While you may not remember the first sip of hot chocolate you ever had, there’s a good chance the experience of that moment is still etched in your memory. My earliest hot chocolate memories all involved a green Stanley thermos, filled with an instant cocoa mix that left chunky clumps of powder on the surface, even after a good stir. My parents brought that thermos camping and got it out on snow days (okay, ice days) in Texas after we’d finished sledding around on trash can lids and metal cookie trays. My older sister would count out our mini marshmallows to make sure we got equal amounts and then she’d wait patiently for her marshmallows to melt while stirring her mug with a candy cane (an 8-year-old culinary prodigy, I know). I, on the other hand, could never wait long enough. For me, a burned tongue and raw throat was just part of the experience.
What my sister understood — and what I would come to learn decades later when my son ordered his first chocolat chaud when we lived in Paris — was that hot chocolate is a ritual. A memory maker. It’s a moment meant to be savored. A simple beverage, sure, but one that can comfort and transport you at the same time.
American hot chocolate season has come a long way since the thermos-lid-winters of my youth, where chefy spins dominate tasting menus and entire restaurants now transform into temporary adults-only hot cocoa havens, like the boozy hocho concoctions served at the Tinsel & Tonic seasonal pop-up bar inside the Grand Geneva Hotel & Spa in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, or the Omni Hotel’s annual Blitzen’s Bar winter takeover at more than 25 locations, where the new Gilded Grinch hot chocolate is made with Dubai chocolate, caramelized kataifi, and pistachio whipped cream and served in a golden mug.
Across the country, haute French and Italian versions now hide under the moniker “sipping chocolate” and deliciously spiced recipes hailing from Mexico and Ecuador take their rightful place alongside savory tamales and cheesy empanadas. In Portland, Oregon, chef Gregory Gourdet’s Haitian roots inspired the chokola (a seasonal Haitian hot chocolate) on his winter menu at Kann, featuring cinnamon, star anise, and a toasted super-cream ginger marshmallow.
Southern living rooms were the inspiration behind the hourlong hot chocolate experience at Saints + Council in Atlanta, Georgia, though, where the signature private fireplaces set a cozy backdrop for trays of tabletop s’mores and freakshake-like creations like Peanut Buttercup hot chocolate made with peanut butter sweet cream, homemade peanut butter–infused whipped cream, and a peanut butter rim with crumbled Reese’s on top.
In New York City alone, lines are already forming for viral versions with toasted marshmallow halos and limited edition Frrrozen blends. The Après Skate Chalets at Rockefeller Center are heated up, ready to create new memories by pairing one of the country’s most emblematic skating experiences with customizable cocoas, served “stocking stuffer-style” inside festive candy cane tubes. The weekend pop-up chalet above Le Meridien St. Louis Clayton in St. Louis, Missouri, is also staged to create new memories during La Fête, with cozy firepits and DIY s’mores stations. They’re even introducing visitors to a new salty sweet treat (and #hotchocolatetrend in the making) by pairing European-style drinking chocolate with an indulgent chocolate-dipped spoon topped with caviar from STL Caviar Cart.
Experimenting with toppings and new flavors is all part of what makes hot chocolate so fun and so personal, which is why hot chocolate flights, like the one at The Graceful Ordinary in St. Charles, Illinois, are a trendy menu item. This flight includes four 4-ounce mugs of European-style drinking chocolates: peppermint, Mexican-style, hazelnut, and bourbon caramel, served spiked or not and always accompanied by four corresponding candies and cookies.
The Hot Chocolate Ritual at CUT Above on the roof of the Rosewood, Washington, D.C., hotel, pairs its three rich hot chocolates — The Classic, Gingerbread Bliss, and S’more the Merrier — with a housemade cookie designed to enhance the flavor of each drink. At the Hilton Orlando, it’s a hot chocolate bomb bar that brings the festive season to Central Florida. Guests choose their “bomb” — milk chocolate, peppermint, or salted caramel — and then garnish at whim while a steaming pour of hot milk brings the cocoa to life.
Fancy versions have their place in the season, of course, like the Haute Chocolate at The Remedy bar at Colorado’s Four Seasons Resort and Residences Vail, where a delicate chocolate tuile sacrifices itself for a delicious presentation, topped with a housemade marshmallow and Chantilly crème. In Park City, Utah, the impressive pour at Grand Hyatt Deer Valley’s High Chocolate requires a 24-hour reservation, and it’s worth the extra planning to witness a wispy cotton candy cloud melt into thick French-style hot chocolate as servers drizzle melted chocolate over the top.
There’s never been a more exciting time for hot chocolate in America — not a powder clump in sight — and these restaurants and chefs are doing the season right, inviting sippers to slow down, warm up a bit, and enjoy the sweet, sweet delights of winter.
Dining and Cooking