The 14th Annual NY Chocolate Show and Florian Bellanger of Cupcake Wars!

On Friday, I definitely did not eat healthy, but I am sharing my faults because they were quite delicious. I woke up late and grabbed some goodies at the Union Square Greenmarket and then after my Italian test, visited the NY Chocolate Show. There were so many cool things like drinkable chocolate (not hot chocolate), chocolate covered grapes/ pretzels/ peanuts/ caramel/ coffee beans/ bacon/ potato chips, chocolate fountains, chocolate truffles, chocolate macaroons- pretty much every kind of chocolate you can imagine (and all of it was some of the best chocolate in the world). I felt lucky to be able to go to the event and it was super fun. I bought my parents cardamom covered dark chocolate chips and I really loved the Broadway-inspired chocolate fashion show pieces. I took a picture of one of the chocolate sculptures that I wanted to share:

Photo I took of a white chocolate city scuplture!!! So cool :)

One of the many goodies at the chocolate show. Photo courtesy of  chocolateshow.com.

I even had the chance to talk to the famous Pastry Chef and owner of Mad Mac, Florian Bellanger (who is super nice in real life)! I was interviewing him for a piece for the Washington Square News and he was telling me about how macarons have become a major food trend. Here is a little of what he had to say that I couldn't fit into my journalistic piece: "The macaron had been a trend for a while in food service and hotels, restaurants, country clubs- all of those businesses- have been using macaroons for years. … Now, the big question is if this trend will stay or disappear. Nobody has the answer to this question, but clearly the trend is very high right now. I believe the macaron are here to stay… For now, it is working well and we are making a lot. I think it is the best cookie in the world. The difference between a macaron and another cookie is simple, it is very sexy, it is a colorful cookie, it is finger food, it is a snack, it is a gift, it is an alternate to chocolate. It looks luxury, it breathes luxury."

Florian Bellanger, owner of Mad Mac and judge on Food Network's Cupcake Wars. Photo courtesy of foodnetwork.com.

Florian was so nice that after the interview, he gifted me his delicious macarons (pistachio and chocolate). I ended up eating chocolate samples (tons) and macarons for dinner because after that wonderful extravaganza, I was too full to eat anything else for the rest of the day.

These are the delicious pistachio macarons from Florian . Photo courtesy of  madmacnyc.com.

The chocolate show completely threw off my healthy string, but I will do Pooja's 3-day reset (again) now that I need to and because Alter Eco shared some of their products with Pooja, Jane, and myself. #soexcited

Something I am excited to try: Alter Eco's 85%  cacao chocolate bar ! Photo courtesy of  altereco-usa.com.

Stay posted to read about my weekend food adventures (hint: Caracas and 16 Handles) and how my fitness-ness is going ;)