Fancy Food Show, Part III

Tuesday was the last day of the Fancy Food Show. After eating duck for breakfast from last night's Chinese food excursion, Keepitcoming and I rushed around Javits Center, snapping our last set of photos and revisiting booths that we'd particularly enjoyed. Ina Garten made an appearance at her booth for The Barefoot Contessa. I was partially in shock at seeing a real live celebrity on the Food Network and partially wracking my brain for nice things to say, as I've done nothing but poked fun at Ina and her denims, but ended up just passing by and briefly gawking.The last day of walking around was a stretch to scour the aisles for things that we'd missed in the last two days. All the SOFI award winners from last night's ceremony had their awards out, and it was fun to see which foods won among the nominees.We went back to our favorite booths, too. Another stop at Vosges, and Dave's Gourmet, a company I'm quite fond of, sampled their delicious Masala Marinara. Mackie's of Scotland boasted an excellent haggis and cracked black pepper chip (I finally had haggis chips!) and Mercer's Dairy sampled all of their flavors of wine ice cream, royal white Riesling and chocolate Cabernet being our favorites.Metromint's incredibly metrosexual booth. Delicious water, though.

Food trends were buzzing this year, the most popular flavors and ingredients being goat's milk, flavored waters, peppadew, edible images on top of cakes, cupcakes, and human beings, Indian-inspired flavors in both sweet and savory, hipster yogurt, elderberries, and Nutella knock-offs. Seriously. I've never seen so many companies trying to hump the Nutella legacy. Hot damn.Hard-hitting food journalism.

Overall, my first trade show was a completely smashing success. I got to talk to a lot of interesting people, eat so, so many decadent foods, and spend time with my fantastic traveling COMPANION and partner in crime, Keepitcoming Love. Couldn't have done it without her. Hopefully, this will pave the way for more food shows and more experiences in the industry!Foodette