Enjoying A Chocolate Lunch

Chicago — "Ten years ago they told me I was crazy," said Master Chocolatier Fritz Knipschildt, laughing while describing his endeavors to combine exotic flavors with chocolate. "Today it is wonderful that so many have embraced these ideas and expanded their horizons on what is possible for chocolate."

Proprietor of restaurant and retail location Chocopologie Cafe in Norwalk, CT, Knipschildt led a discussion at the ALL CANDY EXPO on the myriad applications of chocolate not only in confectionery, but also in food, beverage and even fashion. In addition to his delivery, the audience was also served a specially developed chocolate lunch courtesy of the National Confectioners Association's Chocolate Council.

More than 225 show visitors enjoyed a lunch
that featured chocolate as an ingredient in each dish.

The menu included:

Coffee and chocolate encrusted sirloin of beef sandwich with provolone and spicy aoli on ciabatta roll; Grilled chocolate mole breast of chicken on French bread with jack cheese; Modified Southern Comfort salad with Guittard chocolate nibs, dried cherries, spiced pecans and goat cheese over mixed baby greens with herbed white balsamic vinaigrette.

Presenting his personal biography to a crowd of more than 230, Knipschildt detailed how, from European chef to American entrepreneur, his career has taken him around the world and garnered a bevy of television and magazine coverage in the U.S. in recent years.

Fritz Knipschildt
Chocopologie Cafe

He admits the challenge of marketing "an idea is more difficult than mere products, and my life has been dedicated to the idea of expressing oneself through chocolate."

In this business, you cannot, however, be good at only one thing," Knipschildt quipped.

He told Candy & Snack TODAY that feedback since his presentation was overwhelmingly positive, and that most of the attendees reported they were amazed at all the ways in which chocolate could be enjoyed.