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Indulging a Sweet Tooth
Tuesday Mar 25, 2008.
By Danielle Braff
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The cost of a room at the Peninsula equates to roughly a week or two of my salary, and dinner at the hotel's premier restaurant Avenues will set you back hundreds of dollars. But on a recent Friday night, I snagged myself a small piece of the glamor when I attended the hotel's twice-weekly chocolate buffet. For a mere $33 (plus tax, tip and alcohol), I found myself settling into the plush seats inside the hotel lobby to live the high life—if only for a few hours.
When I arrived with my husband for our 9 p.m. reservation, the massive room was already buzzing. Tourists clutching their maps, Gap bags and Crate & Barrel purchases chatted away a few tables over; a bachelorette party was just getting started with the evening's festivities. And then there were the locals, who leaned over the small tables to whisper during their romantic outings and hand-feed each other chocolate-covered strawberries.
A jazz quintet provided the perfect background tunes—regardless of what you were trying to get out of the experience. For me, it was all about the chocolate. The buffet includes every take on the cocoa bean imaginable and coffee, cappuccino, lattes or tea. While my waiter was getting me my cappuccino, my husband and I grabbed our plates and headed to the spread.
Tiny servings of various chocolate desserts—made by Avenue's pastry team run by Jimmy Macmillan—were densely scattered on the circular tables. The portion size is perfect for sampling one of each, and that's exactly what we did. The Earl Grey chocolate lollipops were soft little sweets piled onto a stick, and the chocolate profiteroles oozed delightfully into my mouth. I sampled the subtly flavored rose, green tea and milk chocolate creme brules.
We had a choice of three hot chocolates that evening: lavender white chocolate, Thai milk chocolate and ancho-chili dark hot chocolate. The white chocolate version, a very sweet blend of lavender with chocolate, tasted rich but light at the same time; the Thai milk chocolate was a hearty, dense cocoa-concentration. After downing all three, I took a much-needed sip of my water and continued trudging along.
The mini-German chocolate cakes looked beautiful, and their coconut accent provided a welcome break from the chocolate overload. The raspberry chocolate brioche was heavy enough to keep me from eating more than one, but light enough to convince me to go to town licking out the raspberry filling, in keeping with the pig-out theme I had going.
I unbuttoned my pants, got the check and hobbled home, completely satisfied—until I tried to sleep. Apparently, a chocolate binge isn't the most conducive to a restful slumber; my husband and I tossed and turned all evening. Regardless of the buffet's adverse effects, I have a feeling we'll be back—just as soon as we lose the weight we gained from our first trip.
Guidebook rating: This beautifully romantic evening is perfect for a first date, a third date, a proposal—or for an old married couple hoping to spice things up chocolate-style.
Stats: Hours are Fridays and Saturdays from 8 p.m.-midnight, with the last reservation taken at 10 p.m. Reservations are recommended (call (312) 337-2888) and nearly always necessary. It costs $33 per person for the all-you-can-eat buffet.
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