I chose to go to the Jacques Torres Chocolate Museum because I had been hearing about it for a while. It is located in Manhattan on Hudson st. I never really made the time to go until this assignment. It gave me the encouragement that I needed to do something new. Originally I was going to go with one of my friends but I had to cancel because of things that I had going on at home. I ended up going with a couple of different friends that I need from before college. Most of us live in Long Island so we met up and went together while the others met us at the Museum.
I went with a total of five friends and my little brother, three boys and two girls. Two of the boys and one of the girls took the Long Island Railroad with me and my brother as we lived close to one another. Before all of this we had to make a reservation online. We paid $15 each because there was no discount for college students and I did not look for discounts for my brother. The tour was approximately 30 minutes long and once we left the museum to go into the store we could not go back into the museum.
When we walked into the museum I was in awe because I wanted to visit it since I first heard about it. My friends were really supportive because they gave up their time on the weekend just to go with me. I thought it was very nice of them even though I told them about it the day before because I could not make it the first time. We were able to book our reservation and then planned to explore after we were finished.
We took the railroad all the way down to Penn Station and then took the 2 train to Houston St. It took us approximately 2 hours to get their because of the delays and us exploring the stores as we walked. We met up with the others at exactly 2:15 outside of the museum. This gave us enough time to make our 2:30 appointment tour.
The tour was very nice and informative. It told us how the Mayans invented chocolate and how they started to use it. We saw many artifacts that I myself thought were pretty cool. We got to taste a lot of chocolate which was my favorite part of the tour. In total we got to taste at least six different types of chocolate. I didn’t really like the dark chocolates but I loved the hot chocolate that we made. Their was also a bon bon demonstration that I thought was really good. The demonstration looked really interesting but I felt like it was missing something.
My only complaint is that some of the workers seem like they did not really want to be their and they were being forced to. I think that they should have been more enthusiastic or at least look like they were enjoying it a little. I think that this would have made the experience more interesting but maybe it was just the day we went that some of the workers were like that. Besides this I thought that the museum was very fun and exciting to experience for the first time. The store was very expensive but they had a recipe book for chocolate that I wanted to get but a lady got the last one before I could.
Normally I do not like going to museums but this is a museum that I would not mind going to again. We are definitely going to be going back here to try the chocolate making classes. These class only happens at certain times during the day though so we will have to go earlier. I think that overall this was a very wonderful and nice experience. I would defined recommend trying this one day if you guys ever have time.
When I was originally planning to go I was going to take the chocolate class and do the museum tour for $45 but I had to cancel. I was lucky I was waiting to make a reservation otherwise I would have lost $45 because it is non-refundable. Unfortunately we could not book the chocolate classes because we all wanted to go to the movies and exploring after. We are all going to be going back for this class towards the end of this month or next month.
This chocolate museum you speak of sounds very interesting. While reading this I imagined the movie “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” It shows you were really interested in this museum because even though you do live far from the museum you did your best to go. Not only did you have a great experience, but you had a great time with your friends and brother. This sounds like a place I would definitely want to go with some friends as well.
Hey Marcia, The museum sounds interesting so far. I am a tad sad you do not enjoy dark chocolate, which is one of my favorites but nonetheless not surprising to me that its abhorred. I have been to the Hershey Chocolate Factor in Pennsylvania, it has some things in common with the museum in terms of the chocolate tasting and the expensive prices. However, I enjoyed going to Hershey’s Chocolate World. Judging from your experience, even though there were a few bad services you seemed to have had fun. the chocolate making classes sound super interesting also. I would definitely like to go there sometime.
This Museum seems really fun, you were very detailed throughout the essay and you even included details of what happened after you took the tour. You had a few typos but the quality of the essay overal was really well done because I was able to imagine a bit of how the chocolate museum was. If you had been able to take the chocolate making classes I’m sure I would’ve felt hungry after reading this, this essay made me curious about this museum because I had never been and maybe one day I will.
the museum sounds very fun and intriguing. i don’t know why the workers don’t reciprocate that energy. Probably because they are tired of all the chocolate. It sounds like it brought you and your siblings and family together and anyplace that does that is good. i personally never been there. i always wanted to go to the one in Pennsylvania. i head good things about it . but after reading this i will have to try both.
It sounds like you had a lot of fun going to the chocolate museum, it sucks the the workers were not more welcoming but at least that didn’t ruing your esperience in the museum. How hard is it to make reservation? I would love to visit the mes with my friends and take that chocolate class it sounds like lots of fun.
Hi Marcia!
I enjoyed reading your post about your experience at the Chocolate Museum. A couple of weeks ago while I was watching the Food Network this museum was mentioned. Hearing your experience makes me want to go and see for myself what the museum is all about. An interesting fact that you mentioned is that the Mayans invented chocolate. This was a shock to me because all of this time I had grown up with the perception that chocolate was invented somewhere in Europe. I am very happy and proud that chocolate has its roots in Central, South America as I am part South American myself. I will definitely be checking this museum out so thank you for your post.
Marcia!
This was a very interesting report. I happen to be a chocolate lover myself and did not know about this museum until your trip report. I don’t tend to like dark chocolate myself either, but I am happy that you enjoyed the hot chocolate you made. The chocolate class also sounds like a dream. I hope to be going to this museum soon to try out the chocolates as well as the class.
Marcia, As you can see from all the comments, you chose a popular and appealing destination. I wish that you had shared more information about the museum itself. for example, you mention that there were interesting artifacts on display, but don’t describe any of them. You tell us you saw a bon bon demonstration, but don’t tell us anything about what it included. You need to give less time to things that are not so important (like the journey to the museum, which you spend a lot of time on) and share more detail about the parts of the report that are more likely to interest the reader. I was disappointed to see you make so many typos or spelling errors – particularly the confusion of there/their. You don’t want mistakes like that in formal writing or writing that is available to the public on the internet! I’m glad that you and your friends enjoyed the museum! It sounds like it was a fun day!
JS