Max is an artist in every sense of the word. Using no specific marketing strategy, Max continues to grow and develop his unique business through observation. While dining out or visiting chocolate shops, he observes those around him as they experience chocolate. He watches their faces. He listens to their comments. From those observations, Max creates.
Entering Max Brenner\'s Chocolate Restaurant in New York\'s Union Square your chocolate senses are magnified. The aroma of cocoa is everywhere brought on by the chocolate flowing from the chocolate mixing machine, the cocoa drinks being mixed for eager restaurant guests and all the decadent chocolate desserts ready for you to experience.
Your sensory journey does not stop with smell. Everything in Max Brenner\'s Chocolate Restaurant is a treat for your eyes as well as your nose. The dishes are designed to harmonize with the chocolate experience. For instance, when you are ready to really experience the chocolate drinking experience, order the hot chocolate in Max\'s "Hug Mug".
Max believes hot chocolate is more than a beverage. He\'s right you know. Drinking hot chocolate is not about being thirsty, it is about the experience. When you think about hot chocolate what comes to mind? A cozy fire, a good book, a chat with your best friend or quiet time for reflection? Hot chocolate is comfort - a hug. Max Brenner knows this and he created the "Hug Mug" to help you fully experience hot chocolate. The "Hug Mug" is designed as a perfect compliment to our palms, we "hug" the mug and sip our hot chocolate and are immediately enveloped by a sense of comfort.
Are you getting the idea behind Max\'s philosophy? Let\'s talk a little bit about the nostalgia encompassed in the chocolate experience. Max certainly considered this when he added smores to the dessert menu in his restaurants. Anyone who enjoyed smores as a child will be delighted to roast a marshmallow over a small cast iron kettle, dip the roasted marshmallow in melted chocolate and peanut butter and place it on a graham cracker. Who would have thought you could be transported back to childhood campfires while dining in an urban environment?
We can all probably agree that chocolate is a delicious indulgence and quite simply a fun food! Another fun food we love to indulge in is pizza. Max has taken fun to a new level with his Chocolate Pizza! Starting with the crust - a thick doughy pastry - Max adds melted double chocolate chunks as the sauce and your choice of toppings - bananas, peanut butter or roasted marshmallows. Of course if you are going this far with your indulgence, you should just order "the works"!
These are just a few of the treats for your senses available at Max Brenner\'s Chocolate Restaurants. Other menu choices include the Pearl Sugar Chocolate Waffle, Key Lime Creamy White Chocolate Crepe, Chocolate Crispy Egg Rolls, O.M.G. Chocolate Chunk Cookies - do I need to go on? With locations worldwide in Israel, Singapore, Australia and the Philippines as well as national locations in New York and Philadelphia, Max is doing his part to promote a new chocolate culture. His small workshop in Israel has indeed grown into a chocolate emporium!
As for the future, Max\'s ultimate dream is to, one day, create his own chocolate bald man city. When that happens, I will be changing my address!
Terri Farris is a BARZZ.Net Contributing Writer with her column "Bar Hopping With Terri!" You can also find her writing for The Examiner as the "Chocolate Examiner" at http://www.examiner.com/x-15661-Chocolate-Examiner.
