Sometimes Foodie: Summer Fancy Food Show - Day One - Level One

Hammonds was back again with all their bars and marshmallows, everything was taped down and sealed for display.

Last year I went to the Summer Fancy Food Show and I took nearly 1000 photos...and they never made it to the blog because I hate posting images directly from my camera and there were just too many for me to edit. I was overwhelmed. Normally I like to edit all my photos to make them look extra nice for the blog, but there were just too many!

Even though it pains my perfectionist-self to do this, I'm uploading directly from my camera today with the goodies I found on the lowest level of the Fancy Food Show yesterday.

Here are the maps showing off the floor plans for the show. It looks cumbersome in tiny icon form, but the third level is actually a 4-page spread! I don't even know how big that room spans...but it's HUGE. Level 1 is less than half the size of that, and on day one I covered every single aisle of level one. This floor contains some smaller companies and new comers.

Check out my other Summer Fancy Food Show Coverage Posts!

Day One, Level 1 (Part 1)

Day Two (Electric Boogaloo), Level 3

Day 3! (Eat Hard: With a Vengeance Part 1) (Part 2)

Milkboy Chocolates had a really lovely ginger and lemon bar. Ginger is very trendy this year. They also had a very unique pine-influenced bar that tasted like chocolate on Christmas morning. It was different, and refreshing, but the lemon ginger was easily my favorite in the mix.

Lots of novelty cocoas! This was the first time I've seen the Friendly's themed boxes in person.

Playful design and delicious cookie! The almond version tasted like my favorite almond macaroons from the Jersey Shore. (Plus the logo is an adorable little squirrel.) These were really yummy and pared nicely with coffee. My boyfriend loved the pistachio ones the most, but my heart belongs to almond.

Lots of healthy savory sacks this year. This company in particular had a really nice booth with an eye catching light display. I haven't tried this flavor yet, but they had samples of a chili sauce variety which were really nice.

I'm a sucker for anything banana. This product was playful and it had some great caramelized banana flavoring. The original was hands down my favorite of the three. It seemed like banana was getting a moment in the sun during this year's show. I felt like there were a lot more banana products this year than last.

Full bars?! Natural Choice was handing out full sized fruit bars, I went with the pink lemonade which was very tart, but it was the perfect palette cleanser between samples. Very refreshing and I liked that it was a lot more sour than other frozen bars on the market. It would be a great drink mixer. It'll add a little tang and keep your drink cold.

Remember those LOOKA macarons I reviewed? It's actually one of my most popular reviews of all time, and they were at the show with a bunch of other products. Such great packaging for a grocery store dessert item. I mean, I bought these at Walmart, but you'd never know it once you saw the lovely modern box and the beautiful treats inside.

Delicious caramel sauce to the left, chocolate spread the the right. The caramel was my favorite, it was so buttery <3

Over at the Spice Hunter booth they were making mini Mexican Street Corn samples, they were DELICIOUS and a welcome savory change from the many sweets at the show. Very well seasoned and lovely presentation. Portioning was perfect too! Always leave them wanting more (because I definitely did)

Some new spreads are headed our was from Vintage Bee. Honey was another product that was trendy last year, and the trend is still going strong. A LOT more honey booths and products were there this year.


Delicious Kimchi! Great flavor and texture, plus the company bottles the brine. Nothing is wasted!

I loved the colors of these popcorn, we sampled the fruity purple version and it was light and sweet, kind of like a more snackable breakfast cereal.

There were plenty of vegetarian options too! We got to sample this yellow tofu curry and it was really yummy. I'll definitely have to get some of this for my fridge at home. It was a big hit with me and my boyfriend. It's refrigerated, not frozen, so the finished dish has great texture. I might be able to find this at the India Bazaar. (I hope.)

My beloved Avocado Oil salt & vinegar chips <3 No one was at this booth, so I couldn't tell them how much I loved their product, but if you're reading this, the vinegar ones are the best! You should have sample sizes of that one! It's way better than the normal sea salt ones you had at the table.

The floor was air conditioned, so it was really nice to warm up with some hot soup, and it was vegetarian to boot! Always nice to have a warm, soothing, veggie option <3

Delicious cheese crisps <3 They melted away into cheesy goodness. <3 These are what Cheez-Its want to be when they grow up.

Return of the never ending olive bar! I couldn't try them all, but the horseradish stuffed ones were A+

More taped-down Hammonds candy bar goodness.

New bars! Coming soon! The ginger tumeric = love

The lovely ladies of the Harlem Chocolate factory made some delicious, and spicy chocolate bars.

Even though I'm normally a dark chocolate fan, the spicy heat of this mango bar won me over. VERY good stuff and the ladies at the table were so friendly and welcoming. <3

All the buzz of coffee without any of the acidity. This maca drink had a great roasted flavor and it didn't upset my stomach.I actually went back for seconds on the last day of the show.

I LOVE THIS LOGO! It's so cute and modern and playful. The branding for this was great and the product was really enjoyable. It's essentially a strawberry Powerberry, but the packaging is just....perfect. <3<3<3 They gave me a reusable shopping bag with the logo and I absolutely love it.

These stuff was DELICIOUS but they sadly don't have a US distributor for this amazing UK product.It's essentially pickled relishes to serve with crackers or digestive biscuits. Kind of like a snacking pickled salsa. VERY yummy stuff.

I really hope they get a distributor. This was a great product and I was tempted to beg him for a jar to take back to my hotel room. Surinamese was my #1 pick but they were all great. (The b/f liked it too)

The logo and name for this product is a little...sexually suggestive? But it is one of the few green juices I can actually tolerate. Very refreshing and not overly sweet like a lot of other apple-heavy green juices.This tastes like a green juice you would whip up at home, and my boyfriend who is a former juicer, really enjoyed it.