The opening night party at the Fancy Food Show was held on an upper floor of the Javits Center. It had a great terrace with river views, and a fashion show with a unique twist: the dresses were made of chocolate. Partygoers were invited to pose for pics next to the models; nibbling, however, was verboten.
Chocolate Dresses, No Nibbles
On the way to the party room, a window bay provided an internal view – an overlook of the exhibit floor.
Exhibit Floor View
And those dresses popped up again in a special exhibit, the Salon du Chocolate, dedicated to chocolate as art, with award-winning sculptures and specialty bonbons.
More Posing With Chocolate
Chocolate As Art
And Chocolate To Eat
Some of the pavilions I remembered from past shows were reliable old friends. The friendly German chefs were as affable as ever ( and their food as delectable);
German Chefs On Camera
And Ready For Their Close-Up
the Moroccans as colorful, and tasty as well;
Moroccan Coffee Service
and Peru’s pisco as powerful.
Peruvian Pisco
But there were some delightful surprises in store. Turkey’s corridor was lined with purveyors of specialties and welcoming smiles. Chefs discussed their cooked food and vendors cheerfully posed with Turkish delight and coffee, all excellent.
Turkish Chef
And Turkish Delight
And speaking of posing, Spiderman showed up (not in Turkey), along with a guy in a jacket full of sound effects. Gives “loud clothing” a new meaning.
Wham! Powee!
The Urbani truffle folks, whose party was reported in my last entry, had an expanded presence on the floor from last year. There were chefs cooking truffle-garnished specialties, and many of the actual mushrooms were scattered around the area. The risotto was pungent with truffles; Olga Urbani posed with a bowl full of them.
Urbani Booth
Umm! Truffle Risotto!
Olga Urbani Holding The Truffles
So much to see and taste! These posts are just some of the highlights, and I only scratched the surface. You can get an inkling of the breadth of the global food industry here, from small producers to global industries, but there will always be too much to see it all.
