This one is for the chocoholics out there. National Chocolate Week is back again, which gives everyone the best excuse to eat as many chocolate treats as they like.
And for the Wilton family, who run the Chocolate Boutique Hotel group, this is an event which is definitely underlined on their calendar.
This week the Chocolate Boutique Hotel has had an all-you-can-eat chocolate buffet to celebrate the occasion, which they have previously done before and has always been successful.
Chief Chocolate Officer, Gerry Wilton, who is also the man behind opening the UK’s first chocolate hotel in Bournemouth, said how the hotel was, “just a wild idea which has become incredibly successful”.
When asking Gerry about his favourite chocolate combination, he said his had to be, “dark chocolate with nuts or cocoa nibs”, and the best chocolate he has ever tasted is, “Francois Pralus 75% and also most Valrhona dark bars.”
Gerry said he does not see many people aspiring to be chocolatiers these days, but for anyone who was interested in the profession, he said, “there was no specific qualifications as such to become a chocolatier as it is part of patisserie, but there might be one now developed.”
The Chocolate Boutique Hotel also runs chocolate courses for guests and chocoholics who are interested in having an insight into working with chocolate. Workshops vary from chocolate truffle making and chocolate portrait painting to chocolate moulding. There are also chocolate and wine tasting sessions. You can find out more about these workshops on the hotel’s website.
Recent research conducted by the IRI has found that the biggest UK names in chocolate have slumped in sales by £78 million in the past year, including Cadburys and Galaxy. However the drop in interest in chocolate has not impacted Gerry Wilton and his family’s business one bit, as they have growing popularity year after year with more people wanting to experience their chocolate themed hotel dream.
Bournemouth move into top 10 with win over Burnley