves with gourmet chocolates all, of course, in the self-sacrificing name of research. At the end of the marathon, after we’d all vowed never to consume another thing again in our lives, ever, we came up with a list of the very BEST of all….

Michel CulizMichel Culiz 2Michel Culiz 4

Michel Cluizel: 201 Rue Saint-Honoré: LOVED the 95% cocoa single origin chocolate, it’ll blow your mind! The macaroons weren’t too bad either…http://www.chocolatmichelcluizel.com

John Paul LevinMacaroonsJohn Paul Levin 3

Jean-Paul Hévin: 231 rue St-Honoré: LOVED the chocolate-covered almonds & apricot macaroons.http://www.jphevin.com

Artur chocolate shopMicheal ChaudinMicheal Chaudin 2

Michel Chaudun: 149, rue de l’Université: – no website – LOVED the pavés.

CC DisplayChristian ConventChoco Display

Christian Constant: 18, rue de Fleurus: LOVED the jasmin tea chocolates – devine! We bought 2 each, then went back for more…http://www.christianconstant.fr

PMPeirre MarcionliJohn Paul Levin 2

Pierre Marcolini: 89 Rue de Seine: LOVED the salted caramel chocolates in the shape of a little bunny rabbit. We didn’t taste the pasteries, though they looked yummy, but we tried most of the chocolates and that was by far and away the very best! http://www.marcolini.be

Macaroon DisplayCakesPatesserie

Above, a few random pictures to represent the other dozens & dozens of places we went to, but didn’t quite wow us enough to include in the list of our top picks…

Coming Soon: special dedication to Pierre Herme, 72 Rue Bonaparte: www.pierreherme.com – home of the MOST incredible chocolate & salted caramel cake I’ve EVER tasted. And some pretty incredible raspberry croissants…

ps, while we didn’t think the macaroons were actually all that amazing, one cannot blog about Paris patisseries without a brief mention, and of course a few gorgeous pics, of Ladurée. We tried all the flavours but, for me, the plain ‘ol chocolate was still the favourite.

LaudereeLauderee 2

Ladurée: http://www.laduree.fr – 5 locations in Paris, we only visited the first two on the list: 21 rue Bonaparte, 75 avenue des Champs Elysées, au Château de Versailles, 16 rue Royale, 62 boulevard Haussmann

]]> http://www.mennavanpraag.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=20 2 The Pompadour in Amsterdam http://www.mennavanpraag.com/blog/?p=1 http://www.mennavanpraag.com/blog/?p=1#comments Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:00:41 +0000 Menna http://mennavanpraag.client.tagonline.com/blog/?p=1 Men, Money & Chocolate in Dutch

A few weeks ago I spent two days in Amsterdam – the homeland of my ancestors & an absolutely wonderful city – in a lovely hotel giving interviews to very polite journalists and sneaking off whenever I could to the divine chocolaterie across the road. I tasted almost everything (I’m nothing if not diligent in my research) in this gorgeous place (the macaroons were particularly amaaazing) and, after visiting several other locations concluded that The Pompadour was the best! Here is a full tour of this delightful little chocolaterie-cum-café…

Now, I only wish I could give you a sample of the chocolate!

chocolateshop pompadour

Location: Kerkstraat 148, Amsterdam & Huidenstraat 12, Amsterdam

http://www.patisseriepompadour.com

]]> http://www.mennavanpraag.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=1 14 My Search for the BEST Chocolateries in the World! http://www.mennavanpraag.com/blog/?p=51 http://www.mennavanpraag.com/blog/?p=51#comments Sun, 14 Feb 2010 22:16:26 +0000 Menna http://www.mennavanpraag.com/blog/?p=51 Spank Me

Today is Valentine’s Day, the universal day of Love & Chocolate. So it seems the perfect day to debut my homage to the most magnificent chocolateries in the world. My mission: to travel the globe looking for the best chocolate to be found, then share the good news (if not the actual chocolate) with the few people who might stumble upon this blog. And, if you have, please do share your favourite places with me! Any offers to send samples will be received with great pleasure and certainly reciprocated!

Cookies

Hot Chocolate

Today’s chocolaterie is Jacques Torres in Brooklyn, New York. It’s first in the list because of it’s brilliant Valentine’s display (love the “spank me” chocolate heart) and amaaaazing hot chocolate (the Wicked was, well, wicked) even more amazing chocolate chip cookies (the milk, unusually, even better than the dark) and just overall loveliness of the location.

If you’re in Manhattan (Hudson Street) or Brooklyn (Dumbo) do check it out, you won’t be sorry!

http://www.jacquestorres.com

JT


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