The Return of Fire & Chocolate

This month marks my anniversary of a whole year of photography with the Blind Pig Supper Club!!  Can't believe all of the amazing food, locations and people I've experienced in that time.  So it was with great joy that I went to the latest Blind Pig dinner this weekend, this is the one where I came in. Fire & Chocolate: Horn of Africa.  Now I know what you're thinking, chocolate doesn't come from Africa, and you'd be right. But in the culinary world I am learning there is always room for fusion, and that's what we were treated to on Saturday evening, a fusion of Ethiopian food with chocolate overtones created by the genius minds of Master Chef, Mark Rosenstein and Jael & Dan Rattigan of French Broad Chocolates.  As usual, the food was nothing short of extraordinary!  And the fireworks were back as well.  Mark's passion for chemistry in and out of the kitchen led him into the world of pyrotechnic concoction several years ago. What a show he put on!!  Flash bombs, sparks showers and fire wheels were just a few of the fiery special effects he put together.  Adding to that for the evening's entertainment we had music throughout the night from Adama Dembele, Asheville's own master djembe drummer from the Ivory Coast, fire dancing by Marianne Fisher Smith and fire juggling from 40 Fingers and a Missing Tooth.

The evening was dedicated to and made possible by participants of the Green Opportunities Go Kitchen Ready Program, who were not only the charitable recipients of the dinner's proceeds but also were key in the  preparation of all the courses with a staff of about 6.  The dinner began with a brief tour of their facility at the William Randolph School where appetizers and tea were served before the bus ride to our secret location for the evening's meal.

It's a lot to take in, but you don't have to take my word for it.  All the pictures are up on Blind Pig's facebook page for you to drool over personally. Fire & Chocolate: Horn of Africa Album. AND if you want to watch the pictures dance funny Blind Pig compiled a montage of photos which you can watch here: Fire and Chocolate.  And since you're already on a Blind Pig kick you might have fun searching my blog to check out posts and photos from previous events. Just type Blind Pig into the search bar where it says: 'Dare You To Search This Blog' and you'll be on your way. You might well be able to waste an entire morning doing nothing but wishing you were at one of these special suppers.

I've pulled together a brief photo essay of my favorites from the evening:

CLicKs Radiant Art inspired by Fire & Chocolate