COMING TO RUIN YOUR SUMMER DIET: The Best Chocolate Cake In The World Coming To NoLita

And, yes, that is not only the product, but the name of the cafe coming to the edge of SoHo at 55a Spring Street, nudging up against neighborhood favorite patisserie Ceci-Cela. Actually, it is really called O Melhor De Bolo De Chocolate Do Mundo, but we are expecting a translation for our shores (so far the website does not have an English language version).

The Times reports that this delicacy, imported from Sao Paolo, Brazil, is based on a chocolate dacquoise from Fauchon in Paris, and the boldly named chain has flourished in Portugal and Spain as well, so it comes with a pedigree. How will layers of meringue, mousse and ganache fare with New Yorkers who tend to like their chocolate cakes dense and fudgy? We'll find out this week when the shop opens. A taste will run you from $6.50 for a slice up to $55 for an entire 11-inch cake, and if the store succeeds, we can probably expect more branches throughout the U.S. In the meantime, however, we will be interested to see if this cake will inspire the kind of lines of anxious New York foodies that will form when imported goodies make a claim on our turf. Remember Grom? They just opened their third shop in Manhattan.

The Best Chocolate Cake in the World 55a Spring Street at Lafayette Street, NoLita
Food Stuff: A New Chocolate Cake in New York (NYTimes)