Willy Wonka once imagined a factory that could teleport chocolate into your living rooms through "Wonkavision." While this idea was ahead of its time, San Francisco's contemporary TCHO factory is right on the cutting edge of high-tech chocolate making. Helmed by the founders of Wired magazine, TCHO's modern warehouse on the Embarcadero is aesthetically distinct, with steel tables, massive churning equipment, and floor-to-ceiling white drapery. It's here that four dark and two milk chocolates are brought to life. Sourcing from "the chocolate belt" of Ghana, Madagascar, Peru, and Ecuador, TCHO's fair-trade techniques focus on flavors found inherently in cocoa beans. Get up close to the magic on a free, 60-minute tour (San Francisco's only touring chocolate factory). You'll need to don the appropriate uniform. Tuck on a hair net and leave open-toed shoes and jewelry at home. Then it's on to a crash course in the origins of chocolate. Learn about the cocoa bean's evolution from a form of currency to an everyday delicacy. A guide then takes visitors back to the churning cauldrons and assembly lines where workers expertly scrutinize the cubed chocolates passing on a conveyor belt. Finally, it's time to taste! Enter one of the curtained, pristinely-kept spaces and sample the Chocolaty, Nutty, Citrus and Fruity dark chocolates (plus TCHO's latest milk chocolate creations). Break a chocolate in half, and listen for its trademark snap. Inhale the bittersweet aroma. Place the treat on your tongue. TCHOvision!

TCHO is at Pier 17 in San Francisco at the intersection of Embarcadero and Green St. Tours run daily at 10:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. and spots are limited. Reserve a place early. Paid garage and street parking is available throughout the area. No dogs.