Glace's handcrafted hot cocoa sparks a winter craze in NYC

UPPER EAST SIDE - Despite the 'chill,' people can’t get enough of a 'hot item at an Upper East Side ice cream shop. 

Glace Is serving up gourmet hot cocoa—made entirely from scratch with toasted fluff tops—and people can't get enough of it.

"We opened Glace on June 1st and had a great summer selling ice cream," says owner, Sasha Zabar, "But as the weather changed—sales dropped off and we needed something to help the business—we came up with a hot drinks menu centered around the 'S'mores Hot  Chocolate' and it just took off." 

The decadent drinks range in price—the popular S'mores costs $10 and the Chocolate Sundae is $16.

"It's just beyond our wildest imagination," adds Zabar, who is the 32-year-old son of artisanal market entrepreneur Eli Zabar. "We went from selling two hot chocolates a day to ten hot chocolates a day to 100 to 200 to 500 to 1200—even in the middle of January people are still coming out and it's been unbelievable."

"I think it's incredible," said one customer. "Worth every penny."

It’s easy to see why the toasty dessert in a cup has gone viral.

"So it starts with our recipe for hot chocolate, which uses semi-sweet 56% dark chocolate. Then we used the best dairy we can find from Upstate New York (Battenkill) and then we make kind of hybrid between an Italian meringue and a classic marshmallow which we make throughout the day and it's still warm and toasty and top it with some freshly made with cream."

Glace will serve the hot cocoa until March and is open daily from 11-7 p.m.