In the Times: Judging chocolate is tougher than you think
It was a tough job, but somebody had to do it. I mean, who else would have volunteered to gobble up a couple dozen chocolate concoctions for a good cause?
Well, I had several hundred people willing to take my place as a judge at the Art of Chocolate event just before Valentine’s Day earlier this month at the Mystic Marriott. But I fought them off ... er, convinced them it was a tougher job than it looked ... and managed to survive the two-hour orgy of gorging without looking like a chocolate blimp.
“Don’t eat everything ... just take a bite and move on” was the recommendation we received at the beginning from our “judge handlers,” and it turned out to be good advice.
I was joined during a snowstorm by much more experienced food judges — Franck Iglesias, executive pastry chef at Foxwoods Resort Casino; state Sen. Heather Somers, former Groton town mayor and a first-term Republican in the General Assembly; and Abraham Jacob Friedman, manager of The Meadows specialty food shop in Manhattan and a native of New London.
Somers told me she didn’t particularly like chocolate, but she somehow soldiered on. We all surprisingly agreed fairly quickly on the top winners, then were informed we needed to name a couple others as well in some specialty categories.
Our top award went to Oakwood Bar & Grille at Groton Inn & Suites, which featured a creative chicken taco served with a delicious chocolate shake inside a cookie. The runner up was Octagon restaurant at Mystic Marriott, while the award for Most Creative Use of Chocolate went to Gourmet Galley Catering and Most Savory to Karma Kitchen Mystic.
Outside judging offered additional awards, including Best Display to Cake by Franck at Foxwoods Resort Casino. The top People’s Choice award went to Groton Inn & Suites again, with second place to Grille 92 at Fairview and third place to North End Deli.
The proceeds will help Groton’s Fairview Odd Fellows Home of Connecticut to support its Guided Journeys Memory Care Program that brings in entertainment and activities for its residents.
Lee Howard is The Day’s community editor. Reach him at l.howard@theday.com or call 860-701-4356.
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