Charm City Chocolate

Being newly single and having a tough time slogging through the transition between coupledom to a swingin' single lifestyle, I decided the best solution would be to self-medicate my romantical wounds. My preferred drug would be potent, provide an instant hit and be readily available. Solution: chocolate. And what could be more deliciously, creamily, dreamily ironic than drowning my sorrows in leftover, cut-priced Valentine's Day chocolates.

I was talking to an acquaintance whose husband was a native "Baltimoron" (her term, not mine) and she started waxing poetic about Rheb's, a Baltimore institution that she described as "a little house where little old ladies make chocolate all day." What could be more comforting than little old ladies making chocolate all day? It sounded like Willy Wonka minus the kids drowning in chocolate rivers and moralism. I had to go.

Following my meticulous directions, I traveled I-95 to exit 50B, took a left on Wilkens Avenue and promptly drove right by the store. The actual retail store is set back from the road a bit on Bloomfield Avenue. The red neon sign has a hard time casting off the shadows of the hulk of St. Agnes Hospital directly across the street. What you might notice from the road is a neat little house with a sign out front that says "Louis J. Rheb Candy Company Chocolates and Candies Since 1917." This is where all the candy-making magic happens, and where I suspect they are hiding all the little old ladies because I didn't see any on my visit.

The business is family-run in the best way possible. On my visit, a boy and his posse were skulking around the counter waiting to snag his mom's attention to get permission to watch a movie with his buds and get some popcorn money. I smiled and felt at home because it reminded me of being in middle school, except similar scenes in my life didn't play out with massive amounts of goodies around me.

Chocolates were laid out in neat rows in every version you might hope for. Not fanciful or fancy chocolates, nor perfectly glossed chocolate shells or amazingly architectural creations, just row upon row of hand-made chocolates obviously made with a touch of love. Rheb's seems to have a loyal following, since all the other customers in the store definitely had their favorites. The staff was ready to indoctrinate the clueless, like me, who freeze before the chocolately headlights.

Since it was my first visit, the no-brainer was the assortment, a pre-packaged gift-wrapped box within which I was promised all their milk and dark chocolate hits. Lucky for you I sampled every single chocolate, all in the name of investigative journalism. Not so lucky for me, there were no discount chocolates to be had, but at $12/lbs I wasn't too unhappy. My favorites have been the Vanilla Butter Creams and Peanut Butter Stix both in dark and milk chocolate varieties. And I shouldn't forget to mention the Pecan Turtles, firm caramel nestled with chopped pecans under a milk chocolate blanket, with a mouth-pleasing chew.

Among the more unusual was the "sponge." Molasses, extruded in a way that gives it a grid like pattern, is dipped in chocolate. The end result is a crunchy-then-chewy center that remains light in the hand and looks like a doll-sized chocolate pillow. If you're thinking about Easter already (and who isn't, right?!), Rheb's boxes vanilla butter cream eggs. After eating my Rheb's chocolates, so endearingly imperfect and lovingly made, my previous go-to goody, Lindt, tasted far too waxy and looked like it had the personality of a piece of plastic in comparison. I think the ultimate challenge would pit Rheb's against Wockenfuss, whose chocolates I haven't tasted. What's your opinion?

Rheb's Homemade Candies
3352 Wilkens Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21229
410-644-4321

Also: Lexington Market
400 W. Lexington Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
410-727-4553