More chocolate--and tea--than you can handle at Burdick's

Saturday afternoon was sunny and almost warm, a perfect cafe day. I had a 5PM coffee rendez-vous planned with my former boss, AA. We met up at Burdick's, the chocolate cafe I posted about when it first opened. This time around, the place was in full swing.

We ordered drinks: for AA, a double cappuccino, for me, a Japanese sencha tea. AA also ordered their signature Harvard Square to nibble on. We grabbed a table near the door and settled in to chat.

Our drinks arrived shortly. Nothing too outlandish to report here, other than the fact that my teabag held about three teapots' worth of tea. When I removed it from the rather small cup, the water level sank by about 1/3. There's nothing really to explain this; there was just no need for so much tea in such a little cup. I mean, I appreciate the generosity, but... curious.

There's about a quarter pound of tea in there

We hypothesized perhaps the latte art was a bean?

As for the Harvard Square, AA liked it, but he didn't love it. It had layers of all different kinds of chocolate-- brownie, ganache, etc.-- and lots of walnuts interspersed within. He noted that while it was chocolatey, he really just wanted straight-up chocolate and found the walnuts almost distracting. Maybe he should just have gotten a chocolate bar?

Looks bigger than it was, but this puppy was powerful

No matter. Burdick's is a nice place to hang out, and it's great for a mid-afternoon or after-dinner indulgence. If you're looking for something sweet to take to Madison Square Park, you can't go wrong swinging by the shop on your way.

L.A. Burdick
5 E. 20th Street, between Broadway and 5th Avenue
212-796-0143

A curious (and chocolatey) sight on Saturday night...

Last Saturday evening, AV and I were wandering east from Chelsea on 20th street when something curious caught my eye:

A welcoming sight...

Having gone to college in Cambridge, MA, I'm very familiar with Burdick's-- it was the local chocolate shop, known equally for its incredibly decadent almost-bitter hot chocolate, delicious pastries, and tiny handmade chocolate mice. Could this be the same Burdick's? A quick trip inside and a few questions to the shopkeeper later, the verdict was: Yes! Apparently they opened only a couple of weeks ago and are slowly rolling out their full line of pastries. They plan to have wines available in addition to shelves and shelves of incredible chocolate. Too bad AV and I were on our way to dinner, otherwise we would have stuffed our faces with chocolate in all its forms. Rest assured, we will be back.

L.A. Burdick
5 East 20th Street, between 5th Avenue and Broadway
212-796-0143