Here’s the thing about the 14th Annual Ghirardelli Square Chocolate Festival that just finished up - there’s chocolate everywhere. And what’s nice about it is that there’s no fences or checkpoints or anything. What your $20 gets you is not admission but a cafeteria ticket with 15 checkboxes. So go around and sample what you want. You can get your fill, and if you wanted to, you could go full Augustus Gloop.
It is truly the Land of Chocolate – don’t miss the 15th Annual in 2010 next September.
Famous Chef-testant Casey Thompson lectured on the subject of chocolate waffles or something like that. Look what she has – dark chocolate, the hard stuff:
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Here’s how it works – find something that looks appealing and then line up to get a sample. They’ll check your card off and then you can move on. People could spend hours just milling around and noshing and watching the demonstrations, etc…
The whole thing looked exactly like this, from SF Weekly’s Hanna Quevedo.
Best in Show would have to be these colorful Truffle Bars from Sterling Confections. I didn’t actually taste the things, but they look to be packaged well and that’s half the battle when your shopping for a gift, right girlfriend? Sterling can pick up the slack after the recent Joseph Schmidt Confections (“The Soul is For Hire, and They’ve Sold the Heart”) sell out.
Things got a little frenetic when they started throwing gelato containers off the back of the refrigerator truck. It was Brother Against Brother:
See you next year!
(And let’s hope all the official vendors come back in 2010.)
• Chef Demonstrations in the West Plaza
SATURDAY
1pm: Mitchell Hughes, Spun Sugar
2pm: Casey Thompson, Top Chef Finalist
3pm: Kara Lind, Kara’s Cupcakes
4pm: Ghirardelli Chocolate School by Steve Genzoli
SUNDAY
1pm: Jason Etzkin, Fairmont San Francisco
2pm: Casey Thompson, Top Chef Finalist
3pm: Rebecca Lugtu, Sweet Dreams Bakery
4pm: Ghirardelli Chocolate School by Steve Genzoli
• Wine & Chocolate Pairing Seminars at Cellar360 at 12:30, 2:30 and 4:30
Space is limited; 1st come, 1st served
$5 per person (refunded with bottle purchase)
• Chocolate Tea Party
Saturday at 3pm and 5pm & Sunday at 3pm Crown & Crumpet will host a tea & chocolate pairing on their patio.
Enjoy 3 types of chocolate tea paired with food items such as chocolate chip scones, tea-infused truffles and chocolate-hazelnut tea sandwiches for just $12.
Space is very limited, advanced reservations recommended. Call 415-771-4252 for reservations.
• Ice Cream Sundae Eating Contest on the Main Stage at 2pm daily! Earthquake (adults) on Saturday only. Children’s contest both days.
• Amella Caramels
• Ana Mandara
• Arlene’s Gourmet Toffee
• Bella’s Gourmet Fudge
• Boomerang Vodka Chocolate Martinis
• Bo’s Best Pancakes
• Cafe Razzi
• Ciao Bella Gelato
• CJ’s Stix & CJ’s Bitz
• Cookie Tree
• Cost Plus World Market
• Crown & Crumpet Tea Salon
• D’ Sweets
• Desserts On Us
• Embrace Sweets
• Gelateria Naia
• Ghirardelli Chocolate
• GUDFUD
• Island Breeze Macaroon
• Kara’s Cupcakes
• Kika’s Treats
• Lori’s Diner
• Mary Louise Butters Brownies
• McCormick & Kuleto’s
• Mighty Leaf Tea
• Mrs. Munchies!
• Napa Valley Fudge Company
• Organic Pastures Dairy
• Project Open Hand
• Pacific Puffs
• Pete’s Gourmet Confections
• Rock-n-Roll Gourmet
• Rustic Bakery
• Spun Sugar
• Sterling Confections
• Sugar Bowl Bakery
• Sweetface Bakery
• The Tea Room
• The Toffee Company
