New York ? Is New York the Big Apple — or the Big Bonbon? Connoisseurs say the city is turning into a destination for chocolate lovers.

“The whole reason I want to move here is chocolate,” said Sharon Wang as she sipped thick hot chocolate at Payard, one of a half-dozen Manhattan cafes known for fine chocolate. Wang studied at the Culinary Institute of America in California, but she came to New York to pursue her dream — a career in chocolate.

“New York is giving Europe a run for its money in the fine chocolate department,” said Tish Boyle, editor-in-chief of Chocolatier magazine. “As American consumers have become more discriminating about their chocolate — and a Hershey bar with almonds just doesn’t do the trick anymore — pastry chefs are realizing that opening a chocolate shop can be a profitable endeavor, particularly in a cosmopolitan city like New York where a high price point can actually be a lure.”

In 1998, when organizers of an annual Salon du Chocolat in Paris wanted to expand, they chose New York as a second venue. Last year, 30,000 people attended the Chocolate Show in Manhattan. The Washington Square Hotel, which offers a chocolate-lover’s package in conjunction with the show, already has a list of guests waiting to reserve rooms for this year’s event, scheduled for Nov. 10-13.

The show’s success “is a sign of New Yorkers’ interest in chocolate,” says Pierre Cluizel, son of — and spokesman for — the renowned Parisian chocolatier Michel Cluizel.

But New York is not yet on par with Paris. “Paris, Brussels or Geneva are the three chocolate capitals in my opinion,” he said. He added, however, that “New York is now evolving very quickly.”

“There are more and more people … who live or pass through New York who are now looking for quality chocolate. This didn’t exist several years ago,” he said.

San Francisco’s renowned Scharffen Berger chocolate makers opened a store four months ago on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Vosges, a Chicago chocolatier, recently opened a cafe in Soho. La Maison du Chocolat has five locations in Paris and two in New York; and the logo on boxes for the exclusive Richart chocolatier’s Manhattan boutique says “Paris-Lyon-New York.”

Upscale taste, modest price

A heart-shaped solid milk chocolate candy box houses fine chocolates produced at Jacques Torres' Chocolate Haven.

But can upscale chocolate be appreciated by Americans raised on M&M’s and just-add-water Swiss Miss?

Relax. Even the hoi polloi can tell this stuff tastes better than anything you ever got on Halloween. And you needn’t be a millionaire to try it. At most cafes, you can choose chocolates from a display case, for $1 to $3.50 apiece; more elaborate desserts requiring a fork run $5 to $8. Small cups of hot chocolate — so thick you’ll need a spoon and a cold water chaser — are $3 to $7.

As you make the rounds, you’ll also find that each cafe has its own personality. The Chocolate Bar, in the West Village (48 Eighth Ave., near Jane Street), has the fun feel of a college-town hangout. The chocolate tea here is a light, palate-clearing alternative to the thick hot chocolate, and the treats are creatively flavored — rosehip chocolates, for example, and seriously spicy brownies.

Jacques Torres Chocolate Haven (350 Hudson St., near Houston) is like a scene from a children’s storybook. If you stand outside the building’s picture windows, you can watch the candy makers in white gowns assemble their products amid the minifactory’s gleaming silver tubes and vats. Inside, you’ll find a spacious, light-filled, unpretentious cafe with a warm and welcoming staff. Cookies and other treats also are available.

Chocolates from Soho-based MarieBelle's are miniature works of art, topped with edible geometric designs and silhouettes, silk-screened on cocoa butter with natural food coloring.

Warm up at Payard (1032 Lexington Ave., near 73rd Street). You can have a meal or any type of pastry at this busy patisserie and bistro, but chocoholics should sit at the tiny bar and order from the Masterpiece collection of chocolates named for painters. Picasso is dark chocolate flavored with Earl Gray, Van Gogh is chocolate with pistachio and Chagall has pralines.

Nearby, La Maison du Chocolat (1018 Madison Ave., near 78th Street), offers a quietly elegant salon a few blocks from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The creamy Togo — dark chocolate with a fluffy mousse filling ($6) — is a nice alternative to sampling individual chocolates.

Unusual combinations

Chocolatier Jacques Torres holds a large sheet of milk chocolate almond bark at his Chocolate Haven. Torres is the only New York chocolatier to make his chocolate from scratch, starting with the cocoa beans.

In Soho, spend the day migrating among chocolate shops, designer boutiques and one-of-a-kind stores.

The trendy Vosges Haut Chocolat (132 Spring St., near Greene) offers unusual combinations, like white chocolate with olive oil and kalamata olives, and dark chocolate called Budapest containing Hungarian paprika.

A few blocks away, Lunettes et Chocolat (25 Prince St., near Mott), gives new meaning to the phrase eye candy. The store sells eyeglass frames — $225 to $1,000 — and MarieBelle’s chocolates — two for $7. Wash them down with spicy hot chocolate, containing cinnamon, nutmeg and chipotle.

For a serious evening of chocolate, The Ritz-Carlton Battery Park (2 West St., at the foot of Manhattan, near the Bowling Green subway station) has a “Chocolate Bar” at 7 p.m., 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays in February. The $65-a-person buffet includes champagne, tax and tip; scrumptious chocolate martinis are worth the extra $15. (Reservations: 917-790-2571.)