Run, Forrest, Run!

Sorry for the hiatus! I've been insanely busy with speaking engagements, which in this economy is a mighty fine thing!

Valentine's Day candy is out already. I'm still trying to finish all my Christmas candy! I may have to miss a season. (Yeah, right!)

I'm going back to the Chocolate Show in this post. Please come with.

These gorgeous chocolates are from Oliver Kita: http://www.oliverkita.com/index.html



Aren't they gorgeous? They should be. You're looking at a $40 box of chocolates. But before we talk about the chocolates, I feel compelled to mention the pretentious stuff that comes with these gorgeous babies. There's the corporate tag line: Mind. Body. Chocolate Every Day TM Yes, this is trademarked. Puleeze.

The chocolate is described as joyful, powerful and conscious. Under powerful the little brochure that came in the box says, "Buying this chocolate supports human rights. The power of your giving or receiving it is aligned with universal values of the global community." Huh? Considering the current state of the world, violence seems to be one of the few universal values of the global community. What do you think $40 worth of chocolate will do on the Gaza Strip? You make chocolate, Mr Kita, you are not the Dalai Lama. Stay inside the box.

Sorry - you know how I am. I have to call BS when these fancy high-end chocolatiers start saying that buying their chocolate is going to help fulfill mysterious global values. (Maybe the writers of the redundant Chex Mix copy weren't so bad after all.) Just make amazing chocolate. You don't also have to save the world.

More important to me as a consumer is what I'm eating. I do not subscribe to the Forrest Gump "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get" theory. I want the Whitman's Sampler road map. I want to know where the orange cream is so I can avoid that thing like the plague.

Oliver Kita did have some pictures and descriptions, but they were not all inclusive. Some of the chocolates in the box were not listed. Some chocolates not in the box were. It was partially helpful. For example:

Green stripe is Pistache - pistachio almond marzipan - VERY good!

The red one below it is Scarlet Caramel which is strawberry and caramel and blew me away!! It tasted like fresh strawberries and caramel, not that yucky strawberry cream stuff. This was simply amazing.

The purple/yellow one is Lavendar Citronade and was too lemony for me.

The other one looks kind of like the picture for Coconut Voile, but I couldn't taste any coconut, so I'm not sure.

Several of the other ones I have no idea about. They were good, but I was clueless as to exactly what they were. I would rather have a better guide to the CHOCOLATE than a cheesy we-are- the-world story.

A couple of these were fantastic - Galaxy Way - the one covered with nuts - smooth, chewy, gooey caramel with a twist is how Kita describes it. Delish! There's also a salted caramel - this one with Pink Hawaiian sea salt. Whoa! This is a mind blower. Extraordinary.

Also noteworthy is the Espresso Double Shot which has crushed cacao nibs, giving it a great texture. And I didn't think it was too bitter - it was excellent.

Questionable was White Peaches & Cream. Personally I want no peach and chocolate combo.

Only two were outright awful - Shiki Matcha Crunch - a green tea infused ganache with croquant crunch (in normal words - a weird green tea thing covered with weird white balls - yucko). You can see it in the lower right hand corner. Looks like an alien pod. Tastes like one too.

And Palet d'Opium - described as seductive blood orange, lapsang, hypnotic spice - immediately reminded me of the bacon bar - eew! Turns out lapsang is a black tea with a smokey flavor. I want no smokey tea in my chocolate. And I don't know what hypnotic spice is. Maybe it's a human rights thing.

I would like to see more information about the chocolate and the different ingredients and less on the alignment of universal values. If I'm going to be eating Pink Hawaiian Sea Salt, I want to know about it!

Overall I found the Oliver Kita Chocolate to be pretty amazing. Ingenious flavor combinations, most of which tasted fantastic. Some simple, yet unique (Scarlet Caramel) and SO well done. And a tip to all these chocolatiers - educate us and you'll build and expand your market. Treat us like Forrest Gump, and well, we'll run.

Chocolate Fashion & Philosophy

Yes, after yet another digression(s), I am returning to the Chocolate Show. There was a chocolate fashion show the night before I got there - how I would have loved to see that! But several of the costumes were on display at the show. The theme was a superhero one, perhaps inspired by the superhero costume exhibit at the Met. I also saw that - very cool. I think Wonder Woman and Cat Woman ROCK and it was pretty sweet to see their costumes at the Met. (Ah - I really do have a pretty cool life.)



Don't know the details on this one, but it's pretty hot:





Here's a warrior princess by Valrhona:

And finally, check out this one by Dina Sadik and Vanessa Greeley:

Yes, that is the Chrysler Building on the headdress (and a Angelia Jolie look-alike in the background). Dina was actually there and I got to talk with her. She was VERY sweet and so excited about the project. Definitely a non-snob. And if you visit her website: http://www.essentiallychocolate.com/ you'll see she has as much reason to be snobby as anyone! Her work is gorgeous - I wish her online shopping cart was set up - I would totally order from her.

Let me give you a couple of facts about the costume she and her friend Vanessa Greeley designed from an article at: http://www.northjersey.com/betterliving/fashion/Chocolate_makes_a_fashion_statement.html:

The outfit includes a satin cape studded with more than 100 chocolate rings, a three-layer chocolate corset modeled after the chocolate bra, and a chocolate belt with flashing electronics interwoven that sits above gray spandex pants and a pair of calf-high chocolate boots.

The headpiece made of Callebaut Belgian chocolate and Valrhona French chocolate weighs close to 10 pounds. It's the outfit's pièce de résistance, crowned with chocolate spires, spikes and spears and weighted on either side by Manhattan-themed regalia like taxicabs and a pretty sweet replica of the Chrysler Building.

When I took the picture of the outfit, Dina came up and asked if I liked it. She was so nice and so approachable (unlike many of the other chocolatiers), that I was thrilled to talk with her. She told me she and her friend had made the piece and gave me her card.

What made me think of this brief interaction was how different it is when you actually meet the person behind a product or idea - how interacting with them gives you a new appreciation for their efforts - or not (if they are rude and snobby, I feel worse about their products). The Internet makes it easy to be mean, as we saw in the NYT review. The critic probably didn't know any of the people involved in making those chocolates. If she did, maybe she would have chosen her words more carefully. I'm not saying she should say she likes things she doesn't, but there's a difference between saying you didn't care for something and that it should be fed to dogs.

I think of that horrible woman who drove one of her daughter's teenage classmates to suicide by pretending to be another teen and being cruel to her. I read another article where a grown man killed himself because of all the horrible postings criticizing his recent disastrous ad campaign. The people who posted were all anonymous. It is even easier to be cruel and torment others when you can remain hidden - not connected to your vile words. And even more recently all those people watched a young man commit suicide over his web cam, some even egging him on.

If we all had to look into the other person's eyes when we typed our words, I'd like to think we would never be so cruel. What we would see there would be the same things we see in our own eyes - the fear of rejection, the hope for acceptance, the desire to be liked. Almost all of us now have access to the Internet, all of us hold the pen that is mightier than the sword. How will we use it? We are all so fragile - sticks and stones do break our bones, but words can break our hearts.

Everyone is Entitled to My Opinion

The Internet really does change everything. Now when I make a purchase, I check out the reviews. Not just by the pros, but also by the common folk. And much of the time, they are spot on! Sure, you have one or two reviews that are way off base, but the majority can give you good insight into a product (or a company, a service, etc.).

So, when it comes to chocolate, I'll be the first to admit, I'm an amateur. I'm working on developing my palate, learning more about it all, but I'm not a professional food critic. BUT just how many shoppers ARE professional food critics? Mr. Eau-la-la may think bacon flavored chocolate is so cutting edge, such a brilliant contrast of flavors. But after trying it, I just think it's just gross. Am I wrong? I don't think so. In fact, I bet if you read one food critic saying it was the greatest and 10 average Jane's saying it was God-awful, you'd go with us average Jane's and save your money.

Now I'm certainly not saying the food critic is wrong - hey, he's an expert. I'm just saying that the Internet lets us see the opinions of a lot more people and then decide for ourselves. So all I can do is tell you what works and doesn't work for me. And I am totally not a food snob. I like the cheesy garlic biscuits at Red Lobster as much as some of the fancy breads in upscale restaurants.

At the Chocolate Show there were lots of upscale chocolatiers. As I mentioned earlier, some were really nice and approachable and some apparently consider themselves above dealing with the unwashed masses. (Why you would man a booth at a Chocolate Show if you felt this way is beyond me. If you are so fabulous, send a peon. Heck, maybe some of these people were the peons! In that case, those chocolatiers need new peons.)

One booth I went to was the Christopher Norman Chocolates booth. Three people were in the booth, one man standing, two younger "kids" lounging in chairs. The older man seemed kind of pissed off that so many people were swarming and none were buying. I don't think they were giving samples, but I'm not completely certain. I was trying to buy, to give them my money. I asked the man what he would recommend, but he blew me off. When I pulled out cash to make a purchase, suddenly everyone was nice. I would have bought more if they had been helpful.

The chocolate caramels I bought were lovely, very colorful (art is their thing - they are artists who use chocolate as a medium).

If you visit their website, you can see fancier things:
http://www.christophernormanchocolates.com/

Did they rock my world? Nope. Were they expensive? Yep. Overall do I have a good impression of the company? Nope. And if I'm honest, it has a lot to to with the people. If they had bothered to take some time with me and find out what I might have liked, maybe they could have sent me home with something that would have been great. Remember those of you in business - "you can arouse and stimulate my palate" (as Christopher Norman Chocolates promises to do) but if you treat me poorly, I'll go somewhere else - like over to Chocolate Moderne whose caramels blew these away!!

Another company there was Eclat Chocolate http://www.eclatchocolate.com/. I got to speak with Christopher Curtin, Master Chocolatier, for quite a while. He was really nice and would tell me about a chocolate and then grab one so I could try it! He was terrific. He gave me one of his Moroccan Mints - whoa! It tasted like mint straight from the garden. It surprised me. (We're not talking that usual York Peppermint Patty stuff - this is real mint.) But I have to say, it was a a little strong for me. I'm not a mint lover. If you love mint - this is for you.

Chris helped me put together a box that I would like - no ginger, no lavender - hey, what can I say? I've tried it, I'm just not wild about those flavors in my chocolate. So Chris hooked me up with what I like - caramels:



The ones that I got and pictured here are:

Calavados Caramel
A sister to Éclat’s award-winning caramels, the Calvados features a soft and creamy apple-favored caramel surrounded by dark couverture.

Dark Caramel
Light and smooth caramel with hints of Tahitian vanilla, covered in a dark couverture chocolate and accented with Fluer de Sel sea salt.

Milk Caramel
One of the stars recognized in Vogue’s “World’s Best Caramels”, this light and creamy caramel is enhanced with Tahitian Vanilla bean, accented with Fleur de Sel sea salt, and enrobed in a milk chocolate coating.

Pear Caramel
Another of our award-winning caramels, Pear Caramels feature pear caramel covered in nicely balanced milk chocolate.


Now Chris knows what he's doing - he was the first American to be awarded the honor of German Master Pastry Chef and Chocolatier in Cologne, Germany. He also took the time to talk with me at the show AND to respond to my e-mail asking him exactly what chocolates were in my assortment.

A quote on their site says - "World's greatest caramels... these are the candies to order."
Jeffrey Steingarten Dark Victory, Vogue, February 2007

Who am I to even try to review these? After all, Steingarten writes for Vogue! I like Chris, I like the chocolate. But I like my caramel, well, more caramelly. I like rich and gooey caramel and this was very light, liquidy. For a light, delicate, refined taste - Eclat Chocolate is the one. If you're like me and you like gooey, sticky, a little chewy caramel - we have to take our ghetto selves somewhere else.

Back to the Chocolate Show!!!

I swear I have ADD. I'm in New York, then I spaz out and go to Kentucky, then I find a random motivational clip - I hope you guys can hang with my insanity.

I want to focus this entry on one of the chocolate companies at the Chocolate Show that truly impressed me - Chocolat Moderne. Not only did they have a serious sales person in their booth - she was great - she was moving their bars like there was no tomorrow. No haughtiness, just enthusiasm for a great product. She was approachable, made high-end chocolate accessible, and I'm betting moved a lot of product. But I wanted to buy more than the bars, so I spoke with Michael Schwarz.

He hooked me up with two fabulous items:

I want you to see their distinctive packaging first - it's coral and brown - very nice. One item was sea salt caramels (HOLY COW - these are amazingly delicious!):

Here's the description from their website:

In Salt Talks, the salted caramel meets three of America's favorite flavors: coffee, smoke and pecans! The ‘coffee’ flavor is our classic Madame ‘X’tasy caramel containing sea salt, Illy espresso and dark chocolate. The milk shell holds a salted caramel with an additional sprinkling inside the shell of coarse sea salt and chopped pecans. Finally, the white shell holds a salted caramel seasoned with sea salt smoked over Welsh Oak.

These will make your eyeballs roll back into your head. I'm not kidding! Men, you should buy these for the woman in your life! My least favorite was the coffee - but only because I don't like coffee. If you're a coffee drinker, you'll probably adore it. I have found that I really like caramels with a salty touch. If you've never tried the combo, these are a delicious, decadent place to start. Wow!!!

Michael also recommended an assortment. Look how gorgeous these guys are:

They look like they have a touch of gold dust on them. They are almost too beautiful to eat. Almost. These are going to be a little more challenging than the caramels. There are flavors like:

Madeleine Marron ~ silky truffle ~ chestnuts and dark Haitian rum in a sophisticated, smooth dark and milk ganache

Hazelnut Hystérie ~ crunchy praliné ~ pure, deeply roasted hazelnut paste with milk chocolate and caramelized sugar

La Dolce Grapefruit ~ soft caramel ~ our award-winning signature flavor, a perfect match of the tartness of fresh grapefruit and the sweet creaminess of caramel

Raspberry Rendez-vous ~ silky truffle ~ intense flavor with jazzy raspberry jam layered on dark ganache with raspberries

Mon Petit Kumquat ~ silky truffle ~ aromatic kumquat and earthy 66% Caribbean ganache

Caramel Caresse ~ soft caramel ~ luscious caramel with Poire Williams Pear and Eau de Vie

Snake Charmer ~ silky truffle ~ 72% Venezuelan ganache with exotic, sweet spices

Parlez Pistache ~ crunchy praliné ~ we've concentrated the essence of pure pistachio in a paste with white chocolate and crunchy rice crisps

Havana Heat ~ silky truffle ~ naturally fruity 64% Madagascan ganache with habanero pepper, our award-winning 'hot' chocolate

The Player ~ silky truffle ~ 72% Venezuelan ganache with smokey, peaty Single Malt Scotch

Rhapsody in Green ~ soft caramel ~ juicy green apples and Calvados, bracing flavors from the Normandy coast

Pumpkin Pique-Nique ~ crunchy praliné ~ toasted pumpkin seed praliné with pumpkin pie spices, milk chocolate, and caramelized sugar

I won't lie - some of these scare me (grapfruit? peaty Scotch?). But I am really intrigued and want to try them.

But here's the real story of Choclat Moderne. I stopped by their booth late in the game. I already had two bags of stuff. I had tried lots of samples. It was crazy crowded. I was close to being over it.

But these folks were nice and had enthusiasm. And gorgeous chocolates! I bought my assortments (which are not cheap - they are worth the price, but I spent a nice little chunk of change.) Michael was great - we talked about the blog and he was really nice. They were one of the few booths that could take credit cards (a smart move in my book). They gave outstanding customer service is a wildly chaotic environment.

I wandered around the show a bit more, watched some food demos and walked the couple of miles back to my hotel (hey, I just ate about 20 samples of chocolate - I needed to walk!). But now I was carrying all this stuff. And it was dark and rainy. I know - I'm stubborn that way. Taxis are for the weak.

I get back to my hotel and I am looking with great pride (and lust) at all my loot. And I notice I don't have my stuff from Chocolat Moderne! It's nowhere! It was almost $50 worth of chocolate! I started thinking - did I drop it at the show? Did I leave it in the demo theater? I was so mad at myself! I thought if I went back to the booth Michael might think I was a crazy person. But there were a lot of people around and we had a challenge getting the credit card machine to work. Surely I left it there! CRAP! (Remember, I was up at the crack of dawn to fly in, I had already walked to the show and back, it was dark and rainy, ARGH!)

What to do....get a cab and spend more money for what could be a wild goose chase? I mean maybe I did drop the chocolate somewhere or someone else picked it up. I would be so mad if I not only lost the chocolate, but threw more money away on cab fare. So, yes, the stubborn one walks all the way back to the show. (Now you might see how I can eat all this chocolate and not get fat - I am clearly insane. My mania burns a lot of calories.)

I go back in and head for the Chocolat Moderne booth. I see Michael and ask hopefully, "Do you remember me?" Michael says "Yes - I left you a message! You forgot your chocolates!"

Michael tried to find me at the show (which was impossible - the place was a mad house) and when he couldn't, he took the business card I had given him, called me and sent me an e-mail! How amazing and cool is that? I love Chocolat Moderne!!

If you saw how pompous some of these chocolatiers were, you would appreciate Michael even more.

And they gave me a discount code for you, dear readers!! If you want to order some of this amazing chocolate, input this promotional code on the order page: FRIENDF426. You'll get 15% off your order of $30 or more. Thank you, Michael!!!

Chocolate Show NYC 2008 - Here We Go!

I got up on the morning of November 8th (the second day of the Chocolate Show) well before dawn. I had a speaking engagement on Friday, so this was as soon as I could get to NY. I got in to Laguardia at 9:00 a.m., took a cab to my hotel, dumped my bag and hit the pavement - walking less than a mile down to Pier 94. Woohoo - I was excited and couldn't get there fast enough.

I don't know why I was surprised to see a REALLY long line snaking around the building - the OUTSIDE of the building. Note - if you decide to go, don't be cheap like me. I didn't want to pay a $6.95 service charge on a $28 ticket. If you had approached me in that line and told me you could get me to the front, I would have given you a $20. Buy your ticket in advance, pay Ticketmaster's service charge.



But, hey, who can be grumpy when waiting in line for a chocolate show? We were all bonding and speculating about what might be inside. Some people from the Chocolat Mathez booth came out and had mercy on us (this was brilliant marketing). They came out with a giant tray of delicious french Truffles and a postcard for their booth and their website. Now the website http://www.ncamarketing.com/ only offers a CASE of these truffles for $99, so they are obviously not targeting you and me! But they were damn good truffles and we were all pretty fired up about getting some chocolate as we waited.


The line moved slowly and the only other thing that happened of excitement was a monkey appeared. Not a real monkey, the mascot for Peanut Butter & Co. (I LOVE their stuff, by the way.) I also like monkeys.


I finally got inside, paid my $28 dollars (cash or check only! Take lots of cash if you go - a lot of the vendors aren't set up to take credit cards.) and hit the floor! Now I was planning to spend two days at the show. But you don't really need two days - one is plenty. But get there early. I LOVED the first part of the day - you could actually talk to people. As it got more crowded, it was just mobs of people trying to get everything they could for free. Ugh.


There were 56 booths, a chocolate fashion exhibit (some of the costumes from the fashion show held the night before), and some kid area (whatever - I have no kids and people who bring strollers to events like these should be slapped). I don't know what was happening in the kid area and I hope I never find out.


There were also two theaters where some awesome demos were held.


I'm not even going to pretend to go in order or to review every booth, but I'm going to give you a lot of intel because I think it's fascinating! The word on the street is that chocolate is the hot new gourmet food group! That tastings and appreciation of chocolate are becoming more and more popular. We are sooo on the cutting edge!


Green & Black's Organic had a booth - and they were giving samples - just little chunks - which was fine. I love their Almond Bar - it is jam-packed with almonds. I need to try more of their stuff - and get this - they gave out a coupon for up to $4.99 on any of their products. SWEET! They weren't selling - just giving out samples of all their bars (or almost all) and handing out coupons. Great idea!! No muss, no fuss and drives consumers to find their chocolate so they can buy it again and again. Brilliant!! Oh - they also have ice cream - can you imagine? I bet it is delicious!!


Lily O'Brien's - a chocolate cafe - was giving a bite-sized, individually wrapped (which was nice - everything else was unwrapped and you had to eat it immediately, usually just a tiny chunk of a bar).

This sample was very good - a very smooth toffee (nothing like Enstrom's crunchy toffee which I greatly prefer). Lily O'Brien's was really trying to get people to go to their Bryant Park Cafe - they offered a buy a beverage, get a beverage free card AND a spend $50 get a gift of chocolate worth $15 free flyer. If I lived in NY, I would definitely go check them out.

What I like about both of these approaches from a marketing perspective is that they know exactly what they want people who visit their booth to do. Redeem those coupons and complete the activities that would require. Well done! Good value immediately given to attendees with the potential for more value, and they can track results.

What I found at the show were some very friendly chocolatiers, some who seemed to be very arrogant, some who seemed furious that people weren't buying more, and many booths manned not by chocolatiers, but by sales reps. (Which I think may be the best way to go.) I have to say, that while it was really awesome to see the chocolatiers, most of them are horrible sales people. They don't interact well and are terrible at selling (and I was trying to buy!). Not all of them, but several. Maybe they are too close to the product. And there were hordes of wild-eyed people looking for freebies. It takes a seasoned sales rep to handle all that and not get crabby! But I also think it's the E-Myth (title of a book by Michael Gerber about being an entrepreneur) - just because you are fabulous at making chocolate, doesn't mean you're great at all aspects of running a business. And there's no shame in that!!!

It's what I've said before - do what you're good at, do what you love! Some people love chocolate more than people and that's okay!! That's why they're so awesome at making chocolate!! We're going to talk about the impact of others on us more in the next entry...

The Chocolate Show!

Short blog tonight - I'm in Talequah, Oklahoma for a speaking engagement. But I am so excited, I wanted to share this with you! I may not be taking a big trip this year, but I am going to the Chocolate Show in NYC! Here's what "The Nibble" said about last year's show (my comments are in bold):

Are you passionate about chocolate? Or do you just really think it’s fun?
(That's us, right?)
If you can answer “yes” to either question, make sure you schedule at least one day in November for the The 10th Annual Chocolate Show. Or, spend all three strolling through 40,000 square feet devoted to chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate, at the Metropolitan Pavilion and Altman Building on 19th Street in New York City.
(Different location this year - see http://www.chocolateshow.com/ Think how much chocolate that is!! 40,000 square feet! It's a beautiful dream!)
Visitors to the show will have the opportunity to sample prestige American and International chocolates and attend more than 65 demonstrations given by top pastry chefs and chocolatiers. Chefs and authors will be on hand to sign their cookbooks (every year, it seems as if every book every written about chocolate is for sale at the show). To celebrate the 10th anniversary, there will be a week of mini events leading to the kick-off chocolate fashion show that traditionally opens the festivities on Thursday night.
(Sampling chocolate? What could be better than that?)
Among the companies showing their wares, those reviewed by THE NIBBLE include Charles Chocolates, Chocolat Michel Cluizel, Chocolat Moderne, Chocolove, Chuao Chocolatier, Dagoba, Fairytale Brownies, Guittard Chocolate Company, Jer’s Handmade Chocolates, John & Kira’s, Knipschildt Chocolatier, Lillie Belle Farms and Theo Chocolate (plus others, we’re sure). Two extensive new reviews of Dagoba and Lillie Belle Farms appear next month. So, we can guarantee that there will be a lot of GREAT chocolate to be had.
(TheNibble.com has some fantastic info about chocolate - well worth your time to check out.)
Last year, in addition to the chocolate itself, highlights of the show included the Chocolate Lounge, a place to relax and chocolate and drink pairings (including Godiva’s Truffletini paired with their platinum series chocolates); the Chocolate Spa, dedicated to chocolate-themed health products and treatments; and the Chocolate Art Walk, featuring paintings and sculpture made entirely from chocolate (the artworks were simply stunning, including an all-chocolate Mona Lisa).
(How awesome does all that sound? How can I blog about motivation and chocolate and NOT go?)
The Chocolate Show is part of a worldwide festival for the public produced by Event International, and event producers Sylvie Douce and François Jeantet. You can “follow the chocolate” all around the world. Other shows include:
Beijing
Moscow
Paris
Tokyo
(and NYC is much closer than any of those! The dates this year are November 7, 8, and 9 - I'm planning to go for the 8th and 9th - can't wait!)

What are you looking forward to? Plan something fun for yourself - life is short - LIVE it!