Game of Hearts

~~~G~UIDE TO MAKING

HER VALENTINE ""'

SUREFIRE GIFT 10F 3: CHOCOLATE

THE HIGH-END

CHOCOLATIER

HAT MELTS IN HER MOUTH

It's common knowledge

that chocolate is an aphro­disiac for women, inducing a hormonal surge that researchers refer to as totally bornball. (That's why men give women chocolates for Valentine's Day in the first place.) Here's what's new, however: a craze for high-end chocolate made by master Willy Wonkas who use only the finest cacao beans, most notably from Venezuela (where beans such as the porcelana criollo have become so valuable they have incited political unrest). The beans are crafted into tiny art pieces with ingredients such as chilies and wasabi. What do you get when you offer

a woman extra-luxurious and expensive chocolates? An extra-luxuriously hornball female. Perhaps that's why the premium-cacao market has grown more than 65 percent from 2002 to 2007. "Before this recent craze over chocolate, most people thought it came from Belgium or Switzerland. Today's consum­ers are more educated," says Michael Antonorsi of Chuao Chocolatier, an artisanal confec­tionery based in San Diego. In case you missed the boat on this news story, we're here to educate you—and just in time. See below for unique suggestions for her Valentine's Day sugar fix. At right: Sasckya enjoying a truffle from Vosges, based in Chicago (vosgeschocolate.com).

BLOOD, GOATS

AND SWINGERS:

THE ORIGINS VALENTINE'S

evolved, some histori­ans claim, out of a pagan rite celebrated in ancient Rome. During a February festival called Lupercalia, priests sac­rificed a goat. Boys then ran through the streets naked with slices of goatskin and women would thrust themselves forward, hoping to get thwacked with the bloody strips. Women believed, as Plutarch put it, "that the pregnant will thus be helped to an easy delivery and

marK ^«

the barren to pregnancy." According to legend, single women would put their names in an urn and men would pick one, pairing couples as though at a 1970s key party. With this festival as impetus, around the year 500 a.d. Pope Gelasius I declared February 14 Valen­tine's Day, named after Saint Valentine, who had been martyred for love cen­turies earlier. We'd like to see Hallmark make a card out of that story.

GOOD TO KNOW Twenty-five minutes ofsex should burn offthe calories in two pieces of chocolate.

CHOCOLATINES

chocolatmes.com

1101 Tower Road, Schaumburg, IL 60173 • 224-653-2700

CHUAO CHOCOLATIER

chuaochocQlatier.com

3485 Del Mar Heights Road, San Diego, CA 92130 • 888-635-1444

JACQUES TORRES CHOCOLATE

mrchocolate.com

350 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014 • 212-414-2462

BUY

SUHEFIRE GIFT 2 OF 3:

THE BUBBLY BASICS

TASTING NOTES: "Louis Roederer's Brut Premier ($50) is balanced, with great lemony finesse," says Bobby Stuckey, former head sommelier at the French Laundry and now owner of Frasca in Boulder.

TASTING NOTES: "The aromas of the 1999 Philipponnat Clos des Goisses ($140) explode with notes of minerals, chalk, smoke, white peaches and flowers," says Daniel Johnnes, wine director at chef Daniel Boulud's restaurants.

TASTING NOTES: "Moet & Chandon's Dom Perignon Rose 2000 ($400) is detailed with precise flavors of straw­berry and dark fruits," says Stuckey. "A perfect balance of power and grace."

TASTING NOTES: "Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 1999 ($195) is a wine that really shows its stuff," says Stuckey. "Ripe fruits folded in with veins of minerality."

TASTING NOTES: "Try a Krug Grande Cuvee ($170), which is powerful yet elegant," says Johnnes. "Aromas of pears, spice, brioche and minerals."

HO W TO MAKE A

PLAYMATE

SWOON

( >//r co)}wly motif!.

MISS DECEMBER 2007

SASCKYA PORTO,

reveals her mic* "j seduction

was on his game when it came So Valentine's Day. One year he asked my best friend to help him pick out a pair of shoes for me. It was cute, and she did a great job because I loved the shoes. Honestly, the best gifts are the ones that per­fectly fit my personality and style. Once a boyfriend gave me a bracelet with aquamarine stones. It was pretty, but it didn't suit me at all. I gave it to my 12-year-old sister. That's why a guy should always know his girl's tastes. I love champagne. Flowers are nice, too, but I'd rather have something that lasts. Take me to Gucci—don't give me roses! If you really want to win me over, surprise me with a trip. You know, somewhere warm with beaches, music, coconuts and me in a tiny little bikini.

THE KIR ROYALE

every lothario should learn to master

step;

i Pour Vi "f creme de to a flute.

STEP 2:

STEP 3:

GOOD TO KNOW Valentine's Day dinner should be light, not soporific. Try lobster tails.

SUREFIRE GIFT 3 OF 3: LINGERIE

LINGERIE

FOR EVERY OCCASION

PLAYBOY'S FASHION EDITOR

When you have money to burn. Bordelie's hourglass dress ($805, bordelle.co.uk) will appropriately torch your wallet. So will a French lace and champagne silk Muse Corselette bra ($275) and heart panties ($175) from Kiki de Montparnasse. If there's still room left on the tab, add a pair of leather opera gloves ($450) and pearl restraints ($2,400, kikidm.com).

When she's totaled the car. Here's the silver lining amid all that wreckage: There will never be a better time to suggest she put on something risque. So have her make it up to you in Agent Provocateur's adventurous Bullet playsuit ($330) and matching star pasties ($220, agentprovocateur.com).

When she's out of your league. Err on the side of modesty so as not to court overexcitement. A pleated baby doll ($35, victorias secret.com) definitely allows for a tantalizingly slow reveal.

When time is of the essence. Get where you need to go in a flash with the Love Game velvet push-up bra ($36, barenecessities .com)—its front-ribbon closure invites easy access—and Trashy Lingerie's lace open-crotch thong ($8, trashy.com).

When you're a leg man. Seductively dress her from thigh to toe in Wolford's Affaire 10 suspender stockings ($170 with high-waist stocking belt, wolfordshop.com) and Christian Louboutin red-sole point-toe Rolando pumps ($795, christianlouboutin.com).

DIAMOND

f!7U

—as in

(diamonds. Because it turns Dutthe most bling for your buck comes in a shimmer­ing mob. "A diamond cluster, a grouping of small diamonds, or diamond pave, small diamonds so close together they obscure any metalwork, gives you a big-diamond look on a budget," says Amanda Gizzi, a gems expert at the Jewelry Information Center. (At left: a pave medallion from

Christopher Duquet Fine Jew­elry Design, $4,750, Christopher duquet.com.) "Both a diamond cluster and a pave setting sparkle impressively because each little diamond is cut and polished to release brilliance. They're more affordable than larger diamonds because they're less rare." Your savings? "A one-carat total-weight pave diamond ring can cost thousands less than a one-carat solitaire diamond ring."

GOOD TO KNOW A typical diamond is 3.4 billion years old and formed more than 100 miles beneath Earth's surface.