Somerville Chocolates Are Back in Harvard Square This Winter
Gâté Comme des Filles and Somerville Chocolate will join forces with Lizzy's Ice Cream from December through February.
Photograph by Toan Trinh for “Think Inside the Box with Gâté Comme des Filles’ Chocolates”
If you’ve been to Aeronaut Brewing lately (or checked out its Allston beer garden this past summer), maybe you’ve tried a waffle cone full of chocolate mousse. Alexandra Whisnant, the chocolatier behind Gâté Comme des Filles, has been whipping up this rich treat and selling it from her shared stall in the back of the Somerville brewery. And later this year, you can find it in Harvard Square, too.
Gâté Comme des Filles and Somerville Chocolate, a bean-to-bar enterprise by Eric Parkes, return to Lizzy’s Ice Cream December 1-February 28. The two chocolate makers, who share production space at Aeronaut, took over the Church Street ice cream shop last winter. But this time, their chocolates will be available alongside Lizzy’s Ice Cream. And, best of both worlds: you can order ice cream in one of Whisnant’s handmade chocolate waffle cones.
The shop will also carry Whisnant’s bonbons, brownies, and hot chocolate mixes, plus Parkes’ bars, and “more wonderful gifts,” says Whisnant, who studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, staged at Ladurée, and spent two years as a pastry cook at Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse.
To kick things off, the chocolatiers will host a launch party on Friday, Dec. 1, sharing Gâté Comme des Filles bonbons and mousse for free until they run out. It’s the only time Whisnant hands out whole pieces of her high-end candies—hand-dipped morsels of premium Valrhona or Tcho chocolates, blended with ganaches made with fresh fruits and herbs.
Can’t make it that night? Whisnant, who’s traveling in Paris this month, returns to Aeronaut in late November, and always sells her chocolates by-the-piece. She also recently started serving mousse and cones there, and plans to start selling hot chocolate there this winter, too. And next year, you’ll be able to find Gâté Comme des Filles products at its own shop—Whisnant just inked a lease at Bow Market.
Bon appetit!
Gâté Comme des Filles and Somerville Chocolate Launch Party, Friday, Dec. 1, 6-9 p.m., Lizzy’s Ice Cream, 29 Church St., Cambridge, gatecommedesfilles.fr.
