With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, an L.A. sampler box of shops offering special sweet treats.
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)
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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)
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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)
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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)
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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)
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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)
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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)
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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)
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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)
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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)