An evening of ‘Chocolat’

By Katie White
Western Herald

The Kalamazoo Valley Museum is upping the sweet factor for this year’s Valentine’s Day weekend.

On Friday, Feb. 12, The Kalamazoo Valley Museum is hosting “An Evening of Chocolate.”  It will consist of a chocolate, no-bake demonstration with a Radisson Plaza Hotel and Suites chef and a viewing of the 2000 romance movie, “Chocolat.”

“Chocolat” is an award-winning hit, which stars Johnny Depp and Juliette Binoche.  It is the story of a young mother, Vianne Rocher (Binoche) who arrives with her six-year-old daughter to a repressed French village and opens La Chocolaterie Maya.  Vianne’s chocolate begins to change the townspeople’s lives in a dramatic way.  Since the store opens in a devout Catholic town during the 40 days of the Lenten holiday, it’s simple to say the townspeople are conflicted.

Vianne’s chocolates seem to have an aphrodisiac like quality and garner diehard fans.  But the village mayor sees the chocolate maker as an immoral provocateur and sets to work to see her downfall.

“It was an idea we had after a group of us from the museum saw another program with a Radisson chef,” said Jen Austin, the museum’s special events coordinator. “We thought this would be a great date night experience the Friday before Valentine’s Day. And ‘Chocolat’ was the perfect movie since it’s in the title.”

In the World Works Room, a chef from the Radisson Plaza Hotel and Suites will be giving a full demonstration of how to make the luscious, no-bake mocha toffee crunch terrine dessert. The film screening will follow the cooking demonstration.

No matter the stigma of the holiday, this isn’t just geared towards couples — everyone is welcome. As of Feb. 10, the cooking portion of the evening is sold out, however, for $3,
the public is invited to view “Chocolat” in the Mary Jane Stryker Theater.

“I hope they’ll find it a fun date night.  Any guy should know that’s on top of a girl’s list, romantic movies and eat some chocolate,” Austen said.

This type of special event is a first for the Kalamazoo Valley Museum and they are very excited to be a part of anyone’s Valentine’s Day celebration.

“Not to my knowledge have we ever done anything like this before where a Radisson Chef has come in and cooked,” Austen said. “It all depends on how it goes this time but I hope we have the opportunity to do it again.”

To purchase tickets for the movie or for further information, contact Austen at (269) 373-7990 or e-mail jausten@kvcc.edu.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=14754

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Feb 10 2010. Filed under A & E, Weekend Scene. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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