Fresh Today

It just may be the world's most decadent confection.

Order a "12-inch pizza with everything on it," at Chocolate With an Attitude! in Redmond, and what you get is two pounds of milk chocolate topped with nuts, mints, marshmallows and other gooey delights. It's enough to stop a cardiologist's heart.

Eydie Leighty of Issaquah made her first chocolate pizza as a tongue-in-cheek gift for her stepfather, an incurable chocoholic. It was a hit, and it caught the eye of her mother, Lesley Carr, an experienced businesswoman.

"Mom said, `This is fabulous! Are you marketing it?' I said, `What? Are you kidding?' She said, `I'm not kidding, and you've got a partner.' "

For the past three years, the mother-daughter team has done a thriving mail-order business as Mama'n Mia Inc. Now they've opened their first retail store, next to their kitchen in a Redmond industrial complex near Marymoor Park.

"You sort of have to look hard to find us, but real chocoholics will find a way," said Leighty, laughing.

The pair make a variety of chocolate pizzas, including the Demento, which is topped with mint and semi-sweet chocolate; That's Nuts, covered with five kinds of nuts; and Raspberry Rendezvous, topped with dried crushed raspberries. The pizzas are priced from $16.95 to $32.95 and serve from 16 to 32 people.

"We also make a `deep dish' pizza," Leighty said. "It's a peanut-butter cup that weighs in at three pounds."

Chocolate with An Attitude! is at 17825 N.E. 65th St., suite A170, off East Lake Sammamish Road just east of the entrance to Marymoor Park. If you get lost, roll down the window and follow the scent of dark chocolate. Information: (800) 437-1993.

RESTAURANTOURING

-- After an extensive remake that includes an upscale decor and a new Mediterranean menu, Belltown's Twenty-Two Eighteen has made the switch from lunch spot to dinner spa. Newlywed owners Daniel Stoner and Anne Santee had the help of San Francisco chef Scott Bourland, formerly of Restaurant Lulu and Wolfgang Puck's Postrio, in designing the menu and wine list. Samples: grilled blue marlin with cilantro tapenade served with chilled mint-cucumber orzo; braised lamb with citrus couscous garnished with a pear and fennel cremolada. There's live jazz on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights. The restaurant is at 2218 First Ave.

-- Operating on the theory that Seattle can never have too many coffeehouses, Caffe Appassionato has opened a tasting bar in its company headquarters near Fisherman's Terminal. Customers may watch coffee roaster Dan Donahue work his magic with a restored 1945 German roaster, or browse a pictorial essay on the history of coffee. Six varieties of coffee and a luncheon menu are offered daily. Caffe Appassionato Coffee Roastery & Tasting Bar is at 4001 21st Ave. W.

-- Just opened downtown is Pabla Indian Cuisine, described by owner Harnak Singh Pabla as the only authentic Punjabi restaurant in Seattle. A native of Punjab, Pabla came here from Modesto, Calif., where he ran a similar restaurant. Punjab, a state in Northern India, has a traditional cuisine that's milder and somewhat more Middle Eastern in flavor than southern Indian cooking. The restaurant is at Second Avenue and Pine Street.

ACCOLADES

-- Seattle restaurateur Tom Douglas and Space Needle executive K. Russ Goodman will be honored Friday by the Seattle Central Community College Culinary Arts Program for their work in promoting culinary arts education. Praise is nice, of course, but the best part of the award will be a six-course salmon dinner by chef Monique Barbeau of Fullers.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

-- Bernard Callebaut, the Belgian founder and master chocolate alchemist of Chocolaterie Bernard C., will share his chocolate-making techniques at classes in Larry's Market at Totem Lake, Kirkland, for three days this week. Classes are at noon and 6 p.m. tomorrow and noon Thursday and Friday. Classes are limited to eight participants, and there is a $75 fee - but you get to take home a pound of chocolates. Information: 822-8889.

-- A Fall Festival at Alfalfa's natural food store, 5540 Sand Point Way N.E., will benefit Northwest Harvest. The festival, which will include children's entertainment, cooking demonstrations and a $5 benefit dinner, runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

-- A baker's dozen of the best women chefs in the Northwest will prepare a buffet dinner next week for The Art of Dining, a benefit for the Women's Funding Alliance. Among them are Sue McCown of the Hunt Club, Tamara Murphy of Campagne, Christina Reid-Orchid of Christina's and Marianne Zdobysz of Boca. The event is at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 1 in the Stewart Room of the downtown Bon Marche. Tickets are $50. Reservations: 467-6733.

-- Life bleak without borscht? Pining for pirogi? Check out the food fair at St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Cathedral this weekend. Tour the landmark cathedral at 1714 13th Ave. and take home a supply of pirogi, frozen pelmeni or traditional Russian pastries. Hours are noon to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

-- Apple grower Larry Woodring of Cashmere will demonstrate apple cider production using an antique cider press at 10:45 a.m. Sunday at the University District Farmers Market, corner of University Way Northeast and Northeast 50th Street.