The 3rd Annual Rincon Rotary District 5500′s decadent “Taste of Chocolate” was held this afternoon at the Doubletree Hotel (445 S. Alvernon Way). And Creative Catering won all 4 categories of tasting: Chocolate Artisan, Mousse Crossing, Cocoa Loco, and Hometown Hits, as decided by Celebrity Judges:

Alex Miranda, KGUN 9
Kayna Whitworth, KOLD 13
Anne Kellogg, Tucson Lifestyle magazine
“Chris P” and “Joe Joe”, 93.7 KRQ (the “good looking guys”)
Mrs. Grant, 94.9 MIXfm

All photos below courtesy of friend Andy Reilly (except for last two photos taken by Barry Cohen).

Creative Catering's winning Cocoa Loco entry (judge's choice)

I suspect it was also Creative Catering’s wide selection of three choices of fondue dips that was so impressive– using bananas, creams puffs, angel food cake, pretzels, marshmallows, & brownie bites. Yum. They won 3 of the 4 celebrity judge’s categories last year (all except for Mousse Crossing).

Creative Catering's fondue choices - Hometown Hits winner (judge's and people's choice)

In the People’s choices (voted on by the hundreds of attendees), the winners for the same categories were:

Chocolate Artisan: Melting Pot (choco strawberries)
Mousse Crossing: Eclectic Cafe (white chocolate flan)
Cocoa Loco: Zink’s Treats (hot pepper fudge)
Hometown Hits: Creative Catering (chocolate river)

Congratulations to all the winners, and to Chair Wendy Hobbs are another successful Taste of Chocolate.

Zink Treat's winning hot pepper fudge (Cocoa Loco category, People's Choice)

Creative Catering is located at 727 E. Holaway, phone 520-690-0146, email is info@tucsoncreativecatering.com, www.tucsoncreativecatering.com. Owners are Bill and M.J. Essenmacher.

Most of the taste options were chocolate cakes, brownies, truffles with a few unusual choices — a chocolate crepe (Planet of the Crepes) and a chicken slider sandwich with chocolate bbq sauce – pictured below (by Culinary Design Catering). And of course the Doubletree Hotel had their famous chocolate chip cookies on their tasting table.

Culinary Design's chicken slider entry (last year winner of Cocoa Loco category of People's Choice)

Numerous raffle prizes (gift certificates from restaurants and other businesses in town) were given out, and a silent auction of beautiful jewelry and other gifts (including an exquisite Mata Ortiz pot) was also held.

Read my previous blog about this event (click here), and mark your calendar for next year’s event scheduled for April 15, 2012.

Here’s a photo taken by Barry Cohen of the winning chocolate flan entry by Eclectic Cafe:

Eclectic Cafe's winning flan entry (Mousse Crossing, people's choice)

And last but not least, a photo of the winning team at Creative Catering receiving their People’s Choice award (Hometown Hits):

Creative Catering team, overall winners

The third annual “Taste of Chocolate”, an “indulgence in four categories of delightful confections by Tucson chefs”, will be held Sunday afternoon, April 3 from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm, at the Doubletree Hotel, 455 N. Alvernon Way, Tucson. I hear there’s even some wine tasting this year from an Elgin winery.

Sponsored by the Rincon Rotary Club which welcomes all adults and children to join in the tasting and vote for their favorites along with celebrity judges. Funds raised will benefit the Rincon Rotary Scholarship Fund supporting local Tucson students and Rotary International’s “Polio Plus” program, leading the fight to rid the world of polio.

Come and enjoy this delicious opportunity to support the Tucson community.
Tickets are available from all Rincon Rotary members or at the door.

For more information or to purchase tickets in advance, please call Jim Aslin at 520-722-6568. Website for Rotary District 5500, www.rotaryd5500.org, email is wbtus@aol.com.

Price: Adults $10. Children under 12 are free with a paid adult.

I attended for the first time last year and it is a decadent, fun event (click here for last year’s blog). Photos of 2010 scrumptious chocolate samples courtesy of Barry Cohen below:

And this event is definitely for you chocolate lovers!