Candy Darling open in TenderNob

This year has been a big one for Andy Warhol in San Francisco. First, the Contemporary Jewish Museum showed "Warhol's Jews," a series of 10 portraits by Andy Warhol. Next, the De Young will be opening its "Warhol Live" music based exhibit on Valentine's Day. And finally, Candy Darling recently opened on Sutter and Jones, making it the first chocolate shop in the TenderNob. The name comes from one of Warhol's muses, a transexual who died young with these famous last words: "I am just so bored by everything. You might say bored to death."

I visited the shop, whose friendly owners live in the hood, in early January and it still looked like they were moving in. The white walls were clean and bare, just waiting for some Andy Warhol portraits. The kitchen, which they plan to rent out to aspiring chefs, is visible and on some days you may even see them in the midst of making truffles. Clear glass canisters line two walls filled with the usual assortment of candy, from gumdrops to lollipops to gummie bears. But that was of no concern to me; I was there for the chocolate.

When I inquired about the prices, I had to ask again to be sure I heard correctly. $10 a pound! For a bit of perspective, imported French chocolate will run you $120/pound (Richart) or $75/pound (Teuscher). Even local Recchiuti is up to $60/pound. So if you've lost your job thanks to this economy, or are worried about losing your job, then Candy Darling is the place to go for an inexpensive chocolate indulgence. But like mama said, you get what you pay for. So don't expect to see the Mona Lisa artfully displayed on top of your chocolate, exotic or rare ingredients, fancy names or 7 layers of coordinated packaging. These are simple truffles, hand made using Guittard, with just 4 varieties available when I visited. They are rich, buttery and quite large - similar to the famous Joseph Schmidt "American" truffle.

A specialty of Candy Darling is the spicy ginger dipped in chocolate, as well as apricots. The owners, who have been in the confectionery business for many years, have plans to expand their line-up and even sell something frozen in the retro-cooler. Maybe professional labels and gift packages are in the works too. I'll be back to Candy Darling - and I hope the neighborhood, transexuals and all, gives them a warm welcome!