Proceeds from this event are to benefit homeless vets through HUD-VASH, a program providing permanent housing, case management & supportive services.

The Book Fair will feature:

Veterans from American Legion Posts & veterans of foreign wars

Holiday Mail for Heroes

Purchase snacks from Cafe 54, www.cafe54.org (one of my favorite restaurants at 54 Pennington St. downtown)

Hosted by the Library & Resource Center of T.E.P.

More information – Jan Prideaux, jprideaux@tep.com, 520-745-3318.

Celebrate Veteran’s Day on Nov. 12 and honor our veterans.

Cafe 54 is located at 54 E. Pennington (hence their name), just west of Scott Avenue in downtown Tucson. The upcoming Silent Auction (their first annual fundraiser) on December 11 will feature paintings, sculpture, jewelry, and will be from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., coinciding with 2nd Saturdays Downtown. Cafe 54′s phone # is 520-622-1907.

Cafe 54 is an innovative bistro serving “New American Fusion” cuisine in the heart of downtown Tucson. The cafe serves lunch Monday through Friday at 11am to 2 pm in an artsy, urban ambiance with a changing daily menu. Cafe 54 is a non-profit organization with an award-winning training and employment support program serving individuals recovering from mental illness.

Cafe 54 is Supported by the Community Partnership of Southern Arizona, Rehabilitation Services Administration and private donations.

Our Mission:

* To assist individuals with mental illnesses become independent, tax-paying citizens.
* To provide trainees with the tools they need to recognize and utilize inherent talents and skills.
* To provide the restaurant community with a pool of reliable employees who have had training and first-hand experience working in a quality restaurant setting.
* To reduce and ultimately eliminate the stigma surrounding mental illness by shifting focus from disabilities to abilities.

If you haven’t tried their delicious, innovative menu for lunch, you should stop by the next time you’re downtown. Their food is always fresh, interesting, imaginative, made from scratch daily in their kitchen.

As a frequent diner, I love the jerk chicken salad, their rosemary rolls, their teriyaki salmon (and most other dishes as well). Here’s their description on the jerk chicken salad: “Jerk seasoned chicken breast, mango, pineapple, strawberries and spiced pecans served on mixed greens and dressed with raspberry vinaigrette.” It is all fabulous.

Each entrant was asked to choose the best of four categories: Chocolate Artisan, Mousse Crossing, Cocoa Loco, and Hometown Hits. I tried to sample all the different chocolate cookies, fudges, truffles, candies, tiramisu, dipped strawberries, etc.and it was lots of fun judging so many delicious wonders and delicacies. There was even a chocolate mole taco and a chocolate based mixed fruit compote.

chocolate truffles

I’ll let you know toward the end of this article who won in these categories (based on celebrity judges’ decisions), but here’s a list of the restaurant/catering participants:

Chocolate Artisan: Anne Gartner, Bergie Harzheim, Creative Catering, Gentle Ben’s, Pastiche, Pizzeria Vivace, Sunflower

Mousse Crossing: Creative Catering, Doubletree Hotel, Eclectic Cafe, Hacienda del Lago, Pastiche, Melting Pot, Tucson Country Club

Cocoa Loco: Cafe 54, Creative Catering, Culinary Design, Luna Bella, Pastiche, Sweet Rustler Treats

Hometown Hits: Creative Catering, Doubletree Hotel, El Parador, Lutz Swiss Bakery, Mini’s, Quail Canyon Golf, Rocco’s Little Chicago, Sweet Rustler’s Treats, Zink’s Treats

This event featured raffle prizes including chocolate cakes, gifts certificates to restaurants, caterers, florists. A silent auction was also held.

Celebrity judges were Jenny Anchondo, anchor of KOLD TV Channel 13, District 4 Supervisor Ray Carroll, Judy Rich, COO of Tucson Medical Center, Jerry Simmons of Simmons Automotive. Based on their judging in the first hour, the winners of each category were:

Chocolate Artisan: Creative Catering
Mousse Crossing: Eclectic Cafe
Cocoa Loco: Creative Catering
Hometown Hits: Creative Catering
(wow, 3 out of 4 for Creative Catering! Check them out here.)

And the People’s Choices for each category were: Chocolate Artisan: Pizzeria Vivace (tiramisu), Mousse Crossing: Melting Pot (chocolate fondue), Cocoa Loco: Culinary Design Catering (chicken Mole), and Hometown Hits: Lutz Swiss Bakery (chocolate macaroons). Congratulations to all the winners.

The proceeds from this Taste of Chocolate benefit the Rincon District 5500 Rotary‘s scholarship program and Polio Plus (their goal is to eradicate polio in the world). For more info contact: WBTUS@aol.com or click on their website link.

If you missed this decadent event today, be sure to watch for the 3rd annual Taste of Chocolate next Spring. I had never seen so much delicious chocolate in one room before.