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Articles about Chocolate

Seeds of Africa Dinner Hosted By Bolsa Mercado

Founder Atti Worku (left); Chocolate pudding cake with coffee ice cream (right) photos by Desiree Espada

Last night, Bolsa Mercado transformed into a delightful backdrop, playing host to founder Atti Worku and her non-profit, Seeds of Africa - an organization that provides a nurturing, educational community for young children and young adults in Adama, Ethiopia. Chef Jeff Harris prepared a four-course menu to approximately 60 Seeds supporters as I, an invited guest, witnessed this NYC-based non-profit introduce itself to Dallas.

Jump for more Desiree Espada photos.

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posted by Carol Shih | May 18th, 2012 12:11pm | filed under Charity events, Chocolate, Coffee, Desiree Espada, Ethiopian, Ethnic Food | 1 Comment »

See’s Candies Opens Tomorrow at Stonebriar Mall

See's Candies storefront (photo by Carol Shih)

There are two things in life you can’t criticize, or you risk getting pounced: In-N-Out and See’s Candies. When I told this to my mother yesterday, she gently reminded me of the first time I’d ever had See’s Candies. I was six. My parents took my older brother and me to Las Vegas for Christmas Eve and left us in the hotel room for an hour while they donated money to slot machines. When they came back, they discovered us staring out the window with guilty chocolate smudges on our fingers and faces. We’d been watching the night sky – waiting like little children often do – to catch a glimpse of Santa’s sleigh, and we’d demolished a box of See’s between the two of us.

So, I get it. When you open a box of See’s, you open a box of nostalgia, and there’s something kind of sweet about all that. (more…)

posted by Carol Shih | April 26th, 2012 10:54am | filed under Chocolate, candy | 6 Comments »

Special Report: The Grenada Chocolate Company Delivers World-Class Chocolate By Sailboat

The chocolate store on Belmont Estate. Woman drying cocoa beans by walking through them. (photography by Nancy Nichols)

Two weeks ago, I was on a cruise headed for the island of Grenada when I received an email about The Grenada Chocolate Company. Needless to say, the headline–“Grenada Chocolate Company and FairTransport Team Up To Make First Ever Carbon-Neutral Trans-Atlantic Mass Chocolate Delivery”—got my full attention. I rearranged my schedule and made plans to meet with Mott Green, the founder of GCC, a tree-to-bar organic chocolate cooperate. Sadly, the only time we could meet was at high noon on a Sunday. The factory was closed so I met with Green at their retail store which is located on the beautiful Belmont Estate, Grenada’s first and finest agri-tourism organic farm.

Green was busy getting ready to pack four tons of his organic dark chocolate and sail with it from Grenada to New York City. He’d partnered with Netherlands-based shipping company, FairTransport, and the ship, the wind-powered Brigantine Tres Hombres, was set to sail from Grenada with Green and his chocolate today. This voyage, according to Green, is the “first carbon-neutral trans-Atlantic mass chocolate delivery.” Green built his own insulated cool room, powered solely by wind and sun, for the ship’s cargo hold. (Click here to follow the ship’s progress and Green’s blog about the journey)

Jump for the story and pictures. (more…)

posted by Nancy Nichols | March 15th, 2012 12:29pm | filed under AgriBusiness, Breaking News, Bring it!, Chocolate, Cult Cuisine | 6 Comments »

Emporium Pies “popped up” in the Bishop Arts District last weekend

The Smooth Operator: French Silk chocolate with pretzel crust

This past weekend may have been rainy and overcast, but a beacon of sunshine poured down upon the Bishop Arts District, resting on a quaint little renovated house painted brightly with hues of violet and blue.  Within these walls rested Dallas’ first “pop-up” pie shop, brought to us by the wonderful women at Emporium Pies, partners and co-owners, Mary Gauntt and Megan Wilkes. Wanting to test the waters a bit and see what kind of response the Dallas diners would have to a dedicated pie shop, they moved into the space at 314 N. Bishop Ave. over the weekend to provide this city with some of the finest pies it will ever see.

Walking inside, the space is small but cozy, with no more than a few chairs, a sales counter, a couple tiny tables with three stands displaying the day’s pie options.  On one rests a French silk chocolate pie with a crunchy pretzel crust, another holds a bourbon pecan pie with shortbread crust, the last displaying a streusel topped banana pie.  I ordered a slice of each, which were then all neatly packaged in small wicker baskets with a wooden fork and tied up with string (these are a few of my favorite things).  The entire presentation is so insanely cute, it makes fluffy baby bunnies look like swamp trolls.  I took a seat on the porch and dug in.

Jump for a whole lotta pie porn…

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posted by Daniel Walker | February 20th, 2012 9:30am | filed under Baking, Breaking News, Chocolate, Diets are stupid, Eat This Now!, Events, Food Invasion, dessert, oak cliff, pop-up restaurant | 9 Comments »

Alan “Patric” McClure is a Full-Time Chocolate Maker and Part-Time Model

Alan "Patric" McClure stands in front of his demo table at Central Market's Chocolate Festival (photos by William Neal)

Alan “Patric” McClure, owner of Patric Chocolate, is the kind of guy who blushes when you tell him, “My editor sent me here because you’re famous.”

We’re standing in the middle of Central Market’s busiest intersection – a place where people and grocery carts collide – and it takes him a couple minutes to recover from my forward introduction. When McClure gathers his thoughts, he launches into his insane foodie-ism and then does something completely unexpected: he starts modeling with his chocolate. Tyra would be proud.

Jump for some funny photos.

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posted by Carol Shih | February 14th, 2012 12:20pm | filed under Chocolate, Holidays, Sexy food, Snacks, Valentines Day | 7 Comments »

Bolsa Mercado’s Open House to Showcase Deep Ellum Brewery Beer. Oh, and Sharon Hage Will Create “Take Home Dinner For Two”

Bolsa Mercado is officially a talent hog. It’s great if you happen to be cool (rich?) enough to live in The “fabulous” OC. However, it sucks for those of us who have to walk half a mile through a huge chain grocery store to buy a carton of milk. Or beer.

Deep Ellum Brewery has just released their first (only?) production of “Love Runs Deep” Cherry Chocolate Double Brown Stout (deets below). Think you’ll find it at Tom Thumb? Nope. Bolsa Mercado bought the entire batch. Each 22-ounce bottle is individually numbered and made with red tart and dark sweet cherries and Organic/Fair Trade cocoa nibs. Expect to find all 300 of them on the shelves of Bolsa Mercado during their next Open House on February 11.

If you can’t wait until the 11th to get a food fix from The ‘Cado, head over on February 8. If you are lucky, you may be able to look past talented chef chefs Jeff Harris and Matt Balke and spot the rare, elusive chef Sharon Hage in the kitchen. She will be creating a “Take Home Dinner For Two.” Who knows, by then Bolsa Mercado may have Alan McClure creating Fudgesicles or Grant Achatz doing dishes. Could happen. Pigs fly in Oak Cliff.

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posted by Nancy Nichols | February 6th, 2012 10:24am | filed under Best Gay Hangout Restaurant Evah!, Brews News, Celebrity Chefs, Celebrity Diners, Chick Chefs Rule!, Chocolate, Cooking, Cult Cuisine, FTC Rules Approved Post, Groceries, Hippie revolutions, Local/Slow Food, Restaurant News, SideDish Bump!, Things To Do, Yu Darvish Loves Food, hostess gifts, oak cliff | 10 Comments »

Faye Blackmon’s Culinary Class

Faye Blackmon gets a hug from Shara (photography by Micah Nunley)

Fudgenugget. I was born in the wrong school district. If I had taken Faye Blackmon’s culinary class back when I was in high school, I bet I’d be on Top Chef right now basking in the glory of Paul’s shiny knives. But I digress. Wednesday morning, I dragged along photo intern Micah Nunley to Duncanville High School, where we watched legendary Faye Blackmon teach a batch of seniors real life skills inside the kitchen.

In May, Blackmon, 69, is retiring from Duncanville HS after teaching for 37 years.

Jump for beautiful photos of kids and food. (more…)

posted by Carol Shih | February 3rd, 2012 1:53pm | filed under Baking, Chocolate, Good Deeds, Slow News Day, Valentines Day, cookies | 4 Comments »

We Love Chocolate

As you’ve probably figured out from this month’s cover, we love chocolate. And we love our local chocolatiers. From shoes of chocolate to hand-painted pieces, it’s all beautiful and delicious. Before diving into the world of chocolate, I gave a call to DallasChocolate.org founder Sander Wolf. I asked him about the state of chocolate in Dallas, and he told me that “it’s emerging. We’re not San Francisco or New York, but there’s a lot of people doing a lot of good stuff.” One great thing about chocolatiers in Dallas is that everybody has his/her own specialty. “When they get together, there’s virtually no overlap,” Wolf says. “Even if you gave them all the same ingredients, they would turn out completely different.”

To see the result of their work, check out these gorgeous photos by Manny Rodriguez.

And, if you’d like to find out where you can taste some of this chocolate, jump. I’ve included information from DallasChocolate.org about what our favorite chocolatiers are up to this month.

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posted by Krista Nightengale | February 2nd, 2012 3:16pm | filed under Chocolate, Diets are stupid, Valentines Day, dessert |

Chocolate Festival at Central Market, Feb 8-14

Katrina Markoff of Vosges Haut-Chocolat, the woman who sells bacon chocolate candy bars for $33 a box and probably makes a darn good living from it, is holding two truffle classes (making bacon truffles?? maybe??) in Central Market for a pre-Chocolate Festival event on February 4. The real Chocolate Festival kicks off on February 8 when Central Market hosts some of the hottest chocolatiers at their Dallas, Fort Worth, and Plano locations to show what these superstars can do with mighty fine cocoa beans.

At least now I know what I want for V Day: bacon freakin’ chocolate candy. Whoever mails me a box, wins.

Jump for dates, times, and locations. (more…)

posted by Carol Shih | January 27th, 2012 11:43am | filed under Bacon, Bars, Chocolate, Valentines Day, classes, dessert | 1 Comment »

Jeanine Stevens Presents: Dallas by Chocolate Tours

Local chocolate lover Jeanine Stevens conducts tours of chocolate destinations for other chocolate lovers. Sip wine and sample chocolate aboard her luxury bus as you discover Dallas’ premier chocolatiers, bakeries, cheesemakers and other artisanal specialty shops. The tours last about three hours and stops at places such as CocoAndre Chocolatier, Dude Sweet Chocolate in Oak Cliff, Dark Chocolate Bakery, Chocolate Angel in far north Dallas, Society Bakery on Greenville, and Scardello Artisan Cheese on Oak Lawn.

Dallas by Chocolate five Valentine’s Indulgence tours are sold out, but seats are still available on the Feb. 5, Feb. 12, Feb. 19, and Mar. 17 tours (1 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.). Tickets start at $25 per person. In addition to booking weekend and weekday tours for individuals through the her website, Stevens also does private chocolate tours and tastings for groups.

posted by Nancy Nichols | January 26th, 2012 10:00am | filed under Chocolate |

16 Dallas Holiday Cocktails You Must Try Now

Autumn Leaves at Victor Tangos (photography by Matthew Shelley)

I spent the last week researching bars serving up holiday cocktails in Big D. Then photographer Matthew Shelley and I made our way around town to give them a look and a taste. Here’s our toast to our new favorite holiday-inspired cocktails. Cheers.

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posted by Raya Ramsey | December 7th, 2011 12:30am | filed under Awards, Bars, Beverages, Chocolate, Christmas, Coffee, Drinking, Hanukkah, Holidays, Mixology is fancy for bartender, Nightlife, Wine & Spirits, cocktails, dessert | 13 Comments »

Cheese & Chocolate Tasting: Sigel’s, Brazos Valley, and Dude, Sweet Chocolate’s Katherine Clapner

Mark this down: November 19, from 1-3:00PM at Sigel’s in Addison (15003 Inwood Road).

Here’s the deal: Sigel’s Cheesemonger Theresa McGee and Chef Katherine Clapner of Dude, Sweet Chocolate have combined their extraordinary talents to organize a cutting edge tasting of Cheese & Chocolate featuring the delicious raw milk cheeses of Brazos Valley Cheese Company. The Chocolate selections are still being finalized to pair with the following award winning Texas cheeses: Roasted Garlic Montasio, Horesradish & Pecan Cheddar, Raw Milk Muenster, Raw Milk Swiss, Raw Milk Gouda.

What’s Missing: Wine. Hmm. How shall we cleanse our palates?

posted by Nancy Nichols | November 14th, 2011 5:05pm | filed under Cheese, Chocolate, Events | 4 Comments »

La Madeleine at Northpark Tries Out a New Style

Intern Jessica visited La Madeleine’s the newest concept:

After a year and a half of gathering customer feedback La Madeleine has updated their style. This morning the La Madeleine at Northpark invited the media to come see the first newly designed restaurant and to sample their holiday dessert menu.

jump for more… (more…)

posted by Sarah Reiss | November 9th, 2011 2:41pm | filed under Baking, Chocolate, dessert | 14 Comments »

Drink This Now: The Drinking Chocolate with Vanilla Bean Marshmallows at Dude, Sweet Chocolate

In a perfect world,  Katherine Clapner of Dude, Sweet Chocolate and I would totally be BFFs.  We would hang out, like, everyday…stuffing our faces silly with her wonderful chocolate creations while watching Lord of the Rings, spending hours planted in front of the X-Box, playing hackey-sack, and toilet-papering the neighbors’ houses.  Then, the end of the day would go something like this:

“Hey Kath, would you whip me up some of your wonderful hot chocolate, pretty please?”

“It’s called drinking chocolate, you numb-skull, and what do I look like, your mom?”

“Well actually, if my mom had a few more tattoos…”

etc, etc…

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posted by Daniel Walker | November 8th, 2011 10:28am | filed under Awards, Baking, Chocolate, Eat This Now!, How About This Weather?, best of big d, oak cliff |

My Sugar Box Can Beat Up Your Velvet Taco

In what feels like a dessert response to all of the overtly suggestive taco joint names we’ve seen in the last year, Sugar Box officially opens tomorrow night in Uptown at the Mondrian. The grand opening fete runs from 5 to 9 pm and features freebie selections from the new dessert bar’s palate of cupcakes, French macarons, and cake balls with espresso, latte, and cappuccino chasers (for those of you who, unlike me, can drink coffee after 4 pm and still sleep at night). Free tasters, live music, door prizes. Why not?

posted by Sarah Reiss | September 15th, 2011 9:00am | filed under Baking, Chocolate, Coffee, Cult Cuisine, Diets are stupid, Events, Free Stuff!, Goats!, Good Morning, How to Open a Restaurant 101, I Went to College for This?, It's just lunch, Nightlife, Openings, Restaurant News, Sexy food, Silly Reasons to Celebrate, Snacks, Stupid terms for food, Tacos, Unsolicited Treats, cake, cheap eats, cupcakes, dessert, flying solo, food art, freebies, grand opening, make mine a double, youthful spontaneous restaurants | 1 Comment »

Special Report: The Dallas Chocolate Conference 2011

Darcy Plantage of Elegantly Chocolate (All photos by Suzi Migdol)

I once had a dream wherein I visited a magical building, and in that building, lovely people danced around throwing handcrafted chocolates, magical brownies, and toffees in my mouth from all directions.   I pranced around this magical building for hours, humming Simon and Garfunkel tunes, hugging everyone in sight, and smearing my entire body in chocolate fudge.  It was a wonderful dream, but this past Saturday, this dream became a reality (most of it anyways).

This past weekend, at the Addison Conference Center, the brilliant minds behind DallasChocolate.org brought together the most talented group of chocolatiers in Big D.  It was truly a festival for all to enjoy.  I have not seen a happier group of people gathered in one place since the night I camped out with the Star Wars geeks for the opening of the Phantom Menace.  It was like being transported to the mystical Willy Wonka’s Chocolate factory, without those disturbing Oopa Loompas narrating your every move.

The men and women showcasing their chocolate talents were no less than extraordinary.  Some of the wonderful people included in the showcase included…

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posted by Daniel Walker | August 29th, 2011 10:04am | filed under Breaking News, Chocolate, Eat This Now!, Special Report, dessert | 2 Comments »

Don’t Forget, Dallas Chocolate Festival is This Saturday

Get your tickets now, if you have not done so already.

posted by Sarah Reiss | August 26th, 2011 9:00am | filed under Bring it!, Chocolate |

Cool Off with Crazy Dude Sweet Frozen Treats

Dude Sweet owner Katherine Clapner posted on her shop’s Facebook page this weekend’s featured frozen flavors, and they sound like a crazy, creative, and tasty way to beat the heat. FROZEN YOGURTS: fig/malted milk and banana/baharat. ICE CREAMS: rooibus/white chocolate and ginger beer. SORBETS: blueberry/fennel pollen, kiwi/matcha, miso/togarashi, chocolate/pomegranate molasses, and Mexican papaya/agave.

posted by Todd Johnson | August 12th, 2011 1:13pm | filed under Chocolate, Eat This Now!, Frozen Yogurt | 1 Comment »

Oh, Chocolate Lovers…2011 Dallas Chocolate Conference Schedule Announced

Melted, molded, enrobed, and hand-rolled—Chocolate stands front and center on August 27 at the Addison Conference Centre during the 2011 Dallas Chocolate Conference. Read on for the full schedule:

The conference is an immersive and rewarding event for chocolate lovers with two main components both included with a single ticket purchase: A Showcase of Chocolate and a Chocolate Academy. The Showcase of Chocolate is an exhibition hall where attendees can sample chocolates from the participating chocolatiers and chocolate makers. The price of a ticket is $15 (plus tax) in advance and $20 (including tax) on the day of the Conference and includes ten samples during any one of the four sampling sessions. Sessions are an hour and a half long and start at 11:00 am. Tickets for children include three samples and are available for $5 (plus tax) in advance and $6 (including tax) on the day of the Conference. Attendance will be capped to ensure that attendees are able to interact with the chocolatiers and chocolate makers.

The schedule of classes has been finalized and covers the full spectrum of chocolate—from making it to baking with it. Classes include demonstrations (with samples, of course), lectures, interactive sessions, and panel discussions.

The Chocolate Academy will kick-off at 10:00 AM with the Chocolatiersʼ Roundtable—a free-flowing discussion with all participating chocolatiers. Adrienne Newman (Madame Cocoa) will be the Chocolate Academyʼs mistress of ceremonies. While all classes are included with a ticket purchase, space is limited and is on a first come, first seated basis.

The full schedule is as follows:

jump for the deets: (more…)

posted by Sarah Reiss | August 8th, 2011 10:40am | filed under Bring it!, Chocolate, Diets are stupid | 3 Comments »

Tickets On Sale: Chocolate Conference 2011 Presented by Dallaschocolate.org

I hope you saved August 27. That’s the day Dallaschocolate.org is hosting their day-long immersion into the seductive world of chocolate. Jump for all of the details including speakers, times, and prices.

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posted by Nancy Nichols | June 29th, 2011 9:10am | filed under Chocolate, Events |

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