Wednesday, September 5, 2012

New in New York: Allow Yourself a Taste of Forbidden Fruit

Forbidden Fruit is a yummy treat that is New In New York

By Mitch Broder

Forbidden Fruit was founded on two sound principles: Fruit belongs in chocolate, and chocolate belongs on fruit.

Except maybe in the cases of melons and grapes. But every principle gets resistance.

The small interior gives way to big flavor at the New in New York Forbidden Fruit
Forbidden Fruit is an all-chocolate-covered-fruit place, which makes it a good fit for the all-peculiar-place food court that is MacDougal Street. It’s a simple store with a simple selection that harbors the simple hope of conquering all the other food courts of the world, peculiar or not.

When you’re ready to help it succeed, prepare to “dip it!!!” or “drip it!!!” (With either choice, you get three exclamation points.) The dip-its are the individual fruits, which are coated with chocolate. The drip-its are the medleys of fruits, which are drizzled with chocolate.

Dip it or Drip It with your favorite Forbidden Fruit at this spot that is  New in New York.
The dip-its include strawberries, pineapples, bananas, and apples (in wedges). The drip-its include fruit sticks, fruit cups, berry boats, and clementines (in wedges). The chocolate comes in the customary white, milk, and dark. You can add coconut or walnuts. Or sprinkles, but just on bananas.

A manager gave me chocolate fruit. This was especially generous, since a clerk had already given me chocolate fruit. The manager gave me all dark chocolate, which is the correct kind. Everything was delicious. The bananas tasted like chocolate-covered banana ice cream.

So Forbidden Fruit has the product. Then again, so does Edible Arrangements. But Forbidden Fruit is different from that global fruit-bouquet chain. It has no Grand Confetti Fruit Cupcake or SpongeBob Bikini Bottom Bouquet. It has no fruit growing out of footballs. It’s not about arrangements. It’s about a snack.

Forbidden Fruit includes chocolate covered pineapple, of course it does.

The idea for the snack reportedly came from a fountain — specifically, the chocolate fountain at Dylan’s Candy Bar. Abbas Devji saw lots of people there waiting in line to dip things. He was uneasy with the public dipping. He envisioned fruit predipped.

Other New York treats can't shake a stick at Forbidden Fruit's chocolate dipped bananas that are certainly New in New York

He enlisted a creative director, Matthew Higginson, to create a store. Matthew led a six-month quest to develop the look and the menu. He dipped many fruits. He found that some of them didn’t agree with chocolate. Those included watermelon, cantaloupe, and grapes. They are the forbidden fruit.

The classic chocolate covered strawberry gets the Forbidden Fruit treatment.

Matthew wants to see Forbidden Fruits from Boston to L.A. Meanwhile, he’s planning  a Chocolate of the Month for New York City. And he’s just added a Fruit of the Season. The first one is the cherry, which, of course, has had a long and successful relationship with chocolate.

The new in New York spot, Forbidden Fruit, is already a popular destination for locals.

For now, though, the star fruit is the banana, which is convenient, since the banana is the symbol of Forbidden Fruit. You might not think it would work with a chocolate peel, but it does. As Matthew puts it: “You could cover a rock with chocolate and it would taste good.”

Cartoon fruit welcome those looking for a special Forbidden Fruit treat at this New in New York space.

Take a dip at Forbidden Fruit, 106 MacDougal Street, between Third and Bleecker streets, in New York City.

4 comments:

  1. Oh my Mitch...should these photos get some sort of rating? Excellent find, as usual! Thanks!

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  2. A SIMPLY delicious post!!! I hope they don't forget the grape sub-category of raisins...which are excellent in dark chocolate. (Agree: dark chocolate is the "correct kind") Love that they do not have fruit growing out of footballs...etc. Give the fruit the dignity -- and chocolate -- it deserves. I also find the communal fountain thing very unappetizing. Thanks for "sharing" this solution.

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  3. Are nuts considered fruits? If so, then the banana could be given its first dip, then covered in nuts (not pea), then dipped again to cover the nutted fruit. Yes. Maybe first dip in one type of chocolate, then a second for the 2nd layer of fruit. A sandwich of forbiddeness. Obviously this is why I have no problem with communal dipping. I can have as much chocolate as I want. Unlimited pourings.

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  4. Since you posted on FB today, I would just like to add that I like my dips to be double dripped.

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