There's a special place in heaven for local corner store owners who stock a wide variety of Cadbury, Kinder, and European-y Nestlé candies. Such treats they are when compared to the Snickers and Skittles and Milky Ways littering store shelves. We always stock up when we stumble into a store selling the comparatively rare candies. more ›

Keep an eye out for more tasty V-Day treats in the coming weeks! by Aislinn Fletcher Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and the obligatory heart shaped candy boxes are on the shelves in overwhelming numbers. more ›

by Aislinn Fletcher “Eat the highest quality of food you can in small quantities so your brain is happy every day.” -- Pastry Chef Jacquy Pfeiffer Saturday night’s screening of the movie Kings of Pastry at Balboa Theatre was a special treat. The film showcases three pastry chefs as they prepare for an incredibly grueling French pastry competition. These are the Olympic athletes of French pastry, devoting their lives to perfecting recipes to impossibly high standards. more ›

Saratoga Chocolates in the shuttered Jo, located in the old Joseph Schmidt space at 3489 16th Street in the Castro, is offering truffle making and wine/chocolate classes this winter. According to Mary Ladd, Saratoga's owner, Mary Loomas, is "offering what she calls a Series 1 class in truffle making Jan. 30, 11 a.m.-2:30 (cost: $125). On Feb. 5, there's a wine and chocolate class, 7 p.m-8:30 p.m. (cost: $50)." more ›

Yesterday, we gave you free hot dogs. Today, we bring your free chocolate. Dark chocolate. Milk chocolate too, hopefully. (Whatever, we still love us some milk chocolate. With caramel. And nougat.) Anyway, Mission Mission reports that "volunteers from the Bay Area Fair Trade Coalition and TransFair USA will be handing out free Divine Chocolate Thursday evening from 5-7 p.m. outside of four BART stations: 24th & Mission, Montgomery, Rockridge and Ashby Street." more ›

This just in via the trusty funcheapSF.com: From 6 to 9 a.m. on Friday morning, BART riders will receive FREE Ghirardelli Luxe Milk Almond Chocolates and coupon cards at the following stations: Downtown Berkeley, Oakland City Center/12th Street, Embarcadero, Montgomery Street, Powell Street and Civic Center. The giveaway is valued at an estimated $1 million. (We assume Ghirardelli is footing the bill?) The sugar boost might make the extra crowded train ride just a little more bearable. more ›

Oh, what a day! What a day! What a day! Today is National Milk Chocolate Day. Milk chocolate, you see, is the way chocolate was meant to be eaten. Dark (or real) chocolate is disgusting and bitter and gross on the tongue. It is also pretentious and stupid. People who enjoy high-percentage cocoas are the most annoying people you will ever have the displeasure of meeting. They like to boast about their "sweet tooths" while waiting in impossibly long lines at Tartine (You can hear them say things like, "Oh, this all just looks so good!" or "I tell you, I can't decide!" or "Mmm, heavenly!" Vile.) And men who enjoy dark chocolate are as good as castrated. New foodies generally flock to dark chocolate the same way they do to bacon, pirates, and condescending prattle about how vegetables should always be crisp and barely cooked. more ›

Warning! Ending soon: the chance to have some of the world's most delightfully smooth, luxurious orbs to pop into your mouth (both large and small, depending on your own predilections). No, the Bush Administration hasn't returned to try to outlaw sex; legendary chocolatier Joseph Schmidt's 16th Street store is closing forever at the end of the month. more ›

Everyone loves chocolate -- especially "bitches," as a female friend loves to remind us whenever we reach for a Snickers. From Willy Wonka to Kylie Minogue, people love shoveling it into their greedy, sugar starved mouths. more ›

Bad news this morning from across the Bay, as big conglomerate Hershey's announced that they're closing the Scharffenberger plant in West Berkeley. This comes, of course, after Hershey made nice with the locals, promising to keep the plant here blah blah blah. more ›

Given the drinks we are about to discuss, you might think we were still pregnant. But we're not. more ›

As we near the Olympics it seems fitting to take stock of where the Bay Area stands relative to other countries. First we took on the French and their wine, and won. Now the Bay Area is making an attack on the Swiss and their chocolate. The newest contender on our team is Coco-Luxe, which opens today. It’s an artesian chocolate shop located at the corner of Haight and Cole. In the midst of getting ready for today’s Grand Opening Stephanie Marcon answered a few questions about two of our favorite topics: Chocolate and the Bay Area. more ›

We're gargantuan fans of local photographer Darwin Bell. Famous for his use of polaroids, his digital images are just as spectacular. The above shot ("the chocolate orgy ended in love") is an old favorite. more ›