SF Fancy Food Show

I spent this past week noshing on cheese, sausages, and chocolate at the annual Fancy Food Show in SF, and man was I frazzled. Over 1,500 companies from 35 countries were there to showcase their latest and greatest gourmet items, and I could barely keep my head straight. Here's a quick highlight roundup, of both old and new brands...

I think my top fave was Robert Lambert's new stuff. His Dark Chocolate Cognac Sauce was sublime. His Spiced Crab Apples are from his grandmother's recipe, so you know it's gotta be superb. The Membrillo (quince paste) rivals the Spanish brands, and for the vegans, he has a Coconut Chocolate Sauce that's incredible. The Yuzu syrup was just amazing.

The lavender Agave Dream ice cream was lovely. It almost made me feel less guilty about eating ice cream. Made with agave, this brand is free of GMOs, gluten, preservatives, and corn syrup. Did I also mention that this is truly yummy?

Thankfully, Norwegian flavored water from ganicWater kept me going as I ran around tasting more goodies. I dug their Citric Lemongrass (naturally flavored, of course).

The guys over at FatCat Scones had the fluffiest Peach Passionfruit scones ever! Based in NorCal, they've just launched some new cakes (passionfruit coffee cake), so watch out for their retail launch. I discovered them 5 years ago, and have been a fan since.

As far as teas go, ITO EN had the new and refreshing Oolong Shot, a blue tea that is packed with 171 mg of tea polyphenols. Dilmah offered 100% single estate tea from Ceylon. This fair-trade tea company from Sri Lanka had a cool program that gives back to the local community and environment.