JoMart Chocolates

July 30th, 2009
Posted in News

Last night we happily fed beer swilling friends at the 1st annual Good Beer event held at BAM.

Good Beer at BAM is produced by Edible Brooklyn and Edible Manhattan magazines, in partnership with the just-launched Good Beer Seal, July Good Beer Month and GreatBrewers.com, and will benefit Just Food and Added Value.

Suffice to say- the evening was a blast.  We were surrounded by an incredible group of foodies, chefs, writers, beermeisters, beer drinkers, and some of the best food that Brooklyn has to offer.

Beer is never thought of as a beverage to pair with chocolate.  But think about it, the universe of flavor in a beer is as wide the the flavor combinations that can be coaxed from a cacao bean.

JoMart provided 300-500 attendees with tastes of our Venezuela 44, Spiced Hot Chocolate, and our famous Dark Chocolate Vanilla Marshmallows.

We look forward to the 2nd annual Good Beer event.  Stay tuned for further details.

Michael

The goal, beyond curating an incredible selection of great beers in Brookyn, is perfect pairings: We hit up a dozen of our favorite food makers—like Gramercy Tavern, Co. pizzeria, Porchetta, Ici, the Good Fork, No. 7, Palo Santo, Sullivan Street Bakery—for suds-inspired fare. And we asked beer gurus to match those with selections from a dozen nearby breweries, including Brooklyn Brewery, Sixpoint Craft Ales, Southampton Publick House, Allagash, Ommegang, Kelso of Brooklyn, Keeghan Ales and Sly Fox.

You can of course create your own beery match made in heaven at Good Beer, but we think we’ve got five sweet contenders lined up to get you started, including Gramercy Tavern’s own homebrew and their sizzling sausages; pork dumplings from The Good Fork paired with Blue Point Brewery Toasted Lager; Pennsylvania’s Troegs Brewing Company Pale Ale and Vermont’s Clothbound Cabot Cheddar; Widow’s Hole Oysters from Greenport and Left Hand Brewing’s Milk Stout; and Greenmarket veggies served up with the spicy Allagash White.

Plus we’ve lined up beery treats from Bent Spoon, including “Dark Philosophy,” 61 percent chocolate ice cream with cherries and Ommegang’s Three Philosophers, and the Penn Shandy, a lemon, ginger, gin and pilsner cocktail from Back Forty.

Beers by: Brooklyn Brewery, Sixpoint Craft Ales, Southampton Publick House, Kelso of Brooklyn, Blue Point Brewery, Allagash, Troegs, Ommegang, Left Hand, Sierra Nevada, Smuttynose, Magic Hat, Victory, Keeghan Ales, Sly Fox, Peak Organic Brewing Company, Lake Placid, Ithaca Beer Company

Beer bars: Jimmy’s No. 43 and Beer Table

Food by: The Good Fork, Beer Table, Back Forty, Palo Santo, Gramercy Tavern, Jasper Hill, No. 7, Widow’s Hole Oysters, iCi, Porchetta, Co., Rose Water, Brooklyn Greenmarkets, Sullivan Street Bakery, Great Performances, JoMart Chocolates, Bent Spoon and a beer garnishes demonstration by Messermeister

July 24th, 2009
Posted in News

Every year, ‘round about anniversary time, my husband can be seen hunting and pecking in Google. I play dumb-no mean feat-until he turns to me and says, “Do you know the gift for the 14th anniversary?”

“Diamonds,” I respond.

“No. Ivory,” he replies, “And you say ‘diamonds’ every year.”

Well, I think to myself, then why do you ask me? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is a major sign of mental illness…but I don’t tell him that. Diamonds it is, and diamonds it shall remain come anniversary time, birthday, Groundhog’s Day, whatever. It isn’t as though I always get them, but that’s what the gift would be, in a perfect world.

But, what to get him? For the most part, he finds presents to be a terrific waste of time (we are a mixed marriage). He’ll hem and haw about a new guitar, but only HE can pick it out. Cashmere socks are absurd, he doesn’t need more sweaters, he wears scrubs at work, he’ll buy his own music, thank you, and the books he gets at the exchange downstairs in our apartment’s basement work for him. Every now and again, he’ll splurge on something for the summer bungalow, but I don’t really think that counts as a gift for him, especially since our daughters hog anything electronic. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

For years I agonized-okay, I didn’t actually agonize, but I was troubled. But now, whatever the occasion I know what to do: I log onto JoMart and order him the halvah steaks dipped in dark chocolate. It’s a no-brainer, and he actually is thrilled when I surprise him with them. He has a ritual whereby, after dinner, he carefully sculpts a section off the huge hunk, places it on a plate, and cuts it into slivers, which he delicately eats. My husband is a big guy with a bigger appetite, so there are few times his culinary actions can be described as “delicate.” The girls and I delight in ordering them for him for no specific occasion, as there are few more delightful family moments than when he starts foraging through the goodies bin and sees an untouched JoMart box. We can actually see the synapse spring into life as his face lights up.

So, a kiss on the hand might work in some families, but if it ain’t carats or halvah, pass us by. Thanks, guys!

Elise Cagan

Infamy@aol.com