Papabubble the world wide cult candy shop that has stores in Tokyo Barcelona, and Amsterdam opened their first American store on Broome Street about a year ago amidst much internet buzz and chat. The artful candy and the bright fun food porn shots on flickr tempted me, but it still took this long for me to make it there for a couple reasons.
I had heard it was expensive (true – a bag of candy costs $7.50) and they only sell hard candy, which for some strange reason, I am only usually interested in if it's opaque (like a Life Saver Wint-o-Green) or in a lollipop form. On my visit, I was in total luck on the second front.
A shelf in the back of the space age-y shop help a selection of cutesy, bubbly lollipops and they were on sale at only $3 a pop. Satisfied with?my purchase, which allowed me to pretend to be on the cover of I-D (what?..?how do you spend your afternoons?) I brought it to the counter where a cute, hip staff member did some low pressure sales by asking me if I had tried a sample. Why, no I hadn't! But with Despana nearby with their plethora of toothpick delights and this free sample spot, this block could be the best thing to happen to your mouth since Lip Smackers.
What she gave me was fizzy and passionfruity and, seriously, seriously good. $7.50 for a bag no longer sounded like a steep price to pay for such happiness. The tingle on my tongue and the unique flavors like mango and kiwi made up for the fact that no one was actually making candy when I visited, which made me sad. But I guess it justifies a return trip and while I'm at it another bag of fizzy candy.
But what do you think?