What a nice little surprise. We were on our way to Levain Bakery to get my favorite cookie in the city. I was a little pressed for time (what else is new?) and as we reached 74th Street to turn the corner, I noticed another confectionary that I hadn’t seen on this street before.
It was one of the newer locations of Jacques Torres, that famous French chocolatier/shop, which have other delicious locations in the West Village and DUMBO. And there was something on the list to be had here! So Levain Bakery got the shaft this time, I’m afraid.
We headed to the back and bought a medium sized plastic gift bag of the caramel-chocolate popcorn. It was 7 bucks, which is a bit steep for caramel popcorn. I mean, cracker jacks can’t be more than 3 dollars, right?
But when we got these open in the cab and started munching away, I realized I’d probably pay considerably more for them (don’t get any ideas, Mr. Torres). These were like cracker jacks, but cracker jacks on crack. I guess that would be cracked cracker jacks. They were so buttery and sugary and crunchy. They even had a touch of salt, which really brought all the flavors out and prevented my tastebuds from going into sugar overload.
You could see a fancy drizzle of chocolate over the big chunks of popcorn (which were stuck together in big formations), but it was just a drizzle and in my opinion, this was the chocolate master’s only misstep. There wasn’t enough chocolate on these babies! It was there in certain spots, like the above photo, but other bites had no chocolate at all. But the popcorn was dangerously addicting and a wonderful sweet snack. Next time, I’ll have to walk up Columbus (as opposed to Amsterdam Ave where Jacques Torres lures unsuspecting families) to go to Levain Bakery, so I don’t get sucked in to the den of chocolate and caramel addicts. The first bag is only $7, but after that….
Would Jacques Torres’ Caramel-Chocolate Popcorn make my Top 100 of the year? I have to give it a sweet 8 out of 10 because even though the chocolate was a bit scarce, the buttery caramel and salt flavors stood out and made me want to eat more. And I did.
This stuff puts the “crack” in crackerjacks! I’ve been thinking about it constantly– I’m addicted and have only had it once!