Photo by Jody Horton
This past weekend was an incredible blur of fun events, delicious chocolate, and chatting with people about the craft movement. But before we get to that, I want to tell you about two upcoming events that I'm SUPER STOKED about!
On Saturday, October 21, I'll be celebrating Fruition's 6th annual open house and tasting at their shop and factory in Shokan, NY. I'll be signing books and feasting on chocolate as well as refreshments from Tuthilltown Spirits, Westkill Brewing, Irving Farm Coffee Roasters, Bread Alone, Cheese Louise, The Hudson Standard, and ImmuneSchein Ginger Elixers. Join us from 5 to 9 PM! RSVP here.
On Monday, October 23, I'll be teaming up with James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Laiskonis for a guided chocolate tasting and talk at the 92Y in NYC. We'll be tasting three bean-to-bar chocolate bars that Michael makes at his chocolate lab at the Institute of Culinary Education. Plus, we'll be sampling recipes from the book! Pastry chef Miro Uskokovic of Gramercy Tavern is making two types of chocolate-chip cookies, including his triple chocolate-chip cookie recipe from the book (pictured above), and pastry chef and chocolatier Kristofer Kalas is making his white chocolate mousse in pineapple cups from the book. Kitchen Arts and Letters will be selling books.
Now here are some photos from the weekend's reveries. On Friday I spoke on the author panel at the Big Chocolate Show and hung out with Johnny Iuzzini, who is premiering his new bean-to-bar chocolate brand. Then on Saturday I was off to the New Atlantic Booksellers Association meeting, where I had a table and chocolate from Dandelion, Bar Au Chocolat, and Taza. People were so excited about bean to bar, and about the book! It was cool to get that information in people's hands.
And on Monday, I teamed up with Raaka and Threes Brewing for a chocolate-and-beer pairing. About 70 people came to enjoy the refreshments and the guided tastings. It was a blast!
The book has also been getting some great press! Here's the latest:
"Your Raw Cacao Isn't as Healthy as You Think: Debunking the Myths of the Chocolate Industry" (featured on MindBodyGreen, October 2017)
"Chocolate Snobs Don't Eat Milk Chocolate (And Other Myths Debunked)" (featured on the Refresh, October 2017)
"Fuhmentaboutit! Podcast: Episode 216" (featured on Fuhmentaboutit, October 2017)
"Chopped: Episode 145: Expand Your Audience by Going Niche" (featured on Chopped Academy, October 2017)