Sunday, April 17, 2011

Tour du Chocolate - A Delicious Way to Spend a Few Hours

So, this month was Chocolatefest in Winnipeg. There are 25 restaurants that are participating with their own chocolate dishes. April 16th and 17th was Tour du Chocolate, for a mere $5 you receive all the chocolate offerings from The Forks Market. There were 21 vendors involved and it was a fun way to spend a few hours. For you chocolate lovers, it is a lot of chocolate...you will be in heaven...for everyone else, it is a lot of chocolate so be prepared!

My roommate and I went, for the price we knew it would be a great time. The Forks Market puts on quite a few events each year, and I have always enjoyed the ones I have gone to. It is wise to come early as they only sell a limited number of the passports. I must stress again that this is a lot of chocolate, it was just enough to have everything, anything else would have been too overwhelming. All the vendors were great but there were a few that stood above the rest.


The Almond Tree provided chocolate for fondue, I chose to have a fresh strawberry dipped in dark chocolate. It was amazingly delicious, a great way to start the sampling!


The next stop for us was Fergies Fish n' Chips where we had a Deep Fried Mars Bar. Yes, you heard it right. It was warm and contained melty, gooey Mars bar with a crisp batter on the outside. It just screams delicious, very rich! This could be a fun dish to bring home and share with a significant other...I am just saying;)


On to Caramel Crepe, they were offering a delicious Vida Crepe. This was a crepe made with a chocolate batter. It was then topped with a luxurious Grand Marnier chocolate sauce and almonds. The crepe was good but the sauce was amazing. I would eat it drizzled on...a spoon! It was so good, wow!


Next we went to Danny's All Day Breakfast. I have always loved their hash brown poutine(if you do not know what poutine is, ask a Canadian, it is so good!), so I knew this would be good. It was not a disappointment, they served us Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes and they were wonderful. The batter contained the bananas, which is how I prefer it. It was light and fluffy and the bananas were nice and sweet. Then on top was a delicious chocolate sauce with chocolate chips. What a sweet breakfast, literally!


The next stop was Chile, and we did not even have to leave the building! The Chilean Corner had Palmiers, a Chilean pastry often found in pastry shops. It was delicious with a wonderfully flaky texture and a light chocolate coat on the tip. The taste reminded me of butter cookies, the ones I was addicted to as a child but only got at grandma's house. Anything that brings back pleasant memories, is good in my books!


The next item we had was very chocolaty, it was good but a lot of chocolate! Tall Grass Prairie Kitchen is a great local place and all the ingredients used are local and often organic. This was a Chocolate Banana Bread Pudding. It was soft with a wonderful texture and plenty of banana goodness.


Next, we visited Italy with CasaBella Deli & Market. I really enjoy the sausages they make and their meat is all local. I have never had any baked goods from them but the Italian Chocolate Amaretti was wonderful. Crunchy on the outside and soft inside they were chocolaty with a hint of what I believe was amaretto. It was superb!



The next place had a wonderfully refreshing dish, it was savory! This was amazing timing as I was beginning to bore of all the sweet dishes, I do not have much of a sweet tooth. Grass Roots made this unbelievable Manitoba Bison Mole Chili. It was spicy, a nice heat on the finish with nice bits of tender bison meat. This was definitely the highlight of the festival for me! I could have eaten 2 bowls.


Last, but certainly not least, another local delight. Locally made hard pretzels dipped in chocolate. They were a nice light finish to a super chocolate day. These were courtesy of The Almond Tree again!

My roommate and I had a great time. We spent $5 each, tried some amazing dishes, what could be better? It was definitely a delicious way to spend a few hours!

1 comment:

  1. Mike, you had me salivating through this!! And definitely made me wish I could have gone. : )

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