Event:  Chocolate and Chalk Art Festival

Location: Berkely, CA

There were quite a few participating vendors, but we didn’t get a chance to taste everyone’s wares, so only blogging about the places we have been to.

How it worked:  One buys tickets for tasting. $1 for each ticket.  Among all of us, we brought 20 tickets and shared the tastings from each vendor.

Results:

Vendor 1:  Virginia Bakery – 1690 Shattuck

Offer: Chocolate Ganache Cupcake – 2 tickets

Yay or Nay:  Yay! Very strong chocolate flavors and definitely a moist cupcake.

Vendor 2:  Andronico’s Market – 1550 Shattuck

Offer: Chocolate Mousse Teensy Treat – 1 ticket

Yay or Nay:  Yay! Although small, this little treat packed a good punch. Very yummy.

Vendor 3:  Cafe Gratitude – 1730 Shattuck

Offer: I Am Magnificent Raw Dark Chocolate Mousse – 2 tickets

Yay or Nay:  Yay and Nay! I love the name of this mousse…but I had to wait 8 minutes for this treat because the hostess/waitress/phone receptionist/sales person is overwhelmed (same person.)  The mousse itself tasted very strong (good in my book, but apparently not all of us agree on this because another taster said it doesn’t even taste like chocolate! Okay…next.

Vendor 4:  Lo Coco’s Restaurant – 1400 Shattuck

Offer: Chocolate Pizza with Ricotta – 5 tickets

Yay or Nay:  Yay! We absolutely loved the chocolate pizza and will come back to try their regular pizzas soon. (Btw, this pizza was especially created for this festival only and doesn’t appear on the regular menu. Perhaps we should request this…)

Vendor 5:  Saul’s Deli – 1475 Shattuck

Offer: Chocolate Pudding – 2 tickets  and Chocolate Brownies – 2 tickets

Yay or Nay:  Yay for the Chocolate pudding, but Nay, nay, and nay on their chocolate brownies. So dried and unflavorful. We were mad that we spent 2 tickets on this item. Grrr!!!

Vendor 6:  Love at First Bite- 1510 Walnut

Offer: Ultimate Chocolate Mini Cupcake – 1 tickets

Yay or Nay:  Yay!!! Love their cupcakes. So yummy and pretty too! I took extra photos of all their cupcakes that day to show how pretty they are. 🙂

Vendor 7:  M. Lowe & Co. – 1519 Shattuck

Offer: Chocolate “Gem” Truffle – 2 tickets

Yay or Nay:  Nay and Yay! Not because the chocolate truffle doesn’t taste good, but because it’s definitely a store brought item because M. Lowe & Co. is a jewelry store, and not a chocolate or pastry shop. What is Yay about this place is that they have beautiful jewelry, so that may be something to look into later, but definitely not chocolate-related.

Vendor 8:  Lush Gelato – 1511 Shattuck

Offer: Mexican Chocolate Gelato – 3 tickets

Yay or Nay:  Yay! Good gelato and a great flavor.