Bear Represents at the Fancy Food Show

You may have heard that the bi-annual Fancy Food Show is in town, which is the country's largest specialty foods conference, attracting more than 40,000 international visitors.  I've been once before and was mesmerized as well as befuddled by the whole thing.  The overall experience is pretty amazing, and gets better with each year, as new specialty foods vendors join and showcase some of the most inventive, interesting and ever so unusual products (i.e. even funky food fashion was exhibited - see ice cream pants above)

This year's show had special meaning to me, as I was so proud of our dear Astoria bringin' down the house by having a nice presence at the Cooking Channel Theater on Level 1.

Bear Restaurant Demo:
It was awesome to see Chef Natasha Pogrebinsky of Bear Restaurant today rockin' it out with her bad self, as she showed the curious foodie audience just how to construct a sophisticated and comforting Russian-style feast.  Meg joined me for the demo as well, and we enjoyed learning about the way a traditional borscht is constructed, as well as the true meaning of Russian zakuski.

Doing an absolutely tremendous job, we were proud of Chef Natasha's accomplishments, as she presented with confidence and her quintessential easy going style.  It was awesome to see a strong female chef representing for our neck of the woods, and I sincerely hope it continues to raise our profile as a culinary neighborhood, as well as to pique people's curiosity about Bear.

More Astoria Action:
If you're still planning on attending the show tomorrow, don't miss another awesome Astoria representation from Chef Youngsun Lee of The Queens Kickshaw.  He'll be demoing a signature Kickshaw dish tomorrow at the Cooking Channel demo theater at 11:00 a.m.  For a quick find, look for the NY aisle (aka aisle 4,600) on Level 1.

Go Astoria...R-E-P-R-E-S-E-N-T!