excellent expo

The Global Food & Style Expo held two primary interests for me (one job-related, one not so much...):
1. Fancy Foods Show
2. culinary demonstration by the grill-master himself, Bobby Flay



The expo was held in Chicago. I've been to Chicago many times but never actually stepped foot outside the airport, so this was exciting for me. Chicago, home of two Rick Bayless restaurants, as well as Charlie Trotter's. Although those places are a bit out of my league, there's no shortage of appropriate and equally enticing restaurants scattered throughout the city. Oh, the possibilities! But I'll come back to that.

We only came for one day of the expo, and as fate would have it, it was the day of Bobby Flay's demonstration. This was my first time seeing a well-known chef live and in person, and it was great. He's super easy-going and amiable and you can't help but pay attention to his every word.


(I love those mirrors--you can see all the action, even from the back row where I was sitting...)

The dishes he prepared were relatively simple--grilled chicken with parsley-mint sauce and summer panzanella with grilled asparagus. Mr. Flay had no problem with people interrupting him with questions, and one woman even had the nerve to march up to the stage and request a taste of his finished bread salad. (I thought that was a bit rude myself, but to each her own.) I took a little video, so here's Bobby describing his latest book and new show:



The line for autographs was ridiculously long, so I skipped it. I just hovered around his table and took a picture or two. I felt slightly stalkerish and pathetic doing that, so the pictures aren't as great as I might've hoped. Whatever-- as long as my memory is still functioning correctly, who needs pictures?


The Fancy Foods Show was a wealth of tasty treats. There were desserts around every corner, and I'm not exaggerating:


Yes, there were glass panes protecting these goodies...


...but there were also samples.


Had there been no samples, there might've been a melee. Led by me.

The best thing I tasted (non-chocolate, of course) was this salsa:


Sweet and spicy and there are black beans involved. I bought some the minute I got back to NY.

Granted, neither chocolate nor salsa have anything to do with baby food or my purpose at the expo, but I had to take a little time for myself. Come on, I worked too. :)

The disappointing element of my trip was dinner. I had really hoped to eat somewhere trendy and well-known to Chicagoans. Alas, 'twas not meant to be. Our hotel was a 20-minute scary cab ride from downtown, and my fellow traveler didn't feel up to making the trek back for dinner. So, we went to the classy, high-quality restaurant attached to the hotel. (Did your sarcasm detector go off? It should've.) I won't reveal the name of the restaurant, but to give you an idea of its sophistication, here's part of the decor outside the door:


Yeah.

Take a look at some of what I had:


Chile-rubbed beef brochettes with corn relish and roasted red pepper sauce.
The relish and sauce were great. The beef? Chewy and rubbery and vile. Ick, I say. Ick. Fortunately, I had many tasty samples back in my room to make up for the unsatisfying dinner. Example: Cote d'Or dark chocolate, which I so kindly paused in devouring to photograph for any readers who might be elephant lovers or chocoholics:


All in all, it was an enjoyable trip. If nothing else, I brought back a few pounds of chocolate-induced fat and a new-found appreciation for Bobby Flay.