I like to consider myself a pretty cultured dude, but going to an art museum or art gallery has never been my thing; it’s always seemed so stuffy and uptight. So, when I got the opportunity to go to LA’s Chocolate and Art Show I was a bit hesitant. Well, I’m not afraid to admit it: I was mistaken. This was, by far, the best time I’ve ever had with art. This local art show combined a real chocolate fountain with independent artists, live music, local food, and a variety of other fun things.

First, lets talk chocolate fountain. Like all chocolate fountains, it’s a rich, thinner chocolate, but the key is having the proper chocolate delivery vehicle. The usual favorite is the strawberry, which there were plenty of. I also found that the chocolate-covered Oreo was pretty amazing. However, my favorite of the night was the chocolate-covered pretzel. The salty and sweet perfectly offset each other, and was the only chocolate covered item of the night that actually went with the beer.

Oh yeah, they also served beer, whiskey, tacos, and a couple other things too. As the night went on, I found that there were certain pieces of art that went well with the food I was eating. Below are my three favorites:

Red Art By James’ “Salvation” & Cactus Potato Taco

I’ve never had cactus before, but it looks a lot like green pepper, and has a squash-like consistency. It had a bit of spice and went really well with the semi-firm diced potatoes. The spicy pico de gallo and grilled soft shell tortillas made for a fantastic combo! The simple yet reassuring taste of the cactus and potato went well with the deep greens and blues on “Salvation”, while the cactus’s spiciness was reflected by the subtle oranges and pointy tree branches.

For more from Red Art By James, check out his website here.

Mike Matola’s “The Shining” Portrait and chocolate covered Oreo

The chocolate-covered Oreo is one of those things that is just totally awesome. And I enjoyed these (yeah, I had many) chocolate-covered Oreos most while looking at Mike Matola’s artwork. His portraits are made by writing out each word by hand, then increasing and decreasing the space between the letters until the portrait emerges. This “the Shining” portrait is comprised of the phrase “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” over and over again. The black and white of his portraits fit really well with the black and white of the Oreos, and since he had six pieces on display, I had plenty of reasons to continue eating!

For more from Mike Matola, check out his website here.

Atom St. George’s “Don’t Everybody Freak out at Once” and Jack Daniels