Ah, Europe. Cities steeped in history, countryside’s ripe with rolling hills, vineyards, Cyprus trees, and olive groves. It’s the grand, Old World. But that certainly doesn’t mean that new and innovative products in art, music – and of course, food – aren’t bursting from the continent’s seams. From boutiques in Paris to studios in Germany, pastry shops in London to chocolatiers in Spain, Europe boasts a bounty of creative foodstuffs that inspire. Here are some of our favorites.

Edible forks and spoons. Like all good Parisians, Poilâne boulangerie and patisserie is passionate about bread. Among all their carbohydrate-filled dreams, Poilâne’s curry-flavored, edible cracker forks and spoons are a true standout, perfect for dipping into savory canapés. If it’s sweets you’re craving, make use of their shortbread fork for dunking into those tempting Parisian desserts.

Parmesan pencils. Speaking of edible utensils, these Parmesan pencils are just about one of the coolest food products this side of the pond. Truffles, pesto, and chili flavors constitute the “lead” in each of these Parmesan wonders, respectively, which can be easily shaved – via the handy sharpener – onto everything from pastas to risottos to salads.

Chocolate moustaches. From Spain’s famed Chocolate Factory come six different chocolate mustaches, in styles ranging from Hulk Hogan to Pancho Villa and in seven flavors like chocolate caramel or chocolate-covered strawberry. Perfect for awakening the Tom Selleck in your foodie friend.

Veggie cupcakes. Yes, we got the memo. Cupcakes are so yesterday. But that says nothing of cupcakes made entirely from vegetables. Out of London comes Petit Pois: tasty cakes made from pumpkin to zucchini to beetroot. So if you’re struggling to fulfill your 5-a-day quota, you may do well to look no further than these charming green-dotted beauties.

Curried chocolates. Le Carré des Chocolatiers hails – like so much of the world’s best chocolate – from Switzerland (yes, I said it). While that may lead you to overlook these chocolatiers as anything but innovative, consider their Summun Circus: caraway, black mustard, and fennel chocolate topped with crispy Pop Rocks. Or how about their Mediterraneao, which rocks herbs like thyme, lavender, oregano, and sage, among other heady aromas. Neutral, what?!

Wanna scoop up these inspired treats for yourself? Though you may have to travel, you can check out edible forks here, stock-up on Parmesan pencils here, get your (chocolate) Pancho Villa on here, gobble-up curried chocolates here, and shop for little pea cakes here. Et voilà!

Some people like their bacon black and crispy. Others like it a gently seared pinkish brown. Well we’re here to tell you that there’s a brand new way to enjoy your favorite piggy treat: In red and white stripes. And you don’t chew it – you lick it.

That’s right, folks. We’re talking about bacon-flavored candy canes, and given that this year’s bacon craze doesn’t seem anywhere close to dying down, we’re betting that these babies are going to be selling hot and fast this holiday season. Move over mint, pork is so 2011.

Or maybe you’re in the mood for something chocolatey as the holidays roll around but can’t handle another dull chocolate-dipped cherry? Then check out these chocolate-dipped jalapeno peppers, which’ll have you working up a sweat no matter how cold it might get outside. Choose from dark, milk, or white chocolate to complement the peppers’ bright colors and spicy heat. They promise to warm up even the coolest winter night.

As a nationally recognized voice in the style space, I live a fairly glamorous life. So when I heard my apartment bell ring the other day – quelle surprise! – it was a hand delivered pint of Chozen Ice Cream, to whom it’s handler had the unfortunate experience of finding me in my most bewitching ensemble to date: my robe. At 3pm in the afternoon. Very glamorous…

I had been anticipating its arrival and since I’ve been living milk-, cheese- and butter-free for close to four months now, I wasn’t sure how I’d react to its sitting on my kitchen counter. The packaging is cute and further tempted my interest. Using the traditionally Jewish blue and white colors, the pint reads what it means to be “Chozen“: that is, kosher, all-natural, ultra-premium ice cream inspired by Jewish holidays and traditional desserts, like Matzoh Crunch, Rugelach and Chocolate Babka. I was handed their latest Espresso flavor, aptly titled “Coffee Talk.” I couldn’t resist. I ripped open the lid and nibbled a spoonful. Then another. And then some more. I don’t know if it was that I’ve been off dairy for awhile, or if the product is THAT good, but I can deem it one of the creamiest, dreamiest ice creams I’ve tasted to date. Buttery, delicious, with the espresso flavor perfectly pronounced. To further prove its deliciousness, my lactose-intolerant boyfriend schlepped home from work to finish off the whole pint in one sitting. Now, that’s what I call chutzpah.

More than a year ago, we asked all of you readers out there to muster your courage and take a step outside your chocolate comfort zone. Remember how much fun that was? Well, now we’re here to suggest you do it again. That’s because the imaginative folks over at Komforte Chokolate in Southern California have dreamed up two new types of delicious, boundary-pushing flavors of chocolate – and both varieties knocked our socks off. First up, there’s the new apple pie and graham flavor, a sweet and smooth rendition of that classic, all-American dessert. Just imagine your grandmother’s version of apple pie, all dressed up in a charming milk chocolate disguise. Feeling even more adventurous? Go for the savory ramen flavor. This dark chocolate bar comes studded with chunks of ramen noodles and tinged with the unmistakable flavors of soy sauce, onion, and garlic. It’s an adventurous combination and – believe it or not – it works beautifully.

[Photo by Kathy YL Chan on Serious Eats]

“Many doors will open for you in the future.” So say the tiny red letters on that thin white strip of paper lovingly tucked into the mildly sweet fortune cookie that ends so many Chinese meals. Ah, the fortune cookie – the perfect ending to a great night of take out. But in a world where digital savvy and multiplatform, multimedia rules, even the fortune cookie has its own 2.0. Enter Qkies.

Look past the name of this cooperative project hailing from Germany and into its future. For just under 7 Euros a box, you can bake up your own Qkie and decorate them with, what else, but QR codes. Forget the thin strip of paper with that vaguely optimistic message and instead ice on this scanner and direct recipients to everything from a personalized website to a YouTube video to a photo on Flickr. Yup, nothing spells dessert quite like scanning a code and ending up at someone’s website. Though it’s tempting, I think we’ll stick to the old-school fortune cookie for now…

[First photo via Markus Hensgen; Second photo by Kekstester, both on Flickr]

You can help fight breast cancer by wearing one of those pink ribbons or you can make like a rock star and pick up one of these – ahem, two of these – rye bread buns. From one of Denmark’s largest bread manufacturers, Kohberg, come these beautiful buns wrapped in pink and all spruced up to be a real knockout on the shelf. Better yet, with every purchase money is donated to the Danish Cancer Society to help fight breast cancer. Sure beats throwing money in a jug – pun intended.

What do you do on a sunny and hot day in San Francisco with 5 hours to kill? You eat and you drink – coffee, that it is. A lot of coffee. And this is precisely what I got up to last week as I traipsed around the rising and falling hills of this urban foodie hotspot. By the day’s end I was schooled in this city’s café culture and was more than a little worn out from a caffeine hangover. Still, it was worth every last inky drop.

Embarking on a San Francisco coffee tour meant starting with a legend: Blue Bottle Coffee Co. With a small network of cafes, an espresso cart, and a coffee kiosk, Blue Bottle has been microroasting fresh, organic, sustainable brews that’s kept the city hooked – and bushy-tailed – for years. My first introduction was a hole in the wall – literally – off an alleyway where I opted for their infamous New Orleans Iced Coffee. Cold brewed coffee is poured over chunks of ice, mixed with a touch of sugar, and a twist of milk, to create a perfect combination of sweetness and complexity with a tantalizing buttery finish. If I could drink it everyday, there’s no question that I would.

Next it was onward to The Summit SF. Step into this behemoth loft space and the grandiose high ceilings, natural wood paneling, and walls covered in art will strike you. And then there are the dozen+ kids sipping on Americanos at large communal tables while scribing away on their Macs. While Summit doesn’t roast their own coffee – though they do brew Blue Bottle – their artisan approach to modern café culture makes you wish it were on your corner. This art-space-cum-gallery-cum-café also hosts start-ups, entrepreneurs, and telecommuters who call Summit their working home. And with a space this cool, you would too.

Back on the road, it was time to hit up two spots known for their sustainable sourcing and in-house roasting. At Four Barrel and Ritual Coffee, creating direct relationships with coffee producers is as high on their list as their pursuit to perfect the art of roasting. At Four Barrel, they’re on a mission to create the best cup of joe in town and while their iced coffee was pretty solid, it was a bit too acidic for my taste. Still, the space was cool and their roasting machine that stole center stage even more so. But if it is espresso that you’re hankering for, make a beeline to Ritual Coffee where their seasonal and single origin espresso are as well-known as their intensive barista training program.

So whether your poison is an espresso, cappuccino, iced coffee, or latte, San Francisco has more than a few stunning café options that’ll keep you on a caffeine buzz until it’s time for that other favorite, local ritual – dinner.

The Urban Grocer hits up the coolest spots in Buenos Aires on the Cooking Channel TONIGHT. Check out a full list of air times here & be sure to set your DVR to record series! Next cuppa, on us.

Askinosie Chocolate likes to be first. They’re the first small-batch, 100% traceable bean-to-bar boutique chocolatier in the US to import cocoa beans from the Philippines in 25 years. They’re the first small-batch chocolate factory to press their own cocoa butter. And they’re leading the pack in sourcing their cocoa beans directly from small farmers, paying them above Fair Trade prices while sharing 10% net profits too. Indeed, this unassuming Missouri chocolatier – the genius of a former criminal defense attorney – is like the little chocolate company that could.

Oh and how it can. In addition to Askinosie’s organic, natural, shade-grown, sustainable, single origin, bean-to-bar practices, their chocolate is good. Damn good. One bite of their dark chocolate bar reveals an intense, almost coffee like, richness that is pure and creamy, without being even a touch too sweet. Better yet, its cocoa beans come from the only woman led farmer group in Tanzania.

While their dark milk and fleur de sel bar is just as smooth and delightful, it’s slightly less intense than their dark variety but perfectly balanced out with surprising – and welcomed – bites of briny salt. Askinosie’s Hey, Hey Hazelnut chocolate hazelnut spread too is nuttier and tastier than it’s corporate, European counterpart (hey Nutella, we’re looking at you).

And the icing on this scrumptious Fair Trade cake? The packaging. It’s dreamy. A reflection of Askinosie’s philosophies, the eco-inspired packaging rocks an organic, well-traveled feel. Passport-like stamps, photos of farmers, twine ties, typewriter font, and a striking natural paper wrap-up their handmade bars.

So go on, take the guilt out of your chocolate addiction.

Like what you’re reading? Catch The Urban Grocer hit up the coolest spots in Buenos Aires on the Cooking Channel throughout October. Check out a full list of air times here & be sure to set your DVR to record series! Next chocolate-covered alfajores on us.

What’s better than digging into some sweet ice cream piled high during a hot summer day? An ice-cold beer, you say? Well now you can have your brew and eat it too, thanks to – wait for it – beer ice cream! Yes, the fine folks at Frozen Pints have taken your everyday creamy cone and transformed it into craft beer ice cream in flavors like Honey IPA, Malted Milk Chocolate Stout, and Brown Ale Chip. What was purportedly a happy – and inebriated – accident has turned into unexpected but welcomed flavor combinations where tart, bitter, and bold meet sweet and smooth.

But here’s the buzz kill – Frozen Pints are only available at select events and beer festivals in and around Atlanta, Georgia. Still, we’re hoping this hopped up ice cream will soon make its way to a fridge near you so you too can “taste what the buzz is all about.”

The Urban Grocer hits up the coolest spots in Buenos Aires on the Cooking Channel throughout October. Check out a full list of air times here & be sure to set your DVR to record series! Next Malbec on us.

‘Always proper. Always mischievous. And occasionally adventurous.’ That’s probably not how most people would describe fudge – that quintessential grandmotherly treat. Most people, but probably not anybody who’s been lucky enough to bite into a piece of fudge from Burnt Sugar, a little British confectionary based in the south of England. Using fair trade sugar and traditional copper pots to brew their magic, the Burnt Sugar team churns out crumbly, delectable fudge in flavors like dark chocolate, stem ginger, and – our personal favorite – the gloriously addictive caramel sea salt. And now they’re rocking playful new packaging too, thanks to the creative minds at d.studio. Find Burnt Sugar’s ‘perfectly irregular shaped little pieces of randomness’ at London’s Borough Market, as well as at various supermarkets around the UK. Maybe buy a pack or two for your grandma — she’ll be inspired.

The Urban Grocer hits up the coolest spots in Buenos Aires on the Cooking Channel throughout October. Check out a full list of air times here & be sure to set your DVR to record series! Next Malbec on us.