A favorite and challenging thing to photograph is chocolate. My team and I are always up for the challenge and love the sweet shots we walk away with! John and Kira’s a gourmet chocolate client of mine wanted to create some new imagery for their catalogue and website. The look and feel for this project was to convey moodiness and drama using the chocolate. Telling their story through high end imagery and propping is always our goal. The chocolate itself is always the hero! Working with Lisa Russell and team we were able to capture a beautiful variety of their chocolates over 2 days. We had layouts to reference while we were shooting to make sure they fit within. Having the client and chocolatier on set is always a plus because they get to help bring the photo concepts to life and they know their product best. Of course we taste tested along the way and their chocolate never disappoints.

It was great to have them on set and I can’t wait to see our final shots out.

Felicia Perretti is a commercial food and beverage photographer and director based in New York City. She works nationally with food and beverage clients in advertising, packaging, editorial, and video. She has worked with food and drink in all shapes and knows how to craft the right team to get the job done! Her passion for food and beverage shine through on set as well as outside of work in her everyday life. Whether it’s trying new restaurants, traveling, or cooking with her husband Joe. Send her an email or give a call to discuss your next project, she would be more than happy to chat!

Yesterday was a great event held at ICE in New York City (Institute of Culinary Education) Big sponsor was Cacao Barry and hosted with Dessert Professional Magazine. This event showcased the top 10 chocolatiers in North America. The chocolates were so unique coming from all other the country hand made by each chocolatier.

Just to highlight a couple from the night, Oliver Kita was revealing a new experimental chocolate he had put together that had seaweed on top of the chocolate. It was a take on the salty and sweet combinations that are very popular with chocolate. This version was a little healthier and the saltiness was a little more mellow. Anette Righi DeFendi had a great spread of chocolate reminiscing for Valentine’s Day! The chocolates were beautiful and jewel shaped. Her signature chocolate of the night was her chocolate turtle that consists of chocolate, caramel, and pecans. Simple but the flavor really jumped out. Santosh Tiptur’s chocolate table had an amazing presentation. The tiers of chocolate and the vessels he served them in were almost too good to touch. His popular chocolate of the night was his chocolate parfait that was layered with chocolate mousse, cake, caramel, and chocolate balls on top. The last to arrive but stole the show was the ever popular chocolatier from Savannah, Georgia Adam Turoni. His featured chocolate of the night was a creme brulee bite sized treat. He was blow torching the chocolate as it was served. It had the perfect crystallized crunchy exterior and the inside just melted with chocolate. Norman Love was the first inductee of the chocolatier hall of fame that night as well.

List of top 10:

Susanna Yoon- Stick With Me
Adam Turoni- Chocolat By Adam Turoni
Christophe Toury- Voila Chocolat
Santosh Tiptur- Co Co Sala
Daniel Sklaar- Fine & Raw
Slawomir Piot Korczak- Polska European Bakery & Chocolate
Oliver Kita- Oliver Kita Chocolates
Elaine Hsieh & Catherine Sweeney- EHChocolatier
Anette Righi DeFendi- Kohler Original Recipe Chocolates
Michael Antonorsi- Chuao Chocolatier

B.T.S. Photo Shoot John and Kira's Gourmet Chocolate

Top 10 Chocolatiers In North America