As a little girl growing up in Texas, I was obsessed with one thing: chocolate. It started with chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookies, M&Ms. (And yes, they did melt in my hand in the sweltering Dallas heat.) For the first part of my career, I focused my love into writing about all food, particularly artisan-made specialty food, for publications like Slate, The New York Times, and Zagat. 

Then I found bean-to-bar chocolate, and my obsession truly took over. 

In 2016 I started a blog called Chocolate Noise, which was a finalist for the Saveur Food Blog Awards. That became a book called Bean-to-Bar Chocolate: America’s Craft Chocolate Revolution. It was the first book about this new style of chocolate.

When you surround yourself with that much amazing chocolate, people tend to ask you to share, which is why I began leading chocolate tastings in New York City in 2017. Thanks to popular demand, Chocolate Noise has now become a whole team of chocolate sommeliers who lead team-building corporate events virtually across the world and in person in New York City and San Francisco. 

As a member of the Fine Chocolate Industry Association, I also speak at FCIA events, judge the International Chocolate Awards and the Chocolate Alliance Awards, and teach classes at the Institute of Culinary Education. I also regularly appear on TV and radio programs as a chocolate expert. In other words, I spend pretty much every waking moment thinking about or tasting chocolate! 

For media inquiries, contact me at megan@chocolatenoise.com!

Geneviève Leloup

Chocolate Sommelier, NYC

Geneviève Leloup has loved chocolate since she was first allowed solid foods back in her home country of Belgium. She spent many enjoyable hours learning how to make chocolate desserts from her Swiss mother, and when she later moved to the U.S., she filled her suitcases with chocolate and organized chocolate parties. She's a graduate of Ecole Chocolat's Mastering Chocolate Flavor Program and the Institute of Culinary Education's bean-to-bar chocolate making class. Genevieve also has her Level 2 certification from the International Institute of Chocolate and Cacao Tasting.

Julie Parsons

Chocolate Sommelier, NYC

For most of her life, Julie could imagine no taste more divine than that of warm chocolate chip cookies. Then she landed a job with a Brooklyn chocolatier, and her eyes (and taste buds!) opened. Since then, Julie has explored diverse corners of the industry, from Madagascar-made chocolate for retail to European-made couverture for pastry chefs. While she doubts she’ll ever lose her love of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, Julie looks forward to sharing her appreciation of craft chocolate and its more sophisticated flavor profiles through our guided tastings.

Madeline Chang

Chocolate Sommelier, Bay Area

Madeline has studied the social, economic, and environmental aspects of making chocolate for a decade, most notably as a Fulbright Scholar and in her graduate studies at the University of California Davis. Since 2016, she has consulted for the chocolate industry, spearheading sourcing initiatives, business development, and impact reports. She holds deep values for diversity and inclusivity in ways that joyfully bring people together. Madeline has also served as a chocolate judge at the Good Food Awards. In her spare time, she makes bean-to-bar chocolate to share the gift of flavors with friends and family.

Rebecca Taylor-Roseman

Chocolate Sommelier, Bay Area

Becca is a chocolate researcher, writer, and pastry chef. Her love of chocolate led her to a Grand Diploma in Pastry Arts at the French Culinary Institute, pastry kitchens in NYC and Paris, and a master’s thesis from NYU. She also has a certificate in cocoa sensory analysis from one of the premier cocoa research centers in the world. Becca worked as the quality manager at Dandelion Chocolate for five years, where she tasted chocolate everyday for “quality control” as well as led chocolate tastings. Today, when she’s not judging chocolate for the Good Food Awards, she’s writing a chocolate-focused memoir.

Eileen Level, Emcee, NYC

Eileen is a high-energy events professional who’s been working in the film festival industry for almost a decade for high-touch events like the Film Food Festival in New York City and Tokyo. She has experience as a media events manager and short film programmer. She just graduated from the Media Management graduate program at The New School, where she studied to become a movie theater exhibitor. Her favorite kind of chocolate is anything with melt-in-your-mouth creaminess and fun varieties in flavors.

Becca Frank, Emcee, Virtual

Becca is an ultimate chocolate enthusiast, fan, and avid taster, and she brings joyous energy and a dash of unabashed playfulness to all chocolate events. Before coming to Chocolate Noise, she led interdisciplinary team meetings in person, via phone, and on Zoom for many corporate organizations. As a dancer, actor, circus performer, and voiceover specialist, she uses her multidimensional talents to make every tasting not only delicious but also fun. Her enthusiasm for tasting chocolate is only topped by her excitement to introduce others to delightful flavor experiences.

Caitlin Lacey, Emcee, Bay Area

As the third employee at Dandelion Chocolate, one of the country’s best bean-to-bar makers, Caitlin helped build the company from the ground up, managing chocolate-making operations for more than eight years. She has participated in every part of the chocolate-making process, from visiting cacao farms in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Papua New Guinea, American Samoa, and Fiji to sourcing machinery from Idaho to Italy. Caitlin was named a Zagat 30 under 30 of up-and coming food professionals and has received her cocoa grader certificate from the Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute.