SF International Chocolate Salon Returns on March 21st

San Francisco International Chocolate Salon Returns on March 21st

Chocolate lovers, get ready!

San Francisco. March 21, 2009. The largest major chocolate show on the West Coast takes place this Spring at the 3rd Annual San Francisco International CHOCOLATE SALON, Saturday March 21st, 2009 at the Fort Mason Center’s Herbst Pavillion in San Francisco. Chocolate aficionados, fanatics, buyers and journalists can experience the finest in artisan, gourmet & premium chocolate in one of the world’s great culinary metropolitan areas.

The Third Annual San Francisco International CHOCOLATE SALON participants include over 50 chocolatiers, confectioners, wineries and other culinary artisans, such as: Coco-luxe Confections, Sacred Chocolate, Guittard Chocolate Company, Saratoga Chocolates, Marti Chocolatt, The Tea Room chocolate, Ghirardelli Chocolate Company, Neo Cocoa, Socola Chocolatier, Kikas Treats, CJ’s Bitz, Vermeer Dutch Chocolate Cream Liqueur, Quady Winery, Sol Rouge Winery, Akaroa Winery, Le Creuset, Swissmar, Putumayo World Music, Chocolate Television and TasteTV, and many more.

New 2009 Chocolate Salon additions include an actual Chocolate Wedding, and a Chocolate Art Gallery. Other Salon highlights feature chocolate tasting, demonstrations, chef & author talks, wine pairings, a live chocolate body frosting demonstration, ongoing interviews by TasteTV’s Chocolate Television program, and book signings of the Intenational Chocolate Salon publication, “The Chocolate Guide (Western Edition).” The Salon will also include a Silent Auction/Raffle charity fund-raiser for Holy Family Day Home, providing care and education for homeless children.

TasteTV also announces that the Ten Days of Bay Area-wide chocolate events culminating with the Chocolate Salon at San Francisco’s Fort Mason Center. During the week leading up to the International Chocolate Salon, Williams-Sonoma San Francisco and Draegers San Mateo and other locations will present daily chocolate recipe classes in their kitchens by chocolatiers as well as by well-known chefs and cookbook authors.

TasteTV Events include:

This blog from the contributors, producers and correspondents at TasteTV at TasteTV.com. technorati tags:, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

TasteTV and TasteTV.com Chocolate News Updates

Glam Media Launches Glam Venus

Now that Glam Media is in Japan, is Venus – the Planet of Love and Beauty – next?

Glam Media has just launched a new property in Japan. Per their press release:
Glam Media, Inc. ( www.GlamMedia.com), pioneer of vertical content networks and recently ranked comScore Media Metrix Top 10 Web property, today announced the launch of Glam Media Japan KK ( www.glam.jp). Glam Japan launches with leading magazine partners and more than 20 local Web publishers, blogs and sites, including CanCan, Nikkei Woman and Cafeglobe. Global luxury, beauty and consumer packaged good brands headlining as launch advertisers for Glam Japan include: MAYBELLINE NEW YORK (NIHON L’OREAL K.K.); FENDI JAPAN; MHD Diageo Moet Hennessy K.K. and ANA.
With its influential publisher and content network, Glam Media Japan is positioned to be a key partner for brand display advertisers in the region. Glam Media’s global expansion follows the continued demand by advertisers for global premium content from vertical content networks like Glam Media. Glam launched its UK and German operations in June and July of 2008, respectively.
According our expert analysis, this only leaves the rest of the planet Earth available for Glam conquests, and then they will be forced into interplanetary properties. 
Our guess is that Venus is the best fit. 
Hmmm…. TasteTV Venus has a nice ring to it.

Rouge Tomate Restaurant and Rob Valencia Score Big in New York

TasteTV’s chocolate salon judge and adviser, Rob Valencia, and his gig at Rouge Tomate in New York have just gotten a fantastic writeup in the New York Daily News. 
According to the Daily News’s writer Restaurant Girl, “..less is more!“
Other tasty observations: 

“Rouge Tomate may be a prototype for a restaurant of the future – a new way of thinking, a new way of eating, a new way of dining out.
…There’s also dessert, which is where you would really mourn the missing calories. Except you don’t here. The chocolate and banana tasting is 272 calories – a chocolate and caramelized banana napoleon, roasted baby banana split and a teacup of rich hot cocoa”

Four out of Five stars…Kudos Rob!

GigaOm goes to a new Ad Network

GigaOm goes to a new Ad Network, and if you don’t think this is a big deal, look at the report from the newly downsized (down to one editor…period) Valleywag.com, part of Gawker. They call it the Death of Conversational Marketing, which as anyone with a blog and an ad knows, is Federated Media’s catch-phrase. But is this really death, or possibly “renaissance? (rebirth)”


Speaking of which, Gawker’s Nick Denton has posted what he calls a “2009 Internet Media Plan,” which details who blog networks like his are going to survive the upcoming drop in online revenues and increase in cost-cutting.

It ain’t pretty, but it might be right.

“Everybody talks about the new sounds funny but it’s still rock and roll to me” – Billy Joel, poet and pianoman

Photos from the Mini Chocolate Salon @ Williams Sonoma (SF, Union Square),

Photos from the Mini Chocolate Salon @ Williams Sonoma (SF, Union Square), featuring Saratoga Chocolates and Sacred Chocolate can be seen here.

Budgets for Online Video may Shrink at Corporations

As a follow-up to the previous post that included the video from the Beet.tv Online Video Roundtable, we’ve included this interesting one that includes an interview with Dina Kaplan of Blip.tv on how the economic crisis is affecting corporate tests of the effectiveness of online video.