Inside Neuhaus’ Madison Avenue boutique; Chocolate molded teddy bear (part of their antique exhibit wall)
Neuhaus is an international luxury chocolate brand that’s established since 1857 by Jean Neuhaus in Brussels, Belgian.
This Madison Avenue boutique is the largest of all of their New York City boutiques and is their experience store, displaying their antiques and this international brand’s history.
Neuhaus is known for their handmade praline but we have to clarify a little bit about the differences about the language of that bold word. Praline for us Americans would conjure images of confections made from nuts and sugar but that would be the brand’s praliné (pronounced pra-lee-nay).
Chocolates I’ve eaten…or will be soon
Technically, this is not my first time eating Neuhaus’ pralines. I have eaten their pralines (filled chocolates) a number of times over the years despite the fact I have not blogged about their excellent Belgian-style chocolates. Their beautiful and delicious confections are flown in from Belgium a few times a week.
My favorite pieces were the from the Les Irrésistibles collection comprised of the Caprice, a pyramid-shaped, nougat biscuit filled with fresh vanilla cream enrobed in dark chocolate, the Tentation, a coffee and toffee variation of the Caprice, and Séduction the raspberry version of Caprice. Those pralines were crunchy, creamy with a touch of chew and flavorful. The non-chocolate confection I really enjoyed was the robust orange Tranches de fruits, a chewier, firmer version of an orange pâté de fruit.
When perusing through the boutique, a few great Father’s Day ideas were the liqueur collection (seen above), appropriate since men might like spirit-filled chocolates and the plus is the beautiful, luscious leather box and the Toots Thielemans Collection. The latter is a 20-piece Neuhaus praline collection that’s handpicked from this famed Belgian-born jazz musician. But of course, if your father likes a certain type of chocolate (e.g. likes white chocolates only, dark chocolates only, certain pralines, or truffles) you may pick out your own box of chocolates for him. Pralines and truffles are $57 a pound. Boxed assortments are $9 to $96; the New York box is $30.
To view more of my photos of this boutique, please scroll through the slideshow below (or click through my Flickr set):
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Information:
Neuhaus
Official website: http://www.neuhaus.be/
Flagship location:
500 Madison Avenue
(between E 52nd & E 53rd St)
New York, NY 10022
Map
Telephone: (212) 644-4490
