Open just a few weeks, "HotChocolate" has become one of the hottest restaurants in the city thanks in part to its extensive dessert menu.
Mindy Segal is one of Chicago's great pastry chefs. With stints at Charlie Trotter's, Marche and mk, she's certainly comfortable working with sugar, butter and cream. Just a few weeks ago, she opened her own place that offers high-quality sweets and savories. But with more than 20 desserts to choose from, it's clear where her passion lies.

Don't judge a restaurant by its name. HotChocolate is the latest addition to a burgeoning stretch of North Damen in Bucktown but Chef and Owner Mindy Segal has created a comfy neighborhood joint, where you can get a glass of wine and upscale snacks like a Kobe beef steak sandwich with caramelized onions, watercress and gorgonzola on a toasted ciabatta roll.

Earthy onion soup contains cider, bacon and granny smith apples - echoed by a warm applecake on the side; brie is baked into brioche with mushrooms - it's drizzled with warm honey syrup; even the pork loin comes from a small farm - it's roasted with apple butter. If you've noticed a theme here, it's no coincidence. Segal was trained as a pastry chef, and has worked at Charlie Trotter's, Marche and most recently, mk.

There are more than a dozen desserts to choose from...some highlights include a warm chocolate souffle tart topped with salted caramel ice cream and a homemade pretzel. A roasted baby pear rests up against a spiced pear cake, layered with browned-butter buttercream - a mini cinnamon ice cream soda washes it all down . An heirloom apple and cider pot pie is nestled beneath sour cream ice cream - there's a refreshing granny smith sorbet on the side. Segal offers a tasting of all of the housemade cookies...plus, four or five different milkshakes to choose from - they each arrive with a tiny chocolate buttermilk cake and a little silver pitcher with extra shake in it. There are even a few savory options, like a composed cheese course served with a salad and some sourdough bread...or a Vermont blue cheese and seckel pear tart with port syrup.

Naturally, there are five kinds of hot chocolate to choose from, each served with house-made marshmallows. The most intriguing of which is the "black and tan" - one-third hot fudge, two-thirds Scharffenberger milk chocolate.

Just like a regular menu at the city's top restaurants, the items on Segal's dessert menu will change with the seasons. The only negative: they do not take reservations, so either get there early, or be prepared to wait.

HotChocolate
1747 N. Damen Ave.
773-489-1747

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/news/hung...chocolate.html

I've been thinking I need to go to Chicago ...

The Chicago FT gang would welcome your visit!

So I couldn�t help myself and just had to try Hot Chocolate.

Started w/mussels done in a green curry, diced red pepper, creamy broth that I�m pretty sure contained coconut milk. Mussels were quite good and fresh, diced red pepper was not necessary except as eye appeal. The creamy curry was very good to dip the piece of crusty bread into.

Next was Napoleon of Canasta Pardo consisting of crispy phyllo, caramelized apples and a date puree with shards of sharp, rich, moist cheddar cheese. The cheese was heavenly and as I ate, I came to the conclusion that I wanted only the cheese (and some more of that crusty bread). I think next time I will go with the cheese selection.

Entr�e of Kobe Beef. Unless the Gov has relaxed their laws, I did not think that true Japanese Kobe was allowed into the US, so I�ll assume it was Waygu or some American Kobe. Entr�e consisted of seared Kobe skirt steak, string potato fries, olive oil roasted grape tomatoes w/a creamy mini cup of a cheese sauce not mentioned on the menu but I�m guessing some sort of gorgonzola. I was fortunate to have Kobe beef in Japan a few times but it was not skirt steak, it just melted in my mouth. The Kobe effect with this dish, a semi tough skirt steak was lost on me. None the less it is a good cut of beef and was even better w/a bit of the cheese sauce on it.

With all that I only had room to try a small hot chocolate called a Black & Tan which is 1/3 hot fudge and 2/3 medium hot chocolate. Quite tasty, I wish I had room for the Banana, which was graham cracker tuiles layered w/caramelized bananas, roasted banana cream, butterscotch, hot fudge and a �one banana, two banana� surprise.

Other starters included: Rabbit Rillette, Ruree (puree?) of Asparagus, Chopped Tuna Salad, Roasted Beet & Goat Cheese salad, Mixed Greens Salad.

Other Entr�es included: Brie in Brioche served warm with a salad of seasonal mushrooms, asparagus, and parsley. Tuna Melt sandwich with mayo, wild capers, roasted red peppers, havarti cheese on toasted ciabatta. Chicken and Bacon sandwich w/avocado and honey mustard aioli.

As you can imagine with Segal, there are a ton of desserts and many people were ordering just the sweets.

Don�t sit at the bar if you don�t have to, I found the chairs uncomfortable.

The only real negative was the fork design. It just never fit well in my hand. First time I�ve ever had problems with utensils! (in a LONG time at least)

Hot Chocolate
1747 North Damen
Chicago
773.489.1747

This might be a replacement for me for the shuttered Soul Kitchen down the street - I used to take out of town colleagues there to show them a little bit of the city instead of just the stretch between the hotel and the office.

recent review of Hot Chocolate:

Hot Chocolate
1747 N. Damen Ave.
(773) 489-1747
Valet parking, $10
Price range at dinner, $6-$22

Desserts are the attraction here (owner Mindy Segal may be Chicago's premier pastry maker), so it's no surprise to be greeted with: "Dessert or dinner tonight?"

We chose both and had a terrific meal in this interesting space. I'm no fan of the color brown, but the rich and varied shades of the floor, rug, couches, tables, chairs and bar won me over. That, and Rick James' "Super Freak" playing. Our only complaint: The espresso machine is unpleasantly loud and drowns out conversation.

Service was exceptional from start to finish. We had a small fry with us, and when nothing on the dinner menu appealed to her, our waiter offered off-menu items such as grilled cheese or macaroni and cheese ($6). When it came time for dessert, the busboy set out a pint-sized spoon and fork for her.

Taleggio cheese oozes from a brioche ($15) on top of roasted baby vegetables. Saut�ed whitefish ($22) is sided with a cold fennel salad, and roasted tomatoes; every bite was a delight. But the highlight was that mac and cheese! Creamy but not heavy, and tasting of Gruy�re � was my French grandmother back in the kitchen? We were all grabbing spoonfuls.

Desserts are out of this world. Rich, flavorful ice creams ($2 per spoon) are sided with cookies, and a chocolate torte ($10) was topped with a salty caramel ice cream. A cookie platter ($12) holds bite-sized treasures, ultrafresh and astonishing. Don't miss it.

Hot Chocolate was just mentioned in Chicago Magazine's recent article "The 124 Best Dishes". The dish mentioned was the Half & Half - which is a 50/50 blend of hot chocolate and espresso. Imagine biting into a rich chocolate-covered coffee bean but without the crunch.

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One curiosity: everything savory has a touch of sweetness in it, and everything sweet has a bit of salt. Another: every single time I've been there, there has been at least one moment when women outnumbered men by better than three to one.

Perhaps most usefully for the out-of-towners, it also functions well as an after-dinner destination -- whether a dessert lounge for those who love sweets or just for drinks. The craft beer list is stellar; in the rare instance when it disappoints, a true beer snob can always be sent next door to the Blue Bird Bistro while the rest of us get our sugar on.

I've heard that Segal (although not HotChocolate) was the inspiration for the Ana Pascal character in last year's "Stranger than Fiction."

so in a seridipitous move last night, we not only ended up with Bulls tickets but also dined at Hot Chocolate.

We both shared one starter of the Shrimp N Grits: Hunter style Plapp Farm grits, black tiger shrimp, red onion, cremini mushroom, bacon and smoked tomatoes, was a terrific dish, the hit of the night.

Mrs Sweet Willie had a cassoulet which was so-so.

I had the Lamb Creama Kasa sandwich: sourdough flatbread with house-made lamb sausage, Carr Valley Krema Kasa cheese, wild arugula oregano oil served with pickled beets. A good sandwich.

After the fantastic starter, we were let down by our entrees which were good/ok. I know it probably is blasphemy but we didn't have any desserts.

I hope you had a restaurant.com certificate - or maybe you did not. The certificates for 'Hot Chocolate' tend to sell out early in the month.

I wish I would have, the night was all so spur of moment so c'est la vie.