I bring this up because Josh, Alyssa, and I had the pleasure of attending the Meet the Maker Opening Reception to the Northwest Chocolate Festival in Seattle, WA. While only offering a small dose of what festival-goers were in for over the weekend, I was exposed to more chocolate-centric food, beverage, knowledge, and scantily-clad models than I knew existed.

We also got to taste chocolate! There were far too many chocolate companies to highlight, so I'll talk about a couple of my favorites.
Theo Chocolate is the only chocolate maker at the event whose offerings I've had before and they certainly didn't disappoint. Perhaps the most well-known chocolate maker in Seattle, Theo offers a little bit of everything ranging from classic chocolate flavors to coconut curry chocolate bars. Their commitment to sustainability is rivaled only to the length of their public tour waiting list. I actually had the opportunity to try the coconut curry bar and, well, it tasted like coconut curry and chocolate! The curry flavors were very subtle and the coconut/chocolate combo smoothed out the spice to where it all made sense when melted in your mouth. I've never had anything from Theo I didn't at least enjoy, so definitely hit them up on your next Seattle trip.
Ykchaua Chocolates (pronounced ick-chow-ah) is the ancient Mayan patron god of cocoa merchants. It's also a damn good part-time candy making operation out of Seattle's Ballard neighborhood that really left an impression with everyone. They also had a curry-inspired offering, but what stood out to me was a cayenne-infused chocolate. I'm all about the spice and have had spicy chocolates before, but they all end up tasting like chocolate in addition to spice if that makes any sense. Not Ykchuau's. The chocolate and spice flow as one and your entire tongue gets to partake in the experience. Very well balanced and not spicy enough to where it would only put off the most sensitive of palates.
At this point you're either still with me or have skimmed to this part because I'm going to elaborate on that scantily-clad models part. Also in attendance were models from La Figa: Visions of Food and Form. I'll leave the explaining up to their web site
La Figa: Visions of Food and Form is a book featuring a spectacular collection of sensual photography – models wearing nothing but the edible creations of James Beard award-winning chef Tiberio Simone. Using the human body as his canvas, and natural fresh ingredients as his paint, Simone’s elegant and tasteful nude images are the culmination of a five year collaboration with photographer Matt Freedman.

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