I arrived on the scene with chocolate on my mind.
At least that’s the way my Mom likes to tell it.
Seeing as how, when she was pregnant with me, she was given a due date of May 1st. I did not actually arrive until May 15th, which is, in fact, National Chocolate Chip Day (go ahead and Google it).
From the very beginning, chocolate was destined to play a big role in my life.
Since that time, I’ve spent a lot of time researching, or, shall we say, “engaging in professional development.”
Always with my guests in mind, of course! 😉
I’ve eaten chocolate in and from many different countries—the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Italy, France, England, Poland, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Japan, China, and more.
I once walked 11 miles through San Francisco—yes, with all those hills… in one day… in order to visit all of their chocolate shops.
I’ve read all sorts of books on the stuff—Chocolate Wars by Deborah Cadbury, The Healing Powers of Chocolate by Cal Orey, Couture Chocolate by William Curley, and others.
I’ve worked as a consultant for local chocolatiers, chocolate shop owners, hotels, restaurants, bake shops, and even a chocolate shop in Heidelberg, Germany, helping to brainstorm and conceive of new products and chocolate-related ventures.
I’ve written about chocolate for international companies like Hotel Chocolat and Lindt.
I’ve presented at M.I.T. and Harvard on the subject.
I’ve told stories and personal anecdotes about my chocolate adventures on the same stage that was once graced by the likes of Joan Baez, Shawn Colvin, Bob Dylan, and Jimmy Buffett.
I even once sold $50 worth of chocolate to celebrity fitness personality Jillian Michaels, and taught acclaimed chef (and Julia Child’s favorite chicken roaster) Gordon Hamersley about the history of chocolate in Boston.
In June of 2019 I was fortunate to be personally invited by the first solo American woman to win at the International Chocolate Awards to join her along with a small group of chocolate professionals from around the world on a trip to Colombia organized by Uncommon Cacao, to visit cacao farms throughout the Sierra Nevada region. Along with our farm visits, we also were able to tour the Cacao Hunters chocolate factory, experience a guided chocolate and local fruit pairing class, tour cacao bean processing facilities, and were granted a visit with the Arhuacos, an indigenous tribe who has farmed cacao for over 500 years. In 2025, that same chocolate maker, Denise Castronovo, invited me to join her on a trip to Peru, organized by Cacao Life, where we visited more cacao farms, including the famed Fortunato #4 (as seen on “Parts Unknown” with Anthony Bourdain), learned from the Awajun women of their cacao farming tradition, and attended the Salon du Chocolat y Cacao in Lima. Just a few weeks after returning from that trip, I flew to Hawaii to conduct a curated chocolate tasting event and made time to visit another cacao farm in Kauai.
In spring of 2026, I was the only American volunteer to help crew the debut of Showcolat in Bordeaux, the first ever bean-to-bar chocolate festival in France. Exactly one year after my first trip to Peru, I returned on yet another Cacao Life trip, this time to the northern region of Piura, to explore the exceptional conditions under which this particular cacao grows. My desire for more chocolate learnings and travel only gets further ignited with each trip and adventure had!
I also can’t remember the last day I went without having any chocolate.
I love writing about, talking about, teaching, tasting, and sharing my love of chocolate, its past and present, with all sorts of people in all sorts of situations. For over 15 years, I’ve been doing exactly that with folks from across the country and multiple continents through our virtual programming. I’ve presented educational talks at places like the New England Chocolate Festival, the DC Chocolate Festival, the Chocolate Expo, the WGBH Wine & Food Fest, and the Northwest Chocolate Festival, as well as throughout multiple appearances on Boston Public Radio. Whether it’s taking folks around my other great love, Boston, to show them different dessert highlights in the city, teaching classes about the history of this amazing bean, or hosting tastings with groups of friends who want to learn how to appreciate this fine food in a deeper, more meaningful way, I truly believe there is no end to what chocolate can do.
It can bring smiles to faces in an instant, it can make friends out of strangers, and it can create happy memories that last a lifetime.
Chocolate really does make everything better.
