The Fancy Food Show

Some people dream of winning the lottery, world peace, or moving to a desert island.  Me – I dream of food.  My dreams came true at this week’s Fancy Food Show, a culinary utopia of free samples & digestible inventions.  Over 100,000 exhibitors flocked to NYC from all over the world – Italy, Australia, Spain, and even Iceland (who knew they cornered the market on?)- to let us sample their goods. 

From coffee to tea, all things fair trade and organic reigned at this year’s food show. Speaking of which, organic and fair trade chocolate tasting may well replace wine tasting with the Outstanding New Product Winner: Chocolove’s Chocolatour Tanzania Vintage 2005, and the entire Chocolatour vintage line of cocoa beans from different vintages & regions from all over the world (Granada & Java). 

Designer bottled White Tea intends to give Snapple a run for its money, boasting high levels of antioxidants, natural sweeteners, & less than 30 calories per serving.  Best of all, brands like Inko’s come in the hottest flavors, including lychee, apricot, honeysuckle & blueberry – $1.59 per bottle.  Last but not least, salt has officially been touted as this season’s couture condiment, a color and flavor to match every food under the sun.  Seeing as I’m partial to Peruvian pink (sea salt that is), I’ll be dining on lots of well-matched heirloom tomato salads, found at Salt Works.

While the Fancy Food Show handed out Awards for:

• Non-food Specialty Item – "If You Care 100% Recycled Aluminum Foil"

• Outstanding New Product – Artisanal’s Premium Cheesecake

• Outstanding Beverage – Ineeka’s Spearmint & Lavender tea

I’ve come up with a few of my own Restaurant Girl Awards:

Non-food Specialty Item –
Butter Boy: Meet my new boyfriend.  When I spotted this little guy, it love was at first sight.  Perfect for barbecues or just the kitchen table, Butter Boy was born to butter corn – more than kid friendly, he doubles as a butter holder, content to spend the night in the fridge.  He’s apparently got a Butter Girl girlfriend, but we’ll see just how long that lasts now that I’m in the picture.  Until then, Butter Boy retails for $6.99, $12 for the couple, sold on Amazon. 

Outstanding New Dessert –
Chef Hilly’s Kitchen Dirty Chocolate: Remember the good old days when your biggest problem was rescuing an oreo from the depths of a glass of milk?  You can relive your childhood with this gourmet drink blend, loaded with real bits of homemade chocolate chip cookie, that nostalgically sink to the bottom when added to milk or coffee (hot or cold).  Pick a flavor – dirty french vanilla, dirty chocolate or dirty chocolate mint (think liquid thin mints) – and if you’re not a cookie fan, every flavor’s available cookie-free, $1.25 for a single-serving pack. 

Outstanding Beverage –
Numi Tea –  Forget store-bought flowers, Numi teas are the perfectly drinkable centerpiece.  Designed to blossom when added to water, these organic flowering teas, handsewn into precious bundles or rosettes, are destined to be the center of attention in any glass teapot.  Numi’s green, white, and black teas come in 9 different flavors – jasmine pearl, lavender dream, midnight peony – & five unique designs, are available at Fairway, Lifethyme, Sur La Table, & Numi Tea, four blossoms for $ 5.95.

More fancy food finds to come next week…
Until we eat again,
Restaurant Girl