Chocolate Heaven at the 2018 International Chocolate Festival

By: Irene Yang

I recently attended the 2018 International Chocolate Festival at the San Mateo Convention Center this past April. I won’t lie—my favorite part about food festivals is the free samples! There were over 40 vendors all throwing out their wares for the visiting chocoholic. The Chocolatiers are all very happy to talk to you about their work. Where they source the beans, how they make the bars, what kind of flavor profiles to expect; you can feel their passion as they walk you through the different kinds of chocolate available.

Small Batch Chocolate

The CES of Food Shows: 2017 Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco

By: Irene Yang

Being an engineer in the Silicon Valley, I’ve tried to describe the Specialty Food Association's Winter Fancy Food Show to my coworkers many times. “Big food convention,” “giant snack show,” never quite hit the mark. However, I realized the perfect way to describe the glorious event of the Fancy Food Show: The CES of Food. All the new trends and interesting takes on what America is eating come out in full force in the Moscone Center in San Francisco every January. You didn’t think they could make coffee out of chocolate? Well they did. And it’s vegan. And gluten-free (probably).

Banana Car

Here are some of the best new brands and ideas in food.