New Discoveries at Ghirardelli Chocolate Festival

By Bay Ewald Thu., Sep. 13 2012 at 3:30 PM

Categories: Food for a Cause, Sweet Beat

Flickr/variationblogr

Remember in Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory when finders of the golden tickets are first allowed into the candy factory and overwhelmed with chocolate-inspired awe? Walking into the 17th Annual Ghirardelli Chocolate Festival this past weekend, September 8th and 9th, felt a little bit like that.

This two-day celebration incorporated live music, ice cream eating contests, chef demonstrations, bake offs, and of course, copious amounts of chocolate. Vendors included Kara's Cupcakes, Three Twins Ice Cream, Fairytale Brownies, Ciao Bella Gelato and many more.

Bay Ewald

While meandering through a crowd of sample-driven fiends, I stumbled upon Save Me, San Francisco, a wine company started by the band Train. They have partnered with Ghirardelli Chocolate for a limited time only to produce a three-part chocolate bar collection: Dark Cabernet, Sea Salt Almond, and 72% Cacao Dark.

100% of Train's proceeds from the first production of the Save Me, San Francisco chocolate collection will be in support of Family House San Francisco, a local non-profit that provides free housing to families whose children are receiving treatment at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital.

You can purchase the chocolates online from Ghirardelli's website for $4.35 per 3.5 oz. bar or from San Francisco Ghirardelli stores depending upon availability. While you savor the tastes of velvety dark chocolate, hints of blackberries and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes, and bursts of sea salt and roasted almonds, don't forget that you're indulging for a good cause.

Follow us on Twitter at @sfoodie, and like us on Facebook.