Thanksgiving is all fine and good for those who enjoy pie.  While everyone else is hmmming and hawing about which pie they will try after their Thanksgiving feast, the chocolate lovers are quietly pretending to be full because no fruit or nut filled, one layer, pastry encrusted pie plate holds what they really crave: chocolate.

Luckily for you, oh chocolate lovers, Thanksgiving is over and the season of chocolate has begun from Chanukah gelt to New Year’s eve treats and Christmas truffles the scent of exotic cacao will now replace the scent of pumpkin pie spice that wafts out of every kitchen & shop.  Here is my guide to chocolate in Boston.

The ultimate chocolate experience is The Langham Boston’s Chocolate Bar at Café Fleuri.

If sipping chocolate is what you desire, then LA Burdick is the place for you.  I love the one in Harvard Square.  The space is cozy and it’s a perfect spot to stop after shopping or strolling around the square.  The hot chocolate is so rich and thick that a small demitasse is plenty for me.  It reminds me of the hot chocolate I once had as a child traveling through Italy.  For something a little different, try the spicy hot chocolate at Bon Me, which is available seasonally. MET Back Bay has begun their Boston Hot Chocolate experience, which includes a menu of four hot chocolates each of which can be spiked up a notch for the grown up crowd.  There is the classic hot chocolate made with Somerville’s Taza vanilla chocolate, the Mexican hot chocolate made with Taza cinnamon chocolate, the salted almond hot chocolate made with Taza salted almond chocolate, and the peppermint hot chocolate made with Taza cacao puro chocolate

Charlie doesn’t have a chocolate factory here, but there are quite a few in the area: Harbor Sweets and Taza.  Once upon a time, Boston was also home to the Bakers Chocolate factory.  The Bakers Chocolate factory still stands in Dorchester, MA but they are now homes.

Up on the North Shore is Harbor Sweets in Salem.

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This tiny seaside chocolate factory has been making sweets for over four decades.

Taza Chocolate is based in Somerville.  Tours of the Taza Chocolate factory are available for $6 per person.  Taza also hosts private group tours, which are great alternative to the traditional holiday party or holiday open house.

Chocolate ice cream is something I wasn’t a fan of until I tried a chocolate frappe at PICCO.  The chocolate is rich and dark and the frappe is as thick as thieves.

If you can’t do real dairy ice cream, head to FOMU for your fix. FOMU’s ice cream is so good that even dairy lovers won’t mind getting a scoop of their own. As for chocolate, choose chocolate brownie or chocolate pudding. If you don’t want something cold, you might be able to pick up one of the vegan Chocolate Peppermint whoopie pies while you’re there too.

Some of my favorite chocolates to give as gift or bring to special occasions.  EHChocolatier makes the best, most refined, exceptionally beautiful chocolates in town.  I buy a Santa’s sack full of different sized gift boxes every year to bring as hostess gifts, and to give to special people in our lives.  If I want something that is a little more “New England” I like to get the chocolate covered cranberries from Sweet Inspiration on Nantucket or something cute from Boston’s oldest chocolatier, Phillips Chocolate.  This ballet shoe is the perfect gift for your Nutcracker dancing girls and boys.

Last, but certainly not least there are Chocolate Tours and some fab chocolate blogs that will delve deeper into the world of chocolate with you.  Visit Confessions of a Chocoholic,