Paris — WHEN winter set its chilly grip on Paris, I started scouring the rues and boulevards for my one true love: chocolate. Hot chocolate, to be exact. In France, the warm, rich, winter drink is known as \o7 chocolat chaud.\f7
Unlike the United States, where warm milk is mixed with sweetened cocoa powder to create a "chocolate-flavored" drink, the main ingredient in \o7chocolat chaud\f7 is real chocolate.
The thick, dark chocolate, imported from Africa or South America, boasts a cacao content of 70% or more. It is melted, blended with steamed milk or cream and served in porcelain teacups with a glass of cold water on the side. (The chocolate is so rich, you need occasional palate-cleansing sips.)
In Paris, Angelina is \o7the \f7place for \o7chocolat chaud\f7. On Rue de Rivoli across from the Tuileries Gardens, this antique tea room is all frescoed walls and gilded mirrors.
The most popular menu item is \o7Chocolat a l'Ancienne dit "Africain"\f7 (traditional chocolate the African way). Made with pure chocolate from the Ivory Coast, it's as thick as hot fudge but delightfully bitter.
In 1802, Dalloyau began serving pastries and chocolate to adoring Parisians. Since then, the patisserie has expanded to seven Paris locations that sell a combined 55 tons of chocolate each year.
Dalloyau's amber-lighted tea room, on the second floor of the Rue du Faubourg St.-Honore boutique, is often filled with French women wearing full-length furs. They sip \o7chocolat chaud\f7 made with rich Colombian chocolate.
Cafe de Flore, in trendy St.-Germain des Pres, gets my vote for best delivery. The \o7Chocolat Special Flore \f7is mixed with a bit of caramel. This semisweet blend comes in a silver pitcher served on a silver platter. A decorative potholder with which to lift the searing-hot pitcher is tucked inside the coffee cup.
Steps away at Les Deux Magots -- where Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir reigned over a postwar intellectual crowd -- the \o7Chocolat des Deux Magots a l'Ancienne\f7 is to die for. The devilishly rich serving is the equivalent of two cups.
A few blocks east, in a rustic tea room on a hidden cobblestone lane, L'Heure Gourmande serves bitter \o7Chocolat a l'Ancienne\f7 that's among the best I've tasted. The ingredients remain a mystery because my waitress and her manager have sworn an oath of secrecy.
