TravelMusings

3 Posts tagged with the food tag
Amy Hatch
0

How does 66,000 pounds of chocolate sound to you?

 

Sounds like heaven to me—and now, heaven is right here on earth, in the Italian city of Turin. Cioccola-t, the annual Great Chocolate Festival, is set for March 6 to 15. The event will offer a 10-day extravaganza of tastings, parings, entertainment and seminars, all about chocolate and its cultural meaning.

 

The festival will feature more than 60,000 pounds of this amazing confection in all its forms: dark, milk, Nutella (my personal breakfast favorite), pralines and truffles … you name it, you can eat it.

 

God, I’m drooling just writing about this. Listen to this—buildings surrounding Turin’s historic Piazza Vittorio Veneto will be transformed into “grand temples devoted to chocolate.”

 

Or how about this—a bake-off contest between world-renowned chocolatiers will give visitors the chance to taste thousands of artisanal recipes. Plus, a “Chocolate Dinner” will be prepared entirely by superstar female chefs from the Piedmont region, and there is even a film about chocolate’s portrayal in cinema as a symbol of guilt and seduction.

 

Guilt and seduction. Yup, that sums it up. That’s exactly how I felt after I ate an entire candy jar filled with chocolate hearts on Valentine’s Day.

 

Oh yes, I did.

 

There’s more, but I can’t bear to talk about it anymore, so go visit  www.cioccola-to.com. Additional information on Turin, Piedmont and how to purchase a ChocoPass is available at www.torinopiemonte.com.

0 Comments Permalink Tags: food_festival, cioccola-t, chocolate_festival, turin, italy, food
Amy Hatch
0

Got a sweet tooth?

 

Then New York City is the place for you. As one of the culinary capitals of the world, New York has more than its share of places to indulge the kid in you—or, you know, like, your actual kid.

 

When I was a lass, we once had the grand pleasure of getting room-service sundaes from Rumplemeyer’s in the now-defunct St. Moritz Hotel. Considering that I’m 37 years old and can still taste the hot fudge sauce, you could say it made an impression.

 

Make a similar lasting impression on your wee ones and hit some of the city’s sweetest spots.

 

Dylan’s Candy Bar: From gummy bears to popcorn, if you can’t find it here, you can’t find it anywhere. This Third Avenue shop is a must-see for any chocoholic, no matter how old.

 

Chocolate Bar

 

Alison Nelson’s Chocolate Bar: Putting a modern spin on retro favorites is this café’s speciality. Billing itself as a “candy store for grown-ups,” you can indulge in savory chocolate sandwiches, nostalgia-inspired candy bars, gelato or the classic brownie. Or a salad. I say skip the salad, dude. The original West Village store recently closed and relocated to the East Village.

 

Rice To Riches: Candy not your thing? How about pudding? Mmmmm, puuuuddding. Rice to Riches specializes in nothing but rice pudding. But this ain’t your mama's pudding, mamas. No, this shop has flavors ranging from traditional to “Category 5 Caramel.” I know from what I speak—I once ordered a vat of the stuff for my honey for Valentine’s Day, and we both ate our way to nirvana.

 

Serendipity 3: What could be better than frozen hot chocolate? Hey, Oprah loves it, and America loves it some Oprah. Run, don’t walk to this legendary New York City sweet spot. Grab a burger, then top the meal off with an Outrageous Banana Split or a Strawberry Fields Sundae. Expect long lines.

 

Dessert Truck. Photograph by Rich Velasco.

 

Dessert Truck: Need your sweet fix while on the run? Scout out this sugar-on-wheels purveyor pushing $5 treats, such as molten chocolate cake served topped with sea salt and roasted pistachios. Two locations Park Avenue and 52nd Street days; Third Avenue and St. Marks Place (8th Street) nights.

 

Now I’m craving chocolate. Excuse me while I go scheme ways to get myself to New York City. Perhaps parcel post?

 

(For recommendations for more substantial family friendly fare, read TravelMuse's 7 Favorite Family Friendly Restaurants article, or for adults, its 10 Top NYC Restaurant Experiences piece.)

0 Comments Permalink Tags: new_york_city, food, restaurants, sweets, family_fun, family_travel, kids
Amy Hatch
1

It’s that magical time again—the dog days of summer.

 

What’s a family to do when there are no beaches nearby, the big summer trip is over, and all the ice cream in town has been sampled?

 

Why, the state fair, of course.

 

The last time I went to the fair was 2001.  We slowed to a crawl as we reached the entrance to the New York State Fairgrounds, but I was salivating at the thought of downing a plateful of deep-fried Twinkies.

 

Food fried in decades-old grease. The smell of livestock. The pie bake-off.

 

And, oh, my friends, the butter cow.

 

According to the Chicago Tribune, the Illinois State Fair is pitching itself as a low-cost family-fun alternative this summer, in light of soaring gas prices and an airline industry in disarray.

 

Located in Springfield, Ill., the fair boasts a $3 daily admission fee (less than your average matinee) and plenty of free events.

 

Illinois isn’t the only state that plays host to carnival rides and the 4-H Club. Check out the State Fair Directory to find the state fair nearest to you.

 

And if you can’t get to your state's big shindig, don’t forget about your local county fair—’tis the season for deep-fried Twinkies everywhere.

 

Mmmm, Twinkies.

1 Comments Permalink Tags: family_travel, state_fairs, food, illinois, on_the_cheap, chicago, springfield_il

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