One thing Nashville has no shortage of: fantastic beer-tasting festivals (we’ve nodded toward a few of them, and barely scratched the surface).
Less prevalent but no less appreciated: chocolate tasting festivals. Or, we should probably say festival, since the only one we know about at the moment is Lightning 100’s Chocolate Affair, coming up on Saturday, Feb. 6 at East Nashville’s Riverwood Mansion.
The event is, as the name implies, a celebration of chocolate, and an opportunity to do a whole lot of sampling, as Nashville chocolatiers and sweets creators come together to share their wares.
Due to offer up samples of their chocolate-y creations: East Nashville-based bean-to-bar chocolatiers Olive & Sinclair Chocolate Co., fellow Eastsiders Chocolate F/X (who mix creative flavors with dynamic decorations), Germantown’s Tempered Cafe & Chocolate and one of Nashville’s most famous exports, Goo Goo Cluster, among many others.
To wash that stuff down: Boulder Beer’s Shake Chocolate Porter, Chocolate Shop’s red wine infused with natural dark chocolate, Fruli’s strawberry juice-enhanced wheat beer and more.
There’ll be demonstrations from local chefs, too, and the event will be held in a spectacularly beautiful setting: Inglewood’s historic Riverwood Mansion, a 200-plus-year-old property with lush gardens and remarkable period details. Years ago, you needed to be rich, famous and/or otherwise fancy to get invited in to a Riverwood parties. These days, we’re all welcome, with events like this popping up regularly.
If you’re a sucker for historic architecture and decor, the setting alone is worth the ticket price.
Deliciousness and historic beauty aside, too, Lightning 100’s Chocolate Affair has a grander purpose — it’s also a benefit for Nashville’s Oasis Center, an organization that’s focused on supporting at-risk youths as they transition to adulthood, with programs that range from counseling to college prep and mentoring.
Contributing toward the future of our community while enjoying some of our present neighbors’ best chocolate creations? Not a terrible way to spend a Saturday night.
Tickets run $25 (and are available for purchase online), and include food samples and two beer/wine tokens (with a cash bar on site as well).
Chocolate Affair starts at 7 p.m., and Riverwood Mansion is located at 1833 Welcome Lane.
For more info, visit the Chocolate Affair website.
If you end up at the event, we’d love to get a peek into your night — tag us on Facebook or Twitter/Instagram (@acrestate)!