Author: Tyler Kearn
Tucked away on a floor below ground level in one of the side buildings of the Pasadena Convention Center was more chocolate than any one person could handle. It was the third annual Los Angeles Chocolate Salon, a luxury chocolate convention which took place on Sunday, Oct. 11, and it blew my mind.I tried milk chocolate, dark chocolate, tea-infused chocolate, chocolate liqueurs, chocolate-coated bacon – and that’s just to start. I saw chocolate sculptures, chocolate fountains and chocolate spa products. I actually, truly, finally found my chocolate limit. (I wasn’t sure it existed, but yes it does.)
Although I had a great time, the show itself really wasn’t that big. It took up just two floor of a rather small convention space, but there was plenty of chocolate to go around. The show’s signs boasted “over 35 chocolatiers, confectioners, wineries and other culinary artisans,” and fortunately almost every booth or table had free samples to give away (though admission to the show itself was $25). Some even had elaborate menus, featuring chocolates such as “cappuccino liqueur with a twist” and “banana honey caramel.”
This is only the show’s third year in L.A. (though it has been in other cities for longer), and many of the participants were new. In fact, the convention took up double the floor space from last year.
One of the first time attendees was an L.A.-based company called Ococoa. Its owner Diana Malouf said that even though it was only her first time at the convention, it had been “totally worthwhile.” She added, “It’s nice to get feedback and have more face-to-face time with people.” Of course, all I really cared about were Ococoa’s samples, which included an item I can only describe as a “crunchy gourmet peanut butter cup.”
Like Malouf, many of the stalls at the convention represented chocolate makers from small boutiques who are looking to increase their exposure. Clarine Hardesty owns Clarine’s Florentines, a company in a dozen and a half supermarkets in northern California looking to break into the L.A. market. Hardesty said that the convention has brought her a “ton of traffic.” Of course, it didn’t hurt that her table was covered with delicious almond brittle.
The middle of the convention space was taken up by a central stage, where presenters gave talks on topics ranging from chocolate’s health benefits to how to make chocolate spa products (including chocolate body frosting, which, the presenter said, “can be used as body-paint and can be eaten”).
Many booths were trying to play up chocolate’s health benefits. One chocolatier boasted that three of her chocolate squares (which were about a square inch in size) equaled one and a half pounds of spinach in terms of antioxidants. Another touted his healthy “raw chocolate,” which was sweetened with agave nectar and infused with “medicinal mushrooms.”
As you would expect at a chocolate convention, there were a lot of really unusual chocolates. There was ginger chocolate, lavender chocolate, chocolate with exotic fruit from the Philippines and chocolate with Mexican spices. Chocolate can and did coat nearly any edible object, though, to my mind, the weirdest was the aforementioned chocolate-covered bacon. It was crunchy and salty and, to my palette, not particularly good.
This was, by far, the most delicious convention I’ve ever been to. It’s also the one that has left me the most full. It’s a weird experience seeing chocolate that looks absolutely delicious and knowing that your stomach just can’t handle eating any more.If you love chocolate, keep your eyes peeled for the event next year.
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