RESTAURANTS: Candy cravings go upscale

If Skittles and Reeses just aren’t doing it for you anymore, time to branch out —- go glam with your candy cravings. With the holidays coming, these Willy Wonka wonderlands of chocolate and sugar treats offer a sweet alternative to the usual 5 o’clock Snickers snack attack.

Cacao Laboratoire du Chocolat and Boutique

312 C N. Highland Ave., Atlanta. 404-221-2626, www.cacaoatlanta.com

Kristen Hard has been making candy of some sort since she was a little girl. All grown up, she’s opened an adorable chocolate boutique, Cacao Laboratoire du Chocolat and Boutique, in Inman Park. Bathed in silver and bedecked with tiers of cupcakes of teal-colored buttercream, this spot serves handmade chocolates, hot chocolate with housemade marshmallows and offers services such as private parties and events.

Maison Robert Fine

Chocolates

3708 N. Peachtree Road, Atlanta. 770-454-6442,

www.maisonrobertchocolates.com

This French-inspired chocolate house sets the metro area standard, with classic, hand-molded and hand-dipped pralines (the European term for bite-sized chocolates). Long a local favorite (the original shop opened in 1977), the amazing chocolates are created by chef Robert Reeb, a third-generation French patissier-confiseur. Christmas is a specialty, so help Santa stuff a stocking by dropping by and picking up a few things.

Greene’s Fine Foods

141 E. Trinity Place, Decatur. 404-378-2001, www.greenesfinefoods.com

Greene’s is an over-the-top emporium of nuts, dried fruits, fudge and candy. Lots of it. Jars and jars of it. This new place is huge, and it’s the Santa’s workshop of candy, from maple fudge and Grand Marnier-dusted chocolate-covered pecans (an OMG experience), to daily flavors of frozen yogurt, doled out in three sizes by worker-bee types who are happy to sprinkle raspberry-flavored gummi goos all over your swirl of vanilla or strawberry.

The Chocolate Bar

201 W Ponce de Leon Ave., Suite C, Decatur. 404-378-0630, www.thechocolatebardecatur.com

A little bit wine bar, a little bit Herme, the Chocolate Bar is a rare combination of candy and Chianti. House-made chocolates, as well as fruit gels and dipped fruits, are all for the grabbing in this candy shop-cum-cafe’s front-and-center pastry case. But don’t stop with a sugar rush —- small tapas-style goodies, as well as signature cocktails of the culinary kind, are all part of the party, too.

The Chocolaterie Luxury Chocolates & Gifts

410 Peachtree Parkway, Suite 4126, Cumming. 678-513-2700, www.thechocolaterie.com

Cream truffles, hand-painted, are just one of the specialties at this Cumming shop of delicacies. In addition to the house-made chocolates, the store stocks Godiva, Amedei, Bissinger’s, Neuhaus, Vosges, Valrhona, Pralus and more than 50 brands of chocolate bars from all over the world in 300 flavors.