Foodie Friday: Chocolate Brunch at The Langham

One of my favorite yearly traditions is gorging myself on the chocolate deliciousness that is the Chocolate Bar at Café Fleuri at The Langham Hotel  in Boston. The outrageousness runs Saturdays, September through June, which means you have just three more weekends to indulge. (For Father’s Day, perhaps?) These images are from the most recent display, which I (over)sampled this past September. I also blogged about the experiences (the theme and menu change each year) in 2009 and 2010.

This is the 24th year of the all-you-can-eat extravaganza, with more than 120 chocolate combinations. The spread features stations with varying levels of chocolate intensity and flavors – from white to dark and plenty in between. There’s a never-ending supply of cupcakes, truffles, brulées,  bread pudding, crepes, whoopee pies, all created by Executive Pastry Chef Jed Hackney. There are also rotating items withseasonal ingredients, such as September’s lemon madeline with ivoire cremeax and strawberries, and a caramelized white chocolate torte with banana and sesame. There are nut-free options, and even some vegan ones.

There’s even alcohol. A chocolate cocktail menu features cocoa-infused martinis like the “Chocolate Decadence” with raspberry vodka, dark chocolate Godiva liqueur, and Frangelico, and there’s the “White Coco” with vanilla vodka, dark chocolate Godiva and white crème de cacao with cream. My favorite station, year after year, are the made-to-order crepes. Sinful.


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Fleur de sel caramel with dark chocolate cremeax

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Orange marmalade varrine

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Manjari mousse with creme fraiche and Espelette pepper

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Bitter chocolate and cinnamon custard varrine

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French almond macaron with dark chocolate buttercream

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Izzy, my friend’s daughter, basically in heaven

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Peanut brittle

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Whoopie pies

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Vegan blueberry cobbler

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Ice cream sundae bar toppings

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Sundae sauces

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White chocolate peanut butter bombe

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Mint and white chocolate mousse torte

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Lemon crunch satine with white chocolate

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Le creperie

 

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Food: Chocolate at the Langham

I love chocolate. Adore chocolate. Worship chocolate. Swoon over chocolate. I know what you’re thinking… you too. You must (and I mean MUST) make a reservation for the Chocolate Bar at Café Fleuri at the Langham Hotel in downtown Boston. Julie Shamrock, The Langham’s Communications Manager, so kindly invited me to check it out last year. (I love you Julie!) I brought my foodie friend Tanya, and we indulged very, very happily. On Saturday we were invited back, for the bar’s 21st season.

The theme this year is “Boston’s Chocolate Trail” with table after table of decadent treats arranged by neighborhood. There was chocolate pizza and pasta plus mocha tiramisu and zabaglione in the North End, chocolate and mango sushi in Chinatown, flourless chocolate stacks and pumpkin milk chocolate tortes in Beacon Hill, cranberry white chocolate buckle and Indian pudding at Faneuil Hall, chocolate covered peanuts, caramel corn, and cotton candy at Fenway, and many more outrageous creations. i ate a lot. Too much. I skipped the chocolate martinis, but indulged in the yearly crepe festivities, ordering up a chocolate crepe with strawberries, bananas, dark chocolate and Grand Marnier (fire, baby!) topped with creme anglaise and whipped cream. After all that, Julie presented us with pink gift bags with cupcakes to bring home.

I’m hardly a skilled food photographer, but I hope these pictures will torture and entice.

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