Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Would you pay $100 for a chocolate tasting menu? Dinner's not included.

Welcome to Dessert Studio at Chocolat Michel Cluizel in Manhattan's Flatiron district.

Other sugar shops like P*ONG and Tailor blend the sweet and savory. Think Stiltoned lava cake or butterscotched pork.

Not Cluizel. It has a single agenda: dessert.

Richard Perl runs the show for the Paris-based chocolatier. He's the ``chocolate sommelier.'' Will Goldfarb handles the desserts. I suppose that makes him the pastry sommelier.

Look around. There are glass cases filled with sweetmeats and fancy wines. Then you see wooden ceiling fans and medicine cabinets stuffed with methylcellulose -- part of Goldfarb's WillPowder consumer line of mad-scientist ingredients. If an Amazonian apothecary ever set up shop in a duty-free airport store, it would look like this.

``Guided'' menus start at $35 and run to $100. What I ordered was a $55 tasting (spirits included). But what I ended up with was chocolate hypnosis.

Perl sits down with you. Puts you at ease. Talks softly. He stares. Serves alcohol. Gives you candy. Truffles. Bonbons. Single-plantation chocolates. Mixed-plantation chocolates. Milk and dark, from 45 percent to 99 percent cocoa.

You take off the wrappers. You observe the confection's sheen. You feel its snap. Does it melt easily? Is it resinous? Sometimes it's fruity on the palate. Sometimes it's luscious like olive oil. Sometimes it lingers so long and strong that high-proof spirits won't kill the aftertaste. We tried Caol Ila scotch (18 years old) and El Tesoro Paradiso tequila (retails at $120 a bottle). Magnificent.

You're a little bit tired. A little bit buzzed. You're in a trancelike fugue state. Perl gets eager. He knocks other chocolatiers, discusses enlightenment and mimics a Hindu guru.

Then all of a sudden it's over. And you buy more chocolate.

Still Hungry?

Try Goldfarb's $29 tasting of five desserts.

Indonesian vanilla ice cream gets 85 percent cocoa chips and American caviar. It's chocolaty and fishy.

Earl Grey sorbet and honeyed grapefruit suggest a perfect breakfast. White chocolate gelato pairs with smoked salt and olive oil. It's lighter and nimbler than a similar version at Otto.

The subtle nuttiness of brown sugar ice evokes the hazelnut financier it's paired with. And who wouldn't like Goldfarb's signature chocolate bubbles? They form a warm, impossibly light mousse.

Goldfarb, who ran the now-closed Room 4 Dessert, may be an avant-gardist, but his desserts here, caviar notwithstanding, are accessible and tasty.

Dessert Studio at Chocolat Michel Cluizel is at 888 Broadway, at 19th Street. Information: +1-212-477-7335.

Holiday Bargains

The Smith is a New York rarity. It's cheap.

Cocktails are about $9. Wine costs about eight bucks a glass. No appetizers above $10. Just one entree over $20.

This is what Manhattan needs. An eclectic American diner without ridiculous markups. Thank owners Glenn Harris and Jeffrey Lefcourt, the duo who brought us the Neptune Room.

The Smith used to be a Pizzeria Uno. It still feels like one. The tile and wood design is uninspired. So are the menus under plastic. Is this a T.G.I. Friday's in disguise?

Thankfully not. The Smith is an East Village version of Schiller's Liquor Bar. Expect generous portions, cool music and classic libations.

Booze and Food

Take a seat at the zinc bar, listen to INXS and get yourself a pink pussycat. Grenadine and pineapple join forces to take the edge off grapefruit and gin. You want to put on a white jacket and pretend you're in Miami Vice.

The angry apple is for braver souls. Rye whiskey, apple cordial and lemon are expressed with perfect clarity -- until jalapenos explode in your mouth. Have a bartender strain the peppers out.

So how's the grub? Good. Exactly as it should be. But it tastes even better when you realize that ``good'' is all you get at much pricier venues.

Here's something to make you smile: a gigantic pork chop. Charred on the outside, moist within. Was it a tad overcooked? Sure. But who's to complain at $17?

Where does the beef come from? The kitchen. That's all you need to know. No slow-food, grass-fed, sleep-inducing descriptions on the menu.

The $17 bar steak -- a boneless rib eye that's since been renamed the Delmonico to make it sound fancier -- was juicy, rare, with a gentle crust.

The burger (overdone) had a heavy char and a nice mess of French dressing. The tasty patty (chuck, short rib, hanger and sirloin) came in a sweet brioche bun.

Brooklyn Calamari

French fries were salty and crispy. Shrimp scampi were rich and garlicky. The sweet, medium-rare crustaceans collapsed in the mouth with ease. So did the fried calamari. They're doused in spicy marinara -- they call this Brooklyn-style. Eat the squid fast before they turn soggy.

Avoid the funky, gristly, frozen-dinner-quality lamb schnitzel.

Dinner for three cost $140. Dinner for one cost $47.

The Smith is at 55 Third Ave., near 10th Street. Information: +1-212-420-9800.

(Ryan Sutton is a writer for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this story: Ryan Sutton in New York at rsutton1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 11, 2007 00:15 EST