Far from being the chocoholic that most women are, I still know how to appreciate a good chocolate. Growing up in Europe, you will always find a good plaquette de chocolat tuck somewhere in the kitchen cabinets.

My favorite chocolate comes from Voiron in France, Bonnat chocolatier, tasting one of their chocolate will put you in a trance of pleasure!

This said, Saturday morning, I woke up and was ready to spend my day at the Herbst Pavillion for the San Francisco International Chocolate Salon. This 30,000 square feet building was hosting for the day what any chocolate fan would call a paradise on earth!

The crowd was dense, it was almost impossible to get close to a booth, as hundreds of hungry chocoholics bounced from booth to booth. Children with chocolate lips, grandmas collecting pieces of the precious tasting delicacy, couples, friends, it seemed that the whole San Francisco was here today.

As far as for me, this was a disappointing experience. It was my first time here and I  think flawed by the other Chocolate Salon I had seen before, this one seemed more like a fair where local businesses came, just trying to grab one more customer. I went around all the stands about two times, trying to get information, taking pictures, tasting some chocolate, but beside a handful of Chocolatier who did have great products, the rest was a very average or very traditional. I guess I was very disappointed in the lack of creativity. Nothing I hadn’t seen before, except for Christopher Michael’s Sizzling bacon bar. A chocolate bar made with Chocolate, sea salt, bacon and popping candy. This was a surprising and creative concoction that made me smile for a while. Christopher did win the Award Winning bar.

I also liked Marti Chocolatt a lot. Their chocolate were very delicate, with a very creative and innovative taste and great decoration. They had one with goat cheese that was very unusual but really good.

The other few that caught my attention were: Saratoga Chocolates, Coco Délice and Neococoa.

I think maybe handicapped by the economic situation, which I understand, I missed the entertainment part of the “usual” chocolate salon that most of the time features, chocolate fashion show, sculpture work, and all paraphernalia around the them of chocolate. Where was the passion?

I did see a stand that presented some make up and got excited for a second thinking it was made of chocolate but I was very sadly told it was just because of the palette of color they used: “chocolate”.

I left the place empty-handed and a bit sad, this Salon was missing the “wow” factor and was just focused on promoting local businesses more than an exposition about and around the Chocolate. I felt that the businesses were more represented than the Star of the show: The Chocolate.

Maybe the San Francisco International Chocolate Salon needs a bit more of experience, after all it’s only their 3rd annual. I still applaud the organization and the space that was very convenient.