Valerie Confections

3360 W 1st St, Los Angeles, CA 90004. Does that address sound familiar? It was formerly L'Artisan Du Chocolate (my favorite chocolate shop). Apparently, the owners decided to retire and if you ever had a chance to speak to them in length, you know it's a well deserved retirement. I will miss them and I will miss their chocolates but I'm grateful they were available. It will be one of my favorite culinary memories. Today, our hometown champ, Valerie, has taken over the space with an array of chocolates with less the French flame and more a parallel with the LA Cuisine vernacular that you might see in Silver Lake or North Santa Monica. A very large chunky bar of amazing chocolate with berries and vanilla goes for $15ish. Iate it with a mature pace. It took me around five days. A box of 9 assorted velvety chocolates will run you $20+. It's a lot but not unusually so. Here's a measure of extravagance, we bought a box for a Dodger game. The evening was definitely highlighted when we got some coffee after the 7th Inning Stretch and devoured the box as the Boys in Blue won the game. I love LA, indeed.