TASTING AWARDS PANELISTS
& SPEAKERS BIOS
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SALON
ROLE
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Rob Valencia
Chocolate Maker and Chef
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Robert Valencia has spent his culinary years devoted to artisan chocolate making across the country, from his native Texas to San Francisco to the East Coast. Robert’s work has been featured in Art Culinaire, Time Out NY, the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and most recently, Chocolate French and Sweet New York. Rob also worked at Zero Degrees, now known as Myth Cafe.
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Chocolate Demonstration /
Salon Tasting Panel |
Leslie Harlib,
food writer/restaurant critic
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Leslie Harlib has been a food writer for 25 years, including as the former food writer/ society columnist for the Marin Independent Journal for 13 years. She is a passionate chocophile, and makes discovering chocolate an integral part of her culinary research around the world. She is known for liking bittersweet chocolate so assertive, she crosses the street when she sees it coming. |
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Laurie Armstrong
Vice President, Marketing & Communications
San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau
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Bio Coming Soon |
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Mary Ladd
SFist.com
Jalapeño Girl
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Bio Coming Soon |
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Alexandria Christakos
Draegers
Gourmet Food & Wine Markets
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Bio Coming Soon |
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Lily Ko
Arts & Shopping Editor
SF Station:
San Francisco's City Guide
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Bio Coming Soon |
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Jane Ganim,
Confetti Le Chocolatier
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Bio Coming Soon |
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Carole Bloom
Chocolate Expert and Author
"Truffles, Candies, and Confections"
"Bite-Size Desserts"
"The Essential Baker"
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Carole Bloom is a European-trained pastry chef and confectioner, author of eight cookbooks, food writer, cooking instructor, media chef, and spokesperson. In addition, she has worked in world-class hotels and restaurants in Europe and the United States, and has been a consultant for both new and established culinary enterprises.
Carole is author of bestselling books on chocolate and baking such as:
Truffles, Candies, & Confections, Chocolate Lover’s Cookbook For Dummies, and The Essential Baker.
http://www.carolebloom.com
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Speaker / Author Book Signing
Salon Awards Tasting Panel |
Jack Epstein
Owner
Chocolate Covered
Artisan Chocolate Shop
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Bio Coming Soon
Read about it on Yelp
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Yosh Han
Perfumer
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Yosh Han, a perfumer in San Francisco combines the art of perfumery with aromachology, the therapeutic properties of essential oils. Her eponymous Luxury Elements Collections sells at Barneys New York and other specialty retailers. Han also created Temperare, a collection of chocolate fragrances exclusively for Temper Chocolates Boston. Her work has appeared in Vanity Fair, Town & Country, Bon Appétit, WSJ and Forbes.
www.eaudeyosh.com
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Reverend R. M. Peluso
Reviewer, C-Spot chocolate newsletter and Interfaith minister, formerly of The Community of Peace and Spirituality, New York City
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Bio Coming Soon
Presentation:
"Chocolate and Meditation: Demonstration and talk on the spirituality of chocolate tasting"
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Speaker and Wedding Officiant |
Karletta Moniz
www.CulinaryMuse.com
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Karletta Moniz is a San Francisco-based chef, food consultant and writer with noted expertise in chocolate. Her passion for chocolate led her to create the ‘Art of Tasting Chocolate’ class as well as the website TheArtofTastingChocolate.com. Karletta’s client list includes Disney, Neiman-Marcus, Jamba Juice, Seeds of Change, ABC/TV and more...
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Jeannine Sano
Northside San Francisco
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Bio Coming Soon
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Amy Sherman
Cooking with Amy
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Amy Sherman is an award-winning blogger, food writer and recipe developer. She is the author of New Flavors for Appetizers and Wine Passport: Portugal. She has also written for regional magazines such as VIA and JapanUP. In addition to her own blog, Cooking with Amy, she is a weekly contributor to the KQED food blog, guest contributor at Epicurious and served as contributing editor of GlamDish. |
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Andrea Nadel
Founder of Gourmet Walks
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Andrea Nadel is the founder of Gourmet Walks, a San Francisco culinary tour company, and the San Francisco Gourmet Chocolate Tour. She first developed a taste for fine chocolate in college when studying in France and traveling throughout Europe. She worked for many years in marketing in New York City before moving to San Francisco with her husband in 2000. When not leading tours, Andrea can be found blogging about chocolate, cooking ambitious dinners and entertaining her two-year-old son.
www.gourmetwalks.com
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Sara Moser Feinberg
Buyer
The Pasta Shop
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Bio Coming Soon |
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Stephanie Ichinose
Yelp
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Bio Coming Soon |
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Henry Tenenbaum
TV Host
KRON 4
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Bio Coming Soon |
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Pam Elder
CulinaryForum.com
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Bio Coming Soon |
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Edie & David Ichioka
www.bunrab.com
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Bio Coming Soon |
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Janine Kahn
SF Weekly
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Bio Coming Soon |
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Tiffany Martini
SF Examiner
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Bio Coming Soon |
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Salon Tasting Panel |
David A. Lytle
Frommers.com
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Bio Coming Soon |
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Anita Chu
Dessert First
author of "A Field Guide to Cookies"
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Bio Coming Soon
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Speaker / Author Book Signing
Salon Awards Tasting Panel |
Barbara Passino
Author
"Chocolate For Breakfast"
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Bio Coming Soon
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Author Book Signing
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Teresa Rodriguez Williamson
Founder and Publisher of Tango Diva
Travel Editor KTRB Radio 860 AM
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Bio Coming Soon
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Katie Sweeney
YumSugar
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Bio Coming Soon |
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Salon Tasting Panel |
James Mellgren,
Senior Editor
The Gourmet Retailer Magazine
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Bio Coming Soon |
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Lindsey Shook
7x7 Magazine / Hartle Media
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Bio Coming Soon |
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Marcy Smothers
The Food Guy and Marcy Radio
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Bio Coming Soon
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Carolyn Jung
Food, Wine, Travel writer/editor
Foodgal.com
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Carolyn Jung is an award-winning food and wine writer. She is the recipient of a James Beard award for feature writing about restaurants/chefs, a Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism award of excellence for diversity writing, an award from the American Association of Sunday and Features Editors, and numerous first-place honors from the Association of Food Journalists, and the Peninsula Press Club. She has judged a bevy of food contests, including the biggie of them all, the Pillsbury Bake-Off. |
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Sabrina Yeung
Managing Editor
Stylehive.com
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Bio Coming Soon |
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Rachel Bassignani
Sommelier
Spruce Restaurant
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Bio Coming Soon
Read Rachel in the
Wall Street Journal |
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Jessica Yadegaran
Contra Costa Times
Bay Area Newsgroup
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Bio Coming Soon |
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Janet Rudolph
Dying for Chocolate Blog
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Bio Coming Soon |
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Janet & Richard Tarlov
Canyon Market
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Bio Coming Soon |
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Diane Campbell
The Candy Store
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Bio Coming Soon |
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Salon Tasting Panel |
Iris Eisenlohr
Wine Director
Piacere Restaurant
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Bio Coming Soon |
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Salon Tasting Panel |
A.K. Crump
TasteTV and ChocolateTelevision
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Author Signing /
Salon Tasting Panel |
