A central question I have about viral New York City food trends is: Are they essentially good, or bad?
They’re a financial boon for the businesses whose offerings go viral, of course. But what about eaters and food culture on the whole?
Can indulging whatever algorithm that fed me the “Suprême” croissant or raclette sandwich enrich my life, or will it just deaden my own sense of what’s worth tasting?
Basically: Am I lame for wanting to try the s’mores hot chocolate that TikTok is obsessing over?
This was on my mind as I walked up the sunny side of Madison Avenue toward Glace by Noglu, the ice cream store offshoot of the nearby gluten-free bakery Noglu, on a recent Friday afternoon.
Why I wanted to try Glace’s viral hot chocolate
In the ramp-up to the holiday season, my TikTok and Instagram feeds started filling up with “best of” hot chocolate lists. When I spotted an offering from an Upper East Side store called Glace (pronounced like gloss) — topped with a flamboyant rim of brûléed marshmallow fluff — I knew it was going to be big.
By mid-December, Glace’s hot chocolates were everywhere.
“TikTok got me again,” proclaimed one fan. “Yes, we went from Williamsburg to 90th and Madison for this,” admitted another.
Folks were waiting upward of 30 minutes, often in freezing weather, to get a taste of the decadent hot chocolate from this tiny shop that opened last June.
Glace’s owner, Sasha, is a Zabar — a family with a NYC track record that speaks for itself. I sensed this was a viral trend worth exploring.
The drink was beautiful, but did it taste good?
The hilarious model-slash-influencer Tyshon Lawrence, who’s also declared himself a fan of the treat, put it this way: “Oh, Imma get in trouble for this.”
What it was like to wait
Dodging discarded Christmas trees on my way, I arrived at Glace around 12:30 p.m. There were just 17 people ahead of me in line: a crowd mostly in their 20s and 30s, speaking a variety of languages.
Neighborhood…
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