February 2015
Sweet 16
A sampler of Los Angeles-area chocolate and treat shops for that Valentine sugar high
Valerie Gordon and her partner, Stan Weightman Jr., started out with a toffee business, and they now have three shops selling chocolates, pastries, confections and even lunch. The epicenter of the business is in Westlake on 1st Street, in a cute 4,000-square-foot shop, chocolate factory and bakery. There Gordon and her staff have, among other things, five chocolate dipping stations, where they make their chocolate candies, all blended from their unique mixture of Valrhona, Guittard and Noel chocolates. For the holiday, they make special boxes filled with chocolates shaped like hearts, of course, but also roses. In the shop, there are also cookies, truffles, jams and chocolate bars, as well as Gordon's famous rose petal petits fours.