The Mind of TCHO

A Trip to Texas

This week I traveled back to my hometown of Austin, Texas, and BOY! was it hot. And wow, since I have been gone, so many things have been built up. And I think it's only been a year and a half. Sheesh! Pictured below is just one of the razed buildings downtown (the former home of Texas' first brewpub—that will be making way for more high-rise condos):

While we were there we saw and did many things:

We saw cats...

And kids...

And rented a boat...

And ate duelling paellas...

And boy did we eat meat!

One thing that Texans are REALLY interested in is MEAT! As evidenced by the meat-fest at Cooper's Old Time Pit BBQ in Llano, Texas:

And, as always, everyone is interested in chocolate, and I enjoyed bringing some TCHO love with me to share with my friends and family. One thing I always had to remember, however, was never leave it in the car!!

Anyway, it was quite an interesting time I had there, reconnecting with friends and family. I have to say, though, that I was quite happy to be back in good ol' 65-degree SF!

Blog Clog

Lately Chocolate seems to hogging my internal blog—between factory deadlines, chocolate making equipment, permitting issues and delays, production planning, ERP/MRP systems, packaging machines complexities, health department certifications, HAACP plans and on and on....

This weekend however, what is really top of mind is my great friend of 15 years and housemate of 2 years, Patrick. It's Patrick's birthday this weekend, and traditionally I would remember and celebrate his birthday a week or so after I would serendipitously find out it had passed. Even though Patrick lived with me he would never intimate in any way that his birthday was approaching. Two years ago I travelled 14 hours from Munich to San Francisco after spending 10 days at the world cup with him—not knowing it was his birthday. I was so mad at him! I am someone who highly reveres the sacred birthday, celebrating and engaging all of my friends in celebrating " the 11 days of Laurel"—5 days before and 5 days after my birthday (really, it's not as self-indulgent as it sounds!). Patrick has religiously served as the "11 days" organizer and chief roaster, relishing every bit.

This weekend we planted a tree in remembrance of Patrick, who died two months ago of a massive heart attack…must stop blogging now, too emotional…. I guess writing it means it is real, and I still cannot believe he is gone.

OK, back online.... The tree, a tazmanian tree fern, is so very Patrick: its thick stocky trunk like him, unique and very, very Jurassic Park. He would comment when we went to Golden Gate Park how cool and prehistoric looking the grove of tree ferns was.

I miss the constant professional dialog between us, as we served as de facto career consultants for one another for the last few years. I toiled over my decision to take the job with TCHO or the job with Shutterfly, Patrick's company at the time. He wanted me to work for Shutterfly, but knew me well enough and listened carefully enough to me to acknowledge that "my heart was into TCHO," and nudged me in my natural direction.

I miss a million things about him—his void is profound—but most of all his insane laugh jolts me alive whenever I think of it, reminding me what a daily gift it is to be working, loving, and playing. Happy Birthday, Padu!

In Germany, at the World Cup:

His mother's favorite picture—seriously:

Juggling in Berlin:

At the Ice Bar in Poland:

Unglazed

I’ll admit: confronted by orderly shelves of glossy, glazed tiles and rows of curvy, luminous dishware at Heath Ceramincs in Sausalito, I had the impulse to touch every single shape and color. It was with my inner kid-in-a-candy-store barely contained that I left the showroom for the factory tour. (Totally worthwhile, btw). Among the things we learned from the wonderfully understated perfectionists at Heath is that they have a special Swiss ceiling built in 1960 (shaped something like ripples on a potato chip). It creates airy, day lit space in their factory without the need for the usual number of supporting walls. Edith Heath’s vision was to create contemporary hand-crafted stoneware there that would look like nothing else that had ever been made.

Heath tableware has always been designed so that diners can see and feel the natural elements that form each dish—the California clay underneath. That’s the slender unglazed rim on your Heath bowl or mug. So committed to a connection with materials, the artisans at Heath have been on a mission since the 1940s to find and refine the clay that makes the unglazed rim a hallmark of great design instead of an adventure in scratched lips and fingers.

I was thinking about the Peruvian cocoa beans we’re sourcing right now and that kind of authenticity —that the tang of the distant Amazon headwaters and mist-shrouded Andes is the unglazed rim, the voice of the inner materials talking straight to your tongue…

The perfect TCHOtini

This unusual martini requires some forward planning but it is worth the wait. This recipe makes 3-4 generous martinis.

Ingredients

1 bottle of quality vodka (375ml)

3 bars of TCHO “chocolatey” chocolate (50-60g each)

4 luscious fresh strawberries or 4 curled lemon rinds or 4 large green olives

Be the Love

It's getting awkward.



Scene: San Francisco living room. Crowded cocktail party. Chatter drowning the melody of an iTunes playlist. Tastefully scented candles. Grapes of exclusive local wineries rolling on tongues.



Dave: So, what do you two do for work?



Lillian: I'm a consultant for a database development firm.



Dave: Uh huh. And what do you do?



Samantha: I work at a new chocolate factory.



Zach: A chocolate factory! Really?



Samantha: Yup. We're on Pier 17.



Dave: Holy sh*&, what's your job?



Samantha: I get to promote chocolate. Do you eat much chocolate?



Dave: Yea, I'm getting much more into dark chocolate these days. Have you had the bacon one? It's outrageous. And then, there's the one with chili that's great. I can't believe you get to promote chocolate - what a cool job. Can I get a tour? This is so cool!



Lillian: [quietly] Um, I like chocolate.

Fishing on the SF Bay

Jerry Lee from All Area Electric invited me to come fishing with his whole crew this week. What better way to spend a Monday that I was supposed to be working? I arrived at the Berkeley Marina at 5am and a more beautiful morning would be hard to imagine.

After a cup of really bad coffee from the bait shop we got on the boat. It was a catamaran named Golden Eye 2000, and what a boat it was: roomy and stable with twin 575hp Caterpillar diesels. It really moves well.

Jerry Lee (right) and his foreman were set to go.

With a pole and a 1 day fishing license. I was ready too.

With Captain Vo at the helm...

...we headed out...

..and under the Richmond Bridge.

Everyone was anxious as Jerry was offering $50 for the first fish caught and we all chipped in $5 plus another $50 from Jerry to a pool for the largest fish caught.

We were using live anchovies for bait but that wasn't enticing any fish and for a couple hours we had nothing biting.

We found out our cell phones still worked though...

A little galley had been set up with all the necessary accoutrements for raw fish consumption: Soy with wasabe, garlic chunks, bean paste and a killer chile sauce Jerry's wife had made.

Then someone had a hit and when it was pulled in we saw a Halibut. I heard the shout of "sashimi!" go out and the fish was brought to the galley.

Everyone was waiting for that fresh snack. It was good (although I am not fond of eating bottom fish from the Bay on a regular basis)! I'm sure I have gotten my dose of PCBs and other chemicals for the year.

As the day progressed we caught quite a number of Halibut, Striped Bass and a Skate...

I caught a shark that I threw back and a Striper which became my dinner. Yum!

A Bite of the Big Apple

In two weeks, I’ll be heading off to my former home, New York City. Already, I’m looking forward to the bagels, a slice of New York pizza and a trip Gray’s Papaya for the ultimate hot dog.

The reason for my trip is a culinary experience that rivals even these indulgences. I’ll be attending the Summer Fancy Food show one of the specialty food industry’s premiere events. Comfortable shoes and an empty stomach are essentials to getting through this three-day extravaganza. More than 2300 exhibitors from around the country and the world will fill the Javits Convention Center’s 675,000 square feet of exhibit space to show off (and offer samples of) tens of thousands of edibles—everything from fancy mustards to virgin olive oils to spicy salsas to stinky cheeses to designer sea salts to, of course, lots and lots of products that use chocolate—confections, baked goods, cocoa drinks, ice cream the list goes on….

As I walk show, I’ll be looking to meet folks interested in experiencing, using and distributing our obsessively good chocolate—folks such as confectioners, chefs, hoteliers, specialty food retailers, brokers and distributors. I’ve attended nearly 20 Fancy Foods Shows over the course of my career…never have I been so excited to share and promote something as special as TCHO.

Stay tuned for the post-show report.

Hidden Complexities: thoughts on ant colonies and chocolate

This week a friend of mine emailed me a photo of a metal cast made from an underground ant colony. I was struck by the physical depth and complexity of this structure given the seeming simplicity of its miniature architects. Ants are social creatures; they build vast colonies (sometimes with literally millions of ants) with special rooms for food storage, mating, and nurseries. Such a hidden world! So much teamwork, so much communication, so much time is represented here; All driven by a hardwired instinct to build, build, build—among a team of very busy tiny ants.

Teamwork. Communication. Time. A drive to build. These are also core ingredients to building this chocolate factory into something great. To most of the external world, I suppose we are the chocolate bars we make; and chocolate is simply a delectable packaged product—without much context. And yet underneath each bar is so much complex building (physical building out of the chocolate factory) and formulating (product development), planning (brand building) and networking (marketing and technology)—and so many busy worker ants. So many interacting and interdependent parts. I wish someone could somehow make a cast of our growing colony.

But dig deeper down—-even before the chocolate was made by TCHO, there was so much effort and teamwork and time that went into growing and nurturing that cacao tree, then harvesting, fermenting, drying and roasting those cacao beans. So much movement and interdependency. So many lives touched those cacao beans before they ever became the yummy chocolate in your hand.

There is often so much more than meets the eye. Or the mouth.

New Horizons

The decision to join TCHO as Director of Sourcing and Farmer Relations marks a new and exciting chapter for me professionally and personally. The opportunity to help build a company, build a brand, contribute to creating exceptional chocolate and develop innovative programs in cocoa producing communities that change lives was all enough to change my life!

I left the comfort zone of my own company, a great townhouse in Miami, friends and a warm climate and drove 3,000 miles to San Francisco, the furthest north I have lived in 27 years!

The reception at TCHO has been warm and invigorating. Working with bright, caring, creative and hard working people has been fantastic and San Francisco in an incredible city. Let the TCHO adventure roll!

My First Dirt Track Car Race

Last Saturday, Chris Bonk (TCHO's facilities engineer and mechanical whiz) and I went to Petaluma for the sprint car races. It was loud, it was dirty, and it was really, really fun!

Requisite hot dog!

Chris with his guy Tyler Walker in the background.