Food Fête Winter ’11 Event Recap

UPDATED (see new links to media/blog coverage below.)

Food Fête kicked off its seventh year on Monday, Jan. 17 in San Francisco with our annual West Coast media event.

It was our largest West Coast event in terms of exhibitors (26), with media attendance around 55 food writers and food bloggers.

Click here for the list of our exhibitors and their profiles.

Not surprisingly, dairy products continued to be well represented with 8 companies on hand including Tillamook Cheese, Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, California Milk Advisory Board, Emmi Roth USA, BelGioioso Cheese, Chobani Greek Yogurt and Organic Valley.  I, fortunately, am not lactose intolerant, so…

I was glad to see some familiar faces among the media attendees including Amy Sherman (Cooking with Amy/BlackboardEats.com); Joanne Weir (JoanneWeir.com plus her numerous television cooking programs), Jolene Thym representing the Oakland Tribune and her ThePickyEater blog; Anna Wolfe from The Gourmet Retailer, Betty Teller (Napa Valley Register),  Jill Nussinow (TheVeggie Queen) and Richard Turcsik from Grocery Headquarters, among others.

Jane Maynard, one of our first-time blogger attendees, wins the prize for being the first to post her round-up of Food Fete and the Fancy Food Show.

UPDATE: Here are some additional posts:

• ThePickyeater (MommyJuice Wines)
• Kim’s Kitchen Sink (Pamela’s Products)
• Kim’s Kitchen Sink (general event)

I’ll continue to post links to coverage resulting from Food Fête here in the coming weeks and months.

We’re now shifting gears to our next two events, both taking place over the next  three months, and in New York City.  On March 1, we’re bringing together a collection of special products for the “Food for People with Food Allergies” event.  The “Healthy Foods for Kids” event takes place on April 25.

Here’s the link to the online application for all of our 2011 events: http://www.bit.ly/foodfete2011.

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Food Fête San Francisco ’10 Recap

Despite a day that began with heavy rains, the skies cleared in time for our Food Fête media event on Monday, Jan. 18 in San Francisco.

Better yet, Monday night set a new attendance record for our West Coast event.  I’m still finalizing the list, but can confirm that we topped the 2009 attendance within the first 30 minutes of this year’s event start.

On the exhibitor side, we set another record with 21 exhibitors, including our wine and spirits sponsors, which were a big hit as always.  Oregon micro-distiller Sub Rosa Spirits served its Saffron and Tarragon-infused vodkas; Patron Spirits poured tequila cocktails with it Patron Silver Tequila; and Sam’s Club used Food Fete as the national debut of its new premium Rue 33 Vodka.

Here’s a link to the full list of exhibitors from our Food Fête media website, and you can see more photos on our Flickr page (more posted later) at http://bit.ly/7pYXdm.

I also must complement our exhibitors for helping make this event one of our smoothest-run ever.  Thanks guys!

Here is some very early blog coverage from the event, and I will update this list as more posts/coverage becomes available, so check back.

• YumSugar (Patron Margarita)
• CHOW.com (Sub Rosa Spirits gets a nod)
• YumSugar (Rue 33 Vodka)
• HealthCastle.com
• The Intrepid Culinologist
• Cooking with the Single Guy
• simplehuman blog
• TheSecondLunch.com
• The Well Tempered Chocolatier
• YumSugar (Rainier Fruit)
• FoodChannel (great photos!)

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Food Fete Brings Oregon Foods to NYC Press

Food Fete is heading back to New York City this Fall, but this time with a very special media event focused exclusively on Oregon’s artisinal food and beverage products.

Why Oregon only?  I relocated to Portland a few months ago and was quickly impressed by the passion and commitment to quality and sustainability that many producers here are supporting. Not long after I arrived, I got the idea to find the right platform for showcasing Oregon’s amazing products, and decided to create a regionally-focused event in New York.

To help spread the word, I’m teaming with the folks from Oregon Bounty, the culinary tourism initiative of Travel Oregon, the state’s travel and tourism bureau. I’m glad to have their support to help make this event successful.

We’re also implementing another new element with this event–namely offering two exhibitor scholarships to deserving companies that might find all the costs associated with participating in Food Fete a financial burden.

Visit the “Forms” section of this blog to download the event brochure and exhibitor and scholarship applications.

We already have 25 media RSVPs, which signals strong media support for this new regional approach.

If you know of any Oregon food and beverage companies that make great stuff and deserve national attention, I’ll appreciate your help in spreading the word.

More details to follow.

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Modmix Organic Cocktail Mixers

I had the pleasure recently to meet with Gretchen Nix, co-founder of Modmix.  They make a line of premium, all-organic cocktail mixers that are several notches above the ordinary mixers you’ll find at local supermarkets.

The idea behind these high-end mixers, according to Nix, is to help cocktail lovers make great drinks, but who aren’t skilled at making complex cocktails with multiple ingredients. Modmix takes a “less is more” approach in creating very flavorful mixers that are about as close to homemade as you’ll find.

Modmix’s six flavors include Citrus Margarita, French Martini, Lavender Lemon Drop, Mojito, Pomegranate Cosmopolitan and their newest flavor, Wasabi Bloody Mary.  All flavors include pure organic ingredients.

In sampling several flavors (without alcohol — it was before noon!) I noticed a very fresh taste that was not overly sweet.  My personal favorites were the Citrus Margarita, French Martini and Wasabi Bloody Mary.  Give them a try at your next party.

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Cocktail Trends from “Tales of the Cocktail”

Tales of the Cocktail Barchef Competition

My first trip to the wildly popular “Tales of the Cocktail” event in New Orleans last weekend was an eye opener.

Not surprisingly, there are some hard-core drinkers at this event.  New Orleans and its legendary bar culture couldn’t have been a more suitable backdrop for an event when you start sampling cocktails at 10:30 a.m. (during the seminars and tastings, of course), and not concluding until late in the evening.  I couldn’t keep up.

I arrived in New Orleans on Friday in time to attend a barchef competition, then bought a day-pass for Saturday.  My favorite seminar was “Regional Trends in American Cocktails,” hosted by a panel of bar consultants, writers and journalists.

Here are some takeaways:

• “Culinary Cocktail” is the the new catchphrase for today’s sophisticated cocktails.  As with food, consumers are becoming more informed and discerning and adventurous in their cocktail choices.
• California is seeing a strong Asian influence in cocktails.
• The SF Bay Area is experiencing “market-driven” mixology, referring to the abundance of local ingredients found at farmers markets.
• Hyper-seasonal cocktails. Bartenders are getting in more touch with local, in-season ingredients and how to use them in their cocktails.
• Given the focus on culinary cocktails, the area behind the bar is looking more like a kitchen than a traditional bar.  Skills with a saute pan and chef’s knife are become more and more valuable among mixologists and barchefs.
• Cocktail and food pairings:  Like wine and chocolate have been paired with foods in recent years, cocktails are now getting more pairing attention among restaurants wanting to offer something new. Cocktails made with tequila, absinthe and rye were mentioned among those spirits being paired with certain foods.
• Micro-distilling: Artisinal spirits from small, regional distillers (often using locally-grown grains) are all the rage, particularly among bartenders willing to experiment with new products.
• Rediscovery in “regional pride” for cocktails.  Cocktails typically associated with specific parts of the country (i.e. The Manhattan) are finding new life among mixologists who want to make the classics the very best they can be, or with their own twist.
• Innovative garnishes: natural and edible flowers, dried and dehydrated fruits, pickled foods, locally grown herbs, smokey garnishes were among those mentioned.
• Wine as a cocktail ingredient.  Wineries are beginning to hire mixologists to create coctktails using their vintages.
• Innovative bar snacks that complement cocktails are growing in popularity, in some cases as an alternative to a full meal.
• Yesterday’s trends.  Several flavors and ingredients got the “thumbs down” as drink trends that may have run their course. Among those mentioned are cucumber/mint, anything mixed with Red Bull, pomegranate-flavored drinks and sparkling cocktails.

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X-Rated Cocktails for the Ladies

We’ve all heard the phrase “chick drinks,” usually referring to frilly cocktails or martinis that “real men” would never be caught drinking among the guys. Whatever.
Enter X-Rated Fusion Liqueur, a new unabashedly chick drink (it’s even pink) that according to a press release, “fuses ultra permium French vodka with the highest quality Provence blood oranges, magngo and passion fruit.” Billed as the perfect spirit for girls night out, X-Rated Fusion Liqueur recently was named “Best New Spirit” in the US for 2006 by Market Watch Leader.

X-Rated is imported by Daucourt Martin Imports, which also imports Jean-Marc XO Vodka.

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The Bacon Martini

No, that’s not a typo. Editors at CHOW.com have just posted a new piece on a trendy cocktail being served in a Las Vegas bar (where else?) mixing vodka martinis flavored with cooked bacon. As a born and bred southern boy, I know anything with bacon can’t be all bad.

I can already see it. Absolut Prosciutto.

[source: CHOW.com]

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Swank Glasses

I’m a nut for unique bar glasses. Maybe it’s the sophisticated James Bond-ish or sassy “Sex and the City” hipness that one gets from sipping a martini. My personal collection of bar glasses tops 150, and I’m single!

If you’re like me, these new martini glasses from Swank Glasses are certain to make you feel special.

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