Sweet 16 photo gallery

You can order hot chocolate and chocolate tasting menus at ChocoVivo.  (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

Chocolate truffles inside the front case at L’Artisan du Chocolat.  (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

Christine Moore’s Little Flower Candy Co. stocks retro candies as well as house-made and artisanal ones.  (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

At Valerie Confections, sheet trays are filled with chocolate hearts.  (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

The front of Valerie Gordon’s 1st Street shop is a retail store; the back is her production facility.  (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

Valerie Gordon and her crew make chocolate roses for Valentine’s Day.  (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

In the Melrose Place Compartes shop, rows of custom-made chocolate bars are displayed on the walls.   (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

Inside the back production room at L’Artisan du Chocolat, chocolate hearts are made in many sizes for Valentine’s Day.  (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

Valerie Confections on 1st Street is both storefront and production facility for chocolates and pastries.   (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

Joan’s on Third carries tables loaded with Valentine’s Day candies.  (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

At L’Artisan du Chocolat, Christian Alexandre and his wife, Whajung Park, make exquisite, artisanal chocolates.  (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

Jack’s has seasonal candy too, with rows of Valentine’s Day candy, lollipops, even piñatas.  ( Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

Mignon has a wide array of chocolates -- and a chocolate fountain available for parties.  (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

At Jin Patisserie, you can get the famous macarons and also a number of house-made chocolates.   (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

If you need a lot of candy, Jack’s has a giant warehouse full of it.   ( Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

Jack’s Wholesale Candy Warehouse has 40,000 square feet of candy.  ( Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

At Joan’s on Third, Joan McNamara makes heart cookies and fills tables and shelves with holiday candies and chocolates.  (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

A tray of Valentine’s Day chocolates on display in the back room of Valerie Confections on 1st Street.  (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

Dylan Lauren’s candy boutique is like a teenage girl’s dreamscape.  (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

In the back of the production rooms at Edelweiss, there’s the original 1919 caramel machine, copper pot and all.   (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

You can get chocolate growlers at ChocoVivo in Culver City.  (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

The Sugarfina shop looks like a Tiffany’s crossed with a candy boutique.  (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

There are pretty glass jars of candy, including sugar lips, at the Sugarfina shop in Beverly Hills.  (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

In the back of the Edelweiss Chocolate Factory is the machine that inspired Lucille Ball’s famous candy-making episode of “I Love Lucy.”  (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

Open since 1924, Littlejohn’s is justly famous for its fantastic English toffee.  (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

Inside the front case at Edelweiss in Beverly Hills.  (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

At the Chocolate Lab (yes, there are pictures of dogs), you can choose fillings, chocolate and inclusions and watch while your bar is made.   (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

At Sweet in Hollywood, you can build your own chocolate bar.   (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

Little Flower Candy Co. sea salt caramels: the candy that launched the business.   (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

Little Flower Candy Co. is an ad hoc gift shop, loaded with caramels and seasonal candies.  (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

Mignon has many chocolate truffle options, including some with caramel, white and dark chocolate.  (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

Dylan’s Candy Bar at the Grove has tables of seasonal candy.   (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

Littlejohn’s is known for its toffee, but the shop also has great Valentine’s Day candy.  (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

The glass case at the Hollywood John Kelly shop shows off variations of its signature truffle fudge.  (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

John Kelly’s Hollywood boutique carries stacked gift boxes of chocolates.   (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

The candy case at Lolli and Pops tempts with petits fours, hearts and marzipan candies.  (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

At Lolli and Pops in the Glendale Galeria, people dress in old school soda pop outfits.  (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)

Chocolate and rose petits fours at Valerie Confection at the Grand Central Market.   (Amy Scattergood / Los Angeles Times)