Table Talk with Jeremy Wayne: Resistance is futile at two new area chocolatiers

The Westchester mall in White Plains, already spangled with high-end stores, has a classy new international name to add to its luxury-brands – Venchi (pronounced VENN-ki.) 

You can’t take more than a few steps in an Italian city without coming across a branch of Venchi, but nowadays you don’t need to cross the Pond to enjoy the treats of this famous chocolatier and gelateria, because Venchi is now a huge international brand of its own. With more than 180 chocolate and gelato stores in key cities in 70 countries around the world, Venchi has 12 in the United States with seven in New York alone. The Union Square branch at 861 Broadway boasts the biggest chocolate waterfall in the world. 

The new Venchi in The Westchester inhabits the space once occupied by Godiva, a bright corner site with two entrances. The store is made even more inviting by Venchi’s trademark bright lighting and the colorful packaging and displays for which this “chocogelato” brand is known and loved. 

Chocolates here come in all shapes and sizes, with the Chocoviar (short for chocolate with caviar) bonbons being among the most popular, the “caviar” actually being the sprinkles that adorn these jewel-like miniatures. (I say “jewel-like,’ but frankly these one-bite “jewels” are so large they’d even make Marilyn Monroe’s Lorelei Lee in “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” blush.) Individually wrapped chocolates include Cremino, a chocolate and hazelnut sandwich in a square block, like a little gold ingot; Nocciola Piedmontese, a nutty, elongated pyramid; and Creme Brûlée, a dark chocolate case around a rich liquid interior. My personal favorite? Stracciatella, in its mint-blue wrapper, a creamy white “chocolate,” super-dense and intense. 

There is a huge variety of gift boxes, from typical round boxes in gorgeous colors to antique-looking “books” containing chocolates to tins and large hampers. Red and white-striped Advent calendars (with a different chocolate for each day) herald the start of the holiday season, as does a music box carousel, filled with chocolates, of course. Edible Christmas tree ornaments would embellish any tree. 

And then there are the chocolate bars themselves, many available with 70% less sugar. All of Venchi’s products, except their large ice cream cones and crêpes, are gluten-free. The dark chocolate contains no milk whatsoever to accommodate people with allergens. 

If gelato seems to play second fiddle at Venchi shops, it shouldn’t. It is made daily on the premises, using the highest-quality ingredients and comes in a variety of flavors, including pistachio; Azteco (extra-dark and intense chocolate); and Crema Venchi (egg yolks with fresh milk). I sampled all three of these and they were delicious, although I found the whipped cream – panna in Italian, a generous swirl of which I (along with millions of Italians) find to be essential for the really sensual enjoyment of gelato – to be somewhat thin and foamy. I did learn that recipes have been tweaked slightly from the Italian originals to accommodate a slightly sweeter American palate. 

Last but not least, the Venchi club loyalty program allows you to earn points, which means you can enjoy up to 50% off every purchase. In my chocolate-lovers handbook, that has to be a good thing.  

Salon BE Chocolat 

From Belgium by way of Fairfield, Benoit Racquet has recently launched Salon BE Chocolat in Delamar Greenwich Harbor’s hotel lobby.  

Racquet, a Belgian-born master chocolatier, came up with the name BE, because it references both “Belgium” and his first name, “Benoit.” He started his business in 2017 as a cottage industry, working from home and selling online before opening his first brick-and-mortar store in Greenfield Hills Commons in Fairfield as the business started to expand. 

Made from the finest sustainable Callebaut Belgian chocolate, the BE brand was already known to Delamar Greenwich Harbor hotel guests as the luxury chocolates offered at turndown. Now with the opening of the tempting lobby boutique, guests and indeed nonresidents can stop by to sample chocolates from the large range to enjoy on the spot anytime. They can also buy them – everything from a single chocolate or bar to beautifully packaged tins and larger two-tier boxes – to take away as gifts.  

The new salon also offers Prosecco and chocolate pairing sessions, a wonderfully decadent experience that I was able to enjoy recently, tutored by Racquet himself. Sipping Mionetto Rosé Prosecco, I sampled a number of BE pralines. These included Ruby Passion (Callebaut’s couverture ruby chocolate with a dense passion fruit ganache); Vanilla Bourbons (Bourbon Island Vanilla with 10-year Bulleit Kentucky bourbon); and Champagne & Raspberry (Laurent-Perrier and organic strawberry). Benoit explained the creative process and characteristics of each chocolate and prompted me to recognize all manner of complementary flavors discernible in the chocolates against the Prosecco backdrop. 

Back at the counter, I admired some of the novelty items, like a red high-heeled shoe that you can fill with the chocolates of your choice, and BE “Boobies,” bosom-shaped treats that champion breast cancer awareness. And I loved the holiday specials. This is the week to pick up BE’s pumpkin-shaped bonbonnières, some Thanksgiving lollipops, a chocolate turkey, a chocolate box Advent calendar perhaps, a set of chocolate shot glasses and some festive holiday hearts. Then again, I’d happily pick up any BE chocolates, or Venchi, any time, because frankly all chocolates are special. 

As the best-selling self-help author and columnist Regina Brett has written, “When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.” 

For more, visit us.venchi.com and bechocolat.com.