Brookline’s food spectrum is one of the best and most diverse in the greater Boston area. From the Brookline Spa to Zaftigs, from Fugakyu to Rubin’s, Khao Sarn to the Upper Crust, no one’s going home hungry.
Serenade Chocolatier in Brookline Village is no slouch, either. Think of it as haute chocolate. Nur Kilic, the brainchild behind Serenade, is as dedicated as they come. “I trained under William Federer, a Viennese candy-maker his whole life,” says Kilic. “He learned his trade from his mother, who was a chocolatier in Vienna.” Kilic’s days are spent marrying 72-percent chocolate and myriad intense flavors, not the least of which is a devastating raspberry cream made from puréed whole raspberries. Visit the shop and customize a box ($30/pound), but good luck making a decision. Marzipan, hazelnut, green tea, pistachio, and orange cream are merely the tempting prologue to dark-chocolate-covered ginger, apricot, plum, and orange slices. The golf-ball-size truffles ($2.50/each), in flavors that include Kahlúa, Champagne, and amaretto, are liqueur-filled marvels.
Though Kilic won’t divulge all her secrets, repeated tastings suggest that the chocolate used in her concoctions is reminiscent of an El Rey or a Callebaut. Her chocolate isn’t officially organic or fair trade, which may disappoint aficionados who use phrases like “single origin” and “Dutch process.” But just shut up and taste this stuff. Experience what glory can be coaxed from cocoa. “I am always thinking and living chocolate,” says Kilic. Right on, sweetness. Right on.
Serenade Chocolatier, located at 5 Harvard Square, in Brookline, is open Monday through Friday, from 10 am to 6 pm, and on Saturday, from 10 am to 5 pm. Call 617.739.0795 for special holiday hours.
