Who doesn't like chocolate? Some, of course, can take it or leave it. But for the "takers," Chocolate Box is surely heaven made manifest. Chocolate hot, chocolate frozen, chocolate wrapped, stamped, boxed. Chocolate bars, wafers, round, square, spherical. Chocolate cookbooks, chocolate mugs. This is not your neighborhood candy stand; it's one of several high-end chocolate boutiques to open in Seattle in recent months selling names like Theo's, Fiori, Vitale, Fran's, Oh!
Chocolate Box even runs its own $65 "Tour de Chocolat" to Madison Park (Oh!) U Village (Fran's) and Fremont (Theo's). Kids under 16 must be accompanied by a parent, yet it's clear from the hands-on portion of the tour that it's the kids who will have the most sticky-fingered fun.
Snark alert. Call me cynical, but if there's one institution in town that doesn't need more mawkish publicity or sappy fund-raising help, it's the well-endowed Children's Hospital. Caring for the youngest and most vulnerable among us shouldn't be up to private donations in the first place, but that doesn't stop people from trying to tug your heartstrings and your wallets. That said, it's hard to resist the latest project: mini-chocolates decorated with designs by real children who actually have ties to the hospital.
One of them, young Kelly Montana Hamerton, succumbed to a brain tumor. In her memory, her mom, Valerie Brotman, created the "Kelly's View" line of chocolates. This week, as the candies went on sale at Chocolate Box, five young artists (four ex-patients and a hospital volunteer) showed up for a Willy Wonka-style chocolate blow-out.
Six designs, six flavors: pumpkin, pomegranate, peppermint, gingerbread, maple, cranberry. All six for $18, with a portion of the proceeds going to Chidren's Hospital.
Chocolate Box, 108 Pine Street, 206-443-6188 
The International Kitchen
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