With chocolate like this, everyday is Valentine's

Nanjing, 1996: Dove chocolate bars debuted at campus "xiaomaibu." But at six kuai they were an extravagance for a college student. Besides, I found Dove too sweet and too soft.

So when craving sweets, I experimented with Chinese chocolate bars. I determined that there were two categories of domestic chocolate: wax and chalk. The former resembled nothing so much as a brown candle, while the latter broke into hard crumbles infused with a hard whitish cast. I was convinced it could write on a blackboard.

Shanghai, 2007: The chocolate revolution has arrived. Not only are pricey hand-dipped truffles melting on privileged tongues at fine dining spots, but cozy, affordable restaurants have chocolate desserts for everyone. After two months away, I was bewildered to discover that two cafes dedicated to chocolate have just opened.

Kakaw is tiny, hardly more than a counter, but it's bright and cheerful, and has a rather "shuai" waiter ready to whip hot milk and your chosen flavoring with the secret Kakaw blend (made daily from melted European chocolate by friendly operations manager Ferdinand Aquino, "I drink chocolate from morning till night," he laughs). Classic double hot chocolate is quite sweet, milky and very round on the palate. Hot orange chocolate (my favorite) has a joyous citrus fragrance so strikingly bright, that when you first bring it to your lips you could mistake it for fresh-squeezed juice. Kakaw's Earl Grey hot chocolate made with freshly brewed tea is subtle and soothing, with just a whiff of smoky bergamot.

Across town, by the Changshu Lu subway is Whisk. It’s welcoming, neighborhood-y, and feels like the kind of place where you could become a regular (they also offer Italian cuisine). The Spanish hot chocolate here, masterminded by chef owner Alex Maze from New Zealand, is a generous portion topped with steamed milk. It has depth and creaminess. The molten chocolate cake is extraordinarily moist and tender. It's lighter and milkier than most, and velvety on the palate. Maze bakes it ahead of time, from his "tip-top secret recipe," and then warms before serving. And the steal of the city is Maze’s three kuai chocolate chip cookie. It has enough of that crucial ingredient — salt (really!). And it’s dense, chewy, and crumbly all at once. See you there.

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