The Avalon Ball 2013 Page Eight

Did You Know? - Widely considered Avalon's best restaurant for its innovative cuisine, gracious service and warm Tuscan décor, the Ristorante Villa Portofino has been offering fine dining to Catalina Island's visitors and residents since 2003.

Located opposite the waterfront with a dramatic view of Avalon Harbor, Ristorante Villa Portofino offers its guests a choice of dining on the harbor view patio or in the warm ambiance of our Italian-inspired dining room.

The continental cuisine is complimented by an inspired wine list of Italian and Californian vintages and a full bar as well as hand-crafted desserts and one of the island's only espresso bars.

We believe that your dining (and post dance chocolate runs) experience at the Villa Portofino will be a highlight of your Catalina Island experience.

Did You Know? - Contrary to popular belief, German chocolate cake did not originate in Germany. Its roots can be traced back to 1852 when American Sam German developed a type of dark baking chocolate for the American Baker's Chocolate Company. The brand name of the product, Baker's German's Sweet Chocolate, was named in honor of him.

On June 3, 1957, a recipe for "German's Chocolate Cake" appeared as the "Recipe of the Day" in the Dallas Morning Star. It was created by Mrs. George Clay, a homemaker from 3831 Academy Drive, Dallas, Texas.

This recipe used the baking chocolate introduced 105 years prior and became quite popular. General Foods, which owned the Baker's brand at the time, took notice and distributed the cake recipe to other newspapers in the country.

Sales of Baker's Chocolate are said to have increased by as much as 73% and the cake would become a national staple. The possessive form (German's) was dropped in subsequent publications, forming the "German Chocolate Cake" identity we know today and giving the false impression of a German origin.

Did You Know? - According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the origin of the term sundae is obscure, however, it is generally accepted that the spelling "sundae" derives from the word Sunday or, according to one source, from the German name Sonntag, which means Sunday.

Among the many stories about the invention of the sundae, a frequent theme is that the dish arose in contravention to so-called blue laws against Sunday consumption of either ice cream or ice cream soda. The religious laws are said to have led druggists to produce a substitute for these popular treats for consumption on Sunday. According to this theory of the name's origin, the spelling was changed to sundae to avoid offending religious conventions.