NYC Wine and Food Festival
Food Network’s successful South Beach Wine and Food Festival travels to New York for a four-day, jam-packed event around the Meatpacking District, not far from the network’s headquarters.
Trendtrekking spent a few hours touring and tasting the various exhibitors during the first day of the event, and we were charmed by the majority of the brand reps, yet underwhelmed by the products showcased. We’ve seen and tasted most of what was presented, and we left wondering where the new, trendworthy products were.
The event sponsors were a mixed bag: Food and Wine magazine is a perfect fit for such event, and we loved Illy’s participation (espresso is a welcome necessity during such events), though their much-touted Push Button House was not ready in time. Target hosted the welcome center and though we don’t really see the brand as a gourmet Wine and Food purveyor, they did a great job setting up whimsical furniture and sculptural works and were busy promoting their new line of gourmet chocolate, Choxie, which according to one of the reps, is to Target what Godiva is to chocolate! ShopRite is the major sponsor of the grand tasting events, which sort of cheapens the effect, in our opinion. It was a bit disconcerning seeing the ShopRite logo everywhere while tasting gourmet spirits and foods.
We loved the new mini bars from Boulder, CO-based Chocolove. They come in six flavors, with orange peel in dark chocolate and toffee & almonds in milk chocolate being the most interesting combinations. We found out that chocolatier Timothy Moley will hand-make one lucky winner’s dream bar! That’s a great idea using customization to promote the brand, though we’re hoping they can expand this to more than a lucky winner.
One of our favorite liquors at the event has to be Castries, a peanut rum cream spirit from St. Lucia. The concoction is based on a traditional Caribbean beverage, and this is the modern interpretation, using peanuts grown in the volcanic soil of St. Lucia. We sipped it on the rocks and we loved its nutty creaminess. We can’t wait to try it in a Peanut Butter Cup (Castries, chocolate liquor, vodka) or a PB&J (Castries and dollop of grape jelly).
A slew of absinthe labels are rushing to market since the ban on the spirit was lifted a few months ago. We really liked Grande Absente, a 138 proof spirit that knocked our socks off. (tip: try it with 7Up; it goes down smoother).
Another liqor we enjoyed was Coole Swan, a cream liquor from Ireland. Fresh Irish double cream is combined with single malt Irish whiskey, with real chocolate melted into the cream, and infusions of Ivory Coast bittersweet chocolate and Madagascan bourbon vanilla. Sounds like a lot, but it’s just simple, creamy goodness.
Bertolli launched a convenient new line of oven bake meals that are easy to prepare, and require a bit of a personal touch, which should please consumers looking to save money, attain convenience, yet feel like they’re actively participating in the cooking ritual.
We love Illy and guzzled a few shots of espresso, but we were pleasantly surprised by how tasty the new iced coffee offerings from Swiss-based Emmi. They seem to be serious about the coffee, measuring the amount of coffee beans in each cup! The packaging is great too. Shake it, remove the foil and replace the sipping cover.
Pearl Vodka just introduced a coconut flavor to their collection, but we found it too sweet, and would rather stick to their pomegranate flavor.
Our most favorite product was neither a food nor a beverage, but a vessel for beverages! Mighty Leaf’s Tea on Tap set is comprised of a galss carafe and a shot glass that fits at the top. You can create customized teas by filling the shot glass with a syrup or fruit puree and pairing it with the iced tea in the carafe. Simple and brilliant!
Social currency: Just another ordinary food festival, but simply stunning to see how many people shell out $150 for the grand tasting events. Judging from the overwhelming consumer and media attention the culinary world is getting, it must be that food is the new porn!
Tags: Event
This article was posted by Stephan Paschalides on Friday, October 10th, 2008 at 6:57 pm and is filed under Food & Drink. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
