To Shop: Chocolate for You, Coffee for Me
Coffee and chocolate, both bean-based crops, are on display at 2Beans, a rare Midtown resource for lovers of both. This unusual cafe and shop has an Illy coffee bar, where espresso and other brews are served in ceramic cups, European-style, on a small tray with a glass of water and a piece of chocolate or biscotti. Pastries from places like Tisserie are also available. There’s a chocolate display in the cafe, but turn the corner in the shop and you are confronted with a chocolate fantasy. Every inch of space is filled with bars and boxes of chocolates from around the world, more than 300 items by first-rate brands from Europe, the United States, Vietnam, Brazil and even the Middle East (Al Nassma camel-milk chocolates). A display case holds chocolate truffles and other bonbons from Chocolat Moderne in Manhattan and Aeschbach of Switzerland, sold by the piece, and slabs of chocolate bark made for the shop.