Theonistas Unite!

Chocolate and Wine Pairing Notes from the PCC Fremont Tasting

Our intrepid Chief Brand Ambassador Pamela Hinckley joined with PCC Wine Gurus Robert and Stephen at  PCC Fremont last night for a night of decadent pairings. Here are the specific pairings for you to try out at home:

• COCONUT CURRY with Cor Riesling - off dry with peach, pear, apricot and honeysuckle 
• FIG FENNEL with Ridge Zinfandel - dry but fruit-forward red wine
  
  
• CHAI with Marchesi di Gresy Moscato D’Asti - mildly sparkling with floral, honey and citrus aromas, slightly sweet
  
  
• NIB BRITTLE with Muscat Beaumes de Venice - sweet white dessert wine with peach, apricot melon and citrus flavors
   
• COCONUT CURRY with Cor Riesling -off dry with peach, pear, apricot and honeysuckle

• MADAGASCAR with Lopez Island Raspberry wine.

• BREAD AND CHOCOLATE with Lustau Oloroso dry sherry- toasted walnut and hazelnut aromas
  
  
• CARDAMON CARAMEL with Warres TawnyPort 10yr - a lighter Port, a bit sweet, with nuts and caramel aromas - served slightly chilled
  
  
• VANILLA GANACHE with Mas Amiel- similar to a ruby port but with cocoa, plum and anise flavors

A Video Clip from Go Green Expo NY with Theonista Debra Music

Here is a video clip from CW11 News in New York. It is a spot on Go Green Expo, which was this past weekend. Deb tells us the show was just packed, with five people deep waiting to get a taste of Theo Chocolate. It's nice to be popular!

A Decadent FREE Event at Theo May 8

Join us Thursday May 8 from 6-8pm at Theo Chocolate for a night of relaxation and joy! We will be sampling a decadent selection of organic chocolates and rejuvenating Choice organic teas, serenaded by a string quartet. Enjoy a complementary Ayurvedic mini hand massage with Sweet Beauty chocolate lotion or purchase a Two-Person Ayurvedic Warm Oil Massage or Chocolate Body Scrub Treatment for a deeper indulgence. Follow your bliss with a chocolate meditation at 7pm. The party continues across the street at Life in Balance.

Theo Chocolate, Life in Balance, Choice Tea & Sweet Beauty Present:
A Taste of Bliss
Thursday, May 8 6-8pm
Chocolate Meditation 7pm
Free Event, No reservations required

New Circus Contraption Show RusnMay 16- June 22

Oh Boy! The circus is back in town!

"Circus Contraption, Seattle's premiere one-ring traveling circus, crowns its 10th year with its first full-length production sing "The Grand American Dime Museum."  The humbly-titled "Show to End All Shows" presents a traditional American circus as it romps joyfully toward oblivion.  Featured are Pink Poodle-Girls, a ball-balancing Seal Boy, a Real Mermaid and, as always, an original, live musical score by the incredible Circus Contraption Band." Tickets are $25 through Brown Paper Tickets. The show will be performed here at the Factory on the Canal St side of the building. Erin and Lara  will be tempting us with podcasts until the big show begins.

Tune in:

Podcast1
Podcast 2

Bambootique Trunkshow in Tualatin - Free Chocolate!

Beth and Tammy of Bambootique are hosting a Spring Trunk Sale Saturday May 3rd from 10am-4pm - which is wonderful in and of itself, but what's more, they are offering a free Theo chocolate bar to every new customer! Yummeh. Shopping a Sale + Fair Trade + Free Chocolate = PERFECT SATURDAY! Please contact Beth to be added to the mailing list and receive directions to the sale.

Eat Local Now! Dinner and Celebration

Tuesday, April 29th

Join Sustainable Ballard, BALLE Seattle, and Ballard High School (Go Beavers!) Earth Service Corps for the Fifth Annual Eat Local Now! Dinner. Speakers include local farmers affected by flooding, and a Silent Auction will benefit a local farmer emergency relief fund. Tickets and more info available here.

Theo Chocolate and selfcentered join forces for chocolate meditation

Max Simon, visionary behind the selfcentered meditation tour - with such diverse events and programs as the PDM - public display of meditation and "Musitations" CD brings the world a fabulous new concept - The Chocolate Meditation! We had Max here at the factory a while back and he took us through the chocolate meditation and now he is offering ongoing chocolate focused meditations both in LA and in his travels. We look forward to another chocolate meditation sometime in June - I will keep you posted. You can check out the selfcentered blog here. And here are some selfcentered videos to put a smile on your face:

The PDM

It's Not What You Think

Greenfest, Green Power, and FREE THEO CHOCOLATE!

Be sure and stop by our booth at Seattle Greenfest this weekend! Greenfest has much to offer, including a swap-o-rama clothing swap booth and free electronics recycling courtesy of 3R technology (laptops, PDAs, cellphones, CDs, & household batteries - no CRTs)

What's greener than that you might ask? Stop by the Seattle City Light or Puget Sound Energy booth and get free Theo Chocolate for signing up with their green energy programs. By buying renewable energy credits, you are offsetting the costs associated with adding more green energy sources to the local grid, offsetting your carbon footprint, and making an environmental(reducing carbon  dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, mercury, and particulate matter) and social impact. Who knew as little as $3 a month could make such a big difference? What am I, Sally Struthers? No, but seriously, it's nice to see how big a change we can make by ganging up together to be a force for green. Tacoma Power is also giving Theo for signing up for RECs but will not be attending Greenfest. Below are links to sign up on their respective websites

Must See Theatre: The Food Folly Follies starring actress/nutritionist Abil Bradshaw

 Nutritionist and Actress Abil Bradshaw is on a mission to change the way people think about food. “The Food Folly Follies” is the brainchild of Abil Bradshaw, a graduate of Bastyr University. The show serves up super-sized helpings of cultural commentary through a smörgåsbord of colorful characters from the crock-pot mind of an actress with a Masters in Nutrition. Her characters include a cave woman, a rural Texas native, a Nurse's Aid, a story-teller, and a Snake Oil Salesman. The larger than life real character, Abil, drawing on her Masters degree in Nutrition, will spend the second half of the show fielding questions from the audience about diet and nutrition.

Abil will also be talking to Tom Douglas and Theirry Rautureau on their radio program this saturday on “In the Kitchen with Tom and Thierry” from 5:45 until 6:00pm. The segment is called, “What’s Your Special?” Abil will discuss her lead character’s favorite pastime, foraging for beautiful,nutritious foods and share her favorite nettle recipes and tell you why wild foods are so good for us. Don’t miss it!

Theonistas Go Hawaiian!

Join Theonistas Steve and Autumn(our chief chocolatier) at the Kona Chocolate Festival for some amazing demos and samples, including a special chocolate & wine tasting. Yummmm. March 27-29th at the Sheraton Keauhou Bay. Aloha!

Wine Rocks! A Benefit for The Vera Project 3/27/08

Looking for a locally grown good time? Check out this event! Enjoy Washington wines, Theo Chocolate, Salumi cured meats, and Beecher's Cheese, while enjoying the musical stylings of some of Washington's finest vintners/musicians. I can make no guarantees as to the quality of the tunes, but the food and wine will be tasty! This event benefits the Vera Project.

There will be two "seatings" - a 6 o'clock and a 9 o'clock, tickets are $35 and are available here.

Expo West: Operation Anaheim

If you are you going to be visiting Natural Foods Expo West in lovely Anaheim, CA next week, be sure and look for Theo Chocolate, amazing & talented superstar Zaara of Kittenchops has made us a beautiful hand painted backdrop for our booth[# 4573 map here]. It is so gorgeous! But that is definitely not the only reason to visit. We will have lots of delicious samples, including brand new Hazelnut Crunch and Award Winning Fig, Fennel & Almond. See you there!

Fresh Truffle Fridays and Weekend Pain au Chocolat

Our lovely and talented chocolatier, Autumn Martin, has introduced two new weekend-only products: Fresh hand rolled Truffles, and Pain au Chocolat.

Our hand rolled truffles are rustic little nuggets of pure chocolate joy!These tiny treasures go by the pound, and are made in limited quantity every Friday. Stop by and try one, I'm sure you will be delighted!

Our other weekend offering is a classic Pain au Chocolat - shaved chocolate sandwiched in a hearty Tall Grass Bakery baguette - just warm it up in the oven and serve! A perfect sweet snack with a big cup of Cafe au Lait. We wanted to share with the world our inspiration for the Bread & Chocolate 3400 Phinney Bar. This is just the thing to take home to relax with after the Fremont Sunday Market! Mmm, and a Sunday paper, and a warm spot in the sunshine.... Ahhhh Sunday...... ZZZzzzzzzzz....

Belle Debauche - A(n A)rousing Success!

Belle Debauche was a wonderful night of wicked wonderment. Your humble blogger worked tirelessly through the night, aiding photographer John Cornicello with the photo booth. You can see all the photos here on our flickr page. If you didn't make it to this event, I highly reccommend you check out the next Circus Contraption event - "The Show to End All Shows" which begins its run this May.

Union Square Grill has gone Cocoa Crazy for February

February is generally considered to be 'Open Season' on all things of a chocolate nature, and Union Square Grill has truly taken to heart with a series of tastings, meals, and special recipes dedicated to our favorite food group! The highlight of this month of cocoa creativity will be a special 5 course dinner on on Thursday, February 28th at 7:30 pm (reservations required: 206.224.4321) Check out their site for more info.

Join Theo & Circus Contraption for 'Belle Debauche' - A Valentine's Event!

Join Us Valentine's day, February 14th for "Belle Debauche" Doors open at 8pm

A feast for the senses featuring luscious oysters, mouth-watering chocolate concoctions, tantalizing aerial and acrobatic performance, live music, dancing, and secret erotic surprises that will delight your imagination and ignite your passion.

Bring your sweetie or find one here!

21 & Over

Tickets are $65 advance, $75 at the door, and include food and all performances.

Tickets are available at: http://www.brownpaperticket.com or at the Theo Store.

I'll see you there!
Smooches,
Kiki

Theo Chocolate, Proud to be Sundance Green Bag Swag

Check us out! We are in the eco-green swagbag this year at Sundance! And in such good company too! I hear these bags are coveted - I mean, it comes with a skateboard?! Who wouldn't want that. And lots and lots of other goodies too. In fact, I contemplated circling our wee giftie in the large version of this image just so's you wouldn't miss it.

Gearing up for the Fancy Food Show in San Diego

You know it as the "Preparation for Battle Scene" in the movies - the music gets all dark and serious and militant, a series of cut shots of serious people doing serious things in a serious way (polishing axes, training in kung fu, determined shoe shopping) suggesting the passage of time spent getting ready for whatever final finality waits at the end of the film - that's what Theo HQ is like this week as we prepare for the Fancy Food Show. Except, you know, with chocolate. And less kung fu. The show runs this Sunday through Tuesday, if you're going, be sure and stop by for chocolaty reinforcements, for whatever lies ahead (possibly ninjas)!

Tilth Retaurant featuring Theo Hot Chocolate for January

Maria’s New Year’s Message « The Tilth Blog. A very delicious New Year message from Maria of Tilth Restaurant

Love from the Eco-Gift Show

Big thanks to Siel of Emerald City and green LA girl for her lovely mention on our booth at the Eco Gift Show.

UNSCENE Launch Party Dec 8th

Join us at HAVANA Saturday, December 8th, for a fabulous party to celebrate a new release of the UNSCENE "Urban Navigator" maps to independent businesses in the Seattle area. Full details here. There will be food, drink, and exciting prizes. What could be better?

Join us at Eco Gift Expo December 15th & 16th

We look forward to seeing some fellow Theonistas at the Eco Gift Expo next month in Santa Monica. We will be at booth 101with all of our lovely holiday items for sale as well as individual bars to recharge your engines on the go, and of course, many tasty samples!

Wine, Chocolate, & Fashion - "A Holiday Romp"

Tomorrow night, Thursday, November 29th,  a fabulous fete combining many of my personal favorite things will be taking place at the Columbia City Theater. "A Holiday Romp" will include wines from the "Vine Vixens" at Kestral Vintners, Theo Chocolate samples, and Sweet Beauty product demos to warm your cockles, and a fashion show featuring  designer Kim McCormick of Kimmi and Cicada, and boutiques Cicada Bridal, The Frock Shop, and Anadaluz. Did I mention that the models are burlesque dancers? Whew! Sounds like a great night out.

Seattle Food & Wine Show!

It's day one of the Seattle Food & Wine Show. If you're thinking of checking it out, be sure to find us for some samples! Looks like a ticket to the Food & Wine Show gets you into the Christmas show as well, if that's your bag. (Ho, Ho, Ho...)

Seattle Urban Red Wine & Chocolate Tour

What a great day trip! Bon Vivant wine tours takes you to five local wineries and to Theo for a factory tour. I can't think of a better way to spend a chilly Saturday!

Focus on Farming Conference IV: From Soils to Sales

We will be providing some of our excellent confections to the Focus on Farming Conference this year. It's going to be an amazing forum for members of the local farming community to focus on some issues close to our hearts, such as creating a successful CSA, using bio-energy sources and growing bio-energy crops, reclaimed water, & organic certification for the small farmer. Keynote speakers include Dr. Fred Kirschenmann, of the Iowa State University's Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Cool Hunted at the Chocolate Show!

The Cool Kids over at Coolhunting.com gave us a nice little writeup in their New York Chocolate Show post. I always thought we were pretty cool. Now I have proof.

Awesome Photos from the Chocolate Show

Check out this awesome collection of photos from the New York Chocolate Show! This image, of course, is my favorite, but the Chocolate Pony has to come in a close second.

Chocolate: The Exhibition - on Tour

Chocolate:The Exhibition is on tour from the Chicago Field Museum. It will be here Seattle in '09 - I can't believe they are making us wait so long! In the meantime, check out their extremely fun and informative website. It is chock full of information, and has some wonderful educational interactive tools. Here is the upcoming schedule, perhaps it is visiting your town soon?

2008	February 9 - May 4, 2008	Great Lakes Science Center Cleveland, OH
	May 31 - September 7, 2008	Henry Ford Museum Dearborn, MI
	October 4, 2008 - January 5, 2009	Indiana State Museum Indianapolis, IN
2009	January 31 - April 26, 2009	Pacific Science Center Seattle, WA
	May 23 - September 6, 2009	North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences Raleigh, NC
	October 3, 2009 - January 3, 2010	Union Station Kansas City Kansas City, MO
2010	January 30 - April 25, 2010	Memphis Museums Memphis, TN
	May 22 - September 5, 2010	Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History Norman, OK

Gearing up for the Chocolate Show in New York

Our crack team of chocolate-ologists are gearing up to head to New York City for the yearly Chocolate Show. Please come visit this weekend! We are at Booth #49. Emily Stone blogs about it here in Serious Eats. 

Crave Show Seattle

Big thanks to everyone we met at the Crave Show at Seattle Center this weekend! We had a nice time meeting people, handing out lots of yummy samples, and enjoying the other exhibitors wares as well. Here is a picture I took of Deb setting up the booth on Saturday.

Reverse Trick or Treat

Our Reverse Trick or Treat was a grand success, and we loved having the opportunity to spread the word about Fair Trade and surprise and delight moms and dads with a little more "Treat" in return for their Halloween generosity this year. Our "kids in the field" reported that parents were completely taken aback at the reverse gifting, and responded enthusiastically to the Fair Trade message. Big thanks go out to Global Exchange for spearheading this amazing movement, and the Washington Fair Trade Coalition for their support (Thanks Stephanie!) We can't wait to participate again next year and reach out to even more people. Thanks to everyone who participated near and far, and all the bloggers out there spreading the good word.

Circus Contraption's Haunted Housewarming

Join us tonight at the factory for a fabulous night of spooky entertainment with Circus Contraption and special guests.