At the new Bissinger’s lounge, Gretchen Morfogen’s desserts will drench you in chocolate

The closing of Bissinger’s landmark McPherson Avenue location and the opening of Bissinger’s, A Chocolate Experience signals a new era for the venerable confectioner. The new Central West End shop will have a traditional walk-up candy counter, but classically trained chef Gretchen Morfogen has worked with the company to showcase Bissinger’s chocolate by using it in desserts. Morfogen’s tiered menu of chocolaty delights is matched with wines, teas and coffees, all served in a lounge atmosphere. You can pop in to pick up a box of truffles, but Morfogen hopes you’ll linger a while over a glass of Cabernet paired with a dark chocolate terrine. Your title is chocolate sommelier? Well, that’s just a fun name that we made up. What does it mean? We were thinking of chocolate guru, pastry chef, chocolatier. Chocolatier was the first one, and I looked up the definition of it and I’m not that. My actual title is director of culinary development for Bissinger’s. For this location, I’m the pastry chef in charge of any of the new items that are being developed. Why did Bissinger’s open a lounge? If you were to ask Ken [Kellerhals], the owner of Bissinger’s, he would say bringing me on board. We were talking about pastries that could be made with Bissinger’s chocolate to take it to another level of chocolate appreciation. What should people look for when tasting chocolate? Chocolate, kind of like wine tasting, is an evolutionary process. A way to step into it is to start with a lower-cocoa-mass chocolate and ease into it. Our chocolate has full flavor without the bitterness because of the blending that we do, which is our trademark secret. We’re using African beans. Most of the world’s chocolates are made with South American beans. Will you serve strictly sweets? We’re not doing [savory] foods at this point. Perhaps in another project, but now the only non-sweet thing is roasted nuts and snacks for noshing with a glass of wine. The desserts are designed in levels of intensity, so when you look at the first portion of the menu [the delicate-bodied chocolate], it’s subtle: a crème brûlée with a drizzle of chocolate; Mousse à Trois – triple-chocolate mousse using white, milk and dark chocolates served in a stemless wine glass garnished with a dark chocolate-toffee lace; milk chocolate semifreddo topped with English toffee. What’s on the intense menu? The truffle tart made with our 75 percent [and] a flourless chocolate cake enrobed in ganache, floating on a base of crème anglaise. The Cocoaccino is a light chocolate soufflé served with either a frothy or a cold crème anglaise. And then, [with all desserts] we’re going to do fruit compotes and fruit sauces to serve with, say, the chocolate terrine, which is cream and dark chocolate in a pâté mold, sliced and served with fresh fruit. You must have had fun developing this menu. Well, it’s not over yet. I’m going into the kitchen next week to polish up things and work with the kitchen so that they know what’s going on. I’m still working on a chocolate bread pudding. I have a chocolate tiramisu. [I have] a chocolate pot de crème with skewered truffles so you can dip the truffles in the pot de crème. We’re going to have a lavender soda that is amazing with chocolate; it’s dry but then you get the sweetness of the chocolate. We’re going to have unusual waters and tea presentations, and we’ve selected some really fun wines. You don’t often think of white wine pairing with chocolate. You don’t. I think the Prosecco has a nice, crisp acidity, like a green apple, that will go well with the mousse or the crème brûlée – the higher the fat content, the more bubbly or acidic you want your wine. You mentioned a tea service? We’re working with Republic of Tea. We have this beautiful caddy so customers can touch and feel it and understand where the tea came from. The barrista has designed several coffee drinks with and without alcohol that mirror our confections. There’s a nonalcoholic mocha, a raspberry truffle mocha with Chambord … After you open on June 1, what can people expect? I would call it a chocolate bistro. It’s going to be very intimate and experiential.