Crushpad

Coco and Cabernet!

In my last post, I mentioned that we have been busy with lots of events. One of the more local events, where we did not have to get on a plane, was the night at San Francisco’s Crushpad. The evening started with a selection of three red wines: a Merlot, a Zinfandel and a Cabernet.

The event was put on by TasteTV, producer of Chocolate Television and the International and Luxury Chocolate Salons. They teamed with Crushpad to create the very first wine specifically designed to pair well with chocolate. The event was: CHOCOLATE SEIZURE 2008.

The design team for this one of a kind boutique wine consisted of TasteTV, Crushpad winemakers, a panel of top artisan chocolatiers (including yours truly) food & wine journalists from the bay area and the lucky people who purchased tickets.

The evening consisted of attendees collecting chocolate samples from all of the chocolate makers and then tasted them with each of the three different wines. Personally, I thought the Merlot was really good and the most drinkable at the time. The zinfandel and the cabernet were also good but needed a bit of aging to really make it really stand up to the chocolate. In the end, the Cabernet won, which was a tribute to the people who attended the event. They were able to recognize certain elements in the wine, which after a bit of aging would be the perfect match. Very impressive!

With only 300 bottles available, this will be very special wine to savor with the best dark chocolate. Because we were part of the event, Coco Delice Fine Chocolates will be on the label with the rest of the other chocolate makers who were there for the pairing.

New York Bash

Well, it has been a while since my last post…hmm, why do I feel like am a church confession? I do have a good reason-we have been doing lots of special events-Chicago, San Francisco (Crushpad) and the latest New York City. The event in Manhattan was for an organization called City Harvest. Below is a summary of the event and as you can imagine that the chocolate flew out the door, especially since we were only one of three chocolate makers at the event.

City Harvest, a non-profit that delivers food to hungry New Yorkers, raised enormous awareness last night during an extremely chic event called Focus: An auction of the finest photography, with special food tastings prepared by many well known chefs from restaurants like Le Bernardin, Victor’s Cafe, and South Gate to name a few. The lobster from Eric Ripert Le Bernardin was out of this world!

There were also special musical performances by the Kevin Bacon’s band, the Bacon Brothers, and the Cringe Band, led by John Cusimano, Rachael Ray’s husband. Both groups put on spectacular performances that had the room rocking.

The event had a silent auction of some of the finest photography donated by some of the world’s most famous photographers; along with jewelry from Judith Ripka which raised much needed funds to help feed the city’s needy. Other sponsors of the evening were FUJIFILM, Interview Magazine, Gotham Magazine, Diageo, and super sweet chocolates from Coco Delice and Marti Chocolatt.

Rachael Ray, one of the bidders of the live auction, bought a Rolling Stones picture of Mick Jagger singing Jumping Jack Flash which sold for $10K. Rachael, who also sits on City Harvest’s board of directors, reminded the nearly 800 guests how we need to help support this important, 25 year old organization and make sure the region’s needy are not forgotten.

On an eco-friendly point, by the end of 2009 City Harvest will convert their trucks to be hybrid — which should help reduce emissions by 40 percent. City Harvest also uses pedi-cabs to transport food around Manhattan.

The event was produced by Bradford Rand, CEO of Go Green Expo in association with Timothy White, and a world renowned photographer who also sits on the board of City Harvest.