Robert Steinberg Tribute by David Lebovitz

You may have heard the news that Robert Steinberg, founder of ScharffenBerger chocolate, passed away yesterday. David Lebovitz has written a beautiful and down-to-earth tribute and portrait of Robert, and I hope you'll have time to take moment to read it.

I met Robert Steinberg before ScharffenBerger made a public appearance over 10 years ago, and was lucky, or beleaguered enough, to spend a lot of time with him discussing, eating, arguing, cooking and baking with, fighting, enjoying, learning about chocolate and cacao.

I imagine I will write something about him as well because to this day I do not use one kind of cocoa over another without hearing his voice in my head.

I wish I could be in Northern California today to share my grief with those of you who knew Robert as I did. Until I return, please share my love and appreciation, from afar, with anyone whose life was touched by Robert Steinberg, American chocolate maker extraordinaire.

Comments

[David]

How I wrote a tribute to Robert without including the word "fight" is a mystery to me.

Thanks for reminding me of another thing I'll miss about him.

[Shana]

Thanks for the great posting about Robert, though I did not have the pleasure of meeting him, I can tell from postings like yours that he was an inspiration to chocolate lovers, chefs and anyone who appreciates food.

He helped raise the bar on what people should expect from food they eat.

Have you seen John Scharffenberger’s tribute to his friend and business partner?

Shana, I had not as yet had the chance to find or read John's post so thank you for sharing the link with me and everyone at eggbeater-- much appreciated indeed. ~ Shuna

[Rennea Couttenye]

Shuna, I'm a friend of Roberts. Me and some friends will organize a memorial in the Bay Area. His body will be buried in a private ceremony in Boston where he was born. We will celebrate his life here around San Francisco. If you'd like I'll be updating info when I know about specifics on this blog.