los angeles chocolate salon october 11: giveaway!!!

i am excited to check out some new chocolatiers and some old favorites (including amano, jade, and valerie) at the los angeles chocolate salon.

win some tickets to the salon so you can be your own snob!
just click here to send an email, by october 2, and two winners will be picked at random. good luck!

here are some more details:

the third annual los angeles luxury chocolate salon participants include over 35 chocolatiers, confectioners, wineries and other culinary artisans, such as: choclatique, happy chocolates, rushburn toffee co., the tea room chocolate, quady winery, chocolatl, jade chocolates, san francisco toffee company, cj’s bitz and cj’s stix, marti chocolatt, alter eco fair trade chocolate, artisan cocoa / amella caramels, af-squared chocolatiers, clarine’s florentines, helen grace chocolates, mignon chocolate, tcho, amano artisan chocolate, landrin, sterling confections, chocoveda, republica del cacao, dove chocolate discoveries, valerie confections, plush puff gourmet marshmallows, the chocolate traveler, ococoa chocolates, tifa chocolate, sweet beauty organic chocolate spa, xocai chocolate, zhena’s gypsy tea, xt patisserie, farm fresh to you, original beans, vermeer dutch chocolate cream, blue angel vodka, le creuset, swissmar, putumayo world music, chocolate television, tastetv, yelp, california school of culinary arts - le cordon bleu programs, edible los angeles magazine, and many more. all this in 16,000 square feet, over twice the delicious tasting space as 2008

milka: luflée

this is a very, very sweet milt chocolate with an air of cinammon. it is not bad for a novelty chocolate and for someone who is not a snob. the bar comes close to the aero bar which always brings fond memories of my youth.

alpine village: german acrobats and chocolate

a little road trip to the queen mary today ended up with an accidental diversion to alpine village in torrance. it is definitely an "only in LA" wonder: there is an old fashioned meat counter where you can buy homemade sausage; their sunday german champagne brunch buffet is straight from the 60s; the ratio of socks in birkenstocks to vans is unusually high south of berkeley; entertainment is provided by cherub cheeked german octogenarians doing acrobats with flowers in their hair;

photo credit: james paris
and, you can find an amazing selection of chocolates at unusually low prices - - - heilemann chocolates are just 1.25!!!!!!!!

alpine village may not still look like the pictured vintage postcard but you must make the trip if you are a fan of camp and excellent prices on chocolate.

note: don't forget to put on your lederhosen... this years oktoberfest will be held September 12th, 2009 thru October 25th, 2009. www.alpinevillage.net