Disclaimer: In exchange for two tickets to New York‘s second annual The Big Chocolate Show 2018, I am writing this event review.
Although there was a small press event and awards ceremony on the night of September 28th, between the 29th and September 30th at The New Yorker, A Wyndham Hotel in Manhattan, The Big Chocolate Show welcomed the visitors – and their food allergies – through its doors. There were a number of tastings, chocolate-making workshops, and classes, such as pairing red wine with chocolate. Exhibitors were in show from throughout North America and Ecuador, as well as a few folks from Europe and other parts of South America, though the New York City metro area had the largest presence.
The Big Chocolate Show, Main Hall
…and it all sounds nice and good, but in reality, it was just another New York mosh pit, made worse by the presence of kids. There was no way to control this crowd, and vendors never took it upon themselves to admonish attendees to wait their turns for samples.
Enough of that noise, let’s get on with the show!
Brooklyn Born Chocolate and its array of peanut/almond/cashew butter cups
Brooklyn Born Chocolate was probably my favorite of The Big Chocolate Show, if only because they had the best peanut butter cup. Though, they also offered some paleo options such as almond and cashew butter cups.
Chocolate on Maui
Chocolate on Maui’s white chocolate maracuya (passion fruit) bites, all locally sourced in Hawaii.
Ayurveda-inspired concoctions and somewhat unusual ingredients are part and parcel of Elements Truffles. The New Jersey, USA-based company notes that they are Fair Trade, and offer 25% of their profits to a charity for underprivileged children in India.
Conexión Chocolate is Ecuador-based, bean-to- bar, and entirely GMO-free. They use the prized single heirloom Arriba Nacional cacao fruit for all of their bars, and offer distinct flavors such as anise and quinoa (the latter of which showing up a lot at this show), and coriander and golden berry. At this point, I was getting tired of the scrums, so I took a break from the chocolate…
and moved on to the one place of respite; a 21+ space upstairs that was expressly for liquor tasting, such as Gubba Rum:
Overall, although I didn’t enjoy the show, there were a few good bites from various chocolate makers. The liquor tasting area – with samples of vodka and martinis – was unexpected, but provided a welcome change from the main event.
Would you be interested in attending The Big Chocolate Show?
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