The Chocolate Expo came to the Connecticut Science Center on Sunday, Dec. 7 from 11 a.m. to 6p.m., featuring over 35 vendors from all over Connecticut, selling chocolate, gelatos, breads, and other goods.
According to Marvin Baum, the producer of The Chocolate Expo, the event was created after he was attempting to find vendors to set up at a music festival.
“I had been the creator of the Woodstock 35th Anniversary back in 2004, and we were having a big party to celebrate Woodstock and we were having a museum exhibition and concerts, but we had no food to serve,” Baum said. “I started calling around to all kinds of venders and they came, and one thing led to another and i went from the music business to the chocolate business.”
The Chocolate Expo has plans to expand throughout the east coast and strives to serve the community with every stop it makes. According to Baum, the event has raised over a quarter million dollars for non-profit organizations, and they hope to raise more.
Among the vendors at the Expo was Thomaston, Conn. resident Eloise Matthews, owner of Carousel Sweets, which sells chocolate and caramel covered apples. Matthews uses The Chocolate Expo as a way to get her small business’s name out to the public.
“They love my apples, they keep coming back for more,” stated Matthews.
Each floor of the Connecticut Science Center offered a science exhibit to explore, and chocolate and treats to sample and purchase. Among the treats were chocolate covered pretzels, homemade fudge, and chocolate crepes.
Throughout the day, demonstrations were performed for the public by Chef Barret Beyer, a contestant from Season 11 on the Fox reality show Hell’s Kitchen, Chef Brian Santos, a current contestant on Hell’s Kitchen, and Food Network star Chef Kevin Des Chenes.
“I like chocolate, everybody likes chocolate, it also helps me create dishes that has to do with chocolate, I don’t do dessert I barely do desserts, so it made me think outside the box of how to include chocolate into an entree,” Beyer said, about using the event as a way to explore his artistic talents.