On a beautiful day in New York City, it came to pass that two young souls journeyed down Sullivan Street after eating burritos and shopping for chessboards. These souls, yours truly and Stella truly, saw a mysterious vision in the horizon. The vision looked something like this:
Kee’s Chocolates? What can this be?
We studied the articles taped to the windows. Gourmet Magazine! New York Magazine! This place has a reputation for great chocolate. Let us go inside.
Inside there were two women behind the counter. The first woman stood behind the glass case facing us. “Hello,” she said.
The other woman had her back to us. She was passing white chocolate through a strainer–or at least that’s how I remember it. She had long hair and a certain warmth about her. This, we soon discovered, was Kee.
And this, we readily observed, was her chocolate:
“Wow,” I said, studying the case. “Look at these flavors.”
“Can I help you with something?” asked the woman behind the case (not Kee).
“Well,” I explained, “this is our first time here. What flavors are the most exciting and interesting and original?”
She directed us to the thai chili chocolate. “You bite into it,” she explained, “and it tastes just like normal chocolate. But a few seconds later you feel a burning in your throat.”
“Does it hurt?” I queried.
“No,” she laughed.
So we took one of those. Then Stella requested a blood orange and the woman recommended a black sesame:
Our choices made–three chocolates purchased–I addressed the woman who must’ve been Kee whose back was still to us.
“Are you Kee?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said, turning around and smiling.
“Well,” I stammered, “I’m a food writer. I have a website.”
“Oh,” she said and smiled and nodded a bit. “I’m making lemon basil white chocolate,” she explained.
“Wow,” I said, “I’ll have to come back and try that next time.”
“Please do.”
And so with that we said our goodbyes and made our way back out on to the street. Here’s Stella with our bag of chocolate:
We approached our chocolate eating scientifically. First up was the thai chili.
I took the first bite because Stella was afraid. It was creamy and rich and wonderful. But where’s the heat?
“She said this was going to be spicy and I don’t feel anyth….umm…oooh…ahhh….I FEEL IT! IT BURNS! IT BURNS!”
Stella laughed and tried the other half. She said “mmm” at first and then waited and then her eyes twinkled and she said “Ooooh” and we laughed.
The blood orange was a soothing follow up with deep orange flavor but not over-powering. And the black sesame was nicely exotic. We ranked them: blood orange, black sesame, thai chili.
Stella and I concluded that Kee’s is a wonderful place to visit. Each chocolate is $1.75 which is a steal when you consider they’re handmade and unlike any chocolate you’ve probably ever had.
“I liked that place,” said Stella. “It was fun.” We walked off into the sunset savoring the final tingles of our chocolate high.
I love Kee’s Chocolates…most when they’re making chocolate and give the broken pieces away to the customers. (I also bought a box for a friend! Not totally freeloading!)
Their creme brulee piece is really good.
oooOOOooooo….
I love chili chocolate!
Sigh.. posts like these make me wish I lived in New York, too…
Kee’s is on my list for my next trip north. Thanks Adam!
Did you intend to put “Stairway to Heaven” in my head? You’re a bad person.
Your website is so much fun to read! I love your daring food endeavors as well as your stream-of-consciousness writing. You are correct, being perfect is no fun at all…in life, or in writing!
No, SLO Lindsay, it’s “Free To Be You and Me!” I was wondering if people would pick up on that… but stairway to heaven works too.
Dagoba makes a Politically Correct dark chocolate/chili bar…costs $2.59 here in the boonies (Portland) and it’s EXCELLENT. They might carry it at Whole Foods in NYC. You should give it a try.
do you happen to rememebr the cross street. i’m headed to NYC next week for, among many things, the chocolate show and this would be a great stop for some comparison shopping :-) thanks!
by the way, that lolita video is brilliant!
How on earth did you manage to come out of there with such a small bag? Oh chocolate. How I love thee.
I visited your blog via another one. I loved reading about the chocolates!
Thanks for posting about this great little gem! A friend pointed me to Kee’s for my last visit to NYC a few months ago, with the warning that most flavors sell out by the end of each day. The most memorable was Kee’s recommended creme brulee chocolate: a hard dark chocolate octagonal case, perhaps an inch and a half across, filled with fresh creme brulee. Highly perishable (made and sold out daily), completely decadent, and totally perfect. It’s worth seeking this out if you’re anywhere even remotely close to the City.