The Best Thing Right Now…

The New York Chocolate Show kicks off tomorrow evening with a fashion show featuring designers including Heatherette, Abaete, and Alice Roi, each partnered with pastry chefs and chocolatiers to create a cocoa-based ensemble.

On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, the public is invited to the Chocolate Show itself, which offers 40,000 square feet of sweets. New York representatives include Peanut Butter & Co., Alison Nelson's Chocolate Bar, and Tribeca Treats. Chocolatour's treats hail from Tanzania, Grenada, and Java, among other places; each wrapper is lined with a "travel log" that provides details about their provenance. Gustaux Chocolatier represents France while Schokinag is an ambassador for Germany. Recchiuti's Fève bar may be the richest of them all at 85% cocoa. (The name derives from the French term for the roasted cacao nibs that are embedded within.)

New Tree's bite-size, coffee-flavored Vigor pieces feature both caffeine and the Amazon berry guarana to deliver an extra kick. Cocoa Locoa's salted honey caramels have only the thinnest coating of dark chocolate: The main attraction is the thick caramel inside. The stars of Koppers' chocolate-covered offerings are strawberries, blueberries, and even goji berries. With pecan bits and chili peppers, Lillie Belle Farms' Crunchy Fire Bar provides a pretty hot burn.

Chocolatiers and chefs such as Nicole Kaplan of Eleven Madison Park and Kate Zuckerman of Chanterelle will conduct chocolate demonstrations throughout the weekend. Children can enjoy the Kid's Chocolate Zone, while grownups sip chocolate cocktails mixed up at the Chocolate Lounge.

Friday, 11 a.m.–9 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.–8 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.–7 p.m., Metropolitan Pavilion and the Altman Building, 125 W. 18th St., between Sixth and Seventh avenues, 212-307-7171, $25.