Great chocolate bars?

[dinami]

Father's Day is coming up and my Dad is so hard to shop for so I usually get him some chocolate. Rather than going back to Godiva I was hoping to get something different, yet something easy to ship so it has to be sturdy, like a chocolate bar. (My dad lives in WA)Any shops in the West Los Angeles area that has great chocolate offerings? Thanks!

[princebrett]

Jonathan at Compartes has begun making chocolate bars. I would have to conclude that they are the nicest looking chocolate bars I have seen in Los Angeles. One chocolate bar is candied violets and roses, while another is a Japanese spice with orange peels. However, better than the chocolate bars are the truffles. I am an avid chocolate fan who enjoys going to chocolate shops. I would have to say that Jonathan is the chocolate-trend chocolatier of Los Angeles.

[emily]

Has anyone seen Zotter bars in the LA area? They're from Austria and come in an array of interesting flavors: banana curry, lemon polenta, cheese, etc.

[mmmclapclap]

i second market gourmet in venice!

[PseudoNerd]

I think they have very reasonable prices for chocolates.

[Oh Robin]

I highly recommend See's, especially the milk chocolate with almonds. By far my favorite candy bar. The Bordeaux bars (brown sugar buttercream dipped in milk chocolate and coated with chocolate sprinkles) are also amazing. Peanut brittle very buttery and sinful.

[slacker]

Why limit yourself to chocolate bars, when these fabulous chocolate makers can ship their exquisite chocolates for you:

Jin Patisserie:
http://www.jinpatisserie.com/
Teuscher:
http://www.teuscher.com/
Boule:
http://www.boulela.com/
Compartes:
http://www.compartes.com/

[bulavinaka]

Jin's chocolates are great, but one caviat: if you're sending it and think the pkg will be exposed to any warm temps, you'd probably want to pack it with a couple of refrigerated (not frozen) blue ice packs - her chocolates don't ship well in anything warmer than 75 degrees... Kristy will ship them for you, but I don't know what she charges for this service...

[Got Cake]

Cost Plus has a very good selection of interesting bars and many organic chocolates.
All at great prices too.

[Diana]

Gelson's has probably one of the better supermarket selections
Whole Foods
Trader Joe's
Wally's
Erewhon
Surfas
chocoat
the chocolate truffles sold at Artisa cheese gallery
Comparte's
All good

Frankly though, my mom and dad love nothing more than when I overnight them some cookies and scones from Leeda's. I use my food saver to vacu seal them, just to be sure.

[glutton]

the finest chocolate I've ever tasted was Amedei. It's really hard to find and it's pricey. I saw little chocolate squares of it at Cafe Luxe on Montana St. in Santa Monica. Can't remember the price. But I remember that it tastes better than any of the Valrhona, Neuhaus, Sharffenberger, Mariebelle, etc. that I've had.

Vosges has a wide range of flavors, including new peanut butter-chocolate squares (only on their website). Their chocolate bars are offered at Sufa's.

[bulavinaka]

I believe someone mentioned that Vosges is also offering a chocolate with bacon as well... Now that's taking chocolate in a different direction...

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/406783

[Emme]

Chocolatt on Wilshire just east of Bundy is so underrated.

Compartes is also very good.

[littlebear]

I like Chocolatt on Wilshire too (and they used to take care of shipping).

[JeetJet]

What I would like is See’s Awesome Nut & Chew Bars. Chewy nougat, almonds, one or two drops of honey all covered in dark chocolate.That could be the private stuff just for him. These come in a box of 8 for around $7.50. Add a pound of See’s California Brittle so he can show-off what he got.

http://www.sees.com/Prod.cfm?CatGroup...

[bulavinaka]

See's Victorian Toffee ain't half-bad either... but you're right - that nougat with dark chocolate hits the spot... I wonder though - do they have See's in Washington?

Another spot for great chocolate that's kinda out of the way in La Canada, is the Chocolate Box Cafe. We stumbled upon this place while driving to Descanso Gardens. Lots of great chocolates, genaches, truffles, and bars. The packaging is first rate so sending these as a gift would be suitable for your purposes...

http://www.chocolateboxcafe.com/

[katkoupai]

I agree re. See's Awesome Nut & Chew Bars. I've had both kinds-- the ones in the red box (long and thin) and the ones in the purple box (flat and wide). They are all good.

Just as a note, the ones in the purple box are called "Awesome Walnut Squares." They have walnuts in them instead of almonds.

[socalqtpi]

Wally's Wines in Westwood has a very nice selection of gourmet/imported chocolate bars. Mel & Rose on Melrose (I believe that is West LA) also has quite an extensive collection.

[markethej]

In Beverly Hills there is a choclatier called Kron. They used to be in NY and I was so excited to find them here. Their specialty are coco dusted truffles. They are expensive but sooo good. I HIGHLY recomend them.

[Francesca]

Kron has been in Beverly Hills sinece the 1970's. T

[maudies5]

Trader Joes!!

[hrhboo]

Both Surfas and the Market Gourmet in Venice have good selections of chocolate bars. Chocolat on Main St in SM has a great selection of Neuhaus chocs.