The original Chocolate Bar was priced out of the West Village back in April, but that hasn’t taken the wind out of owner Alison Nelson’s sails as she expands across the chocolate seas as far away as Qatar. Closer to home, the Chocolate Bar East Village location opens today, with counter service for eight and all the quality product chocoholics rely on to keep it together. According to Strong Buzz, there’s a "Meet the Neighbors"......

Okay, Valentine's Day is Tuesday and you still haven't pulled anything together. What the hell have you been waiting for?! In addition to checking out Open Table you'd better hit up some of the options listed in the various V-Day roundups (visit each one for individual links): Time Out NY gives you a range of options, from $48 to $850,000, depending on your budget. If you really love them, we'd suggest the $850,000 option. HA!......

Did your hipster colleague from Williamsburg bring in two dozen donuts to work from Peter Pan Doughnuts & Pastries? Did your client send a mammoth gift basket crammed with shortbread, biscotti and brownies to your office? Did the geeky IT support gal bring in homemade cupcakes? Did your tightwad boss make a display of bringing in several boxes of decadent chocolates from the likes of La Maison du Chocolat or Chocolate Bar? In short: Are......

Hilly Kristal decided to shell out $35,000 a month in rent for CBGB's Bowery Street space through October 2006, ensuring that we'll be hearing speculation about where the famed punk club will go for many, many more months. Kristal called the agreement with landlord, the Bowery Residents' Committee, "amicable," which is not only kinda unpunk, it totally reverses his pretty recent comments that CBGB's would leaving. Kristal said he was looking at various other properties,......

September 25-29: Latin Beer Tasting Dos Equis, Sol, Corona and Negra Modelo, are paired up with tasty (and Kosher!) Latin dishes in a prix-fixe menu from September 25-29; cost is $49 per person. For details, visit their website. Park East Grill, 1562 Second Ave., 212-717-8400. September 27: Eat Out '05 Time Out New York continues to celebrate its tenth birthday with Eat Out ’05, a tasting event benefitting the Food Bank For New York City.......

On hot summer nights Gothamist adores hunkering down in an air-conditioned movie theater to watch the latest flick o' the moment. And, what's a trip to the cinema without a trip to the concession stand? Who can resist the traditional combo of a gargantuan barrel of soda complimented by a trough of buttery, salty popcorn? Apparently, plenty of folk. Gothamist is noticing that more and more gourmand fare is finding its way onto local movie......

May 14th & 15th: The Ninth Avenue International Food Festival This annual even, currently in its 32nd year, gives you the opportunity to sample over thirty different international cuisines -- like the United Nations, but much tastier. Ninth Avenue from 37th to 57th Street, from 9:00 am to 6:30 pm. Call 212-581-7029 for more information. May 16th: Save CBGB: Eat More Chocolate This benefit, touted as an "an all-chocolate, rock-and-roll experience," is raising funds to......

We told you it was coming, and now it's finally here: the Seventh Annual Chocolate Show New York, which began this past Thursday, November 11th, and ends this Sunday, November 14th. Gothamist knew that there'd be everything from a fashion show to cooking demos to art displays made of chocolate. But what we were really excited about was getting to try so many different chocolates, all in one afternoon. We wondered beforehand if it were......

The Chocolate Show is coming! The Chocolate Show is coming! We know where we'll be camped out this weekend . . . The Chocolate Fashion Show combines chocolate and couture, in original and delicious designs by top designers such as Nicole Miller, Patricia Field, Sylvia Heisel, Ann Taylor and Suss Cousins. The fashion show will be hosted by tastemaker and style authority Robert Verdi, co-host of the Discovery Channel’s Surprise by Design and host of......

Chocolate Bar: Recipes and Entertaining Ideas for Living the Sweet Life , by Matt Lewis & Alison Nelson (Running Press, 2004). The Chocolate Bar's cookbook is a bible for the chocolate-obsessed, or a training manual for the soon-to-be obsessed. Part cookbook, part chocolate-philosophy textbook, and all mouthwatering, the book is a recruiting manual for the "chocolate-centered lifestyle." The authors earn their toaster ovens with recipes for fondues, moles, sundaes, brownies and cookies, as well as......

Girlynyc, Panty Blogger...

We were just minding our own business, walking down the streets of the West Village, when suddenly, two words leapt across our field of vision, and we became powerless to resist their pull: We walked in, gazed at the delights spread out in front of us, wiped the drool off our chins, and attempted to make a selection. We ultimately decided on a milk chocolate peanut butter pattie, some buttercrunch nuggets (at 50 cents each,......

After tackling cupcakes and BBQ, the Times Julia Moskin looks at the new age of chocolate appreciation that includes chocolate flights, chocolate conoisseurship, and interest in chocolates flavored with rose, wasabi, and thyme. chocophile.com owner explains it well, when he says, "Chocolate is a relatively affordable obsession. The most expensive bottle of wine is way out of most people's reach; the most expensive bottle of balsamic vinegar costs more than a thousand dollars. But the......