Get Your Chocolate Fix At Dallas Chocolate Festival
Stealing a phrase from the circus (now that they no longer need it), Dallas Chocolate Festival (DCF) has titled their 2017 extravaganza The Greatest Chocolate on Earth. This year’s festival will be Sept. 8-10 in the Dallas Art District at the Fashion Industry Gallery (F.I.G.), 1807 Ross Avenue.
Guests can meet artisans and watch live demonstrations of the chocolate making process. Best of all, you can taste samples while shopping from over 60 vendor participants. Tickets to the festival are on sale now at www.DallasChocolate.org.
Press materials say the festival has tripled in size since it started in 2009. Founder Sander Wolf decided it was time to share his enthusiasm for chocolate making, from “bean to bar” with everyone. The festival now showcases nationally and locally recognized chocolate makers, bean to bar artisans, specialty foods crafts people, and top pastry chefs.
The 2017 chocolate festival kicks off with a Friday night circus-themed Midway Party and Chocolate Cake Walk. They will feature 30 gourmet cakes from local establishments like Hotel Intercontinental, FT33, and the Fairmont Hotel. Cakes from chocolatier Zach Townsend, Chocolate Secrets, and others are included.
Saturday, Sept. 9 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. guests are invited to sample and shop chocolates, pastries and specialty foods. An impressively lengthy list of chocolate makers and artisans from all over the country and beyond will be there.
These vendors range from Amano Artisan Chocolate from Utah; Dr. Sue’s Chocolate (made by a real doctor so it must be good for us!); Escazu Artisan Chocolate from NC; Fruition Chocolate from NY; Hoja Verde from Ecuador; K’UL Chocolates from MN; MUCHO Chocolate Museum, Mexico City; See’s Candies from CA; Xocolla from Sugarland; to Yelibelly Chocolates.
Madame Cocoa (Adrienne Newman) will again entertain chocoholics as the Mistress of Ceremonies, and Dallas’ own Catherine Cuellar will be featured in the Whole Foods classroom. There will be free demonstrations and classes all day. These include “Strange Chocolate Pairings” with Megan Giller, and “Breaking Down the Chocolate Wall” with Heather Holland.
Sunday classes, at $60 each, offer a hands-on chocolate experience. Using a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen in the Design District, at 9:30 a.m. students can learn Bean to Bar Chocolate Making with Ben Rasmussen of Potomac Chocolate and Bob Williamson (SRSLY Chocolate).
At 12 noon Zac Townsend presents a Chocolate Pastry Workshop “Financier Pastries.” Then at 2:30 p.m. Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute founder Carla Martin offers “The History of Chocolate: Tasting form Ancient to Modern Times.” At 4:30 p.m., “Tasting Chocolate like a Judge: The Best of the Best” is hosted by none other than emcee and expert taster Madame Cocoa.
For more information on the Dallas Chocolate Festival, including a list of vendors, schedules, sponsor information and how to purchase tickets visit DallasChocolate.org.
