Among National Days of This and That, National Chocolate Day—which happens to be Friday, Oct. 28—has to be right up there, interest-wise. Why not mark the occasion by shopping for fine, handmade, even award-winning chocolates? You can do just that at The Hood Kitchen’s MRKT, when Amy Jo Pedone opens a Valenza Chocolatier pop-up shop to commemorate what must be her favorite day of the year. (Pedone creates all her Valenza chocolates at The Hood.) From 4 to 7 p.m., sample autumn-appropriate pumpkin spice bon bons, purchase favorite goodies, and get preview tastes of the Valenza holiday collection, which will be available Nov. 1. Click here for pop-up details.
And I wasn’t exaggerating that award-winning. Pedone recently received her third consecutive Best in Salon at the LA Chocolate Salon, in addition to her two-in-a-row Grand Master Award from the International Chocolate Salon. “I’m humbled, being awarded Best in Salon for 2014, 2015, and 2016,” says Pedone, “especially considering I launched Valenza in 2013.
What can we expect from this year’s holiday collection? “Being half Sicilian—Valenza is my maiden name—I grew up making an assortment of Sicilian cookies from 100-plus-year-old family recipes, as well as my mother’s turtles and chocolate-covered cherries each Christmas. My inspiration for my holiday collection is to pay homage to my heritage, family holiday traditions, and my chocolate studies in Torino and Lecco.”
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