GIFT: Chocolates To Help Darfur

Taste great, feel good chocolates. Photo courtesy Compartes.   Here’s a feel-good holiday gift that’s beautiful, delicious and sure to be appreciated. Jonathan Grahm, owner and chocolatier at top chocolatier Compartes in Los Angeles, has created this five-piece set, Chocolates for a Cause: African Chocolate Collection. The chocolate-covered caramels are adorned with a rainbow progression…
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GIFT: Neuhaus Haut Pâtisserie Collection

You know something is really good when, the minute you finish it you want another. We don’t know what the chocolates tasted like when the company was founded in 1857; but Neuhaus Chocolates’s new “Haute Pâtisserie” collection is the best Neuhaus chocolate we’ve ever tasted, and stands on the podium with the finest chocolates in…
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GIFT: Fall Non-Pareils, Perky Chocolate Turkey

Handmade, seasonal non-pareils. Photo courtesy Li-Lac Chocolate.   If you need a small gift, including something for your Thanksgiving hosts, how about a box of these fall-accented non-pareils? They’re from Li-Lac Chocolates in New York City’s Greenwich Village, a company that just celebrated its 80th anniversary. They’re available in dark or milk chocolate in 1/2-,…
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HALLOWEEN: Creative Witch & Pumpkin Chocolate

We’ve seen a lot of Halloween chocolate, but the best molded chocolate of the season are from Li-Lac Chocolates in New York City: a witch carrying her jack-o’-lantern (at right) and a jack-o’-lantern filled with candy corn (photo below). Li-Lac, founded in 1923, is a Manhattan institution. Before the eruption of the artisan food movement…
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HALLOWEEN: Zoë’s Chocolate Skulls, Bats, Ghosts & Bonbons

You don’t necessarily associate chocolate with Greece. But Zoë’s Chocolate started with Zoë’s great Aunt Mary and Uncle Jim, who emmigrated to America in 1902. They built a small pushcart to sell homemade, hand-rolled chocolate confections made from their parents’ recipes. Their small pushcart quickly grew into a thriving business, and soon they opened a…
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