By Samantha Fournier
As the snow continues to fall and students hide from the cold beneath their hats and scarves they should make a visit to the quaint little red house in Old Wethersfield that has more than enough hot cocoa and chocolates to keep them warm and keep chocolate cravings at bay called Narcissus Chocolate Café.
When entering the cafe you’ll feel like you stepped into a comfortable living room complete with board games, books set on a wire bookshelf in the corner next to a comfortable looking olive green couch, and the latest copy of the Advocate resting on top of a coffee table. The walls are adorned with colorful art and bags and tea that is for sale rest on a hutch in the corner.
Up a few steps is a kitchen-like atmosphere. A group of women chat over coffee and chocolate around a large wooden table. More importantly, past the table full of giddy women chatting is a glass covered counter filled with rich looking chocolate treats including vanilla bean truffles and peanut butter melts on one side and on the other side there are other enticing sweets such as Snickers pie, pumpkin praline cheesecake, and pumpkin squares.
If there is one thing this cafe knows, it’s chocolate. The cafe has been celebrating community and chocolate for the past two years as of November. While this cafe has more on the menu than chocolate including delicious-sounding paninis, quiches and wraps, the chocolate will catch your attention first.
The hot chocolate drinks offer more than enough cocoa to entice your palate and rid you of any cravings you were having. The “superlicious cocoa” is hot chocolate with a shot of Italian Sipping Chocolate topped with whip cream. At first sip this rich dark cocoa will have you coming back for more until the last drop and thinking about when you’ll be stopping in next.
Beyond the “superlicious cocoa” the cafe has many variations of hot chocolate to choose from including “white cloud mocha,” a white hot chocolate with a shot of espresso and whipped cream, “salted caramel,” a sipping chocolate, sea salt, caramel, and whipped cream, and the “Italian kiss,” which has Italian sipping chocolate, espresso, and whipped cream.
The newest addition to the menu is the “Dirty Snowball.” This white hot chocolate is combined with a shot of espresso and coconut syrup and then topped with whip cream and coconut flakes.
Your drink of choice comes in a large colorful mug, giving the cafe even more of that comfortable feel that Central Perk had for the show Friends. You’ll want to sit down and stay a while and if you had a chocolate craving when you came in, you won’t have one when you leave. The café is open Tuesday through Saturday from10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (and is sometimes open later on Friday for live entertainment).
