Death by Chocolate...NOT Breast Cancer 2026
Carol Osborne had always been familiar with the expression "death by chocolate." Chocolate was one of her favorite things, and she loved it enough that when she went to see her oncologist, she would bring chocolate for everyone on the staff. Years later, that small ritual would help inspire one of Krewe de Pink's signature fundraisers.
The idea surfaced in an unlikely place: jury duty. Osborne, a breast cancer survivor since 1997 and a past president of Krewe de Pink, found herself seated near Patrick M. Schoen, whose family operates Jacob Schoen & Son Funeral Home. As the two talked over lunch about Schoen's family business, Osborne's work surrounding breast cancer and her own love of chocolate, the concept clicked: why not hold a Death by Chocolate…NOT Breast Cancer fundraiser? Seven years later, that chance conversation has become an annual event.
The fundraiser returned Saturday night, October 3, to the Schoen Mansion on Canal Street, where the historic funeral home was transformed with pink-and-white balloons, floral arrangements, champagne, live music, and a crowd dressed in every shade of pink. Members of the Pussyfooters were among those in attendance, adding their unmistakable pink-and-orange costumes to an evening that deliberately balanced a serious cause with a sense of celebration.
For Osborne, the event remains both personal and joyful. Asked to name her favorite part of the evening, she answered without hesitation: "Anything chocolate." That answer fit a night built around a culinary competition in which local chefs incorporated chocolate into savory and sweet dishes while guests sampled their way through the mansion and voted for People's Choice favorites. Official judges Christopher Nobles and Beth D'Addono also evaluated the entries for Judge's Choice honors. Guests made their People's Choice picks with color-coded charms, dropping a pink charm into the jar for their favorite sweet dish and a brown charm into the jar for their favorite savory entry.
The venue is nearly as distinctive as the menu. Jacob Schoen & Son traces its New Orleans funeral-service history to 1874, while the Canal Street residence itself dates to the early 1890s and passed through several owners before the Schoen family purchased it in 1936.
Patrick Schoen pointed out surviving details from the home's earlier chapters, including a memorial fireplace tied to the Pitard family and features associated with florist Uriah J. Virgin, once known locally as New Orleans' "Flower King." The mansion is still used for funerals, but Schoen said it has long hosted other gatherings, as well. "We can have weddings," he said. "And we do a lot of charity events."
Death by Chocolate made full use of those rooms. A live jazz band performed in one parlor while guests carried tasting plates beneath chandeliers and moved between food stations, raffle tables, and silent-auction displays. Champagne was poured from a pink-draped bar, while raffle baskets included a French Quarter staycation, a NOLA Royal Funday package, a New Orleans Sunday Funday package, a Hard Rock Pinktober bundle, wine baskets, and lottery tickets. Silent-auction offerings stretched from domestic getaways to international travel, with packages spotlighting Nashville, Mexico, South Africa, Iceland, Ireland, and a winner's-choice European escape.
The printed tasting menu included 11 creations. Savory entries were the Skyline Chocolate Chili Dog from Mardi Gras School of Cooking, NOCHI's Chocolate Butternut, Nolita's Smoked Chicken Mole "Nacho," Chocolate Grillades & Grits from FoodWorx NOLA, and Messina's Catering's Chocolate Short Rib. On the sweet side were White Chocolate & Banana Bread Pudding from Katie's Restaurant, Strawberry Nutella Crepe from Chez Nous, Triple Chocolate Bread Pudding from Café Hope, Cherry Chocolate Cheesecake from Messina's Catering, Bread Pudding & Chocolate King Cake from Caluda's Cottage Catering, and Shuga Whisk Pastries' Cake My Breath Away.
Two savory dishes stood out in particular. Messina's served red-wine-and-dark-chocolate braised short rib with Boursin cheese on a French baguette, a rich crostini that used the chocolate more as depth than dessert. NOCHI's Chocolate Butternut paired butternut squash soup with mole emulsion and a chocolate-bacon crumble, turning the event's central ingredient into something warm, savory, and unexpectedly balanced. The remaining savory dishes ranged from cocoa-spiced Cincinnati-style chili on a mini hot dog to smoked chicken mole served over a blue corn tortilla chip.
The dessert side leaned more traditionally indulgent, with bread puddings, crepes, cheesecake, king cake, and layers of chocolate in multiple forms. Caluda's table offered both a white-chocolate bread-pudding king cake and a chocolate-fudge king cake, while Chez Nous filled delicate crepes with chocolate-hazelnut spread and strawberries. The desserts were substantial enough that some guests carried portions away to enjoy later, making the tasting feel less like a quick sample table and more like a compact tour through several local kitchens.
Krewe de Pink and Jacob Schoen & Son served as event underwriters. The evening's sponsors included Keesler Federal Credit Union, NextGen, GeneralData Healthcare, Sakura, The Times-Picayune, NOLA.com, and Ellevate Louisiana. Guests could also donate directly to breast cancer research at Tulane Cancer Center, the beneficiary at the heart of Krewe de Pink's mission. The program also honored 2026 Sweet Survivors Jill Fourcade, Aaiyanna Johnson, Kelly Rovetto, Jerry Parker, and Jasman Green, putting survivor stories alongside the food and fundraising.
That mission was especially meaningful to Cathie Weinstein, a 12-year breast cancer survivor who stood out in a bright yellow top and hot pink pants. Weinstein had previously survived stage three colon cancer before facing triple-negative breast cancer, and she said the breast cancer chemotherapy was far more difficult than what she had endured before. "The chemo for breast cancer is horrible," Weinstein said. "But, you know, I'm still here."
Because she received care through Tulane Cancer Center, supporting the research felt especially personal. "That's why I really wanted to come tonight, to support the research," Weinstein said.
Through the hair loss and physical toll of treatment, Weinstein found one small way to feel more like herself: red lipstick. Looking put together on the outside helped change her attitude when treatment was making her feel anything but. "You have to put red lipstick on," she said. "It makes you look better. It brings out your features, so you're not washed out."
More than the makeup itself, Weinstein said the experience taught her to move past the anger of a diagnosis and keep going.
That spirit fits an event designed to surround a frightening disease with food, music, humor, and community. Krewe de Pink is a volunteer-run nonprofit that raises money for breast cancer research, and the organization reports that its fundraising efforts have generated more than $301,000 since becoming a nonprofit in 2015. Death by Chocolate is only one part of that work, but its origin story makes it especially personal—a survivor, a funeral-home owner, and a love of chocolate turned an ordinary conversation during jury duty into seven years of fundraising.
For chocolate
lovers, Death by Chocolate offers plenty to indulge in, but its larger purpose
is helping fund the research that gives more people the chance to survive
breast cancer and return to themselves afterward. For Weinstein, feeling like
herself sometimes meant a swipe of red lipstick; for someone else, it may be
something entirely different. Either way, Krewe de Pink's hope is written into
the event's name: death by chocolate, perhaps, but not breast cancer.
