As soon as the Valentine's Candy went into the 50% off bin, the aisles of your local grocery and drug stores were stocked with colorful bags and boxes of egg and bunny shaped chocolates and candy, as has become the commercialized standard for the upcoming Easter holiday. more ›

Support local business without leaving your computer today thanks to a sale by one of our favorite chocolatiers. Compartes [Twitter] is running a "Chocolate Brown Friday" 24-hour online sale to celebrate the launch of their online shop. Their shopping site went live this morning, and today buyers can score 10% off everything by using the coupon code "ChocolateFriday." Compartes is a jewel of a chocolate shop in Brentwood that is gaining national attention (thanks to Oprah and People Magazine) for their phenom artisanal truffles and bars. If you're not ready to shop today, head over to their charming shop before the holidays to put together gift boxes for the sweet tooth on your list--or for you. We know those honey + peanut butter + sea salt truffles are damn good. Treat yourself; we won't judge. more ›

Brentwood chocolate boutique Compartes sells some amazing cocoa confections, and now they're adding coffee to the works. They tell us that they will "will serve coffee daily along with our handcrafted aritsan chocolates (specials for summer include passionfruit, wild strawberry, lychee and more), handmade sorbets and gelatos and a brand new thick european-stlye hot chocolate drink with a kick (that is served in shot glasses)." more ›

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Next month's issue of Food & Wine magazine takes a look at chocolate, and just in time for Valentine's Day. Their pick of the ten best bites of chocolate in the country represents a wide variety of tastes and kinds, from the more low-rent, like Nestlé's 100 Grand Bar at #9, to the more refined and artisanal. Coming in at #4 is Los Angeles-based chocolatier Compartes with their Plantain Truffles. We think Food & Wine did well in picking Compartes, having nibbled on them back in the summer of 2007 at the Dessert Decadence event. If you plan on picking up some sweets for your sweet to celebrate V-Day next month, you might want to skip See's (or the supermarket) and head to a local chocolatier like Compartes or some of those LAist sampled not too long ago at the Luxury Chocolate Salon, and support local small businesses while indulging a sweet tooth. more ›