Register now for this Saturday’s Lake Oswego Chocolate Walk through the Lake Oswego Parks and Recreation Department. Chocolate educator Savina Darzes will give you a taste of Lake Oswego you’ve never enjoyed before!

If you’re like me, you don’t need a reason to eat chocolate other than it has been one hour since your last intake and you’re craving it.

Chocolate educator, Savina Darzes, understands the mindset. “There’s a saying, ‘First you consume chocolate. Then it consumes you.’”

Darzes has managed to parlay her love of chocolate into a career by offering neighborhood chocolate walks with one scheduled for Lake Oswego this Saturday, September 8 from 2:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. through the Lake Oswego Parks and Recreation Department.

If you’re not like me and need a little more prodding to set out in search of all things chocolate, consider this.

1.    “It’s fun to eat your way through your neighborhood,” explains Darzes. Her patrons are both visitors to Lake Oswego as well as residents. Darzes enjoys showing them a side to their hometown they may not have experienced before.

2.    Chocolate is becoming less of a guilty pleasure and more of a healthy go-to snack (in moderation of course, although it’s hard for me to put moderation and chocolate in the same sentence). Recent studies have linked dark chocolate consumption to everything from decreased risk of heart problems to improved good cholesterol levels. Finally! Science is on my side.

3.    Chocolate comes in many forms and some may surprise you. “It’s a neighborhood search for all things chocolate whether that’s in cosmetics, perfume–any way I can find it I try and let people know about it,” Darzes explains.

4.    Chocolate has been referred to as the “food of the gods.” Can’t get much better of an endorsement than that!

5.    Like a history lesson to go with your sweets? Darzes will fill you in on chocolate lore like the fact that chocolate bars are a recent invention, in the last 175 years or so. Prior to that, chocolate was sipped, not eaten.

6.    Chocolate as a mood lifter? Science keeps going back and forth on this one but all I know is I’m happy when I’m thinking about eating it, as I’m eating it and long after I’m done.

7.    There are chocolate treats for the tasting tucked throughout Lake Oswego from the gluten free Chocolate Lava Cake at Scratch to the decadent truffles at Moonstruck and Chocolates by Bernard. Her stops vary each tour but in addition to the obvious, Darzes has a few hidden gems in her tasting tour that just might surprise you which explains past visits to Bellagio’s Interiors, Rumi-Simone and World Class Wines on her tour.

Craving some chocolate? Sign up for Darzes’ walking tour through the Parks and Recreation Department by going to their website. The class number is 4331000. $49 for residents; $56 non-residents.

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