Vere

I’ve seen Vere chocolate at Wholefoods but didn’t know anything about it; I then read about the factory on West 27^th Street and their tastings on Fridays. Free chocolate tastings? Yes I will, thank you.
I stopped by the other Friday and got anxious (that’s right, the Atavan popping kind of anxious) when I saw the sign in the lobby telling me that the factory was only open for tastings until 5pm, but it was 5:15pm. I decided to take the risk and ride the elevator to the 6^th floor. The doors opened and there it was a table full of chocolate samples. Mmmmmm.
Unfortunately their was no chocolate making action, perhaps that ended at 5pm, but the lovely employee working in the tasting room that evening brought me on a chocolate tasting tour that was heavenly. We started with the chocolate and pink peppercorn disc which was a burst of flavor in my mouth, then moved onto the Espresso Anise bar, the diabetic friendly vanilla chocolate, the rice clusters and the almond clusters. Everything I tried was really delicious — just a touch of sweetness and the perfect amount of flavors to allow the Venezuelan chocolate to really shine through.
As I could not leave empty handed I purchased an Espresso Anise Bar and Chili Cocoa Nib bar — both are fantastic. I would highly recommend stopping by and checking out the Vere factory!

I went here randomly this summer with a fellow chocoholic I met volunteering. The space is small, but the staff is friendly & the free chocolate the Friday afternoon we went was delicious. A little pricey, but good.