{"id":42695,"date":"2024-10-10T15:10:42","date_gmt":"2024-10-10T22:10:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/?p=42695"},"modified":"2025-03-04T15:36:36","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T23:36:36","slug":"craft-chocolate-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chocolatebythebay.com\/magazine\/local-chocolate\/ourchocolatiers\/craft-chocolate-party\/","title":{"rendered":"Craft chocolate party"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Craft Chocolate Experience<\/a> (CCE) San Francisco 2024 held over the last weekend of April was a 3-day chocolate festival \/ marketplace \/ expo \/ tradeshow \/ convention \/ exhibition \/ symposium… yeah, I think experience is probably the best sum-up. It was a little bit of everything. And for me it was such a fun party with a lot of interesting people and treats that it took me quite a while to write this longest blog article ever.<\/p>\n

\"CCE
CCE entrance with Dandelion Chocolate\u2019s popup shop on the left and Feve Artisan Chocolatier\u2019s booth on the right. The railing above Feve enclosed the 2nd level demo\/discussion area.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Promoted as the first chocolate festival sponsored by a chocolate company, CCE was sponsored by local chocolate maker Dandelion Chocolate<\/a>.<\/strong> As the sponsor Dandelion had the most chocolate presence in the space including an enclosed popup shop at the front of the venue plus tasting stations around the space where you could get their chocolate drinks, baked goods \u2014 even do some wine and chocolate pairings.<\/p>\n

The rest of the vendors \u2014 chocolate makers and chocolatiers \u2014 were clustered in several areas around the cavernous old Exploratorium<\/a> space at the Palace of Fine Arts. It still had echoes of the Exploratorium \u2014 like the 2nd level seating area where they held talks and demos \u2014 and some of the spirit of the Exploratorium\u2019s hands-on exhibits with all the tastings vendors were offering.<\/p>\n

\"Dandelion\u2019s
Dandelion\u2019s baked goods and drinks station in front, the wine and chocolate tasting bar is at the back<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The important part of the experience to me was the 2-day marketplace open to the public with chocolate and confections from makers from around the world \u2014 including LOTS of locals \u2014 with the opportunity to taste new chocolate and meet the makers. Cacaopod and I attended the first day of the marketplace and enjoyed the whole vibe. We looked in on some panel discussions and demos happening upstairs, but I didn\u2019t sit in on any of those. I was having too much fun visiting with vendors on the main floor, learning about new chocolate, and getting some gossip.<\/p>\n

There was so much chocolate that I couldn\u2019t cover everything \u2014 I didn\u2019t even manage to talk to every local vendor that day \u2014 but I still have lots of chocolate news to share.<\/p>\n

SFBA vendors at the CCE<\/h2>\n

Look at this list! So many local chocolatiers, chocolate makers, and confectionists at this event. You can skip to any one directly from here:<\/p>\n