A Tour of Boston: All Things Chocolate

This past President's Day Weekend, I went to Boston to visit my two best friends, Lizzy and Rachel. Along with getting to try all of their favorite restaurants, I was able to introduce them to something very unique and special. Boston Chocolate Tours is a company started by my sorority sister's dad, and takes groups of people around different parts of the city and gives them a taste of Boston- literally- through different chocolate shops and restaurants. I was SO excited to be going on one of these, as my friends have gone on one here in D.C. and raved about how fabulous it was; and I mean, who wouldn't want to spend the day in a beautiful city sampling different types chocolate?

The tour started off at bo YO, a frozen yogurt shop whose yogurt is beyond natural, and beyond delicious. We obviously were given samples of chocolate froyo, which was very tasty. It still had the start flavor of traditional froyo but with a nice chocolate accent. We were also allowed to sample any and every flavor of froyo, gelato and sorbet in the shop. That definitely stated the day off right.

Next we made our way into Boston's Beacon Hill- a beautiful, upscale neighborhood with small shoppes and charming roadways. We were brought into a chocolate shop that referred to themselves as a "jewelry store for chocolate," because the store was mainly imported chocolates from all over the world, and only the truffle and gelato coolers were made in store. The shop was so adorable. The owners brought a unique element by having antique cards and postcards mounted onto boxes that are available for purchase for the chocolates to be put into. I was so amazed, and then it got even better when I saw they sold my new favorite chocolate shop's items, Vosges. Vosges specializes in very unique flavor combinations in their chocolates- my two favorites being their bacon bar and their curry chocolate truffle. YUM. You can be assured that samples were taken and treats were brought home.

Right next store was where we headed next, which you may find a little ironic because it was a flower shop. Twig is a flower shop that specializes in paring chocolate, vases, silverware and other useful items with flowers. Their flowers are brought in fresh every two days and the store is beautiful. We were able to try

chocolate in one of its less processed forms, a procedure adapted from the Mayas. It was more textured and the kind we tried had a hint of Chili in it. My throat got warm and spicy but the flavor and texture were beautiful.

Next stop: cupcake town. But really, Isabelle's Curly Cakes is inspired by Todd English's daughter and sells all things cupcake. Obviously we were given samples of their triple chocolate cupcake, which entailed a chocolate cupcake with a chocolate pudding center, chocolate butter cream on top and- you're never believe this- sprinkled with cocoa puffs! What an awesome idea, I wish I'd thought of it. The cakes were beyond light and fluffy as was the buttercream. The pudding was creamy and delicious. This was chocolate heaven, and we were only halfway through the tour!

Our next stop was at Finale, a chain restaurant that was started by Harvard grad students that wanted to give people a fantastic dessert without necessarily paying for an entire five star meal. SMART, RIGHT?! I had gone to Finale the previous night for dessert so although all we got to sample on the tour was a small brownie square, I can assure you that their desserts are amazing.

The tour came to a sweet conclusion at The Melting Pot. You know, the fondue place where you cook your own meat and leave feeling like you'll never be hungry again? My friends and I are very familiar with this restaurant- we used to go just for dessert in high school, probably way too often than we should have- so it was a very nice way to reminisce on our earlier days (I'm probably too young to be saying that, whatever). We were given three different fondue pots- chocolate turtle, banana's foster and s'mores. Each one was better than the next and it was a great end to an amazing day. I will tell you though, as full as I was after the tour my friends and I insisted on stopping for a late lunch because we just needed something salty. I literally had a sugar headache.

The tour was a great success. If you are ever in D.C. or Boston and like chocolate, I would definitely recommend doing one. You get a great sense of the neighborhood and you get to taste things you probably never would have otherwise (i.e. chocolate soup at Cheers's sister restaurant?!). I will be sure to take my mom on the D.C. tour when she comes to visit.