The 52nd Summer Fancy Food Show held at the Javits Center in New York between July 9- July 11 was a real success, especially for those of us at Chocolate Zoom who got a chance to go, because we managed to taste a lot of incredible chocolates and we met many outstanding chocolatiers. We confess this was our main purpose and we don’t care that we shoved a few old ladies left and right on our way to the choco stands. When the cocoa calls, no one can stop us from entering the "chocolate trance," which manifests itself through blackouts and waking up with our hands deeply buried in a tray of fancy chocolates and with a funny moustache. It’s pretty hard to interview people about their business when they can’t help but stare at the smudges on your face. Okay, everything I said in the last few sentences is not quite what happened, however we did get to meet a lot of great people, who obviously love their products as much as we like to taste them.
Denise Shoukas, the Communications Director of the show, declared for us in exclusivity, "This was the first time in its history that the Summer Fancy Food Show sold out of space and filled 322,000 square feet of exhibit space with 2,200 exhibitors, marking close to a 7% increase over 2005. One veteran exhibitor told me that this was the most exciting Fancy Food Show he had been to in 10 years, and I agree with him. There were 160,000 interesting specialty foods and there was a buzz of excitement all three days." With over 270 chocolatiers present, I’d say that’s a huge success.
In case you haven’t been to the Javits Center, it’s an impressive exhibition building on several levels at the western end of 34th street, which hosts trade events throughout the year. Everything was very well organized, we didn’t have to stay in any ludicrous lines, the aisles were clean, the smells were not as pungent as you’d imagine you’d find at a food show. The sections were organized by country and by regions within the country, like in the case of Italy where there was a whole Tuscan sector. No, we did not taste the wines (against our better judgment), nor too much cheese, but we have to acquiesce a weakness for olives and smoked salmon that deterred us from our chocolate path from time to time. Of course, our race was sustained by no less than three cups of espresso that we tried along the way to great discoveries. You wonder what we found out for you?
First we stopped at the Austrian Chocolate booth; we don’t know why we started from Central Europe, but there it was. The sales assistant detected our interest and started explaining where we can find these delicious chocolates in the New York area. CB loved the ginger pieces that were indeed like a wave of fresh air on a steamy New York summer day. What got my attention were the Zotter chocolates, which had the most interesting combinations for fillings and had Little Prince look-alike illustrations on the package. The flavors that I tried, Cream cheese-walnut-grapes and Almond-Grappa were truly fabulous. Some others included Marc de Champagne and Pumpkinseed and Marzipan. Where can you find these treats in New York? Well, you’d have to go to Bergdorf Goodman or a Dean & Deluca store. You can also visit their website and order at www.austrianchocolate.com.
Further up the path, we ended up in front of Richard Antonorsi, an energetic man with a big smile. He is the entrepreneur and his brother Michael is one of the two founders of Chuao Chocolatier in Carlsbad, California. The two Venezuelean brothers set shop a few years ago, and they started making fine chocolates from exclusive Venezuelean beans brought from the town of, yes, Chuao (pronounced "Chew-wow"). We sampled a spicy hot chocolate, which had cayenne pepper and some cinnamon, and it was simply amazing. Their mantra is "Unusual, (I agree) Unexpected (I was surprised) and Delicious (I was delighted)." And the catchier one is "If it’s not wow, it’s not Chuao." For us, it was definitely a wow; don’t get it confused with a Chihuahua, that’s a dog. Their website is www.chuaochocolatier.com
We stopped shortly at a booth where we could only see pastel colors and eggs. It was not Easter, but the offering was a unique German product (by a company called Gut Springenheide GmbH): chocolate in a real eggshell. The shell is so craftily painted, that you feel bad breaking it just for the sake of the chocolate. It looks more like something you want to keep in your funny gems collection. So what’s the secret behind the creation of this egg? The bottom of the shell is cut, the egg is thus drained and sterilized on the inside and then filled up with chocolate. But beware, if you walk with your egg around town for too long, you don’t want to break it as soon as you get home, because you may find yourself drenched in melted chocolate. Unfortunately, there’s no website where you can view these fun Easter/Christmas/year-long treats.
One of our favorites was the Italian chocolatier Venchi, who’s as old as the sea; well, it opened in 1878, it went through a lot of changes and now it has distributors all over the world including some retailers in the United States. The presentable Export Manager, who seemed to be the only person in charge of the booth told us all about their stores in Asia, and offered us some tasty samples. Their concept called chocotherapy is interesting, and it involves a few chocolates of choice that match certain kinds of defining traits: greedy, passionate, eccentric, stressed out, depressed, hedonist. Some chocolates look like real cigars, and others have a bottle on the side containing an absinthe-looking substance; they also have chocolate pate in jars and chocolate caviar. Just imagine you’re living it up, but all your emblems of power are made out of chocolate. Bottom line, their products are fun, check them out at www.venchi.com. One more detail, if you don't know Italian, the site is translated in English as well; just click on "Inglese."
Before I had arrived at the show, CB had already visited some other stands and among her findings there was this French company called Mademoiselle de Margaux that makes chocolate twigs with hint of fruit and fruits dipped in liquor chocolate. The company won the Candy Award at the Fancy Food Show in Washington in 1983 and now they are imported by Valrhona. You can check out their website, which has an English version at www.mademoiselle-de-margaux-33.com.
Also another great idea belongs to Fritz Knipschildt, a Danish chocolatier based in Norwalk, Connecticut. Among his other great products – just check http://www.knipschildt.com/flash.html - he just came up with a new line of boxed chocolates that appeals to both adults and children. We adults, just like children would use just about any excuse to buy yet another bar or box of chocolates, but this time you just can’t say ‘no’ to children. Knipschildt partnered with a friend and created a specialty line dedicated to three Hans Christian Andersen stories, which means a box contains a miniature fairy tale book of that particular story and customized bon bons. We’d expect that "The Emperor’s New Clothes" box would be empty, but it’s full of gourmet chocolates, "The Ugly Duckling" has some mighty good looking pieces of cocoa and the bites in the "Little Mermaid" box prevent us from becoming depressed when we reach the end of the story. And this is just one of the many interesting products they have at Knipschildt Chocolatier. The naughty bits will come in due time. (They also have an interesting illustrated collection about a barely dressed woman named Eve Kitten.)
Let’s not forget the Brits. Our last halt was at the Original Candy Co booth where we tasted what the English fellows love best after soccer - blackcurrant - in white chocolate bonbons. The tasty, fruity bite is a product of Chocca Mocca and is part of a range of chocolate bonbons that contain refreshing fruits. You can find it at Harrods if you happen to pass by, or you can check out their website www.chocca-mocca.com.
The first day was glorious, but the second was fabulous. Since CB had some work to do and couldn’t make it the last day of the show, I had to drown my loneliness in sugar and haul pounds of brochures by myself. What’s a girl to do? Hire a taster and a porter rolled into one? No, I had to carry this whole burden all alone. Reporting is a tough job. In order to fortify my weak brawn and overheated mind, I took a few short detours to the other booths and see what the fuss was about. Yep, I agree, olive oil is the best. Next! Self heating paella in a fully recyclable package? Very interesting, I am serious! Next! A nice man summoned me to his booth and, although I explained to him I only cover the choco industry, he insisted that I tasted one of his mint meringues. Next!
Chocoholics Divine Desserts. That was a good stop. The most interesting line of this Californian company is aimed at the adult customer. Lover Boy and Lover Girl can be your chocolate lovers that never bother you with anything, but satisfy you all the time. The Quickie packs contain body frosting that you can use whenever you feel a bit, you know, mischievous and naughty. For more patient couples, there are the board games that you can play on romantic getaways or on steamy nights: Chocolate Lovers Dice and the newer Truth, Dare or Chocolate. If that doesn’t sound tantalizing enough, I don’t know what does. You can find the rest of the non PG13 products on their website www.gourmetchocolate.com. They offer factory tours and informational classes, so if you live in the area, you should stop by. For a Quickie.
Getting on to more serious issues, there are chocolatiers out there who try to save the environment as well, not only the breast cancer patients or the poor, exploited farmers of the cocoa areas (African, South American countries). Endangered Species Chocolate should be already famous among the Whole Foods regulars, but for those who have not heard about these bars, the company donates 10% of their net profits to help protect endangered species, habitats and humanity. Most of the packages have illustrations of cute animals that are going to be extinct in a while if we’re not going to do anything about it: cute seals, cute bears, even the bat is cute. How can you resist saving the world with one chocolate bar? Obviously everything is organic and the wrappers are recyclable, so it’s as good for the body as it is for the soul. I would put my money on a key lime chocolate for that giraffe. If you’d like to know more about it, go to www.chocolatebar.com.
After I gave in to temptation and tried a wonderful piece of cheesecake (don’t worry, it was a tiny sample, I won’t grow a double chin as it usually happens after a slice or two), I stumbled upon a gorgeous booth that had a very mod decor. The design attracted me towards Verē’s representatives where I could admire their straightforward and functional concept. Everything from chocolate shape to package design is so slim and crisp that it fools you into thinking it’s a beauty/health product. They subbed it, "chocolate with benefits" and it’s not those kind of benefits. Verē aspires to be the healthiest chocolate on the market, using a low content of sugar, natural sweeteners, and containing added inulin (a fiber and prebiotic that supports the immune system), being gluten free and mostly vegan. That was a mouthful, but it actually sounds like the type of chocolate you’d feel comfortable eating at any time of the day or the month. Their site is www.veregoods.com and they are New York locals.
I made a short stop by a Vermont producer, Lake Champlain Chocolates, and I peeked at their organic delights. Some of them looked familiar as their bonbons and bars are sold all over the country and all over New York in select locations. Their filled bars are probably the most recognizable as they are sold in Whole Foods, although they have a wide range on offer, one piece more tempting than the other: truffles, coins, Chocolates of Vermont, dark, animal shapes, selected origin bars. What I find funny is the way the company was started. Jim Lampman, the former owner of a restaurant, was told by his pastry chef that the chocolates he gave his employees as gifts were really bad and thus he challenged him to come up with something better. When his chef did come up with a batch of great hand-made truffles, an idea took shape which later became his main business. If you want more info www.lakechamplainchocolates.com.
Let’s move to the West Coast chocolate makers now. There are plenty of wonderful masters of the bean on the other side of the country. Fran’s is one of them and its numerous awards and its presence in the Seattle chocolate scene since 1982 prove that devotion to quality will put you on top. I chatted to some of the sales managers at the show and they convinced me to try a salty caramel chocolate. Upside down so the salt touches the tongue I’ve been advised. Since it was the first smoked salt caramel I ever had, I have to say, they broke me in. It almost knocked me off my feet. Other gourmet multiple-awarded or finalist products include Gold Bites with Almonds, Pure Raspberry Sauce and Spiced Macademia Nuts. www.franschocolates.com
Vosges Haut Chocolat – now, that’s chocolate with attitude, purpose and dazzling flavors. Vosges not only wants you to experience unique combinations of spices and chocolate, but wants you to embrace the world, save the environment, understand and learn about other cultures and religions and appreciate great design. It’s a whole lifestyle for the modern woman who wants to do, see, smell, taste everything. The founder of this company, Katrina Markoff, was trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and has traveled the world cooking and learning before setting shop in Chicago. The numerous lines of chocolates are all singular and tempting: ‘The Great Gatsby’’s champagne truffles or the ‘Collezione Italiano’’s unusual Italian ingredients. There’s a lot to say about this, so if you want to submerge in the purple world of Voges, www.vosgeschocolate.com
One more tour by the French section threw me helpless in the arms of "Marquise de Sevigne," another chocolatier with a long history and a determined spirit. Founded in 1898 in a small shop, it later expanded into a successful national chain that survived the two World Wars and was taken over in the 70s by the Burrus family and adopted into the Schaal company. Currently, the Marquise has stores all over the world in addition to a Chocolate Museum in the vicinity of Strasbourg, and she plans to open boutiques in the United States soon. Impeccable packaging and passion for great chocolate insure its success. Check them out at www.marquise-de-sevigne.com.
I was attracted to the Hagensborg chocolates booth by the illustrations of a happy-looking truffle pig and Shelley, the president of this Canadian company and a fun young woman, started explaining to me why their products are so good. The chocolate lines belong to different fairy tale characters that embody the spirit of the said chocolate. The truffle pig, obviously sells the wonderful truffles, Leone (the lion) is the King of Belgian chocolates, and the Charming Prince (eh, you know, the frog) is crying for a kiss. The concept and its execution just bring you back to the world of story-telling. I got a chocolate frog to kiss. You never know. www.hagensborg.com
When it was almost time to leave, I discovered Theo, a company from the Seattle area. They are new and determined to succeed, we are new and set on reaching the highest peaks, so we bonded over that. They are proud of being the only roaster of organic cocoa beans and the first roster of Fair Trade certified™ cocoa beans in the United States. They have a line of dark and very dark chocolates from all over the map: Venezuela, Madagascar, Ivory Coast, Ghana. The one that got my attention was the Bread and Dark Chocolate and the Chai Milk Chocolate, which seem like unlike pairings. The package design consists of very warm colors, reminiscing of the provenience of the product. You can learn more at www.theochocolate.com
I’ve seen a lot and tried a lot of things and I can say that I am very proud of the re-sparkled interest in fine chocolate around the world. Creatives and entrepreneurs alike are trying to revamp it with all sorts of unusual flavors and concepts, and it seems to work. Chocolate is the new coffee.
