Chocolate Lovers’ Club Meetings Are Consumed by Rating Desserts

A heap of vanilla ice cream over a dense, paperback-size brownie, dripping with thick hot fudge--all topped with whipped cream and chopped nuts--is not too rich a snack for Howard Levin or his friends.

“There’s no such thing as too rich,” he said.

Laguna Beach resident Levin, 58, founder of Chocolate Lovers of America, and six members met at the Cedar Creek Inn in Laguna Beach recently to indulge in their weekly gathering, a search for the ultimate local chocolate experience.

Formed by Levin 14 years ago, the Chocolate Lovers now boast about 300 members nationwide, almost half of whom are in Orange County.

At the Laguna Beach restaurant, the chocoholics passed desserts around after a few savory bites. Favorites included the Toll House pie, a chocolate torte smothered with caramel creme sauce and a huge, moist triple-layer chocolate cake.

Levin, who wore a scratch-and-sniff chocolate T-shirt, tackled the brownie concoction after devouring the cake.

“It isn’t as special, considering what it is,” he said. “But it’s got a good, chewy and rich brownie.”

Veronica Nice, a 29-year-old Laguna Beach chiropractor, diligently worked through a slice of chocolate cake. “It’s to die for,” she said.

Though scarfing down rich chocolate desserts may seem sinful, chocolate fans point to recent research that might indicate otherwise.

Andrew Waterhouse, a chemist at UC Davis, co-authored a 1996 study on antioxidants in chocolates. Though the relationship between the same antioxidants in red wine and reduced heart disease hasn’t been confirmed, Waterhouse concluded that the “pleasant pairing of red wine and dark chocolate could have synergistic advantages beyond their complementary tastes.”

Retired Laguna Beach resident Joyce Lewis added that chocolate’s caffeine content is often exaggerated.

“I think chocolate has a bad rap,” she said as she chomped on her torte. “It doesn’t really have as much caffeine as coffee does.”

Sandy Webster, who said she took a “sick day” from her job at the registrar’s office at UC Irvine to join the gathering, spoke highly of chocolate as a companion.

“Chocolate is much more reliable than a brand-new romance,” she said.

But there is a surprising amount of restraint involved in being a Chocolate Lover. Though members may feast on rich desserts at their weekly meetings, most don’t go beyond a small piece of chocolate on a regular day. Martha Marino, a Laguna Beach author, couldn’t even finish her slice of cake.

“I skip lunch to come here, but this cake was just too big,” she said. “When I have enough, I have enough.”

After Levin started a personal consulting business 14 years ago for work-weary business executives, he found that indulging chocolate cravings seemed to reduce stress.

“A lot of it has to do with doing what you really want to do,” Levin said. “That’s the way chocolate is--it’s like going to the beach when you should be working.”

By paying a $25 first-time annual fee (subsequent renewals cost $15), members receive a badge and monthly newsletters that announce chocolate events and news. The group also hosts an annual chocolate dessert recipe contest in Laguna Beach and a fund-raising train trip to Del Mar Race Track, the proceeds of which are donated to the Bridge Learning Center for homeless children, a tutoring service based in Laguna Beach.

Between bites, members discussed the latest See’s Candy catalog. Nice pointed out her favorite item: dark chocolate truffles.

Though they rate their chocolate on a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being “difficult to improve,” a dessert rarely gets anything below a 5.

“There’s really no such thing as bad chocolate,” Levin said.