Melbourne certainly has a way of turning on the taps when I venture out umbrella-less.  It’s almost like the big man is sitting upstairs, having watched me straighten my hair, primp and preen, then said to his mate, ‘wanna see something funny?’ and turned it on just enough to get to watch me run helplessly down St Kilda Road – right before I am about to meet someone for a job interview.

Clearly my afternoon was a success (thankfully the interviewer was most understanding!) and in light of the weather events of the day, it seemed only appropriate that the evening I had planned would contain hot chocolate, desserts and cocktails.

After grabbing a bargain on the Scoupon website weeks ago, fellow fashionista, Style Melbourne’s Sarah, her hubby and I skipped dinner and took the opportunity to indulge in a chocolate appreciation evening at Schocolate, Fitzroy – apt after a week of basically starving ourselves for Melbourne Spring Fashion Week.

French chef Damien, who had the most divine accent, took us through the Schocolate story. After his arrival in Australian just 18 months ago (when he didn’t speak any English!) Damien has created a chocolate sanctuary, nominated for many awards and listed as one of the best in Australia.

We started with a glass of wine then dived straight into the good stuff – white, milk and dark hot chocolate, served in shot glasses. The white was my favourite, perhaps because it was the sweetest and this is simply what we are used to, while the milk had a coconut taste from the Malibu that was incorporated. The dark was equally heavenly.

Following this we enjoyed a dessert – a small cake which although it looked heavy, was light as air. It was also Gluten Free, and was sort of a wafer and custard delicacy. YUM.

Starting to feel full and ill, the next serving was a dish of 5 individual chocolates, of which I only managed 2 (but took the others home). The chocolate that seemed the most popular around the table was a pistachio flavoured one which I wasn’t able to test because of its gluten content, however the ‘oddest’ flavour was Vegemite – who would have thought it!

Just when you thought you couldn’t eat any more chocolate, out came three single origin varieties, in button form. With my parking expiring on the street, I was torn between the final tastings and the threat of a parking ticket, but with chocolate in the mix, how could I go past the final treat?

A chocolate cocktail with Baileys, Kalahua, coffee, chocolate and cream was decadent and strong – not everyone’s cup of tea but certainly a pleasure to try. By now we were all chocolate-ed out, a sensation I never thought I would feel!

Shocolate run chocolate appreciation evenings regularly. Visit the website, or call to book.