It’s surprising in a city like York with Terry’s, Rowntree’s and Craven’s so much part of the city’s history, that they’ve never made much of a thing about it.
That’s all set to change this weekend, with the city’s first Chocolate Festival. It’s being organised by Sophie Jewett, who is a familiar face at chocolate workshops and farmers’ markets in north Yorkshire selling her own handmade chocolates (including the surprisingly delicious Yorkshire blue cheese chocolates) and who earlier this year opened the Cocoa House on Blake Street, a shop, a workshop and a place to eat and drink chocolate.
The Festival runs from Good Friday, April 6th to Monday 9th April, with chocolate themed stalls in Parliament street and a marquee in St Sampson’s Square. Workshops are split between the marquee – easter nest workshop, making chocolate from scratch – and the Cocoa House – easter egg making. There will be talks each day at the Mansion House on York’s chocolate history and the new Chocolate Museum in King’s Square.
Fancy white chocolate and truffle oil risotto? Melton’s restaurant are holding a chocolate lunch on Saturday, Karen Hardwick will be matching wine with chocolate in the marquee on Saturday, and the Dean Court Hotel are holding a Chocolate Literary Dinner on Good Friday with authors Paul Chrystal and Fiona Shaw. Fiona’s book The Sweetest Thing is a novel about two girls who come to York to work in the Chocolate Factory. Paul Chrystal’s book, out this month, says it all in the title: The History of Chocolate in York. All this is matched with a chocolate themed dinner £35.
All the events are listed on the festival website www.yorkchocolatefestival.co.uk