Gazing at the artfully designed window displays that distinguish A Taste of Chocolate's new storefront in Collier, you might deduce that proprietor Tom Allen has been a chocolatier for years and years, if not his entire adult life. And no doubt the confectioner earned his stripes somewhere in Europe, where many of the world's finest chocolates are made.

	Bill Wade, Post-Gazette Above: Taste of Chocolate owner Tom Allen. Below: Some of the store's specialties. Click photos for larger image.

The sumptuous plates of candy situated among the antique milk bottles and massive milk ladle from the 1940s -- elegant molded Belgian-style chocolates on one raised tray, golf ball-sized truffles drizzled with lace-like chocolate on another -- appear more like works of art than decadent nibbles. Even the hand-dipped strawberries, dunked shoulder-high in a bath of creamy milk or white chocolate, are almost too pretty to eat.

Yet until recently, Mr. Allen said, he spent his days "fooling around" with options and futures as a private investor. Even as little as five months ago, he probably couldn't have told you the difference between a ganache, a rich mixture of chocolate and cream used as the base for truffles, and a gaucho, a type of flared pants.

But Mr. Allen has always loved chocolate. And while he admittedly knew absolutely nothing about making candy, when he heard a local candy factory was for sale, as a businessman, he liked the economics of what he saw.

It didn't make sense for him to buy the factory and simply become its new owner, though. Instead, he wanted to set his company apart by launching a fun, upscale version of a traditional product to which people could become loyal -- and that would give the "super-premium guys a little heartache."

Today, Mr. Allen knows all about ganache, and then some. A Taste of Chocolate, which opened late last month at Collier Town Square on Washington Pike, aims to position itself as one of the area's premier chocolate makers, with its wide variety of hand-crafted luxury and Belgian-style molded chocolates.

If all goes according to plan, in fact -- and Mr. Allen is pretty sure it will, if the 500-plus visitors at his grand opening May 23 are any indication -- two more stores will soon follow, in Shadyside and Fox Chapel.

This might seem rather ambitious for someone completely new to the business, especially when you consider that the area has its share of well-established candy and chocolate stores -- and Pittsburghers are creatures of habit. But like many of us, Mr. Allen has enjoyed a love affair with chocolate since he was a little boy growing up in Lancaster County; delicacies such as shoo-fly pie and apple dumplings graced many a table in his hometown, but he also ate an "awful lot" of chocolate treats for dessert, he said. It just took him a while to figure out he wanted to make a living at it.

So when he heard late last year that Wilma's Candy & Fudge Factory, a 28-year-old chocolate manufacturing business and retailer in Saxonburg, was for sale, he started thinking. Tired of sitting in front of a computer screen all day, he'd been thinking of making a change anyway ... why not chocolate?

There's a big difference between luxury chocolates such as Godiva, an international chain whose prices start at about $36 a pound, says Mr. Allen, and traditional but mass-produced products from local companies such as Canonsburg-based Sarris Candies, whose boxed chocolates cost $17 a pound. So all he had to do was come up with a "giftable" quality product that could be presented like a Godiva but crafted locally.

An offer soon followed and after finalizing the deal, which included bringing 12 employees along from the candy factory, he started buying the equipment he needed to perfect the recipes for the Belgian-style chocolates sold in upper-end chocolate houses. He also hired architect Gary Gorski to come up with the store's whimsical, vaguely European design.

The industry is certainly ripe for growth, says Andrea Schrenk, pastry chef instructor at Pennsylvania Culinary Institute, Downtown. Thanks to media such as the Food Network, which often features shows devoted to chocolate, a growing number of consumers are getting into high-end candies.

"It's a trend," she says. "They like the idea of going upscale and are more willing to pay for a better chocolate."

Americans in particular are starting to accept dark chocolates a little more, she adds, which is wonderful because dark, in her opinion, "is really the more exciting chocolate."

But will a boutique chocolate store fly in a traditional town like Pittsburgh? It's hard to say.

While large cities such as New York and Chicago and resort towns such as Aspen have populations that can support really fine chocolatiers, Pittsburgh is a funny town, says Ms. Schrenk. "It all depends on how it's perceived."

Mr. Allen has done his best to soften any local reluctance. The scent of fresh chocolate greets visitors almost the second they walk in the door. Elegant display cases painted to look like melting chocolate catch the eye, as does a painted spiral staircase that winds its way up to a suspended S-shaped Victorian balcony. Then there's the chocolate itself, which is stacked in boxes and bags atop vintage milk crates and polished wooden bookshelves in front of the exposed brick walls.

Even more fun is the painted "chocolate river" that snakes across the 14-foot ceiling and then seemingly empties at the back of the store, where actual chocolate spills, fountain-like, into a large stoneware crock sitting in a bed of cocoa beans. (Sorry, kids, it's best to keep your fingers out of it -- the chocolate is laced with canola oil to keep it flowing.)

The result is a shop that, despite its upscale prices, feels remarkably accessible and welcoming. To emphasize that point, Mr. Allen holds out a plate of his dark-chocolate almond bark, a tantalizing concoction of dark bittersweet chocolate and salted almonds that sells for $22.50 a pound.

"And we give out lots of samples," he said.

Much of the products' appeal is due to their stylish packaging. For example, boxed chocolates are wrapped in tissue, fastened with a gold seal and then tied with pretty silk ribbons. But the chocolate itself is also quite good. The actual recipe is proprietary, of course. But all of the main ingredients -- cocoa butter, sugar, milk, different oils and various flavorings -- are of the highest quality, says Mr. Allen.

One of the prettiest candies is a white-chocolate clam shell in the assorted chocolate box ($25 a pound). Each is carefully hand-painted with a silver paste that evaporates and leaves a fine silver dust. Other popular choices include pecan turtles ($27 a pound), chocolate-covered pretzels ($8.95 a half-pound) and covered caramels ($16 a pound). Individual truffles cost $1.90 each.

Or maybe you're shopping for a younger crowd. Kid-friendly offerings include chocolate-covered Oreos or graham crackers (2 for $2.50), chocolate-dipped Pringles ($5.50 for 6) and the $4 Wilma Jane, a caramel-covered Rice Krispies treat that's been dunked in chocolate. Consider it dessert on a stick.

The majority of the candy is made at the factory in Saxonburg. But a few items are crafted on-site in Collier. All of the dipped fruits and cookies, for example, are made fresh daily right in the showroom at a granite-topped table near the faux chocolate fountain. So are the store's chocolate fruit cups, which employee Laura Herrmann expertly fills first with melted chocolate, and then a colorful array of blueberries, raspberries, blackberry, sliced kiwi and strawberry. Then it's more melted chocolate on top.

"It's the glue that holds everything together," she said.

If you're counting calories, you're probably better off with a fruit sorbet. But if you're willing to live a little and pair it with a nice cabernet sauvignon, there's no sweeter way to end the evening.

"Red wine and dark chocolate -- that's two things God intended to go together," said Mr. Allen.

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
This cool and creamy classic French dessert is the perfect end to a summer meal, especially since it means you don't have to turn on your oven. Use your favorite bittersweet chocolate here; some premium brands, with a higher percentage of cocoa solids, will result in a slightly denser mousse.

2 cups very cold heavy cream
4 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
7 ounces good bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped
Lightly sweetened whipped cream

Heat  3/4 cup cream in a 1-quart heavy saucepan until hot but not boiling; remove from heat. Whisk together yolks, sugar and salt in a metal bowl until well combined, then add hot cream in a slow stream, whisking until combined. Transfer mixture to saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until it registers 160 degrees on thermometer. Pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a small bowl and stir in vanilla.

Melt chocolate in a large metal bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, stirring frequently. Whisk custard into chocolate until smooth. Let cool. Beat remaining 1 1/4 cups cream in a large bowl with an electric mixer until it just holds stiff peaks. Whisk one-quarter of the cream into chocolate custard to lighten it, then gently but thoroughly fold in the remaining cream.

Spoon mousse into eight 6-ounce stemmed glasses or ramekins. Refrigerate, covered, for at least six hours. Let mousse stand at room temperature 20 minutes before serving, topped with whipped cream. It can be refrigerated covered for up to 1 day.

Serves 8.

-- The Gourmet CookbookA Taste of Chocolate

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1597 Washington Pike, Collier; 412-276-9500. Open Mondays, Tuesdays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; closed Sundays.