Hot Chocolate Festival 2013 : Thierry Chocolaterie Patisserie Cafe !

Thierry Chocolaterie Patisserie
1059 Alberni Street
(between Burrard and Thurlow)
M-F 7a - 12a | Sat/Sun 8a - 12a

#57 - "Ohhh CANADA!"
Canadian maple syrup + pecan hot chocolate, served with a sable.
Available: Jan 19 - 29

#58 - "ONE IN A MILLION"
Hot chocolate made with Maranon (the world's rarest chocolate), served with a chocolate-dipped madeleine.
Available: Jan 30 - Feb 10

Unfortunately, Thierry Chocolaterie Patisserie Cafe stopped offering these special drinks on February 10th, but they are still open for regular service if you`re looking for that romantic setting for a cup of coffee with someone. After a delicious late lunch at Miku with C and B downtown (thanks B for treating us to such yummy foood), we decided to go hot chocolate hopping. They were offering their One in a Million hot chocolate at Thierry that B really wanted to try! C and I couldn`t resist the colourful macarons, so C treated us to a macaron each: C and I both chose a salted caramel macaron and B chose a lychee macaron. (I covered the hot chocolate but thank you both for not only treating me to macarons and lunch that day, but for always treating me to delicious food!)

So many macarons! $1.95 ea, $13.45 for 7 & $21.95 for a dozen.

It was my first time trying a macaron with a buttercream filling instead of ganache, or it may just have been a more creamy filling. The one macaron that I had sated my sweet tooth, and after this festival I am pretty "macaron-ed out"! The shells of these macarons were kind of hollow, but I did not feel that that did anything to alter it`s taste or texture. A dozen of these would last me a long time..!

The One in a Million (I spilled it trying to open the door, sorry!) was $9.75 (before tax)

The hot chocolate itself, I cannot put into words. I did not find it especially sweet, nor did I find that it tasted like anything I already knew. It definitely tasted like chocolate and it was good, but it was not a kind of chocolate that I have ever had before. And I wouldn`t have, given the ingredients include "Maranon (the world's rarest chocolate)". The cup is not very large for it`s price, and considering it supposedly contains the world's rarest chocolate, it wouldn`t be. Unlike most other hot chocolate drinks I have had for the festival, one cup is not enough to share between two (let alone three) because although flavourful, it was not especially rich. I would order a cup for yourself if you are there to have a cup of hot chocolate and not just try it like B, C and I were. The chocolate-dipped madeleine was a small morsel of sweetness.. Unfortunately I felt like it was a kind of forgettable taste. Their macarons would have made a much better substitute, but maybe that`s my sweet tooth talking!

You`re probably wondering why the cup is sitting in a pool of hot chocolate. Thierry was pretty packed when we arrived, so we resorted to sitting outside. I waited inside for the drink as C and B sat outside with the macarons waiting for me, and we did not anticipate that they would give me two plates. One plate for the cup of hot chocolate, and another for the whipped cream, madeleine and small piece of chocolate. They have these wonderfully designed double doors to enter the cafe, but I failed to open the door without hands. It ended pretty miserably, as you can probably tell. We expected it to be cold in their outdoor seating area, but they actually have these massive heating lamps situated above the table and chairs so that it actually did not feel like you were outside. It was a delightful surprise considering it was cold and raining! I think Thierry is a great place to treat yourself to something special, fancy and kind of expensive every now and then: I will definitely find myself back for some of their desserts and maybe another macaron!

*Thierry`s main website: click.