A building in Brookline that looks like a gingerbread house is home to a new chocolate shop and café. L.A. Burdick, famed New Hampshire makers of exquisite chocolate bonbons and delicious drinking chocolate, opens its third Boston-area location in Coolidge Corner on Saturday, Dec. 14. To celebrate on opening day, L.A. Burdick is sharing a complimentary cookie with everyone who makes a purchase from the new shop.
The full-service café and retail counter is set inside the historic S.S. Pierce Building, a Tudor-style landmark with a clock tower on the corner of Beacon and Harvard streets. Time Out got a look inside the new shop as the elves—we mean, the chocolatiers and baristas—were about to start stocking the shelves. This quaint café has whimsical design details that fit right into the historic location, like arched windows, old-world lighting elements and cheery striped wallpaper. The shop will have an expansive retail selection from L.A. Burdick, including gifts for chocolate lovers as well as the artisan company's full range of treats. For prepared food and drinks, it will offer counter and table service, and a menu of chocolate bonbons, pastries, cookies and beverages.
Founded in 1987 in New York City before relocating to Walpole, N.H., L.A. Burdick was among the pioneers of European-style chocolate-making in the U.S. Head chocolatier Michael Klug has been with the company for 22 years, and L.A. Burdick now has cafés at its headquarters as well as in Back Bay, Harvard Square, Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C. The confectionary brand is known for charming, handmade chocolate mice and other adorable miniatures made without molds, as well as rich and decadent hot chocolate.
The Brookline café opens at 10am on Saturday, Dec. 14. Besides free cookies for everyone who makes a purchase on opening day, the first 75 shoppers will get a complimentary assortment of "Massachusetts-inspired" chocolates and a branded Burdick to-go tumbler. Going forward, the Coolidge Corner location is open daily from 8am–9pm.
