The 11th annual Lewisburg Chocolate Festival will take place on Saturday, April 8, from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. in downtown Lewisburg. Not only will the festival offer thousands of chocolate-themed treats, it will also feature chocolate demonstrations from two of the area’s most distinguished pastry chefs: Executive Pastry Chef Amy Mills and Executive Pastry Chef Leen Kim.

At 1 p.m. in the lobby of City National Bank, Kim, executive pastry chef of The Omni Homestead Resort will be showcasing a chocolate demonstration. Then, at 2 p.m. in the Greenbrier County Visitors Center, another chocolate demonstration will take place by Amy Mills, executive pastry chef of The Greenbrier Sporting Club.  Both events are free to the public, but seating is limited.  City National Bank is located at 809 Jefferson Street South in Lewisburg. The Greenbrier County Visitors’Center is located at 905 Washington Street West in Lewisburg.

Before becoming the executive pastry chef at The Omni Homestead Resort, Kim served as a pastry cook and chocolatier at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA.  She also opened and was the assistant pastry chef at the Los Angeles, CA, restaurant, Flores. In Los Angeles, Kim served as the pastry chef de partie and chocolatier for Bottega Louie. Kim’s background also includes managing the daily production for the patisseries located at the Aria and the Bellagio in Las Vegas, NV, when she served as the assistant pastry chef at the Jean Philippe Patisserie.

Mills is a Hinton native and received her degrees in culinary arts and in baking and pastry arts with advance standing from John and Wales University in Charleston, SC. Mills has been the executive pastry chef at The Greenbrier Sporting Club in White Sulphur Springs since 2004. She has worked under culinary greats such as Master Chef Peter Timmins and Chef Walter Scheib, and in 2005 had the honor of cooking for 60 guests at the James Beard House. Mills is the owner of Amy’s Cakes and Cones in downtown Lewisburg.

“The Lewisburg Chocolate Festival is lucky to have two female chefs this year,” said Erin Hurst, United Way of Greenbrier Valley executive director and chair of the Lewisburg Chocolate Festival. “They are both incredible chefs who will no doubt put on fabulous demonstrations for our festival-goers.”

Tasting tickets for the Lewisburg Chocolate Festival are limited and on sale now at www.LewisburgChocolateFestival.com or in person at the Greenbrier County Visitors Center, Harmony Ridge Gallery, and Bella The Corner Gourmet.This year’s festival is sponsored by Greenbrier Valley Medical Center, and the festival charity partner is United Way of Greenbrier Valley.