Garrison Confections

There was a posting last year in a local bridal magazine about their new wedding cake services. Since I was planning my wedding from a thousand miles away, I had to rely heavily on reviews in making my selection. I had family members go to a tasting, they had two very different pallets, so when they both agreed on the the flavors I trusted in them completely. Our cake was to be layers alternating between the chocolate chocolate, and the raspberry grand manier flavors. The one thing I was very specific about was the shape and color of the cake. I had sent my family member several photos and specifics as to what the cake should look like. I also made several phone calls to the shop in order to make sure that everything was correct. The most important thing was that the cake were to be chocolate in color, it was very important to the color scheme of the wedding. I, in know way wanted a white, ivory, or a cream colored cake. The design was to 5 tiered square cakes, with simple chocolate buttercream frosting. When I walked into my reception I almost lost it. There in the middle of the tables was my wedding cake; a four tiered, round, cream colored cake, with fondant frosting and orange ribbon. It gets better, when we went to eat the cake that night I started to go into anaphylactic shock in front of my guest and had to use an epipen. You see, they gave us the wrong flavor, instead of those alternating layers I told you about, the entire cake was a chocolate hazelnut flavor. I am very very allergic to hazelnut. The most disappointing part was the reaction I received. I was not trying to get my money back or anything of the sort; but when I came into complain I was treated horribly. They had the nerve to tell me that I was at fault for my allergic reaction and that I should have been aware the cake could have been exposed to hazelnut! I have a copy of everything that I had to sign, and in big bold letters I had put that I was allergic to them. They never even offered an apology. Their chocolates may be wonderful; but if I were a bride-to-be again I would save my self the stress and go with someone else.

... and I don't mean the altitude in Aspen Colorado.
At the 26th Food&Wine Festival held recently, Andrew Shotts and Ray Isle combined assorted chocolates and wines for a very memorable experience.
I have always enjoyed the wonderful texture, flavors, and decadence of Garrison's chocolates. But, what Shotts and Isle put together brought a new level to enjoying choclate. As a chocolatier par excellence, Shotts showed his skill, knowledge, and attention to detail in every example of chocolate served.
As the great imagination of Andrew Shotts continues to unfold, I'm looking forward to great chocolate in the future.

GREAT CHOCOLATE! You can't beat it... if you have a sweet tooth or just a craving, you can satisfy it here... but, beware, chocolates like this don't come without a pricetag!