sweetriot blog - cacao | culture | cool!

GEL cacao tour

During the annual GEL conference, I'm lucky to lead a great group of GEL attendees on a sweetriot cacao tour.   We can't disclose all of our secret stops, but we love to visit special chocolate/foodie finds in the Village and also to share the history of sweetriot.   

This is one of my favorite speaking engagements of the year as I also talk about the design background around sweetriot and how we designed with our customers rather than for them.  We used forms of design ethnography, which you can learn more about here.

Geneve's Riot-tation!

Geneve started this past week at sweetriot.  Geneve is our new rioter from the West Coast, and she'll be with us for a few months in NYC before heading back to take care of our Western friends.  She's already been found chasing UPS trucks, stocking shelves at stores, and more!

Geneve has a dark past of dealing pharma drugs, and we're excited she's moving to the healthy cacao dark side instead.  You can read more about her bio here.

 

Whole Foods Bowery is open!

New York's largest grocery store (over 70,000 sq. feet) has just hit the scene - Whole Foods Bowery.  It's quite stunning and worth a visit.  My favorite part of the store is the fromagerie with delicious cheeses from around the world.  sweetriot was there opening day sharing the joys of cacao with all of the rioters and old friends like Will, Errol, Sam, and more.   

Jacque Torres & the rioters

We're always happy to run into Jacques Torres - he's a total rioter.  At the Whole Foods Bowery opening, the rioters spent some time with him discussing our mutual love of chocolate.  Yum!

Barnum & Bailey Elephants in NYC?

I love New York Moments.  These are times when you are in NYC and something is happening around you and you're thinking, "Wow, only in NYC."   The other night the Barnum & Bailey Circus came to town....so did the elephants.  Zach, thanks for the tip off.  Check them out here.  (Note - I am not condoning circus treatment of animals -- however, I do have very fond memories as a little girl of enjoying circus delights.)

Whole Foods Bowery Opening Party.

We were excited to celebrate the 'almost' opening of Whole Foods Bowery tonight.  They had a great in-store party to benefit Riverkeepers and Theo, Edna, Geneve, and I were sampling the delicious foods.  The store is absolutely beautiful and will be open in just two days.  It's the largest grocery store in the NYC and so near to our office - we're excited!

Bobbi Brown, Living Beauty

Bobbi is a living beauty, so it's appropriate that her new book's title is the same.  Bobbi is an icon in the cosmetics industry because she supports the inner and outer beauty of women around the world.

Her latest book also focused on a healthy and natural lifestyle to improve your life.  I attended her launch party for her book (Thanks, Joe!) and was excited to hear that she loved sweetriot and the 140 calories per tin!  Check out her new book!

Philip Seymour Hoffman

Philip is a great actor.  Onstage and off.  I went to the preview of his new play, Jack Goes Boating, which just went live this week!  As always, his acting was stellar.  Even rioter, Peggy, came in from Boston to join in the fun.  You can catch Philip at the Public Theater through April.  I met Philip and his girlfriend last year during a Capote party in NYC, and I'm hoping they are still eating sweetriot cacao to stay healthy.  :)

'Death by Chocolate' in Napa Valley.

We were excited when the culinary center, COPIA, invited us to participate in their annual 'Death By Chocolate' event this past weekend in Napa Valley.  It was even cooler being there in person. 

Imagine chocolate everywhere and a setting overlooking the wine vineyards of Napa Valley.  Geneve and Rachelle came to riot while Kareem and Charles were chaperoning along the way.  Thanks to all for a great event!

Valentine's is for Cacao.

It was another crazy Valentine's season at sweetriot.  We celebrated by traveling to Whole Foods Chocolate Fests in not just one location but rather in NYC, NJ, DC, and Austin! 

You'll see some of our best rioting friends too -- sharing the cacao love this valentine's day.  Thanks to Charles, Zeynep, Sachi, Craig, and more for rioting with us and to the great Valentine's team at sweetriot including Liz, Evie, Theo, Nina, Matt, Courtney, Danny, and more!