Chef Rick is Excited For the Annual Festival of Chefs

Chef Rick is excited to proudly participate in the annual Festival of Chefs for Kidworks at the Newport Beach Country Club. He always has a table and booth alongside many other local chefs. Chef Rick enjoys seeing friends and colleagues at this wonderful event supporting young adults on their path to college and meaningful careers. If you want to support this wonderful event, tickets are available on the KidWorks website.

Chef Rick is passionate about staying involved with and building his community.  Although he volunteers with many organizations his involvement with Kidsworks is near and dear to his heart. Learn more about Chef Rick and his involvement with the Annual Festival of Chefs and KidWorks as an organization, here in our blog post

National Chocolate Covered Caramel Day As Seen on KTLA’s “Off the Clock”

Alright, welcome back. Today is a sweet day. It is actually National Chocolate Covered Caramel Day. One of our favorites, one of mine. And of course, we are going to celebrate, all thanks to a local company. It is called Santa Ana Sweets. I have known about Chef Rick and Santa Ana Sweets for a good 5 years now and it has been great to watch his arc as he is really now very popular in this game. They dropped off some of their smooth golden caramels. They are great, they are tasty treats. 

I was joking with Sam earlier, because I gave some of these to Sam 3 years ago and he still talks about them. What makes them extra special? It is done the old-school way. Chef Rick honestly dips every single one of these himself. They are hand-dipped in dark chocolate, sprinkled with sea salt and they are fantastic. (Yeah they are!) (Yeah!). And let me tell you, here is one thing that I really appreciate: When you go on to the ingredients of something and you look, the less ingredients, generally, the better. There are like 6 ingredients here. I didn’t bring my glass thing, you’ll have to read it. But, honestly, there are no preservatives.

Sour cream, sugar, syrup with vanilla, cream, dark chocolate and sea salt.

And sea salt! Very basic.

Anyway, they have these 3 packs, they have 6 packs. Here is the great thing about Chef Rick, because he started here, he started in Orange County, Santa Ana Sweets and he has done a lot of boutiques. Now he is in the John Wayne Airport. He is ready to cut a deal. He is going to be in all major airports across the country. He is going to be the signature chocolate of there. Renaissance Hotels just signed a deal with him, they are going to be giving these as a part of their luxury services. 

These are fine chocolates. You can also find them at Pelican Hill Resorts, Moon Goat Cafe, Blossom Cafe, and even Santa Monica Sea Food in Costa Mesa. [See where you can find Santa Ana Sweets here] So a lot of Orange County but now getting into LA county. This is really one of those where if you want something that is great, unique, and again no preservatives, you’re not going to have all of these things that we find in boxed candies. So you are really going to enjoy the freshness, and the sweetness of it. 

How did you like it Kara? (Good)

They are really good

Here is the cool thing, because you can order online, “Off the Clock” has a special deal. We love it when our vendors, especially our local vendors, offer our viewers a sweet deal.

Here is it, just for our “Off the Clock” viewers, just head to their website, we mentioned it, santaanasweets.com you can get 20% off your order by just putting in the code “offtheclock.” 

So just fill out your card, before you check out make sure you use the code “offtheclock” to nab this tasty deal here. And yes, Chef Rick. Like I said, I have met him, it’s Rick Boxeth. I met him at a charity event probably 5-6 years ago and I just fell in love with his personality. He came from a classic dessert, I don’t even know the name, but it is someone very famous in France, so he has a European background in making sweets and you can tell just from that. But really happy that the arc of his company is really taking off. If you are in the John Wayne Airport you can pick them up there. You’re going to see them at LAX. You are going to see them at all major airports.

By the way, I am on their website right now and they say that they support, a lot of local non-profits. So that is pretty cool too

He is a very philanthropic person who does a lot, and gives back. Again, can’t say enough about this make-a-wish part of the symphony. But, I wanted to bring these chocolates to you guys to try out. They are delicious. And we will have to sneak Sam some. 

Yeah, we will get some to him. Remember “offtheclock” for that code too. 

The Inspiration Behind the Golden Caramels

I am Chef Rick and my mission for the perfect caramel took me across the world, to the heart of France. The intense flavor, texture, and smoothness was unmatched here in the US. Once I was back home in Santa Ana I got to work, inspired by my French experience. I was determined to create a caramel that’s kind to your teeth and a pleasure to your taste buds. After several attempts, I created a delicious, smooth, and golden caramel that melts in your mouth. My French-inspired creamy caramels are hand-dipped in dark chocolate and adorned in sea salt

Santa Ana Sweets, a trip to France in every bite!

Chef Rick Receives Award for Contributions to City of Santa Ana

Why Chef Rick Recieved a Certificate of Recognition

Mayor Pro Tem Lopez, of Santa Ana, California personally reached out to Chef Rick after trying his amazing Santa Ana Sweets at the grand opening of Farmers and Merchants Bank in Santa Ana. Mayor Lopez wanted to know if Chef Rick would be interested in receiving a certificate of recognition for the contributions he and his businesses have provided to the community of Santa Ana. The certificate will be presented by Mayor Pro Tem Lopez of Santa Ana, at a special ceremony held at City Hall, on Monday, March 10th at 1 PM. The ceremony will be open to the public and media.

Over the years, Chef Rick and Santa Ana Sweets have become an integral part of the Santa Ana community. Chef Rick is known for his passion for cooking, and his commitment to using only the finest ingredients in all of his creations. The small batch kitchen, specializing in handcrafted chocolate-covered caramels, has become a local Orange County staple.

In addition to their delicious treats, Chef Rick and Santa Ana Sweets have been involved in a number of community events that directly benefit local non-profit organizations, volunteering his time preparing and providing gift baskets filled with the Santa Ana Sweets.

“We are honored to receive this certificate of recognition from the city of Santa Ana,” said Chef Rick. “Santa Ana has been our home for many years, and we are honored to be a part of this community. We are committed to continuing to provide the best possible service to our customers, while also giving back to the community in any way we can.”
The certificate of recognition is a testament to the hard work, dedication, commitment, and positive impact Chef Rick and Santa Ana Sweets has had on the City of Santa Ana. As Chef Rick continues to grow and expand the business, he will continue to remain committed to his roots and to the community that has supported him over the years.

Video Transcript

so I’m really excited because Santa Ana Sweets has been a big part of Santa Ana and so happy to be here get recognized from the city that we represent right here in our caramels

hey I’m Chef Rick and with Santa Ana Sweets we’re here at the City Hall getting some recognition from mayor Lopez for everything we do for the city the thing is KidWorks the other thing is delicious caramels that the mayor loves

so we’re excited to be here

so I named them Santa Ana Sweets because we live in a house built Circa 1885 in Santa Ana that’s just beautiful we raise our kids there, been there 23 years and we just love Santa Ana it’s a great place to be great place to hang out downtown Santa Ana is it’s getting better and better every year

I’m Rick [Music]

this is awesome!

We’re here in a presentation this is fun when you work hard it pays off on right the hustle aint free

[Music]

so and you know you having a connection to the city the name of the company I just think it’s really sweet no pun intended and thoughtful and so we just always love recognizing folks that do whatever they can to give back and I know listening to you you do a lot of that here for our residents so we just really appreciate it

you know or for working for all of us and I think it’s I think it’s great as well

I’m sure it worked long hours like all of us so I get it yeah exactly yeah after being a teacher that’s crazy I even work on school last week

I know cool yeah no this is exciting I hope you I mean I’m definitely gonna enjoy these I’m just gonna try to make it last so not do that I know right

what’s up everybody just Chef Chris one and Chef Rick and the team okay Rick what just happened?

We just recieved an award

where is it

Got recognized by the city of Santa Ana

yeah [Music]

there it is there it is

Happy motivation of money

[Music]

all right

[Music]