Chocolate World Expo melting pot of samples, vendors

With chocolate fountains flowing and candy all around, visitors to this year's Chocolate World Expo can be forgiven for acting like those sweet-loving kids in Willy Wonka's factory.

"When they look around, the kids and even some of the adults have this wide-eyed look of amazement," Chocolate World Expo producer Marvin Baum says. "They feel like a kid in a giant candy store."

Thousands of chocolate lovers are expected to fill the museum's galleries where about 70 vendors will be serving up delicacies such as chocolate crepes and Belgian-style waffles dipped in white, dark or milk chocolate. Besides selling their treats, a number of vendors will be offering samples of signature items such as chocolate bark and chocolate-flavored bread. About a half-dozen wineries will be on hand for wine-tasting and sales.

To further sweeten the pot, for the first time, live entertainment is being provided by celebrity chefs and a chocolate-loving mind-reader.

Here's what's new at this year's expo:

THAT'S CHOCOLATE

ENTERTAINMENT

Because attendance grew from 5,000 when it debuted in 2012 to 8,000 last year, "we wanted to offer something new and exciting to the people," Baum says.

Marc Salem, a mentalist profiled by "60 Minutes," will have several presentations of his 40-minute show, "Chocolate Mind Games," which includes audience participation. It's in the museum's Dome Theater. Also, about 100 seats will be available for spectators at cooking demonstrations by cookbook author Larry Rosenberg and Barret Beyer, a chef on "Hell's Kitchen" Season 11.

"I don't do desserts but I wanted to step outside my comfort zone," says Beyer, who grew up in Holbrook and moved last year to Luzerne, Pa. He'll be creating a special dish that he describes as an "espresso- and Cajun-rubbed fillet or hanger steak with white chocolate risotto and a port wine and cherry pan sauce." Spectators who answer a trivia question correctly will be invited up for a taste.

INCUBATOR TO EXPOCooked up last year in the Stony Brook incubator in Calverton, the North Fork Chocolate Company sells treats at the Tanger Outlets in Riverhead and also makes desserts for Riverhead's Hotel Indigo. Its products are crafted with local ingredients, such as apples from a Jamesport orchard, milk and eggs from an Aquebogue farm and sea salt from Long Island Sound, says company owner Ann Corley of Baiting Hollow.

In its expo debut, the company will be serving up samples of chocolate bark, including a roasted-almond chocolate made with sea salt from the waters off Greenport, and desserts such as fondue, for dipping strawberries harvested from Riverhead.

BREAD AND CHOCOLATEDarcy's Delights, a wholesale baking company, was founded four years ago by special education teacher Darcy Grainger of Sayville. From two original flavors -- pumpkin and chocolate chip pumpkin -- its product line has grown to a baker's dozen including black velvet and date nut, distributed at Long Island farm stands and other locations around the metro area.

For her first expo, Grainger plans to offer samples of an item her reputation was built on -- her chocolate chip pumpkin bread -- and two other flavors. Loaves will be on sale for $5.99 each.

AND BEYONDElsewhere at the event, expect to encounter vendors selling chocolate-powered everything, including such oddities as Bacon Bites' chocolate-covered Twinkies (yes, with bacon, too), chocolate-tinged barbecue sauce from Dove's Chocolate Discoveries and Wild Lizzy's made-in-Bethpage saltine crackers topped with chocolate.