Black & White Bars!!!
Some of you who have lived in this area for a while may remember a posh gourmet food store called Cowan & Lobel, which closed its doors some years ago. Its demise was the source of much lamenting, because the Cowan & Lobel black & white bar, one of the best desserts known to humankind, suddenly disappeared.
Except that I just got some for Christmas!!! This is because my wife is a genius. She happened to hear that some of the folks running a new shop in town, Mezzo, used to work at C&L. She went there and asked them about the black & white bars. They weren't making them and didn't know how, but thought they remembered where one of the old bakers lived, down the street. They found her, and she had a recipe. She didn't remember how to make the recipe into the dessert, and got it wrong a few times, but eventually got it right. Months and months after Mir first asked them about it, she finally found out that Mezzo is now selling black & white bars. And they are indeed the genuine article.
This makes me inordinately happy. I mean, it's all the best parts of a Vanilla Butter Cream candy from the Whitman's sampler, and a really good brownie with a little coconut in it and, well, just CHOCOLATE on the top. And once it was dead, but now it's alive. All because Mir bugged them about it!
Go get some. Mezzo is on Hamilton Street, just below Dove.
Except that I just got some for Christmas!!! This is because my wife is a genius. She happened to hear that some of the folks running a new shop in town, Mezzo, used to work at C&L. She went there and asked them about the black & white bars. They weren't making them and didn't know how, but thought they remembered where one of the old bakers lived, down the street. They found her, and she had a recipe. She didn't remember how to make the recipe into the dessert, and got it wrong a few times, but eventually got it right. Months and months after Mir first asked them about it, she finally found out that Mezzo is now selling black & white bars. And they are indeed the genuine article.
This makes me inordinately happy. I mean, it's all the best parts of a Vanilla Butter Cream candy from the Whitman's sampler, and a really good brownie with a little coconut in it and, well, just CHOCOLATE on the top. And once it was dead, but now it's alive. All because Mir bugged them about it!
Go get some. Mezzo is on Hamilton Street, just below Dove.