By Charly SHELTON

When you think of a candy store, maybe you think of old soda fountain stores like in the opening of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Maybe you think of the candy tubs priced per ¼ lb. in the mall between the cookie place and the lotion store. No matter what version of the candy store comes to mind, it’s probably not clean white surfaces, neon lights, small plastic cubes of gummies and chocolates arranged perfectly on shelves, and a handcrafted soda bar. This is Sugarfina.

The high-end candy store from Beverly Hills had a pop-up shop at the same location within the Americana at Brand in 2014 and it was so well received that owners Rosie O’Neill and Josh Resnick decided to reopen it as a permanent location. The new shop is set up basically the same way as it was back in 2014, with a few marked improvements in design.

The candy is, as always, spectacular. Imported from around the world and using only the best ingredients, all of the candy is good but the real standouts are the gummies. Sure, the Maple Bourbon Caramels are great, and the Single Malt Scotch Cordials (with real Scotch floating inside) are one-of-a-kind. But the Champagne Bears, the Rosé Roses and the Peach Bellini Hearts, all made with real wines, are unlike anything you can have anywhere else. Other candy makers can make champagne flavored gummy bears, but Sugarfina has perfected them. As I sit at my computer writing this article, I have a small bag of the Rosé Roses and, just to make sure my pleasant memories are correct, I ate the whole bag. For science. And I can indeed say that they are as good as I remembered, maybe better.

The price tag is high – about $9 for a little 4 oz. box of any of its candies on average – but boy! are they worth it. So whether it’s the Roses, the Champagne Bears, the Cowboy Cactus gummies, the Jamaican Rum Snowballs or just plain chocolate, you can’t go wrong at Sugarfina, now open at The Americana at Brand.

  Charly Shelton