I really love food. Fancy things? Not so much. Yet somehow I’m drawn to the Javits Center in Manhattan for a celebration and presentation called the Fancy Food Show. Run by the Specialty Food Association, this trade show brings together producers, retailers, wholesalers, distributors, and the associates for three days of excitement. And samples. Oh, so many samples.
Lots of our friends in the pizza world are there, from flour companies to tomato companies and everything else you can think of. The best part is seeing all the Italians in one consolidated place. And this time of year the fact that this consolidated place has great air conditioning is a big plus.
I met up with my friends at Orlando Foods, the major importer of Ciao tomatoes, Olitalia olive oil, Lupara mozzarella, and Caputo flour. Evan Funke was making tortellini at their booth! Speaking of pasta, my friend Angleo Competiello of Alta Irpinia (Suffern, NJ) was making Pasta alla Gricia at the De Cecco booth.
But enough about pasta, let’s get back to pizza. While there wasn’t much pizza making happening at the Fancy Food Show (no big power drops for ovens), some of my favorite ingredient suppliers were there. I stopped by Bel Gioioso, Polly-o, and Galbani (all mozzarella producers). I hit up all the Grana Padano, Pecorino, and Parmigiano for hunks of delicious hard cheese.
I even stumbled across a tomato company I use often but have never met in person: La Valle! I think I first got into these years ago when I noticed they were the tomato of choice at Luzzo’s on 1st Ave (RIP). I would buy cans from Faicco’s on Bleecker Street. They’re lovely tomatoes and now I’ve learned they’re lovely people as well.
The above image is the only photo I took at the show and everyone in it is part of the La Valle family. Sisters, brother, cousins, dad, etc are all working the booth. Their cannery is in Campania. The fields are all nearby on the volcanic slopes of Mt Vesuvius. They had some cool displays of old can label art, which is of course a passion of mine. It was great to meet the fam and I truly hope to visit their cannery in Salerno or at least their majestic warehouse in East Rutherford, NJ.
I enjoyed my time at the Fancy Food Show but next year I vow to spend more than 3 hours there.
