OK, so technically, yes, this is a fashion site. But The Fashion Informer is also a serious chocoholic with a sweet tooth bigger than Diane Pernet’s beehive. Which is why we interrupt our usual style coverage to bring you this important public service announcement.
A colleague at Vogue introduced us to Mari’s brownies, which are baked by his friend, Mari Tuttle. Well, what Diane does with an updo and Alber Elbaz does with cloth Mari does with flour, chocolate and whatever the hell else goes in brownies. We’re talking seriously amazing, addictive, stupendously delicious brownies. The kind that make every other brownie you’ve ever eaten pale in comparison.
We first sampled Mari’s Classic brownie, as did another friend, and the two of us sat there in what can only be called a brownie stupor for a full minute, just silently reveling in the explosion of taste and texture we were experiencing (dark chocolate and Madasgar bourbon being two of the main ingredients). Sated but wanting more, more, more, we then split a Caramel Sea Salt brownie. Yes, you read that right: Caramel. Sea salt. Brownie. Like peanut butter and chocolate, these are three great tastes that taste great together. And never more so than in Mari’s delectable little morsels, which marry dark chocolate with gourmet Cyprian sea salt.
“My favorite reaction is always the same, and it seems to happen quite often,” says Tuttle, who was Director of Bakery Operations at Balthazar before leaving to launch Mari’s New York, which specializes exclusively in homemade brownies. “When people first try our brownies, they'll take take a bite and chew. Then, often their eyes close and their chewing slows. Eventually, the eyes open again - slowly, and with their mouths still full of brownie, they say, 'Wow' or 'Oh my God.' Sometimes they seem lost for words and they just keep their eyes closed nodding up and down over and over. That always makes me smile and say ‘Yay!’” Well, your brownies made us smile and say “Yay!,” too, Ms. Tuttle.
Aside from the out-of-this-world flavor, there’s another thing that makes Mari’s brownies so genius: each one is literally bite-sized (two bites, tops). Just the thing for a figure-conscious fashionista. And the fact that they come packaged in an elegant oblong box - that just happens to be Hermes orange – doesn’t hurt, either. You can order a mix of flavors - in addition to the aforementioned Classic and Caramel Sea Salt (our personal fave), there’s also Classic with Nuts, Coconut, Thai Coffee, Heat, Blonde Bombshell and the seasonal specialties Cranberry Cognac, Sugar & Spice, (Rasp)berry Good, Figgy, Mighty Mint and L’Orange – or you can choose just one flavor per box.
“To me, brownies are the unsung heros of the chocolate world,” adds Tuttle. “We make ours fudgy and rich - hence the two-bite size design - but not so rich that you feel like you've overindulged. We use only the finest chocolate and we never use artificial flavors or preservatives. Then, we package our brownies with the same reverence that people typically apply to fine chocolate truffles.” Or, we might add, a fine chocolate leather handbag.
So this holiday season, why not surprise the chocolate-loving fashion hounds on your list with Mari’s brownies? At $16 for a box of six, this is one stylish goodie that won’t break the bank – and if their reaction is anything like ours, it’s a gift they’ll treasure even longer than last season’s “It” bag.
