The Norwalk Maritime Aquarium Hosts Chocolate Expo

From Maritime Aquarium: One of Connecticut’s top attractions gets even sweeter on Sun., Jan. 29 when The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk offers sea turtles and chocolate turtles – plus a great admission deal – with the return of The Chocolate Expo.

About 40 local and regional vendors – including top area chocolatiers – will fill the Aquarium galleries, offering samples and sales of their gourmet chocolates, baked goods and specialty foods. In addition, guests can meet “Willy Wonka’s” original Mike TeeVee and sit in on free presentations by celebrity chefs Barret Beyer, Tony Albanese and Larry Rosenberg, as well as famed mentalist The Amazing Kreskin.

To pack it all in, the Aquarium will stay open two hours longer than normal – until 7 p.m.

The sweetest part of the day, however, is that admission on Jan. 29 costs less than a regular Aquarium ticket. For one day only, guests can enjoy jellyfish and gelato, tree frogs and truffles, crabs and caramels – all at discounted prices, especially with advance online purchase.

Buy your tickets online – even on the day of The Chocolate Expo – for the deliciously discounted prices of $15 for adults and $10 for children 3-12. (Under 3, free.) Tickets purchased at the door will be $20 for adults and $15 for children. Paid admission on Jan. 29 is required of Maritime Aquarium members: $13 for adults and $8 for children.

(Regular admission to The Maritime Aquarium is $22.95 for adults and $15.95 for children.)

“It’s a recipe you can’t beat: take all of the animals and exhibits of The Maritime Aquarium – at a substantial discount – blended with decadent chocolates and specialty foods, and topped with celebrity chefs and other free bonus guests and activities,” said Dave Sigworth, the Aquarium’s publicist. “You might find some other chocolate show somewhere, but it won’t also offer sharks, seals, sea turtles and other marine life. As we say every year, you’d have to be dipped in nuts not to enjoy this special day and this great deal.”

This year, for the first time, an off-peak ticket for admission between 5 & 7 p.m. is available for $10 per person; an even greater discount.

News 12 Connecticut is media sponsor of the 2017 Chocolate Expo at The Maritime Aquarium.

Expo producer Marvin Baum said The Chocolate Expo is for people who are serious about chocolate and who love unique specialty foods.

“Vendors at the Expo typically offer small tasting-sized portions of their products,” Baum said. “Think of the chocolate tastings in the way you might think of a wine tasting at a winery: you get a small sample to try and you often get to talk with the person who made the product. If you like what you’ve tasted, you can purchase that product for yourself or to give as gifts.”

Expo/Aquarium visitors will find not only traditional and gourmet chocolates, but also specialty offerings like chocolate-covered bacon, chocolate tarts, candy apples, fudge, chocolate-covered pretzels, chocolate vinaigrettes, and even chocolate-infused Brussels sprouts and chocolate-scented candles.

For ready-to-eat treats, Aurora Gourmet will have their chocolate fountains flowing, while Crazy Crepe Café will be making delicious crepes and Pika’s Farm Table will serve authentic Belgian-style waffles dipped in a choice of white, dark or milk chocolate. Screme Gelato will scoop a variety of unique flavors.

Non-chocolate goodies to be sampled and sold include gourmet tomato sauces, hot sauces, empanadas, nut butters, jams, syrups, sodas, pickles, coffees, horseradish, honey, popcorn, cannolis, cakes, pies, tarts and more. You can even bring home specialty treats for your dog!

There will be no IMAX® movie presentations on Jan. 29, so the theater can be used for special presentations, including free 30-minute demonstrations by three celebrity chefs:

• Tony Albanese, pastry designer and former assistant to Buddy Valastro of TV’s “Cake Boss,” at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
• Barret Beyer of Fox TV’s “Hell’s Kitchen” at 2 and 4 p.m.
• Larry Rosenberg, recipe-book author, owner of Bacon Bites and soon-to-be-seen on Food Network, at 1 & 5 p.m.

Plus, at noon, be astounded by The Amazing Kreskin. With a showman’s flair, a comedian’s wit and the capacities of a bona fide mentalist or thought-reader, The Amazing Kreskin dramatizes the unique facets of the human mind. For six decades, he has been wow-ing audiences and talk-show hosts – including Carson, Letterman, Stern and Fallon – with his unknowable insights and answers.

Seating of 310 for the chef demonstrations and The Amazing Kreskin will be on a first-come, first-seated basis. The chefs will be available throughout the day for pictures and autographs.

This year’s Chocolate Expo also celebrates cinematic chocolate history by welcoming Paris Themmen, who played Mike TeeVee – the boy in the cowboy outfit – opposite Gene Wilder in “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.” Themmen will sign autographs and pose for photographs throughout the day.

Here is more about each special guest:

• Tony Albanese – 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

NORWALK, CT – Tony Albanese, a pastry designer and former assistant to Buddy Valastro of “Cake Boss,” will lead free demonstrations using chocolate during The Chocolate Expo on Sun., Jan. 29 at The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk. Get all the details about Chocolate Expo at www.maritimeaquarium.org.

Tony Albanese owns the custom dessert business, The Pastryarch, in Hackensack, NJ.

He rose to fame as assistant to Buddy Valastro in the first season of “Cake Boss” on TLC, and since has appeared on such Food Network shows as "Cake Wars" and “Cupcake Wars.”

Before studying pastry arts at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City, he worked as an illustrator, which he says helps in his current work of artfully decorating hand-constructed cakes.

• The Amazing Kreskin – noon

NORWALK, CT – The Amazing Kreskin will … well, amaze audience members during a special show on Sun., Jan. 29 at noon during The Chocolate Expo at The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk. Only 310 seats will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Get advance tickets and all the details about the event at www.maritimeaquarium.org.

For six decades, The Amazing Kreskin has dramatized the unique facets of the human mind with a showman’s flair, a comedian’s wit and the capacities of a bona fide thought-reading mentalist. In the process, Kreskin’s very name has become an integral part of pop culture with numerous television and radio appearances on iconic shows hosted by Johnny Carson, Regis Philbin, David Letterman, Jimmy Fallon, Neil Cavuto, Howard Stern and others.

In the 1970s, Kreskin headlined his own television series for five and a half seasons called “The Amazing World of Kreskin,” which can now be viewed on www.hulu.com.

Movie fans may know that, more recently, Kreskin served as the inspiration for Tom Hanks’ 2008 movie, “The Great Buck Howard,” in which the Kreskin character is played by the movie’s star, John Malkovich.

Kreskin has received worldwide recognition for extraordinary predictions, often dealing with international affairs and sports. On “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” Kreskin predicted the 2012 U.S. presidential election 18 months before election day. As revealed on Fox television for the 2016 Super Bowl, Kreskin made three predictions: the deciding quarter of the game, the winning team and their final score.

Kreskin’s new talk and commentary show on iHeartRadio premiered last February, and, in March of 2016, he released his 20th book, “In Real Time,” featuring his major predictions for the next several hundred years.

At 81 years of age, Kreskin shows no signs of slowing down. He continues to perform his legendary live shows in front of packed audiences around the world, playing over 200+ dates yearly.

• Larry Rosenberg – 1 & 5 p.m.

NORWALK, CT – Executive chef Larry Rosenberg will lead a free demonstration using chocolate during The Chocolate Expo on Sun., Jan. 29 at The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk. Get all the details about Chocolate Expo at www.maritimeaquarium.org.

Executive Chef Larry Rosenberg began cooking at a very early age. Despite being self-taught, he has garnered national accolades and appeared in major magazines, newspapers and television shows around the country, including “The Dr. Oz Show,” Discovery Channel’s “United States of Bacon” and “FYI Philly,” among others.

Most exciting, he’ll make his debut on Food Network later this year.

Rosenberg has taught at the New York Restaurant School and is a published author with titles including “The Original Bacon Cookbook,” “Cake Decorating Simplified” (Book of the Month Club), “Muffins & Cupcakes” and “The Berry Book.” He also was featured in Martha Stewart’s “The Wedding Book.”

Most recently, Rosenberg has made a name for himself while riding a wave of bacon’s new-found popularity. His 2010 creation of Bacon Bites™, an extensive line of tantalizing chocolate-covered bacon products, combines sweet and salty tastes that consumers truly crave. He travels with his partner, Kane Jeong, who entertains young and old as “Smokey the Pig,” at various chocolate, bacon, and beer events throughout the county.

• Barret Beyer – 2 & 4 p.m.

Photo Credit: © Chuck Fishman

NORWALK, CT – Celebrity chef Barret Beyer (Fox TV’s “Hell’s Kitchen”) will present free demonstrations using chocolate during The Chocolate Expo on Sun., Jan. 29 at The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk. Get all the details about Chocolate Expo at www.maritimeaquarium.org.

Chef Barret Beyer epitomizes new beginnings and change, inspiring millions with his cooking and actions.

While working in New York City’s financial industry and boom era during the aughts, Beyer was arrested 10 times for charges that ranged from selling drugs to conspiracy to forgery, even overdosing and waking up on life support after two days in 2006. For 10 years, from 1998 until 2008, he was in and out of jails. However, coinciding with the birth of his daughter in 2008, the reality TV star finally got sober. Beyer said, “I couldn’t do it anymore. I wanted to be a father she could look up to.”

Leaving the worlds of finance and crime behind, the love of cooking become the inspiration for his life’s next course. Always a home cook, Beyer attended culinary school in his native Long Island. Before even graduating, the ambitious New Yorker already had a job as a sous chef.

Beyer then made it onto “Hell’s Kitchen” with the legendary kitchen screamer Gordon Ramsey; his favorite television experience. Although he didn’t win on the show, Beyer realized that working in the kitchen is the work he loves. It’s that drive to succeed and healthy ambition that drove him to participate in “Cutthroat Kitchen,” another on-camera cooking competition. “I was the first one cut. It was for not putting the chicken on a chicken caesar salad,” the chef says while chuckling at his folly.

From his experience on reality TV, Beyer has become a consultant, opening a multitude of East Coast restaurants, receiving many accolades along the way. Food & Beverage Magazine and Chef Works have both named him “Chef of The Month.”

With his new found celebrity status, Beyer volunteers or works non-profits events around the country.

• Paris Themmen (the original “Mike TeeVee”) – all day

Paris Themmen appeared as a child actor in three Broadway shows, two dozen commercials and various television shows, including “Star Trek Voyager,” but he will always be best known as “Mike TeeVee,” one of the five lucky Golden Ticket winners in the (1971) cult-classic film “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” starring the late Gene Wilder.

As an adult, Paris has had a variety of careers in the travel, real estate, finance, imagineering and film-production industries.

An avid traveler, Paris has backpacked through 59 countries on six continents. He lives with his wife, Nikki Grillos, in Los Angeles.

• The Eternal Frontier (Steampunk music) – all day

NORWALK, CT – The Eternal Frontier will perform Steampunk-themed songs, both original and cover, throughout the day on Sun., Jan. 29 during The Chocolate Expo at The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk. Get advance tickets and all the details about the event at www.maritimeaquarium.org.

The Eternal Frontier – featuring Professor Adam Smasher and Baron Von Zipple – is a versatile Steampunk musical duo. Their sound is fun, melodic and steeped in Steampunk sensibilities. They will be performing Steampunk-themed songs, both original and cover, for the amusement of one and all.

(But what is Steampunk? Wikipedia describes Steampunk as “a subgenre of science fiction or science fantasy that incorporates technology and aesthetic designs inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. … Steampunk perhaps most recognizably features anachronistic technologies or retro-futuristic inventions as people in the 19th century might have envisioned them.”

Kids can take part in art activities at 11 a.m., noon and 1 & 2 p.m., and also be transformed by a face-painter between 11 a.m. & 3 p.m. These are free with admission.

Enjoy all the decadent treats and special guests while exploring The Maritime Aquarium, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to educate visitors about – and to create stewards for – Long Island Sound. The Aquarium accomplishes this by allowing visitors to get close to more than 300 species native to the Sound and its watershed, including sharks, seals, sea turtles, river otters, jellyfish and other animals. Except for “Jiggle A Jelly,” all exhibits will be open during The Chocolate Expo.

“Valentine’s Day will be here soon, so The Chocolate Expo is the perfect opportunity to buy some sweets for your sweetie,” Sigworth said. “Plus, there are no NFL playoff games on the 29th, so there’s no reason for anyone to stay home. In fact, with no football to watch, The Chocolate Expo gives football fans something to do!”

Parking is available in the Maritime Garage (across from the Aquarium’s main entrance) and a short walk away in the city’s Webster Lot. Find an open parking space by using a smart-phone app called Parker that displays “real-time” parking availabilities in South Norwalk.

For more information about The Chocolate Expo, go to www.thechocolateexpo.com or www.maritimeaquarium.org.

Photos courtesy of Maritime Aquarium