Doesn't this make you drool?

Top Ten Chocolates according to NYTimes (feel free to send any of these my way)

1. Kee’s Chocolates, 80 Thompson Street. Kee Ling Tong does it all by hand, fresh, every day. Best passion-fruit bonbon extant. The black sesame, blood orange and blended pepper are merely extraordinary. Hands down, the best chocolates in New York. Maybe the world. $11 for a box of six.

2. MarieBelle, 484 Broome Street. Hand-painted chocolates so photogenic you might not want to eat any of them. Force yourself. Kickin’-hot chocolate mix, Aztec Spicy, made with great Colombian chocolate, as well as ancho and chipotle chilies. There’s a delightful tea room in the back to fritter away some calories. $17 for a 1-ounce tin.

3. Richart Design et Chocolat, 7 East 55th Street. A stage-lighted gallery where the micro-mini chocolates covered with Kandinsky-like scrawls are divided into flights of fanciful taste: roasted, balsamic, fruity, spiced. Richart uses only criollo chocolate and creates seasonal goodies that could be framed. It also carries its own chocolate spread, which the store manager calls “Nutella in a tuxedo.” $15 for 12.3 ounces.

4. La Maison du Chocolat, 1018 Madison Avenue. A Belgian friend and I divided up 14 bonbons and voted Traviata — almond and hazelnut praline topped with caramelized almonds — the winner. But then there was Bresilien, coffee-infused ganache, and Cannelle, all cinnamony, and Romeo, with fresh coffee mousse inside. $70 for 50 pieces.

5. Debauve & Gallais, 20 East 69th Street. Chocolatier to the Bourbons, Proust and now the Samurai Shopper. The prices are as egregious as its former devotee Marie Antoinette. (Let them eat Hershey’s.) But try the aiguillettes, candied ginger enrobed in dark chocolate. They’ll take your breath away. $40 for a quarter pound.

6. Recchiuti Confections, Ferry Building Marketplace, San Francisco; http://www.recchiuticonfections.com/. Michael Recchiuti is an Italian guy from Philly, a self-taught chocolate master and the king of the world, as far as I know. He makes big, bold, seditiously decadent chocolates. Get the 32-piece Burgundy box ($75) and experience nirvana.

7. Chocolate Deities, http://www.chocolatedeities.com/. Speaking of nirvana, here’s a Christmas shout-out to the Buddha, and to the sound of one lip smacking. You can order him (from $28) in milk, dark or gold-painted chocolate. Also try my favorite chocolate Celtic bad girl, Sheela Na Gig; she’s a real showstopper.

8. Christopher Elbow, 118 Southwest Boulevard, Kansas City, Mo.; http://www.christopherelbowchocolates.com/. If you’re not going to Kansas City for Stroud’s fried chicken, at least make some Elbow room for Chris’s 21-piece artisanal chocolate ($38): espresso with lemon, boozy Champagne bonbons and caramel with fleur de sel — that’s right, salt in chocolate — mixed perfect clarity and harmony.

9. Garrison Confections, 815 Hope Street, Providence, R.I.; http://www.garrisonconfections.com/ confections.com. Andrew Shotts left La Côte Basque and the Russian Tea Room, and eventually found himself less rent-poor in Providence. You can sample his wares locally at Bierkraft, on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn, or be brave and order a box directly. The cranberry orange and fig anise from his Autumn Equinox collection were outstanding, and I can’t wait to sing the “Hallelujah” chorus when he unveils his Christmas goodies. $20 for a 12-piece box.

10. L.A. Burdick Handmade Chocolates, http://www.burdickchococlate.com/. Straight from Walpole, N.H., to you; mice with long tails ($29 for nine), mousse-stuffed penguins ($32 for nine) and crystalline pâte de fruit (chocolate-dipped orange peel, $8.50 for a quarter pound) to throw back with your beans.