San Francisco Chocolate Salon releases new collection of Limited Edition NFT’s

TasteTV and the International Chocolate Salon release the first collection of NFT’s for the upcoming chocolate festival in San Francisco on April 2nd.

The San Francisco Chocolate Salon NFTs include custom artistic renditions of its 14th anniversary poster. There are 10 custom versions, each limited to 7 editions each. Each collectible San Francisco Chocolate Salon NFT has utility, surprise exclusive perks and membership benefits, and is a fully tradeable NFT.

NFTs (non fungible tokens) are linked to the world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, and have grown in popularity in the art world over the last few years, with some pieces of digital art being collected as NFTs and reaching valuations of tens of thousands to millions of dollars. The use of NFTs has now expanded into films, music, and even live events such as Coachella, as well as exclusive restaurant and club memberships.

For the San Francisco Chocolate Salon NFTs collection there will only be 7 total tokens of each version minted, and 70 in the entire collection. Only 50 NFTs will be available for purchase and collecting. SF NFT’s can initially only be purchased through the SF Chocolate Salon website ticketing area, www.SFChocolateSalon.com

To view the collection, visit:

https://opensea.io/collection/sfchocolatesalon1

San Francisco Chocolate Salon Returns on April 2nd as the Premiere West Coast Artisan Chocolate Festival

The 14th Annual San Francisco International Chocolate Salon takes place this Spring on April 2, 2022. The Chocolate Salon has long been known as the original artisan chocolate festival on the West Coast.

Chocolate aficionados, fanatics, lovers and addicts can taste & experience a wide range of artisan, gourmet & premium chocolate in one of the world’s most famous culinary metropolitan areas.

Chocolate Salon participants include chocolatiers, confectioners, and other culinary artisans, such as Amano Artisan Chocolate, Z. Cioccolato, LetterPress Chocolate, Michael’s Chocolates, Formosa Chocolates, Goufrais, Siamaya Chocolate, CocoTutti Chocolates, Fookie, R & J Toffees, Brigadeiro Sprinkles, The Good Chocolate, p.o.p. candy co., flying noir, the Wishing Well Workshop, Fabula Tea, and more.

For more information or tickets, visit www.SFChocolateSalon.com or HERE.

The San Francisco Chocolate Salon, Los Angeles Chocolate Salon, Sacramento Chocolate Salon, Seattle Chocolate Salon and International Chocolate Salon are produced by TasteTV, which originally created the first Chocolate Salon event in San Francisco in 2007, inspired by its cultural cookbook on chocolate, entitled “French Chocolate.” French Chocolate is available on Amazon.com and on www.FrenchChocolateCookbook.com.

Local and State COVID Guidelines apply.

International Arts of Fashion Foundation Reveals 9 Top Student Designers

The Arts of Fashion Foundation, a San Francisco-based fashion education non-profit, recently unveiled 9 fashion students selected in their annual competition. The students were reviewed by an international jury lead by iconic Antwerp Six member Walter Van Beirendonck, alongside other influential Belgian designers such as Jean-Paul Knott of Brussels, Jan-Jan Van Essche of Antwerp and Zoë Vermeire of Ghent.

Under the theme “Momentum” and the art direction of California-born designer Brandon Wen, the official fashion film of the International Arts of Fashion Competition premiered at the same time.

Over the course of the year the Foundation received fashion design proposals from 366 students representing 116 fashion institutions from 29 countries. Hosted at the Cristobal Balenciaga Museum in Getaria, Spain, 50 projects that reflected creative and innovative potential were selected from the initial group. At stake was a chance to win apprenticeships with renowned fashion houses from across the globe, including the Métiers d’Art – Chanel, as well as scholarships for creative programs to further develop their careers.

In the past the competition has concluded with a final jury session and fashion show in San Francisco to select winners. However, with limited travel for students and professionals due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Arts of Fashion decided to create a film for the final presentation of the international competition.

The final results and prizes, including apprenticeships with reputable design houses and scholarships, are:

  • Arts of Fashion Apprenticeship Award | Maison Lesage – Paris: QUANG THAI NGUYEN – Canada | LCI Montreal
  • Arts of Fashion Apprenticeship Award | Maison Montex – Paris: YINUO WANG – China – Tsinghua University
  • Arts of Fashion Apprenticeship Award | Maison Lemarié – Paris: EMILY ROSE SAUNDERS – UK – Norwich University of the Arts

Arts of Fashion MasterClass Scholarship Awards

  • JIWON JANG – South Korea – Kookmin University
  • SOA SHIN – South Korea – Kookmin University
  • YUANYUAN ZHANG – China – Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts YAYI TAN – China – Donghua University
  • CERASELA-IRINA NICOARA – Romania – University of Art and Design Cluj-Napoca
  • ARIADNA GEGUNDEZ – Spain – LCI Barcelona – Felicidad Duce

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Arts of Fashion, with Antwerp chosen as the city to begin a year of celebrations in cities across the world that are significant to both fashion and to the Foundation.

Exquisite additions to the celebration of creativity in fashion are the contribution of long-time Committee Chair, Juliet Bergh, the support of the City of Antwerp, and of a network of partners, including Ulla Models Agency and Jill Models Management Agency in Antwerp, the Make Up For Ever Academy in Brussels, and the Fashion department of the Antwerp Royal Academy of Fine Arts. Through these series of events, the Foundation aims to create strong ties and promote creative exchange between design professionals in all areas of the fashion world.

Chef Rene Johnson releases new vegan soul food cookbook, From My Heart to Your Table

Chef Rene Johnson has released her new cookbook, From My Heart to Your Table, featuring vegan and healthier traditional soul food. Her unique coffee table-style cookbook shares easy to follow recipes your holiday guests will love, along with personal stories and scrapbook-style pages, and some amazing tips on how to make healthier, plant-based versions of everyone’s favorite appetizers, entrees, and of course, desserts.

Chef Rene is known for taking her grandmother’s homespun southern soul food recipes and making them every bit as flavorful and culturally relevant, without many of the harmful fats added to traditional comfort food dishes.

Chef Rene’s has many celebrity followers, with clients ranging from Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris to actor Danny Glover, author Dr. Cornel West, California Governor Gavin Newsom, multi-platinum selling music group, Tony! Toni! Toné, and top execs at Google and YouTube.

“Vice President Kamala Harris has a sweet tooth,” says Chef Rene. “Her favorites were the desserts I made for her event, like my mini sweet potato pies, mini vegan cupcakes, and mini homemade vegan chocolate chip cookies.”

“California Governor Gavin Newson throws a yearly event for Congresswoman Barbara Lee, and they loved my vegan greens, picnic potato salad, mac and ‘cheese,’ vegan candied yams, and hot water cornbread.” But, says Rene, “the vegan quinoa ‘meatloaf’ was Gavin’s favorite.”

“Actor Danny Glover gravitated towards my vegan beans and rice. That was his favorite by far,” says Rene.

As far as more traditionally prepared, yet healthier dishes, Rene shares, “Dr. Cornell West enjoyed the jerk turkey meatballs, mini mac and cheese bites, and he also loved my vegan red beans and rice. Then he dug into my blackberry jam cupcakes.”

From My Heart to Your Table features all of the celebratory holiday food appetizers, entrees, and desserts Chef Rene Johnson is famous for, from Hollywood and Silicon Valley to Washington, DC.

A true pioneer of the healthier soul food and vegan soul food movements, Chef Rene’s food is so flavorful and delicious, you won’t miss the meat and dairy, or the excess fat.

Some of Chef Rene’s vegan soul food dishes include: fresh tomato succotash, smothered cabbage, vegan dirty rice, vegan fried okra bites, cashew “cream” sauce, vegan butter beans, mini-quinoa and spinach cakes, and quinoa meatloaf.

More traditional fare featured in Chef Rene’s cookbook includes: hot water corn bread, junky black eyed peas aka “cold day chicken soup,” sticky barbeque wings, big ol’ pot of gumbo, grandmother’s fried chicken, off-the-hook ox-tails, the “mac attack” mac and cheese, salmon croquettes, stewed salmon and grits, and more. “The beautiful part is that you can mix and match traditional and vegan dishes for the holidays. It doesn’t have to be one or the other,” she says.

There is also a healthy mix of dessert recipes for staples such as sweet potato pecan pie, peach cobbler, blackberry jam cupcakes, vegan chocolate chip cookies, and her signature “Mama Cake (yellow cake with chocolate icing).”