Chocolate. The word evokes darkness, richness, sweetness, and above all, flavor. Any mention of chocolate can start an entire room’s saliva glands working overtime, as they picture the smooth piece breaking off in their mouth, melting into nothingness. Some of my favorite moments in life are dedicated to this wonderful treat. The first moment I tasted hot chocolate (and the first time I burned my tongue with a fierceness that reviled the Trump/Hilary 2016 debate) at a community gathering when I was five or so. The moment I tasted a HUGE block of Ghirardelli chocolate straight from San Francisco (and tried and failed to bite a chunk off). This moment at Warsaw’s E. Wedel, however, was a little life changing.
As you’ve heard in previous posts (one, two, and three), my husband lived in Poland for two years. As you’ve also heard, he absolutely LOVES food. And, once we decided we were returning to Poland in the summer, he immediately started listing the food we needed to try. High on the list was Warsaw’s E. Wedel, a famous Polish chocolatier that started in the 1850s, back when chocolate shops were extremely unique. Today, this chocolate is the standard for Polish chocolates, and they have shops around Poland that sell their traditional chocolate bars and truffles. But, their true specialty lies in their drinking chocolate.
Drinking chocolate. The true dream, right? Now, you may think that drinking chocolate is similar to hot chocolate, been there done that. NO, SORRY, YOU HAVEN’T LIVED. This drinking chocolate is from another planet. A chocolate planet, made of rivers of dark and swirling white chocolate with waterfalls of milk chocolate, and homes obviously made of chocolate with chocolate people and chocolate dogs … you get the drift. And hot chocolate? It’s from the planet of flavored chocolate water.
Sad, but true. (Or terrible, but great, if you prefer that little golden reference.) You could say once you go drinking chocolate, you never go back and it would be true. This drinking chocolate was truly a sight to behold. Not only was it flavored (ours was a bittersweet chocolate with hazelnuts, and a white chocolate cold drinking chocolate with pear and vanilla ice cream–I know, you are crying right now) but it was served at the perfect thickness–just enough to think that there was probably an equal chocolate to cream ratio. With the option to choose from dark, bittersweet, milk, and white chocolates, Warsaw’s E. Wedel really provided enough options that no one would go unsatisfied. Unless you were a heathen and hated chocolate. But you would have MANY other problems than simply going unsatisfied at a chocolate shop.
Though these drinking chocolates were the main event on the menu, (with so many flavors you wouldn’t believe the combinations you could make!) E. Wedel also offered chocolate ice cream sundaes, parfaits, and more. You could even try a small dessert trio, which offered three of their smaller desserts to give you a taste of the favorites on the menu.
And, if your inclination was truffles, they naturally had the best in whatever you picked. Nothing’s quite as great as topping off a wonderfully sweet evening with an additional truffle.
For a chocolate lover, like most people in this world, there’s nothing better than tasting a dessert that enhances, rather than detracts from the pureness of rich and beautiful chocolate. At E. Wedel, they thrive on doing just that. When in Warsaw …
E. Wedel Chocolate Lounge (8 Szpitalna Street, Warsaw 00-031, Poland // +48 22 827 29 16)
