Vosges Haut Red Fire Bar

I have been craving chocolate for days, so this evening I hopped over to whole foods, picked up some staples, made some homemade gale gand marshmallows and ScharffenBerger hot chocolate. As an accompaniment I bought one of the Vosges Haut Chocolate bars. All I can say is outstanding. Totally blew me away The red fire bar has ancho and chipotle chili peppers, and Ceylon cinnamon overtones in a dark chocolate. I was concerned that it might be too spicy, but the bar was very well balanced. The heat was a perfect ending. Warmed me through.

No doubt many of you have already tried these, but for those of you who don't know, Vosges has a local boutique....

951 W Armitage
Chicago, IL 60614
Ring: 1.773.296.9866

They have two other boutiques in chicago, actually, and they're based here.

Locations:

520 N. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611
Ring: 1.312.644.9450

The Peninsula Hotel
108 E. Superior
Chicago, IL 60611
Ring: 1.312.335.9858

Along with one in NY and one in Las Vegas, and the aforementioned location on Armitage.

I'm not sure if the chocolates are made at one of the boutiques, or if they're in a central kitchen somewhere else in Chicago, but they're all made in Chicago.

Another quick tidbit: Katrina Markoff, founder and CEO of Vosges, was recently a judge on Iron Chef America, where the theme ingredients (yes, two, I know, gah!) were chocolate and coconut.

-ed

They also sell a couple of varieties at Trotters to Go.

The red fire bar IS excellent, but I'm partial to the naga(curry powder) truffles.

I love red fire too. And also the wasabi-ginger one.

I was in Vosges today to pick up a few bars as a gift.
They let me try sample discs of chocolate to decide. Needless to say, the decision was very difficult and I required several samples to help me make up my mind.
My favorite (of the bars) was the Barcelona Bar with smoked almonds and gray sea salt.
But by far the best thing I ate there (and I'm now kicking myself for only buying one) was a kaffir lime truffle dusted with coconut. The kaffir lime taste was very subtle at first but comes out a bit afterwards. It sounded like a strange combo, but having tried it, I'm a believer!

Naga - awesome!
Red Fire - just as awesome
Barcelona - unexpectedly awesome

Please don't make me choose!! ; )

BTW, it appears that the location at the Peninsula Hotel has closed, though I haven't confirmed this with my own eyes. I was in the Michigan Ave. (Nordstroms/Northbridge) location last week, and the card that came with my purchase had a big sticker over the Peninsula address. So I assume that means it's a no-go.

They also sell Vosges products at Marshall Fields State Street location. I was there last week and they have all of the chocolate bars, the 9-piece truffle selection, 10 truffles for sale individually, hot chocolate mixes, and the new Vosges toffee.

I definitely prefer the Vosges truffles to the chocolate bars. The spicing just seems to work better with the creamier chocolate as a medium.

Vosges fans may want to know about "The Golden Truffle," mentioned here.