A Splash of Sweet and Spice at the LA Chocolate Festival & Pastry Show for St. Baldrick’s Foundation

A little chocolate, pastries and bubbly?

You officially have my attention. What is great is that → all three came together for a great cause, St.Baldrick’s Foundation at the LA Chocolate Festival and Pastry on Sunday, January 9th at the beautiful Omni Hotel. This great combination put the cherry on top of the cake for the day. I definitely jumped at the chance to be a part of this amazing organization and event.

First thing I did before I attended this festival was to pick the person to be my festival partner. Now some may say how did I choose? Well for this one it was easy, my mom who is a lover of all things chocolate and sweets and btw, she definitely gave her chocolate stamp of approval for the whole day.

January 9th was here for the LA Chocolate Festival and Pastry Show and we didn’t know what to expect. To our surprise the theme was the world of Alice in Wonderland, which was brought to life perfectly with a feel of fun and whimsy.

We were first greeted with a glass to take along the journey of tasting all the bubbly, which was seated next to a gorgeous floral wall that I want in my house. Let’s be honest I definitely had to take a boomerang video with my mom of the first glass of Sparkling Rose by LA Montina Franciacorta.

Let me tell you delicious and so delicious I had to get a bottle! It paired perfectly with the first chocolate of the day by Marsatta Chocolates’ 100 dark bar. I am not always one for dark chocolate, but I will definitely never stop eating this one.

We were then greeted by a decadent fondue station by Q Kabob Vasgen, mmmm tasty. This station and all of them were all so beautifully set up with their tastiest treats. To name each vendor that we tried would take more than one feature, but I loved each and everyone as did my mom. I will name a few that stood out for various reasons the most to me, but first lets talk about the bartenders dressed up as Alice in Wonderland characters. It was absolutely fantastic and adding more whimsy to this fantastic day.

We got our next wine to taste and moved throughout the festival. We came across Farine, which had the best meringues and I officially have an addiction to them. My mouth is salivating over them still.

Lets take a break from the food and focus on all the opportunities to give to St. Baldrick’s: the amazing silent auctions from sports memorabilia to chic purses as well as the proceeds of the tickets sold. St. Baldrick’s is a great foundation that helps raise money for children’s cancer research and a foundation that I will always support.

Now back to some more vendors that were all their to showcase their treats, but support for St.Baldrick’s.

Here are some more of my favorites: Smashmallow with their tasty snack size marshmallows (I bought 4 packs), McFaddy Candy Co.’s taffy (I am a self proclaimed Toffee Coniseur), Baklavalicious’ beautiful baklava, Sweet Temptations’ Blood Orange Mimosa Cake and Smores Bar and loads of yummy tacos. All amazing and helped make the day simply amazing!

The most beautiful chocolate my mom and I saw was by California Chocolate Company with a marbleized hazlenut, praline chocolate treat. It was art in chocolate form that we were not afraid to eat. The beauty of presentation was key even for the bubbles and another delicious pairing was Marco Paolo’s Tamarind Tea with Green Cardamom chocolates with a delicious Merlot. Can I go back? Just simply outstanding.

Cute was definitely present at this beautiful event not just in the Alice in Wonderland theme ( my new favorite), but in some of the candies like Sugarpova by Maria Sharapova. Now when a tennis start has a candy brand you expect some tennis themes in them right? There definitely was in the adorable tennis gumballs, which are perfect for any tennis match viewing party and the coconut toffee chocolate bars were just as delicious.

These weren’t the only tasty treats, but the ones that stood out. I will admit, my mom and I took some yummy treats home from a chocolate croissant to a cupcake and a cannoli. Boy were we in heaven, can we go back and show support everyday ? I am going to definitely try.

Thank you to everyone who hosted us because it truly was spectacular ! To end the day at Alice’s tea table was the perfect ending!

I leave you with this, “Chocolate is always a good idea.”

~Kerry

P.S. My backpack by Madison West was the perfect accessory to have hands free to try it all.