More Pittsburgh Chocolate

A couple of months ago, a reporter from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review asked me to comment on the allegedly legendary "chocolate belt" of small confectioners in Pennsylvania and Ohio, such as Betsy Ann and Bolan's. I gave what I thought was the perfect response: I guffawed and exclaimed, "I have never heard of a chocolate belt in Western Pennsylvania." I was neither quoted nor mentioned in the article. I suppose my behavior was not very neighborly.

This time, I will not pass judgement. I will simply announce: A new chocolate shop is opening in Pittsburgh, within walking distance of my house. The place is called A Taste of Chocolate: Exquisite Cocoa and it's on Center and Highland Avenues, next to the bridge that comes over the railroad tracks between East Liberty and Shadyside. The owner is a bar-room friend of my thesis advisor, and I hear he's an interesting character.