Junk Food Nation, good morning.  Yesterday was Day 3, the final day of the Summer Fancy Food Show.  Thank goodness – while it was an amazing experience, I am tuckered out. And don’t say “Oh, it’s so hard just walking around picking up free food and eating cheese and ice cream all day.” Because you’re right – THAT’S not hard.  But feeling like a degenerate whose life has ONLY comprised of eating ice cream and cheese for three days straight is also easy, and eventually your body just seeks normalcy.  I went home last night and watched sports for the first time in a stretch, did dishes, and ate a salad. Normalcy.

Day 3 of the Fancy Food Show is Evacuation Day.  Basically all the vendors have HAD IT UP TO HERE, and besides finalizing deals and still pimping to new customers, they are ready to FLEE/GTFO. What does that mean? That means TONS of products are just being given away because they don’t want to have to carry it back on the plane with them.  That also means CHA-CHING!

So let’s review my Day 3 Favorites, shall we?

How elegant

Justin’s Nut Butter was a big hit for me.  Essentially, they make nut butters and candy – using the finest chocolate and nuts to create amazingly ON POINT confections.  They make Snickers that are better than Snickers.  They make Peanut Butter Cups that are better than Reese’s.

Like Mars Corp, but BETTER

At the show, they were showcasing their new dark chocolate line of Snickers-like bars and Peanut Butter Cups.  And if you think those candies taste good with dark chocolate, you’re not wrong. The flavor was OUT OF THIS WORLD, as the quality of the internal nutty innards was stupidly good.  An instant favorite.

Rappa Pappa?

Papa Jac is a Puerto Rican drink that, as far as I know, isn’t sold in the US!  Which is blasphemy – it’s basically bottled passion fruit juice with rum and sugar.  DOESN’T THAT SOUND INCREDIBLE??? Apparently it’s drunk all over Puerto Rico but hasn’t hit our sandy beaches yet.  Come on, US Government!

Dangerously drinkable

Poured over ice, this was sweet, refreshing, bursting with fruit flavor, and instantly amazing.  I smacked my lips several times after downing my icy glass.  Someone needs to import this IMMEDIATELY.

Vosges blazing a trail…

I’ve known Vosges for quite some time now, and I hope to someday have a relationship with them.  Famous (in my mind) for their bacon chocolate bars, Vosges came to this show with TONS of new flavors, some of which AREN’T even on the market yet, but which I’ll be reviewing very soon.  I mean, look at the ones above?  Black Salt Caramel? Pink Himalayan Salt Caramel Chocolate?  Stellar.

…a trail of broken chocolate pieces

They also had filled chocolates, smoked chocolates, ones with fruit, ones with dried veggies, etc. etc.  Simply put, Vosges was OUT THERE…they definitely weren’t content sitting on their laurels.  They are pushing flavor boundaries to the max.  To Vosges, bacon in chocolate is so four years ago…

Yes, this is pistachio cream

Finally, one thing I KNEW I had to try before I left the show was Sabatino’s Pistachio Cream. Yes, you heard me right – Pistachio Cream. At $21 a jar, I knew this HAD to be good, right?  It won GOLD at the sofi Awards for best new topping, and once I had it, it wasn’t hard to see why.

Definitely not guac

Looking like guacamole, this was basically pistachios that were ground up and made into a thick spread.  And it was ABSURD.  I took a small spoonful and placed it in my mouth; I almost did a jig.  Sweet, smooth, thick, this was BURSTING with pistachio flavor and so refined and pure in flavor.  Just straight up sweet pistachio creaminess.  I could see having this on crackers, on ice cream, on scones, on ANYTHING.   One of the few products at the show that I had never even CONCEPTUALIZED before.  Truly a “new” food in my awareness.

The day 3 haul

Like I said, Day 3 was get-rid-of-everything-Day, so I took all I could carry.  Which was a lot.  Man oh man. Lemme tell you, all those jars are heavy.  REALLY HEAVY.

See you next year, Fancy Food Show!

So that’s a wrap!  Thanks for everything Fancy Food Show!  Thanks to all the vendors and companies I met and formed relationships with; you won’t be sorry rolling with the Junk Food Guy!  Next year, the show goes back to New York… looks like a road trip might be in the cards.  Who’s coming with me???

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Thoughts? Please comment below (I always reply) or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there.

Sincerely, Junk Food Guy