Parisian-based chocolatier La Maison du Chocolat will open a boutique and dessert café (its third New York location) at 63 Wall Street in October. The 30-year-old brand is eschewing its old-world, dark-wood look for a spare, bleached-blond setting that’s been unveiled in Paris and will eventually be adopted at both the Rockefeller Center and Madison Avenues outlets. Look for the usual platoons of cacao-rich bonbons and macarons, as well as a small seating area for hot chocolate and pastries. The new design is more Louis Vuitton than a sweets shop, but La Maison will fit in nicely with chichi neighbors such as Tiffany and Hermés. And in these troubling economic times, chocolate is a much more affordable treat for the courtesan than anything in a little blue box. —Alexandra Vallis