Second that. Letterpress Chocolate produces some beautiful single origin artisan chocolate.
That description just put Amara on my list. Thank you. We’re on withdrawls from European hot chocolate at the moment 
Everyone has their own tastes of course, but I have done much gifting from Valerie Confections over the years and think the truffle and caramel box is the best item.
oh no… my favorite spot L’Artisan Du Chocolat has closed down 
came here to suggest it, glad i checked
The best flavored chocolate of any kind by a wide margin is the Pralus Infernale line. Start with pistache.
The best non-flavored chocolate is more debatable. I would still go with Pralus (e.g., the chocolate pyramid), but a good case can be made for Dandelion with its more elegant, complex flavors.
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I like Marou from Vietnam.
I’m very interested in quality chocolate, just in time for Halloween!
Where’s a good place to get Pralus chocolats in the US? So far I’m seeing barandcocoa.
Edit: They have their own website https://www.chocolats-pralus.com and the prices seem to be cheaper than US stores if you buy at least 2 bars, though I’m not sure of the additional taxes and fees from buying from their store and shipping them to the United States.
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Since the thread has drifted away from local chocolatiers:
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I’ve only been given chocolate from these 2 stores as gifts, but they were excellent and I highly recommend them!
https://edelweisschocolates.com/
As for Littlejohn’s, their English toffee and their caramel-covered marshmallows known as “Marshmallow Delights” are killer! They come in vanilla caramel, salted vanilla caramel, chocolate caramel flavors.
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LOVE Littlejohn’s toffee
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I’m new to chocolate and I am much more curious about chocolate. I’ve been web surfing Reddit for recs.
I heard that Belgium and Switzerland have the best chocolate compared to other countries, but there doesn’t seem to be a way to buy chocolates from most Belgium and Switzerland companies at California. I really wanted to try Pierre Marcolini’s chocolate (Not being able to purchase it makes it want it even more). 
I saw a post from last year that Costco was selling Neuhaus 3 Tiered Box (21.5 ounces) for $80 last year, and they went on clearance a month later for 20! I might go for that or Kirkland Signature Luxury Belgian Chocolate that’ll go on sale next month.
I also heard of two bean to bar companies in California:
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Dandelion
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9th and Larkin
Dang, chocolate bars from Dandelion costs from $10-15 each, though they have a Staff Picks Set (5 Chocolate Bars) for $50. 9th and Larkin has a $34/mo subscription that sends you 3 chocolate bars.
I’d love to know more about chocolate. I love chocolate bars, especially during Halloween when I get Full sized bars from the cool house! (My favorite was the white chocolate bars with cookie crumbs in them)
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It might be not the absolute best Swiss chocolate but Laederach Schokolade is very good and more recently they are starting to expand to California. They have now 2-3 locations here in the Bay area which have a good selection and are worth visiting.
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These people have a lot of excellent brands. I like Dolfin. Also Michel Cluizel 99% Noir Infini, but that’s definitely not for everyone.
Letterpress Chocolate is an LA based bean to bar
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My favorite Belgian brand is Daskalides.
https://daskalides.be
Most of the European brands in the US (Godiva, etc) are trash.
These days I prefer Marou from Vietnam (see the NYT article on them).
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You got my attention on Marou. Where’s a good place to buy them (for a good price)?
I see that their 100% Dark Chocolate Bar 2ounce goes for $5 in Vietnam.
The only chocolate I’ve been eating lately are the dark chocolate Keller + Manni bars I grab from Epicurious.