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Some prefer to take their chocolate hit--and run . Gina Sodergren, 27, likes to stop in for a prework brew at the Leonidas Chocolate Café in Santa Monica, one of two opened in the Los Angeles area in the past year by the Belgian chocolate company. "They have stuff like Orange Velvet and Peppermint Delight and Mexican Cocoa," she says, "drinks you can't find anywhere else."
Owners of chocolate lounges say their clientele is about 60% women, but men are discovering that they make a sweet spot for dates. Ethel's manager Rugya Marshall says plenty of single guys find their way to her counter. "You'd think the pink would scare them," she says, "but they're pretty brave when it comes to chocolate." --With reporting by Leron Kornreich/Los Angeles and Golnoush Niknejad/New York