The Art of Tasting Chocolate

FOG CITY NEWS CHOCOLATE HEADLINERS

FOG CITY NEWS is a chocolate Carnegie Hall.  If you are a player in the chocolate world you must play Fog City News when you visit San Francisco or you simply haven’t arrived.  It is the one venue in the City that I can count on to run into any chocolate celebrities passing through town. Why is this so?  It is all due to the hard work of proprietor Adam Smith. He has a discriminating palate. He knows the chocolatiers and confectioners. And they are pleased to make in store appearances to meet their fans. He also carries over 250 different kinds of premium, origin-specific chocolate bars imported from around the world. If you are seeking out an esoteric bar of chocolate that is proving difficult to locate there is a great chance that Fog City News will have it.

Their February In-Store Confectioners Appearance schedule is as follows:

Richard Donnelly of Donnelly Chocolates, Santa Cruz,
Friday, February 1, noon - 2 pm

Michael Recchiuti of Recchiuti Confections, San Francisco
Friday, February 8, noon - 2 pm

Lloyd Martin of Chocolate Visions, Scotts Valley
Monday, February 11, noon - 2 pm

Just Added: Shawn Askonosie, Askonosie Chocolate, Friday,
February 22, noon - 2 pm

This might be the year that you break away from the traditional red velvet heart-shaped box and dive into the fresh confections offered by these confectioners.  Fog City News will receive their shipments just seven to ten days before Valentine’s Day, thereby insuring utmost freshness.  Consider what a real chocolate truffle, made with fresh cream just days ago might taste like. Heaven.

Ferry Building Marketplace, Slow Food and The Art of Tasting Chocolate

The fifth annual “FOOD FROM THE HEART” at the FERRY BUILDING MARKETPLACE kicks off on Friday, February 8th, with a benefit for Slow Food from 5:00-8:00 p.m. The public is invited to stroll through the candlelit Grand Nave where the merchants and restaurateurs of the Marketplace will offer seasonal hors d’oeuvres ($2 - $4 per taste) and Slow Food volunteers will pour wine from several wine bars ($6 per glass). There will also be music by Golden Gate Hot Club and Classical Revolution, tango dancing, and a chocolate tasting led by Karletta Moniz of this website, The Art of Tasting Chocolate and CULINARY MUSE . Scharffen Berger has kindly donated chocolate. Proceeds from wine bar and hors d’oeuvres purchases benefit Slow Food San Francisco. The entire Marketplace will be open until 8:00 p.m. for Valentine shopping. Inspired by the season of love, the Epicurean revelry and delights carry on through Saturday, as the Marketplace and the Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market will be brimming with heartfelt foods and local chefs will offer cooking demonstrations on how to prepare seasonal, romantic meals.
Slow Food San Francisco seeks to promote the pleasures of farm to table gastronomic culture through taste education and community involvement. In addition to their efforts to protect the pleasures of the table, Slow Food raises funds to support a variety of organizations with similar goals. The proceeds of the FOOD FROM THE HEART event will be directed towards the Sanchez School Garden Program and will sponsor a Ferry Plaza Farmers Market food artisan, producer or farmer to Terra Madre, a world forum for those who are also engaged in the ideals of sustainable, local and human food production.