Web-based food reporting outlet TasteTV is in the chocolate show business. Its first San Francisco Chocolate Salon over the summer awarded gold medals to chocolatiers such as L'Artisan du Chocolat, Poco Dolce, and Lillie Belle Farms, as well as chocolate-makers like Amano and Divine. (I'm happy with that lineup, but, then, I was one of the judges). The second TasteTV-sponsored event in San Francisco (called a "Single's Chocolate Salon") followed so quickly on the heels of the first that we missed it completely (it was last week).

Luckily, TasteTV has a couple more West Coast events planned. In addition to a Los Angeles Chocolate Salon planned for December, TasteTV is hosting a kinky Halloween event called the Dark Dining Dinner Party (I'm not really sure how it works, but the website says something about 9 1/2 Weeks-style blindfolds).

Emily Stone, a food writer and proprietor of Chocolate in Context, is a chocolate enthusiast, itinerant traveler, and a lover of literature who lives in Pittsburgh.