Chocolate University Online Blog
Eighty students of Royal Oak, Michigan, had a field trip downtown last October 12 and turned a pedestrian plaza on Washington Avenue into a work of art which will be used for the Chalk & Chocolate Art Tour scheduled this weekend. There will be a tent set up at Fifth Street just in case it rains.
Shop curators and restaurant owners downtown will be hanging chalk art masterpieces done by 100 elementary school students in their windows. Also, they will be offering their confectionaries for the first-time affair in Royal Oak.
An opening night party starts at 6 p.m. Friday with a benefit at Fifth Avenue for the Royal Oak Neighborhood Schools art curriculum. The door charge is $40 which includes live entertainment and food from six restaurants and all sales incurred go directly to district art programs.
The free tour runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday followed by specially priced items for “chocolate happy hours” at restaurants who will be taking part in the event from 4-7 p.m. Children will get to eat all weekend at Andiamo and Rock on Third without spending a single dime.
Gayle’s Chocolates will also be participating by making a special box of chalk-shaped chocolates which will cost $5 which will be donated to student art projects.
Anne Kuffler, Ariana Gallery owner, said: “I like the fact that it’s a cultural event raising money for school art programs,” She will be providing chocolate brownies and chocolate-covered strawberries for visitors in her gallery this weekend. “It will bring out people to look at and appreciate art that isn’t necessarily on canvas or permanent. Some of the high school students are unbelievably good and inspiring. They don’t get enough pats on the back — even from their family. I remember my grandfather telling me don’t be an artist.” she added.
The Chalk & Chocolate Art Tour is sponsored by Our Credit Union, Absopure Water, Mediation Center of Southeast Michigan, Fifth Avenue, Andiamo, Rock on Third, WOW High Speed Internet; Hour Detroit and d Business; Groupon; Piece of Cake; Gayle’s Chocolates; Five 15 Media Mojo & More; Peggy Goodwin of The Goodwin Co.; Fox 2 News; and Metro Times
Categories: chocolate in the news
Tags: chocolate art, chocolate celebrations, chocolate exhibit, chocolate party
It’s not very often that you get to devote one whole week just for a particular food. Suffice it to say, if the subject is chocolate, we get all the more devoted, and craving, so to speak.
Chocolate Week, UK’s favorite themed week, or should I say, favorite week, is here again for its seventh consecutive year to celebrate the foodstuff that has its origins in ancient Aztec and Mayan culture. Even though we know we can enjoy it any time of day and any day of the year, it’s the time of year when we can ultimately celebrate chocolate… for a week! Imagine that.
Chocolate week 2011, starting October 10, has a plethora of events lined up for everyone, over 350 events happening across the whole of Britain, from chocolate art workshops and tasting to hot chocolate sampling and dessert-making demonstrations, indulge yourself in chocolate madness.
The UK’s renowned chocolatiers and chocolate companies celebrate Chocolate Week by hosting the said events, as well as producing exclusive products, new launches, offers, chocolate meals, cocktails and recipes.
The events include:
- Chocolate Unwrapped – a chocolate exhibition in London on the 15th & 16th October. Over 4000 visitors and 40 exhibitors are expected to come. It showcases top British chocolatiers and chocolate companies along with chocolate makers from France, Italy, Switzerland, Hungary, Holland and Germany. Patrons get a shot at viewing chocolate art, meeting the chocolatiers, taste the top-of-the-line chocolate, watching chocolate being made in the tiniest chocolate factory in the world, and the list goes on.
- The Great Chocolate Cake-Off – a hunt for the best-tasting amateur chocolate cake.
- William Curley’s pop up shop on St Martin’s Lane, London
- Hotel Chocolat initiates its tasting adventures pack so visitors would be encouraged to do chocolate tastings at home.
- Paul A Young, one of the most popular chocolatiers in UK, teams up with another popular fusion chef Peter Gordon to make a 6-course chocolate dinner at Providores, don’t fret if you missed it yesterday, there will be another one on Friday, the 14th of October.
- Thorntons continues its 100th birthday celebrations by giving away a chocolate smile to their visitors.
Chocolate Week was intended to promote the world of fine chocolate, the independent artisan chocolatiers and the chocolate companies who work in direct partnership with the cocoa farmers. This is to encourage chocolate buyers to pay a fairer price for their chocolate.
For more details on the week and participants, visit chocolate week.
Categories: chocolate in the news
Tags: chocolate art, chocolate celebrations, chocolate companies, chocolate exhibit, chocolate party, chocolate week
If you are a self-proclaimed true blue chocoholic and want to satisfy your need for anything chocolate, then why don’t you head to the Field Museum in Chicago?
“Chocolate: Around the World”, a smash hit exhibit which sold more than 360,000 tickets in its first Field run in the year 2002 is back not only to entertain you, but also give you juicy and interesting information.
In the past nine years, “Chocolate” has already been to 22 other American museums and will go international when its present Field run is done in January, said the Field president and chief executive officer, John McCarter.
“Chocolate” is a combination of both the Field’s focus on anthropology as well as natural history and its attention to the origins of cacao beans and the role chocolate played in the past centuries. “This is one of the great combination stories,” McCarter said.
From the modest examples of cacao beans to a vintage chocolate mold with the shape of a rabbit driving a scooter, “Chocolate” aspires to present a food that Americans love dearly.
One of the “Chocolate” exhibition keepers, Gary Feinman, said that visitors were interested as much toward the exhibit’s story as the subject matter. “Everybody loves chocolate,” Feinman said. “The story is great, and the exhibits are about stories.”
The exhibit is almost untouched since it first premiered at the Field, very little has changed. Among the new items featured are excavated ceramic vessels in which chocolate residue was found. This aids in explaining how chocolate was used.
There is also information about the disturbing situation at African cocoa farms. “There are issues with child labor, the labor conditions,” Feinman said. “There are still issues but I think there’s more consciousness about some of the problems.”
Try visiting there and have a shot at kicking your love of chocolate up a notch.
-Through Jan. 8 (9 a.m.-5 p.m. every day but Christmas)
-The Field Museum, 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago
-The exhibit is included in the Discovery and All-Access passes, $22-$29 for adults, $18-$24 for seniors and students with identification, and $15-$20 for ages 4 to 11.
-(312) 922-9410; fieldmuseum.org
Categories: chocolate education, chocolate in the news
Tags: chocolate art, chocolate destinations, chocolate exhibit, chocolate history, chocolate museums, cocoa, Field Museum
People who come to pay a visit at the Bruge’s Choco-Laté Festival, held in the Belfort bell tower, can relish their much loved dessert in whatever shapes & forms possible! So all you chocoholics, listen up and unite. Succumb to your every chocolate craving and indulge in your favorite sweet treat!
Choco-Laté is the annual festival of our favorite guilty pleasure. The vibes that chocolatiers give off at several stands lure the customers and magically bring them to a chocolate haven.
The festival will be hosting an array of activities to make visitors drool with tons of interesting and fun interactive programs such as body painting, chocolate recipe exhibitions, creations such as sculpture by chocolate artists and sculptors, a chocolate village for the little ones, and a “chocolate walk” through the town of Bruges, among many others.
The patrons are given a chance to learn about chocolate creations and recipes that are easy enough to do by themselves during live demonstrations by top chefs, bakers and chocolatiers.
Today, chocolate is used as a health aid and also for aesthetic purposes, not just to curb our sweet tooth cravings. Some of the innovative means of using chocolate are through treatments such as chocolate massages, chocolate packs or cocoa therapies.
Practically any chocolate is tempting, but as with what was stated on yesterday’s blog post, pairing it with a nice glass of wine will surely kick the chocolate delight up a notch. Choco-Laté will be revealing the art of delectably combining chocolate with other delicacies. Case in point: fruits dipped in chocolate fondue, and that is just one of the basics.
And finally, for the true blue chocolate lovers, the festival presents a Choco-Laté junior – a creative corner for kids where they can nourish their imagination in chocolate through fun body painting, sculpting and decorating, and many more.
When: 11 – 13 Nov 2011
Where: Belfort, Belgium,
Cost: €10; under 12s €6; under 6s free
Opening Hours: 10am-6pm
For more details, visit www.choco-late.be/en.
Categories: chocolate in the news, fine foods & beverages
Tags: Belgian chocolate, Choco-Laté Festival, chocolate art, chocolate celebrations, chocolate destinations, chocolate exhibit, chocolate games, chocolate pairings, chocolate party
I’m absolutely fascinated by sculptures crafted in chocolate. Perhaps it is because I don’t have an artistic bone in my body. I do, however, have a deep admiration for those that do.
I have had several blog posts in the past showing off many chocolatiers’ incredible artistic skills.
Most, if not all, of those were carved from milk or semi-sweet chocolate.
Recently, one of Italy’s well known chocolatiers, Mirco Della Vecchia, formed his creation from white chocolate.
His project was to sculpt and display famous tourist destinations from around the world.
Here is one I especially like, a model of Stonehenge in white chocolate. The worn look on the stone is so realistic!
Besides England’s Stonehenge, the artist also used white chocolate to portray Paris’ Arc de Triomphe, Greece’s Parthenon, Italy’s leaning Tower of Pisa, and Egyptian temples.
All these are on exhibit in Hong Kong at the Chocolate World Heritage show.
Vecchia started entering competitions in 1996. He currently holds the Guinness World Record award for the largest chocolate sculpture in the world – he and his team created a white chocolate “Dome of Milan” which measured at 1.5 meters tall, 2.5 meters long and weighed 5.37 tons.
Categories: chocolate in the news
Tags: chocolate art, Chocolate World Heritage, white chocolate, world chocolate, world record
 A picture is worth a thousand words. I’m thinking a chocolate picture, that is a picture made of chocolate, must be worth even more.
I came across this article, and want to share it with you all. It’s hard to believe you can eat these incredible creations!
Click here for a real treat:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1342779/Vincent-Van-Choc-Confectioner-creates-chocolate-versions-art-masterpieces.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
Categories: chocolate in the news
Tags: chocolate art
Certainly there is an art to making chocolates. A chocolatier brings creativity, craftsmanship, and personal style to every creation. Chocolates are meant to be visually appealing and exceptionally enjoyable to eat.
From my perspective, put the emphasis on eat!
But here’s a twist: what about chocolate art you don’t (or can’t) eat?
 Need an example… An art exhibition featuring miniature chocolate replicas of China’s ancient terracotta warriors opened this week in Taipei.
The show is called ‘World Chocolate Wonderland’ and the main attraction is a display of 400 chocolate warriors measuring 35 centimeters tall.
Click here for the full article from Google news.
You might also enjoy an article from January when the exhibit first opened in China. You can follow the link on the primal chocolate blog page to see a video with more information.
While I am sure this exhibition is incredible, it isn’t edible! 
I like looking at chocolate art, but I love eating chocolate even more!
Categories: chocolate in the news
Tags: chocolate art, not quite chocolate, world chocolate
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