Shopping Around at Chocolopolis

Once you set foot in Lauren Adler’s cool, cream-colored chocolate shop, you’ll never hanker for Hershey’s again. Open since July, Chocolopolis is a learning lab for the uninitiated, and nirvana for those appreciative of the nuances of fine chocolate. With an approach much like a well-schooled wine seller, Adler focuses on top-of-the-line local, national and international chocolate makers and their choice of cacao bean, noting that flavor varies by region and type. In the temperature-controlled store, only a worthy 10 percent of the world’s cacao beans are represented, the beautifully packaged bars framed within backlit cubbies. Among the elite is Amedei’s Chuao bar from Tuscany, made from esteemed Venezuelan beans, $13 for a 1.75-ounce bar and $2 per truffle. Alongside the shop’s chocolate-centric history books, cookbooks and gifts are the fresh creations of chocolatiers (the people who concoct treats from artisan chocolate) who use chocolate from different regions, allowing you to savor the subtleties, starting at $1 a pop. Lei Ann Shiramizu