It was a beautiful warm day in the city last Saturday - one of those spectacular SF Fall days that makes it the best time of year to visit.We arrived in the city early afternoon and headed to Ghirardelli Square right away. Alas, the parking situation was such a nightmare that we missed the children's ice-cream sundae eating contest!
It was my first time at the Chocolate Festival where you purchase a card with a number of tastes - $10 for 6 tastes, $20 for 15 tastes. When you get a taste from a stall, they mark off your card, and all proceeds benefit Project Open Hand.
It was a fun, albeit crowded, event - although most of the stalls were very efficient and knew how to keep their throughput high. We enjoyed mini chocolate shakes from Lori's Diner, sorbets from Ciao Bella and ice cream sundaes from Ghirardelli. There were also lots of cookies, desserts, artisan chocolates (the earl grey tea-infused chocolate was a favorite) and a surprising number of stalls with different gourmet toffees. Plus hokey chocolate alcohol options like chocolate martinis, chocolate stout and Irish coffee (is there chocolate in that?!)
There was live music and many demonstrations, although we couldn't get into the cupcake decorating demonstration because it was packed. We also ordered from a nice crepe stand from Marche (a restaurant on the main square) - we had to get a savory ham and cheese crepe to offset all the sweets!And finally, half a dozen Kara's cupcakes to take home for an after-dinner dessert (the best was a caramel-filled fleur de sel one - mmmm). Overall, an excellent event - I'd highly recommend it for the fun and festive atmosphere alone. Just please don't try to park at Ghirardelli Square itself!
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