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Tuesday, May 2, 2006
Fairway NYCI talk about Trader Joe’s a lot as a candy source; the store opening in Manhattan was big news. But on my trip to NYC, I found that they already have an extraordinary store, Fairway. We pretty much stumbled upon the market while walking back from the Upper West Side to our hotel in Times Square. Like Trader Joe’s the store focuses on more gourmet, upscale or wholesome fare, with many items sold with their private label but at super-delicious prices. The best part, of course, was their candy section. They had a huge aisle of pre-packaged bulk nuts and panned chocolate goods, most of which made by Koppers.
Of course I have a hard time believing that they really were that hot, so after a couple of days I try another one. Same result ... whoo! I don’t know, it’s growing on me.
It’s nice to find an affordable version of the glace apricots that I’ve seen at the upscale chocolatiers. Of course these don’t replace them, but they’re portable and high quality. ($5.99/lb)
And here’s the big secret - Fairway sells Lake Champlain! Only it’s their house brand and it’s far cheaper. I picked up two 5 Star Bars and they were only $2.19 each! I picked up the Caramel one, just to make sure the Fairway house brand was truly the same as the Lake Champlain, and I also got this one, the Fruit & Nut Bar.
This stunning 2 ounce brick ‘o chocolate is dark chocolate on the outside, filled with a hazelnut praline (think Caffarel’s Guanduia) studded with pecans and dried cherries. Now I know I say that I don’t like cherry flavored things, but I have no problem at all with the real ones. This bar was really nice, the dark chocolate was bold and reigned in the thick flavor of the hazelnut praline quite nicely. The nuts weren’t as numerous as I’d hoped, but the bite of the sour cherries and the chewy texture was a nice mix. I do like the inventiveness of mixing pecans and hazelnuts - two sadly neglected nuts in American candybars. Of the two that I’ve had now, I still prefer the Caramel bar, but this one is certainly interesting and I’m wondering how it compares to the 5-Star Hazelnut bar. Fairway had a large selection of candies, both in their own packaged bulk items like the Koppers, upscale brands like Scharffen Berger and Valrhona. I also saw a huge variety of imported candies like European brands like Cadbury and Nestle (not the American versions). Related CandiesPOSTED BY Cybele AT 10:26 am
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Meticulously photographed and documented reviews of candy from around the world. And the occasional other sweet adventures. Open your mouth, expand your mind.
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Comment by
Nosher on 5/02/06 at 11:56 am #
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desertwind on 5/02/06 at 7:45 pm #
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g on 5/03/06 at 2:03 am #
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The Velvet Blog on 5/03/06 at 6:28 am #
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Cybele on 5/03/06 at 9:51 am #
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Comment by
Lisa on 12/08/08 at 4:57 pm #
Commenting is not available in this channel entry.Good to know that the Fairway brand of chocolate bars is Lake Champlain! We’re big fans of the chocolate peppermint bars (although they don’t seem to make this in the chunky size, only the standard bar-shape).
Cybele, do you have a theory on why America is so lacking in chocolate/hazelnuts (and pecans, too!—Mmmmm, real southern-style pralines…)?
I had some dark chocolate malt balls not long ago, and I found that they had the ratio all off. The chocolate overpowered the malt ball. For some reason the coating was 2-3 times as thick as it usually is on milk chocolate malt balls. It was sad since it seemed like such an ideal combination.
I love, love, love Fairway. (I go to the one on Long Island.)
Agree with you on the dark-chocolate malt balls. I was really looking forward to them, but they weren’t great.
There’s a dark-chocolate orange/mango number that’s very tasty.
Oddly, I haven’t seen a dark-chocolate cherry on the shelf, which would seem like a natural.
I’ve been wondering why the little Fairway “bricks” are more expensive than much larger bars. I guess it’s a different maker, eh?
Nosher - they definitely had those flat truffle bars and the regular bars from Lake Champlain under the Fairway branding.
g - I’m often torn by the extra chocolatey malt balls. I like the chocolate, but I’m there for the malt, so I usually want a different ratio. Dark chocolate may just be too overpowering for malt.
The Velvet Blog - I’ll keep my eye out for the orange/mango next time I’m there (it’ll be a requisite stope from now on). The brick bars, as I understand it, are handmade by Lake Champlain so there may be higher labor costs involved in the creation.
Bah! Making a bad chocolate malt ball should be worthy of a hefty fine. The only thing worse is biting into the malt balls that went all hard and gacky. What happens with those? I think every single bag of Whoppers has at least one.
omg!! i’ve got to figure out how to get those cayenne pepper chocolates! they sound soooo delicious!
i’m salivating already.
Oh, how I miss Fairway. I used to live around the corner from the Broadway store when I lived in NY in the Mid-eighties. (Gulp—is that really 20 years ago). Amazing store. Now I need to plan a trip to NYC.
The problem with Fairway is that it’s impossible to get outta there without black-and-blue marks. Those shoppers are insane!
(almost worth it, even for the chocolate…)
Your write-ups are great and makes me want to hop on a plane, and make a beeline for Economy Candy.
Have you tried their soft dried fruit? I think they call it French style or something. Soooooo good.
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