Exploring Winter Park never tasted so sweet with this exclusive Chocolate Party!
As part of my “12 Days of Birthdays” celebrations, I hosted The “Go Epicurista Progressive Dinner of Winter Park.” What better way to kick off the culinary fun than with chocolate, sweet treats and messy fingers. Starting the evening with sweets is fun and unexpected. Life is short, eat dessert first! Plus, you know it’s going to be a great night when you start with dessert. Kevin and Jami Wray, owners of Peterbrooke Chocolatier in Winter Park, were so gracious to host my friends and I for a private chocolate party and tour of the store. Dipping all sorts of goodies in chocolate was a fun activity that put everyone in a playful mood and set the tone for the evening.
We all enjoyed listening to Kevin and Jami’s inspiring story of entrepreneurship and how they started their own business in the middle of the economic recession of 2008. We also learned about the art of making chocolate and all the fun things they do with different molds and themed items for holidays. They were in the midst of the last-minute Easter Shopping frenzy. There were armies of chocolate bunnies and loads of Easter eggs all over the place! Their love for what they do is so palpable. It is great to support a local business that is an integral part of the community. They truly enjoy their customers and are passionate about providing the best chocolate in town. Which it is! This is the top chocolate store in Orlando for a reason. You can read more about it in my post “Top 9 Reasons to Love Peterbrooke Chocolatier” here.
We enjoyed samples of their uber-popular #1 seller chocolate covered popcorn as we strolled around the store. Then had a huge juicy chocolate covered strawberry paired wonderfully with our first wine of the evening, Banfi Rosa Regale. This Italian wine from the Piedmont region, slightly effervescent with delicate scent of rose petals and flavors of raspberries and strawberries, is the perfect pairing for dark chocolate. If you’ve never tried it, please for the love of all things good, put it on your shopping list and buy a bottle right away. Dark chocolate and wine never tasted so good. Oh, imagine this bottle of wine dipped in chocolate…I learned Peterbrooke can do that! It is perfect to make any day a celebration!
A Chocolate Party is all about getting your hands in the chocolate!
After our toast, Jami taught us the proper way of dipping items in chocolate. Yes, there is a technique. One that we were all eager to master, yet I’m afraid to say would take a lot more practice.
We became chocolatiers for the night and had the option to dip marshmallows, pretzel sticks, nutter butters and Oreos in either milk or dark chocolate. Oreos were the number one pick and not surprising, 6 out of 8 chose the dark chocolate, a 65% cacao blend that was the perfect balance of sweetness. The chocolate-covered apples on the table looked amazing but I think those are reserved for the Advanced Master Class of Chocolatiers and we were in the in the newbie beginner’s class. The best part (aside from eating these chocolate treats) was getting to lick our chocolate-covered fingers afterwards. Ok, the gloves were covered in chocolate but we licked them all the same!
Everyone loved this start to the evening and getting such a warm welcome from Kevin and Jami. With Peterbrooke open late, until 11:15pm that night (wow!), we were able to come back at the end of the night to pick up our goodies and buy some extra Easter treats for the kids (and for us too!)
A Chocolate party is a fantastic activity for a birthday, bachelorette party, girlfriend’s or kid’s party, or even a company team-building. Nothing brings people together better than getting your hands dirty with chocolate. I learned they are also hosting a Chocolate Summer Camp for kids and kids at heart starting in June. What fun!
For more info on hosting your own Chocolate Party, click here. For info on the Summer Camp click here. Peterbrooke Chocolatier is located at 300 Park Avenue, Winter Park FL.
Thank you Kevin & Jami Wray for a wonderful celebration!
On a sweet sugar-high after our chocolate party, we strolled down Park Avenue to our next destination on our Progressive Dinner… it’s a great way to burn off those calories! Our next stop was a wine-lovers paradise where we got a chance to visit an exclusive hidden room.
We are just getting started on our Go Epicurista Ultimate Progressive Dinner. Click here for Stop #2: The Wine Room on Park Avenue.
If you’re curious what 12 Days of Birthdays is all about, click here. It is the best cure for the Birthday Blues. I hope you will join me on this culinary journey!
Have you ever hosted a chocolate party? What is your favorite item to dip in chocolate? Please share and post in the comments below. I would love to hear about it!
If you think this is a great idea for your next outing with friends or you’ve been saying you wanted to be a chocolatier “someday”, please share this post with them using the links below. Set the date and #MakeSomedayHappen!
Cheers!
goEpicurista
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