Thank you for your support!

Another gorgeous evening, another great year! Thank you to everyone who helped to make the Festival of Chocolate 2012 such a success!

Last Thursday February 9th, over 200 people gathered at Lago Bar|Grill|View in support of the Distress Centre of Ottawa & Region's 24-hrs services and volunteer training programs. There was such a great energy throughout the night and chocolate was in abundance, as were the happy looking faces. 

None of this would have been possible without the support of an amazing team. A special thanks to our incredible chocolatiers, guest judges, vendors, sponsors & donors, photographers, volunteers & staff and ofcourse the Ottawa Firefighters!

Stay tuned for our final numbers and photographs from the evening. 

Our sincerest thanks to all for your on-going support and enthusiasm for this event. Make sure to save the date for Thursday February 7th, 2013 for next year's Festival of Chocolate!

The Festival of Chocolate has sold out!

Thank you to everyone for your overwhelming excitement and support of this year's event. Tonight is going to be amazing and we are looking forward to meeting everyone. There's going to be over 200 people simultaneously enjoying the same, decadent sugar rush. It's going to be fun!


We are already thinking about next year's event, so save the date for the Festival of Chocolate on February 7th, 2013!

Debuting at the Festival of Chocolate and coming soon to Ottawa!


At Cococo, we are devoted to making exquisite chocolates - handcrafted with premium ingredients in the tradition of the world's finest chocolatiers. We offer our products under the Cococo and Chocolaterie Bernard Callebaut brands and we look forward to being part of the Ottawa community as of summer 2012.


For more information please visit our websites at www.bernardcallebaut.com or www.cococochocolatiers.com

Thank you to Crazy4Chocolate!

We are very grateful to Sue Casey from Crazy4Chocolate who is currently preparing 6 delicious varieties of truffles (including Bailey's and Fleur de Sel, yum!) to sample at the Festival of Chocolate! 


Our biggest thanks goes out to Crazy4Chocolate. To read all about Crazy4Chocolate, click here!

A new experience: Tea and chocolate pairings.

You've probably heard a lot about combining chocolate and wine, chocolate and coffee, and even chocolate and beer. But have you ever tried pairing chocolate with tea? New flavors and experiences are abundant at the Festival and this year, Kimicha Teas will be on site to offer to guests lovely combinations that are sure to please.


Kimiko Uriu is a Certified Tea Specialist and Speaker from the Speciality Tea Institute of New York. She is the owner and founder of Kimicha Tea. She is recognised as a leading specialty tea expert and importer who currently is also teaching the Tea Sommelier Program at the Algonquin College.

She has worked in a leading Japanese tea company for several years, where she has worked in each part of the tea process from working in the tea field, factory, tea ceremony, sales in Europe and developing a brand.

She has worked with chocolate, ice cream, yoghurt producers, tea houses in Europe and introduced Matcha as a food ingredient to develop new recipes and products with them. She developed the Matcha Smoothie which is one of the most popular tea recipes in Europe.

Come and visit Kimicha at this year's Festival of Chocolate.

Welcome Fire Chief deHooge!

We are pleased to announce that Fire Chief John W. deHooge will be joining our guest judge panel along with Julie Nesrallah.

John deHooge was appointed Fire Chief for the City of Ottawa Fire Services (OFS) in 2009. Before joining the City of Ottawa, Chief deHooge served the City of Waterloo as General Manager of Protective Services and Fire Chief of Waterloo Fire Rescue since 2004 after serving 25 years with the Town of Oakville Fire Department in progressively senior positions before becoming Deputy Fire Chief in 1997. Ottawa Fire Services is a combination Department comprised of almost 1000 career and over 450 volunteer fire fighters operating from 45 fire stations covering a geographic area of approximately 2700 square kilometers. 

In 2003 Chief deHooge was awarded the CAFC’s Award of Excellence for developing an interactive DVD training program that promotes operational excellence between Police/Fire/EMS. The program distributed to these services province-wide by the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office, also received the IAFC Fire Service Award for Excellence.

As the first international student, Chief deHooge recently graduated from the US Center for Homeland Defense and Security’s Executive Leadership Program. He holds a Diploma and Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Western Ontario, is a graduate of the Ontario Fire College - Fire Technology Program and Canada’s Emergency Preparedness College – Site Management & Emergency Operations Centre Programs. Chief deHooge recently received his CAFC – Chief Fire Officer (CFO) designation.

Welcome Julie Nesrallah!

We are excited to announce that Julie Nesrallah, mezzo soprano and host of CBC Radio 2 Tempo, will be joining us for the evening as our guest judge.

Julie is an extremely versatile singer and actress who dazzles audiences with her rich tone, engaging personality and deeply expressive communicative skills. She is regularly engaged by leading opera companies, symphonies, festivals and chamber music ensembles across North America and abroad.

On July 1, 2011 Miss Nesrallah sang “God Save the Queen” for His Royal Highness, Prince William and Her Royal Highness Princess Kate during Canada Day festivities in Ottawa on Parliament Hill. Miss Nesrallah has also performed for “An Evening for Peace” in Montreal for Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan. She also sang for Her Royal Highness Princess Haya in Amman, Jordan, to launch an endowment fund for underprivileged girls to study music in Canada.

Miss Nesrallah has been the recipient of many distinguished awards & prizes, including the Canada Council for the Arts Emerging Artist Award & Mid-Career Grant. She has made several recordings and is frequently featured on CBC Radio and National Public Radio in the United States. Miss Nesrallah is currently the host of “Tempo” CBC Radio 2's flagship national classical music program, and the host of “Solo” for CBC Television.

Julie will be joining us on February 9th to help determine who will be coming away as this year's winner. To learn more about Julie, visit www.julienesrallah.com.