arlier this week, supermodel Naomi Campbell was offended by chocolatier Cadbury's new ad for its Bliss bar, which declared, "Move over Naomi, there's a new diva in town," and prompted her to say, "It's upsetting to be described as chocolate, not just for me, but for all black women and black people. I do not find any humor in this. It is insulting and hurtful." Now, Cadbury has removed the ad and issued a statement on its website. more ›

Starting today, the "Fatty Crew" is hiding prizes in a few of their house-made Fatty Chocolate Bars, sold at all three of Pelaccio's restaurants. According to the restaurants' publicist, a small number of the bars will contain special tickets in the wrapping redeemable for items like free cocktails, free Fatty T-Shirts, and free appetizers. The golden ticket will entitle the lucky winner (and a guest) to attend one of a handful of "exclusive" Fatty ‘Cue preview parties, and "meet NYC’s own Willy Wonka of Asian cuisine, Zak Pelaccio." Which can only mean one thing: Pelaccio is preparing to disappear into retirement and wants someone to take over his fatty empire. Don't fall into the bubbling pig fat river! more ›

Hudson Terrace: After operating as a private event space last year, this gorgeous bi-level aerie with the commanding Hudson River views opens to the public for the first time tonight with a Cinco de Mayo bash. Tented on rainy nights and featuring a heated floor to ward off any early-season chills, Hudson Terrace will now be doing happy hour parties on Tuesdays through Fridays, as well as Sunday brunch (from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.) with a menu from Vintage Irving's executive chef Jason Bunin. The happy hour deal is good for 2-for-1 specialty cocktails, and an extensive nightly appetizer menu includes duck confit quesadillas, crab and artichoke croquettes, and smoked salmon nachos. A rooftop BBQ grill will also round out the edible options (tempura chicken skewers, anyone?), while beverages run the gamut from wine and sangrias to margaritas, mojitos, and caipirinhas. Or just get two Jim Beams and Coke for the price of one and savor the sunset. 621 West 46th Street, (212) 315-9400 more ›

For the past seven years, the Ritz-Carlton at Battery Park has transformed its 14th floor lounge into a chocolate paradise during the month of February. This year's theme is a Chocolate Carnival, featuring myriad mouth-watering confections from award-winning pastry chef Laurent Richard. With commanding views of the harbor, the lounge is an ideal spot to pass a winter's evening gorging on the unlimited chocolate buffet, while downing bottomless Champagne and chocolate-themed cocktails, until you at last dissolve into a blissful, diabetic coma. more ›

You may recall that the beloved Chocolate Bar was priced out of its West Village home back in April and, after months of searching, finally settled on a new location on East 7th Street. The East Village spot was popular with a few regulars like Janeane Garofalo, but owner Alison Nelson had a tough time making the steep rent there as well, and abruptly shut down earlier this month. Now, in an ironic twist, the foul economic winds have blown her right back where she started, just across the street from her original West Village location, with a rent that's cheaper than either place. Indeed, real estate analysts expect retail rents to continue decreasing throughout 2009. Nelson tells the Observer, "I’m walking up and down Hudson and Eighth Avenue every day, and one by one, I’m watching all these stores close and I’m like, 'What the hell is happening?'...For me, it’s funny that this whole economic hell has kind of reopened doors that had been closed only seven months ago." more ›

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Okay, Valentine's Day is Tuesday and you still haven't pulled anything together. What the hell have you been waiting for?! In addition to checking out Open Table you'd better hit up some of the options listed in the various V-Day roundups (visit each one for individual links): more ›

Did your hipster colleague from Williamsburg bring in two dozen donuts to work from Peter Pan Doughnuts & Pastries? Did your client send a mammoth gift basket crammed with shortbread, biscotti and brownies to your office? Did the geeky IT support gal bring in homemade cupcakes? Did your tightwad boss make a display of bringing in several boxes of decadent chocolates from the likes of La Maison du Chocolat or Chocolate Bar? more ›

Hilly Kristal decided to shell out $35,000 a month in rent for CBGB's Bowery Street space through October 2006, ensuring that we'll be hearing speculation about where the famed punk club will go for many, many more months. Kristal called the agreement with landlord, the Bowery Residents' Committee, "amicable," which is not only kinda unpunk, it totally reverses his pretty recent comments that CBGB's would leaving. Kristal said he was looking at various other properties, including one at Essex and Delancy owned by the city, not to mention still moving out to Las Vegas so it can showcase the Vegas-sanitized punk acts today, like My Chemical Romance. Hey, wouldn't it be punk for CBGB's to move somewhere totally random, like, say, the Bronx? The rents are probably cheap too! Anyway, it's unclear whether or not Kristal will be paying backrent that he owed (wasn't he claiming to not have paid his higher rent for a while?). Or what will happen to the Chocolate Bar's CBGB's chocolate. more ›

September 25-29: Latin Beer Tasting more ›

On hot summer nights Gothamist adores hunkering down in an air-conditioned movie theater to watch the latest flick o' the moment. And, what's a trip to the cinema without a trip to the concession stand? more ›

May 14th & 15th: The Ninth Avenue International Food Festival more ›

We told you it was coming, and now it's finally here: the Seventh Annual Chocolate Show New York, which began this past Thursday, November 11th, and ends this Sunday, November 14th. Gothamist knew that there'd be everything from a fashion show to cooking demos to art displays made of chocolate. But what we were really excited about was getting to try so many different chocolates, all in one afternoon. more ›

The Chocolate Show is coming! The Chocolate Show is coming! We know where we'll be camped out this weekend . . . more ›

Chocolate Bar: Recipes and Entertaining Ideas for Living the Sweet Life , by Matt Lewis & Alison Nelson (Running Press, 2004). more ›

Girlynyc, Panty Blogger more ›

We were just minding our own business, walking down the streets of the West Village, when suddenly, two words leapt across our field of vision, and we became powerless to resist their pull: more ›

Here at Gothamist, Jake is partial to Marie–Belle's hot chocolate whereas Jen loves the puddingy hot choclate at @SQC. more ›