Announcing Food Destinations #3: My Favorite Chocolate Shop

Chocolate in Context is hosting its first blogging event. Food Destinations is an all-inclusive, international, monthly activity that was started by Maki at I was Just Really Hungry. Each month, bloggers from countries near and far distill their thoughts on the best food in their hometowns into articles that they post on or around a particular date (in this case, the date is October 30). The theme of this month's event is "My Favorite Chocolate Shop." Should you choose to participate (and I hope you do), simply visit the local chocolate shop that you like most of all and write about it. You may choose any kind of chocolate purveyor--the salon of a brilliant French-trained chocolatier, an old-fashioned candy store, a new mecca of chocolate haute-cuisine--as long as it reflects your personal taste. You may also interpret "hometown" however you like--it could be the place where you live, or the place where your heart lives. Most importantly, eat well and write well.

Instructions:
The only requirement is that you have a blog where you can post your chocolate-inspired story. Any blog will do--food bloggers and non-food bloggers alike are invited to participate.

Photographs are always lovely, but optional. It's also a good idea to include the address, telephone number, business hours, and of course the website of the chocolate shop you choose.

Please include a link somewhere in your post to Food Destinations Central. (If you would like to include a Food Destinations logo in your post, you can also download one from that site.)

The deadline for all bloggers who would like to have their "My Favorite Chocolate Shop" posts included in the final round-up is October 30.

Once you have written and posted your ode to local chocolate, please send me the permalink for your post (along with your full name, a description of the place where you live, and any other biographical information) by email.


The prize for the blogger with the best overall chocolate-themed article will be a copy of the new book Digital Dish, an inspiring compendium of writing from food blogs around the world--plus a box of chocolates from my own favorite shop.



An Encouraging Note About Participating in Food Blogging Events:
I recently participated in Blogging by Mail, in which various food bloggers in various countries sent care packages to each other. It was a delightful experience to share some typically Australian foods with a writer in the States, and to receive a box full of beloved chocolate treats from someone else in Singapore. These events help to create a wonderful sense of community among people with common interests in disparate locations. If you've never participated in a blogging event before, I sincerely encourage you to give it a try.

A Final Warning About Participating in Food Blogging Events:
I was not pleased, however, to find in my package from Singapore a pamphlet asking (and setting out to affirmatively answer) the question, "What if it's true that Jesus is who he claimed to be?" These events should be primarily about food, and they certainly should not be used as missionary opportunities. As the ring leader of this blogging event, I ask that no one include any language in "My Favorite Chocolate Shop" posts that is intended to convert the reader to any organized (or disorganized) religion. Proselytizers will not be included in my final round-up.