Kerry Beal

Ubered on back to the hotel to pick up Chocolot and headed to Chinatown for lunch. Thanks to all for their suggestions - we were able to check eG and figure out which dim sum place to hit for lunch. Great Eastern was the choice. Way to much food - when will I learn. Fried taro. Green beans with XO sauce. Some sort of noodles. Spareribs. Duck. Steamed buns with BBQ pork. Har gow. Turnip pancake. Can't recall the name - but they are kind of slime rolls - but still delicious. Fried shrimp rolls Leek dumplings Potstickers. Custard tarts. There were leftovers to bring home.

Alleguede and I headed back to the Ferry building this morning for the market. Stopped and had a good look at the chickens and porchetta dripping on potatoes roasting under them. Market was a little wet this morning - all the citrus was very tempting particularly the white grapefruit - wanted to make cocktails. Bought some dried peaches and persimmons. Hiked down to Fisherman's Wharf - the obligatory photo of Alcatraz. Must purchase a loaf of sourdough at Boudin of course. Dropped in to Cost Plus market to see what we could find - sadly these pots were not magnetic. Especially since they were $9.99

I will have to check with Rodney.

Free range chickens have a similar prevalence of salmonella as non free range - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16300088

Things brought home in our travels today - a big bag of bars given to us by Mark at Guittard. Chocolot talked him into giving her a few pounds of product for testing purposes. I got a couple of bottles of Red Boat fish sauce and three bags of Rancho Gordo beans - black turtle, Corona and Christmas Limas.

A visit was made to Emporio Rulli - Alleguede, Chocolot and I had met the owner at our panning course in Las Vegas in 2014 - so we decided to drop around and see his facility. Quite something - he makes 10,000 panettone for November and December. This year he made some panettone that he baked in jars. Later afternoon meal at Mijata at the ferry terminal - mexican. Tortilla chips, salsa and guac Carne asada on acme bread roll Taco Chicharon burrito.

Started the morning at Guittard - had a tour of the factory by a friend of Chocolot's. Came out smelling like chocolate. Only picture is of this cacao tree in the lobby - we had to leave purses and cameras in his office. Next Dandelion Chocolates - bean to bar. Had fun watching the production - had an interesting time this evening talking to the owner about issues. Next door to Dandelion is Craftsman and Wolves - checked out a Kouign amann, a 'morning bun' which should have been a 'mourning bun', croissant and baguette.

So Chocolot, Alleguede and I have come to San Francisco to attend and show off the EZtemper to the Fine Chocolate Industry Association's Winter Elevate Chocolate Event, then attend the Fancy Food Show on Sunday before heading home on Monday. Here's what they fed us on the plane - a calzone. With two recommendations from eG types - and within walking distance we chose to go to John's Grill after we got off the plane. Sourdough of course! Rib eye for me. NY strip for Alleguede F Filet for Ruth. Heading out for a cocktail party right now - will report back with today's food later tonight.

Double ganache filled molds are somewhat overfilled (ie filled to the brim) then a thin layer of warm as possilbe chocolate over one side of the ganache and the two sides are put together quickly then the clamps or whatever applied. I've never liked working with the big metal clamps - chopsticks fail to hold the sides together as well as they should, a combination of chopsticks to align and big industrial plastic clamps can work rather well. I find one of the best solutions though is to use gianduja as the filling - it holds itself together!

Definite RobertM Sue Casey Chocolot curls MelissaH Gwbyls tikidoc Robyn sarahdwyer Dilittante + 1 YetiChocolates dhardy123 Tentative gfron1 - not seeing a commitment to come above but seeing an interest in Morato! lambrecht gourmet prabha Lurking waiting to decide DianaM

And Whitechapel interests me a lot as well!

Integrated scale.

Well put Enrique! It also excels at making ganache - you put all the ingredients in there - set to 50C - run for a few minutes at low speed until most but not all the chocolate is melted - turn off heat - crank up to speed 7 or so for 30 - 60 seconds and you have perfectly emulsified ganache.

I don't think that Anna lacks anything in the way of intrepid spirit - after all we were two old broads in a hipster ramen joint - sometimes the food you get is just crap!

God I love eG - where else would you get so much helpful information in such a short time!

Stirs and heats, weighs and kneads, can go slow and fast, can pulverize better than a blender - I understand the new one is in 1º C increments instead of 10 which would be useful.

Really just interested in a variety of options to choose from - but nothing in the formal dining for sure! Last trip we hit Zuni Cafe, Slanted door, Tartine, food trucks outside the wharf - should probably do something different this time!

Oh indeed - he's got several in there!

Ok then - we will be holding the workshop, the show and tell and the Saturday night dinner at Alleguede's soon to be opened patisserie/cafe. There will be a nice big chocolate room, garland stove, walk in, couple of Selmi's, Mold'arts, guitar cutter, spray guns... This will be the first time I don't have to bring my entire chocolate room along for the ride.

Your name or the name of the facility?

The facility will have NEW floors you say? Can I tell them about the facility? Second the idea of the americans buying their Canadian dollars now - we are not the lowest we've ever been - but certainly the lowest in years!

Bump! Heading to SFO tomorrow with @Alleguede and @Chocolotfor the FCIA Elevate Chocolate event and the Fancy Food Show. Only there until Monday - but would welcome an update on places to consider for the few meals we will be around for. Any of the places suggested above better, worse, the same - anything new we should consider?

Spent some time this morning with David Castellan at Soma's bean to bar facility. They will be moving shortly to a new location - and may not be fully functional in May. But he will be thrilled to show us around and let us pick his brain around bean to bar. He has a vacuum oven he uses to make milk crumb and a colloid mill for hazelnut paste for his own gianduja. And lots of other gorgeous equipment.

I'm a big fan of leaving it on the counter. Still gets used pretty regularly.

Could well be.