Fall Chocolate Salon - San Francisco - Nov. 15, 2015

Fall Chocolate Salon 2015 - San Francisco, CA
Sun., Nov. 15, 2015

This year's Fall (6th annual San Francisco) Chocolate Salon was held at a new venue—the General's Residence, in Fort Mason, San Francisco, CA.

This historic building provided an attractive, multi-room space for chocolate makers, chocolatiers, craft spirits makers, perfumers, vintners and others to display their offerings. (And the views of Aquatic Park, Alcatraz and San Francisco Bay weren't bad either.)

Amano Artisan Chocolate (Orem, UT) was displaying new packaging (and larger bars). I enjoyed discussing single origin bars and new bars with flavor inclusions with founder Art Pollard's two sons.

There were plenty of great Bay Area chocolatiers there. I picked up some velvety Pumpkin Spice Truffles and very tasty Nib Brittle from Neo Cocoa (San Francisco, CA); truffles from CocoTutti; tiny individually wrapped caramels from Kindred Cooks (Campbell, CA); creamy, flavorful chocolates from Alexander's Patisserie (Mountain View, CA); and artful pieces with layered flavors from flying noir (Oakland, CA).

While in search of some smoky and umami flavors, I picked up a bottle of great, complex Bourbon (made from corn and rye) from Raff Distillerie (Treasure Island, San Francisco). What a great aroma; and I'm looking forward to sampling it with chocolates. I also enjoyed the spirits (a crisp Gin with citrus notes; a well-rounded Rhum Agricole; and an Absinthe with French roots) from Sonoma County Distilling Co. (Rohnert Park, CA).

I enjoyed saying hello to Alter Eco (San Francisco, CA) and The Tea Room Chocolate and Tea Co. (San Leandro, CA).

And, after nine years of eating different chocolates, I still love meeting new creative people who are making chocolates. New chocolate conversations this year were had with Firefly Chocolate (Windsor, CA); Endorfin Foods (Oakland, CA); Starchild Chocolate (Willets, CA); Fera'wyn's Artisan Chocolates; and Cowboy Toffee Co. (Oakdale, CA).  

International Chocolate Salon - San Francisco, 3/15/14

International Chocolate Salon
March 15, 2014
Fort Mason, San Francisco

Fort Mason is home to several organizations; and it is a great site for meetings and conferences. Located on San Francisco Bay, one can watch sailboats during breaks. I felt sorry for the participants in the food addicts recovery group meeting last Saturday at Fort Mason. Not only might they have been tempted by Greens Restaurant, but in the nearby Festival Pavilion a day-long International Chocolate Salon (organized by TasteTV) was underway. And parked in front of the pavilion was the "Melt" food truck, oozing with grilled cheese goodness.

The Chocolate Salon was an amalgam of chocolatiers, chocolate makers, spirits and scent vendors, chocolate talks and demonstrations, under one large roof, that has become an annual Spring event. (The also have a similar Chocolate Salon event in the fall.)

For the price of admission, attendees were able to view chocolate art (chocolate shoes, chocolate skulls, and other items). More to the point, they could taste (and buy) chocolate truffles, bars, toffee, caramels, and much more. Several local Bay Area companies were there, including Socola Chocolatier (the company recently opened a retail space in San Francisco); Jade Chocolates; CocoTutti; and Saratoga Chocolates.

And, there were opportunities to hear more about chocolate-related topics from experts.

The first presenter I listened to was John Scharffenberger, a successful, serial food and beverage entrepreneur, whose first venture was sparkling wine. Later he switched to bean-to-bar chocolate, and co-founded Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker with Robert Steinberg in San Francisco in 1997. I can still remember company's great factory tour in the East Bay. Hershey's (The Hershey Company) eventually bought Scharffen Berger for an estimated $50 million. The bars can still be found online and in specialty stores.

Advice columnist Joey Garcia passed on tips about love, comparing it to chocolate. Garcia was influenced by a wise, Maya grandmother from Belize, a country with a long cacao tradition; and she brought a few copies of her new book, When Your Heart Breaks, It's Opening to Love.

Jessica Ferraro, BarCacaco.com, gave a talk titled "Discovering Craft Chocolate: Beyond the Bon Bon."

Art Pollard, of Amano Artisan Chocolate (Orem, Utah), talked about his recent visits to cacao farmers in South America and the Dominican Republic -- all part of the quest to obtain the best beans for his bars. He also sampled some of his single origin bars. I enjoyed the floral notes in the Amano "Dos Rios" bar made with cacao from the Dominican Republic.

SF Chocolate Salon - Nov. 11, '12

San Francisco Fall Chocolate Salon
Nov. 11, 2012

Yesterday I spent hunting for new chocolates at the Fall Chocolate Salon in San Francisco. This event, one of two annual Chocolate Salons in the city, was held at Fort Mason. We were so focused on tasting, we scarcely gazed up at the sailboats and blue sky outside. Such is the power of chocolate.

I enjoyed attending parts of three talks. The first talk was about decorating chocolates, followed by Art Pollard (Amano Chocolate) speaking about Organic and Fair Trade. Pollard shared some of the challenges associated with certification and pricing.

Third, Elyce Zahn (CocoTutti) demonstrated the significance of ingredients in fresh and flavorful truffles/bonbons by handing out small tasting experience kits with starter components such as small discs of dark and milk chocolate, a fresh raspberry, a dab of sweet raspberry puree (yum); and finished raspberry and coffee flavored truffles.

Speaking of fruit, we marveled at some giant caramel and chocolate covered apples from Rachel Dunn Chocolates (Concord, CA), and some beautifully decorated, sizable dessert bowls made entirely of chocolate.

Newcomers to this Fall Show included Smitten Truffles (Portland, OR) and Marti Chocolatt (Los Angeles, CA).

Otho at Smitten handed us samples from 4 tiny vats of ganache used to fill 4 different truffles: Dark Chocolate and Vanilla Bean; Water Avenue Brazilian Coffee; Kalamansi (Lime) and Creme Honey; and Vanilla Caramel and Tahitian Vanilla Sea Salt.

Marti Chocolatt Chocolatier, Tonet Tibay, presided over a variety of exotic and well-executed flavored truffles -- that included Durian, Ube, Pandan, Pina, and Calamansi lime.

Socola delivered a few wonderful new flavors, as always. Their mint truffles were the epitome of fresh and natural tasting mint leaves harvested from the garden.


Snake and Butterfly (a Bay Area bean-to-bar maker) and Tea Room Chocolates (organic, tea infused bars, based in Novato, CA) had tables full of good chocolate choices, as did Amano Chocolate (single origin bars and drinking chocolate).

Saratoga Chocolates (Saratoga, CA) had a good line-up, including their Blueberry-tini chocolates (blueberries infused with blueberry vodka and coated with dark chocolate), and assorted truffles, dipped apricots and toffee squares.

Sixth Course's Wine and Spirits collection (sold out) was wonderful, as were their caramels, with skillful incorporation of local ingredients (St. George Single Malt whiskey), herbs (rosemary, and sage and brown butter caramels). A new line of candy bars will incorporate favorite flavors.

The selections at the Feve Chocolatier (San Francisco) table looked great, but at least 3 of their truffles contained wheat (a lovely thin wafer) -- that I can't have; so I had to pass on these.

Attractive bags of fresh toffee were available from several vendors -- such as Toffeeology and Toffee Talk, most with nuts, some with nibs.

Thank you to organizers and vendors and local chocolate Meetup group. Those chocolatiers mentioned above were a small sampling of the total; apologies to those I've not mentioned by name. Thank you to Elise for tasting company and good conversation throughout the day.

CocoTutti - Pumpkins, Leaves - November 11, 2012

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

CocoTutti
1.) Pumpkins with raspberry ganache - Good + - Very Good
2.) Dark chocolate autumn leaves - painted different colors - Good +
Weight: 2 oz. (57 g.) (estimate) for 3 truffles and 6 leaves /(total box contained approximately 12 pieces)
Calories: 300 calories for approx. 3 truffles and 6 leaves
Cost: $19.00 (+ tax, shipping) for Autumn Leaves Chocolate Collection box of 12 pieces
Purchased from: sneakpeeq.com

Today was Day #11 of Chocolate and All Things Orange.

It's not every day that one gets to eat specific chocolates and then stroll into The Fall Chocolate Salon in San Francisco, to visit the maker and thank her for these same chocolates.

Earlier in the morning I'd enjoyed a few Pumpkins with raspberry ganache and some realistic looking dark chocolate leaves, painted in beautiful fall colors, from CocoTutti's Autumn Leaves Chocolate Collection, that also included the company's Chocolate Orange Caramels (very nice, and previously featured on this site). Wonderful, natural orange flavors in these caramels -- and the Orange Confit chocolates.

So, I had a chance to thank Elyce Z. at CocoTutti in the afternoon, and re-sample some of CocoTutti's other very tasty house made caramels. (More about the Fall Chocolate Salon in San Francisco in the next post.)

ChocolateBet: May 17, 2012

Chocolate of the Day:

CocoTutti
Hot Chipotle Chocolate
Good + - Very Good
Weight: 1.56 oz. (44 g.) (estimate) for 4 pieces
Calories: 239 calories (estimate) for 4 pieces
Cost: $10.00 for 8-piece box
Purchased from: Rockwall Wine Company, in Alameda, CA

Last week I brought home some new boxes of CocoTutti (cocotutti.com) chocolates.

And then, my apologies to CocoTutti, I made a terrible, rookie mistake a few days later -- after trying some of the company's wonderful pieces with liquid caramel centers, and lavender and lemon piece.

I left these on my dining room table under a skylight. And, just a few minutes later, the result was a partial meltdown (see image at right).

The solution: I melted three pieces of "Hot Chipotle Chocolate" (and one piece of "Raspberry - with housemade jam") chocolates in a small cup, and the result was a fantastic, rich drinking chocolate with just the right spicy chipotle kick. While I recommend enjoying these in unmelted form, it's good to know that good chocolates can be enjoyed in beverage or fondue form in an emergency.

Today was Day #1 of Chocolate Beverage Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: May 15, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

CocoTutti
Vanilla Bean Caramel
Very Good
Weight: .78 oz. (22 g.) (estimate) for 2 pieces
Calories: 120 calories for 2 pieces (estimate)
Cost: $10 for an 8-piece box
Purchased from: Rock Wall Wine Company, in Alameda, CA

Today I picked two fresh vanilla bean caramels from my backyard garden and... Wouldn't that be great if I could do that? While that's not possible today, I did the next best thing, I enjoyed two Vanilla Bean Caramels from CocoTutti (cocotutti.com) based here locally in the San Francisco Bay Area, and powered by Elyce Zahn.

Normally I don't care for very sweet caramels, but I'm happy to make an exception to that rule if the chocolate involves wonderful, liquid caramel like this.

ChocolateBet: May 11, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

CocoTutti
Ginger caramel, peanuts with Thai chili - Very Good +
Weight: .39 oz. (11 g.) (estimate)
Calories: 58 calories (estimate) for 1 piece
Cost: $10.00 for one 8-piece box
Purchased from: Rock Wall Wine Company, in Alameda, CA

I've tried to grow ginger before, as an indoor house plant. If I could grow chocolate and ginger in my backyard, the photo shown (at right) would be what the fruits of this tree might look like.

Today's chocolate from CocoTutti (cocotutti.com) was the lower of the pair shown -- a ginger caramel enveloped in chocolate with chopped peanuts and Thai chili. The caramel was perfect, as was the combination of these flavors. (The top chocolate was CocoTutti's "Ginger" chocolate which I will feature later.

Both these pieces were part of a larger assortment box.

ChocolateBet: May 10, 2012

Chocolate of the Day: 

CocoTutti
Lavender Lemon
Very Good
Weight: .39 oz. (11 g.) (estimate) / came in box of 8 pieces
Calories: 59 calories (estimate)
Cost: $10.00 for an 8 pc. box
Purchased from: Rock Wall Wine Company, Alameda, CA

Today's chocolate, from CocoTutti (cocotutti.com), packaged up two of my favorite flavors to mix with dark chocolate: lavender and lemon. These two flavors suffused a very creamy and not overly sweet (thank you) ganache. The lemon and lavender, both strong flavors on their own, jockeyed slightly for position for a few seconds, but harmonized quickly.

Unfortunately, some of the other chocolates in this assortment box were hit by a beam of direct sunlight coming from my skylight yesterday afternoon. So, I'll have to go back and get a replacement box to try all the other flavors I missed this time. Not a hardship.

ChocolateBet: May 7, 2012

Chocolate of the Day:

cocotutti
1.) Chocolate-orange confit caramel - Very Good +
2.) Florentine - citrus liquid caramel & roasted almonds - Very Good
Weight: .7 oz. (19.8 g.) (estimate for 2 pieces)
Calories: 105 calories (estimate for 2 pieces)
Cost: $6.00 for a 4-piece box
Purchased from: Rock Wall Wine Company, in Alameda, CA

Today was a bit of heaven -- if heaven is flavored with orange confit, perfect renditions of caramel, and covered in dark chocolate. Today was Day #5 of Chocolate and Orange/Citrus Theme Week, and I tasted two orange-themed chocolates from cocotutti.com.

The first, a chocolate-orange confit caramel, was so rich, I almost felt like I was eating a smooth, dark chocolate orange caramel brownie -- all packed in a truffle-sized square with a bright orange, yellow and red pattern screened on top.

The second, a version of a Florentine, contained a wonderful liquid caramel (apparently carefully hand-stirred for up to 1.5 hours), and was topped with chopped almonds.

ChocolateBet: April 25, 2011

Chocolate of the Day:
10 miniature truffles
CocoTutti
Orange Easter Egg
(dark chocolate egg shell filled with a bakers dozen of small, orange confit truffles)
Very Good
Weight: 1.2 oz. (33 g.) (estimate) / 3 oz. (84.9 g.) (estimate) for total egg
Calories: 175 calories for 10 (estimate)
Cost: $10.00
Purchased from: coco tutti booth at the San Francisco Chocolate Salon, San Francisco, CA

Welcome to Day #27 of Chocolate Egg Appreciation Theme Month. Today's chocolate egg was brightly colored and flavored with orange. Local (SF Bay Area) chief chocolatier, Elyce, at CocoTutti produced a festively decorated orange, dark chocolate Easter egg this spring, filled with a tidy jumble of tiny orange confit truffles. But, don't let their small size fool you. These little orange chocolates were rich and full of flavor, and not too sweet. (The authentic orange flavor came from "housemade orange marmalade from Seville and Valencia oranges.")