By Jecca Berta

For the third consecutive summer, we’re turning our 16^th Street factory into a sundae-filled movie theater, a storytelling stage, and home to some lively brunches!  We’re even adding a music-meets-chocolate event to the line-up this year. Below, Kayla gives us the full scoop.

Kayla, let’s start with what’s new for this year’s Summer Series. What can you tell us? 

One thing that’s new this year is our music and chocolate event. We’re working with a harpist, Erica Messer. We’ve already done some sound tests where she’s brought her harp into the factory, and it’s such a beautiful “stop you in your tracks” sound. This will be our first event with a harp. We’re really excited to build a program with Erica. She’s super passionate about it and just wonderful to work with. I am personally a big fan of anything music related, and it’s really cool to have these different sensory inputs that influence how you taste chocolate and different desserts. 

This music and chocolate initiative is something we’ve been experimenting with for a while. It’s a creative risk that people have taken to.

Sometimes we have ideas that we know are exciting and awesome, and we just need people to experience that firsthand. And when they do, the feedback is always so positive and inspired. We can do the same things that we know people love, but I think the Dandelion team is known for being pioneers in certain things. We love to be creative, and we have that opportunity on the experience and events side of the business. We get to be playful, and I love that. 

Which chefs will be joining Stephen for the summer brunches? 

We’ve got so many great chefs joining this summer. Melissa Perello from Octavia, Ryan Seal from Sea Ranch … We’re especially looking forward to working with Tolgay from Baklavastory — we’ve been trying to work together forever. Baklavastory is right down the street from the factory. He’s always bringing us baklava, and we’re always bringing him chocolate. We’re excited to see what he makes for brunch.  We have an amazing line-up with nine guest chefs over the course of three brunches. We always recommend getting tickets early, as these tend to sell out quickly.

Will each dish have cacao in some form, as in years past? 

Yes. It’ll be similar to last year in that way. If you’ve done a Truffle Making or a Chocolate Making class, you’ve seen the space before. But when you join for brunch, you’ll see how it completely transforms into a dining space. It’s in the factory overlooking the kitchen, with those big windows that let in so much natural light. There’s a lot of energy in the room during our brunches. It’s very chatty.

The Ice Cream & a Movie events are always popular with families. What’s on the bill this summer? 

We’re bringing back Frozen. It’s definitely popular for families. One of the sweetest things about it is that the kids arrive dressed up. They really make an event of it, and it’s a good room to be in. Lots of energy. Lots of kids independently coming up to ask for more popcorn. We don’t do many kid-specific events, so it’s a great way to come to the factory with the young ones. 

We really try to get creative with the treats, so you can try things you wouldn’t get elsewhere at Dandelion — things we don’t sell in the cafés or make in our classes. In the past, we’ve done cacao-fruit sorbet and also frozen truffles — little ice cream balls coated in tempered chocolate.  

Sold. And the Unwrapped storytelling event is returning too, right? 

Yes. If you’ve ever seen or heard of The Moth, that is what inspires this event, where guests in the audience can participate and share a true story. We change the prompt every year. This year it’s “Temper Tantrums.” So telling a story about a time that you lost your temper, or when something inside you melted, boiled over, or snapped. We’re open to all kinds of stories, as long as they’re true. It’s an intimate, eighteen-and-up community-style event. There’s about fifty people in the room, and we create a really supportive environment for sharing.

People put their name in a hat for a chance to share stories, and we also have a written prompt, where people can write responses. Stephen, who emcees the event, can read those throughout the night. Unlike The Moth, we don’t score anything. We’re there to share stories. And we provide drinks, popcorn, and snacks.

Are Summer Series tickets on sale? 

Yes, tickets are already on sale. In fact, some of the people who attended brunch last year already bought tickets for this year. Between brunches, movies, and the other events, there’s something for everyone. 

And while technically not a part of Summer Series, we have a new Book Club event series coming to the factory. What can you tell us about that?

It’s the first time we’re doing a Book Club series like this, and it happened very naturally and organically. Within the span of a couple weeks, three authors reached out to us to be a part of their book tours. These were community members and friends of ours, with three distinctly different books all about chocolate. 

The first Book Club event we’re hosting is on May 12^th with David Lebovitz. His newly revised The Great Book of Chocolate is all about process and how chocolate is made, and how you make that into other dishes and desserts. So that’ll be a really fun event with tastings and dessert from the book. And then later this summer, we’ll host Susana Cárdenas. She has a book all about the history of cacao, specifically in Ecuador, and the role women have played in that. It’s called Tierra Hermosa: An Ecuadorian Tale of Chocolate and is written in both English and Spanish. And the third event is with Marisa Churchill, who’s written a fantasy novel that is centered around chocolate but is about magic. It’s called Secrets, Spells, and Chocolate and is a great read for the YA crowd in particular.

So now that we have a few Book Club events on the calendar, we’re hoping to host more in the future. It’s something we’ll continue to do down the road.

That’s so exciting! Looking forward to the events. Thank you, Kayla.