City Bakery Founder Brings Hot Chocolate Back To The West Village

WEST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN — New Yorkers jonesing for a cup of City Bakery's famous hot chocolate since the cafe shuttered late last year will be able to fill their cravings yet again — this time with some booze and a new line-up of premium whipped creams.

The Union Square bakery's founder Maury Rubin has started a new company dedicated to all-things chocolate, including his famous hot cocoa, and will kick off the new project with a West Village pop-up promised to bring City Bakery's most popular drink back to the masses, Grub Street first reported.

The pop-up shop, called Wonderbon Chocolate Co., will open on Saturday and sell a rotating menu of specialty hot chocolates from its Bleecker and Cornelia streets storefront until April.

"The shop will feature Maury Rubin's revolving menu of hot chocolate, a first time offering of whipped creams including coconut, honey and smoked salt, a daily Hot Chocolate Happy Hour with a chance to enjoy a "flight" of spiked hot chocolates," Rubin and his new business partner Alex Atzberger wrote on the website.

Wonderbon Chocolate will ultimately start selling pre-packaged versions of its chocolate offerings on its website, shipping the treats nationwide.

The new venture is Rubin's way of continuing the legacy of City Bakery, which closed in October after three decades on West 18th Street.

The beloved cafe and bakery closed after more than a year of owners trying to control mountains of debt that forced them to also shut down Birdbath Green Bakery in SoHo.

Rubin hinted at the return of "spirit, the creative, the pleasure, the surprise, the hands and heart that built City Bakery" when he announced the outpost's closing last year.

Not all of the Union Square flagship's favorites, like the signature marshmallow, will return to the West Village pop-up, but the shop promises a new selection of unique flavors, Rubin told Grub Street.

New offerings include options like white-chocolate hot chocolate with Persian-lime whipped cream and a selection of vegan drinks, Rubin said.

Wonderbun Chocolate will be open from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m., Monday to Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday.