Publisher/Advertising
David Spencer
dspencer@gourmetbusiness.com
877-438-4932 ext. 1
Executive Editor
Michelle Moran
mmoran@gourmetbusiness.com
239-992-2404
Contributing Editor
James Mellgren
jmellgren@gourmetbusiness.com
510-517-9569
Creative Director
Penelope Korff
penny@korffdesign.com
Director of Custom Media
Jack Wrigley
jwrigley@gourmetbusiness.com
214-783-2525
Subscriber Services
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Brad Simon
bsimon@gourmetbusiness.com
800-765-9797
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Ed Loeb
eloeb@gourmetbusiness.com
877-438-4932 ext. 7
Advertising Sales – Midwest
Arnie Bennett
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Advertising Sales – West Coast
Frank Prokos
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The Publisher’s View
It’s All About the
Presentation
It’s hard to believe that summer is half over. The tomatoes
are getting larger. Though still
green, I know the time will
soon come to slice them up
and smother them with fine
olive oil and garlic to produce
flavorful bruschetta.
Speaking of flavor, we were
treated to a multitude of
flavors at the Summer Fancy
Food Show last month. Take
a moment to read our show recap featuring some of the
notable products that we encountered. Be sure not to miss
our video report from the show with comments from our
editor James Mellgren, and our next-generation food writer
Justin Simon, whose proud papa Brad is all smiles about the
notion that his passion for specialty food has finally rubbed
off on one of his offspring.
I recently returned from a weekend jaunt to Atlanta to tour
the permanent showrooms and temporary exhibit space at
AmericasMart. It was good to see the familiar faces of my
former rep colleagues Scott Barnett, Ben Tally, Verne Bliss
and a host of others who are still working hard and keeping
busy. It’s always interesting to see products from a variety of
suppliers being merchandised together in a rep showroom.
We are so accustomed to seeing products displayed in a
typical trade show environment where you get glimpses of
product lines one by one. For some reason, seeing these
products displayed together in an expertly prepared rep
showroom allowed me to envision them being retailed to-
gether. The permanent company showrooms are spectacular,
too, because it gives the supplier an opportunity to create a
proper environment with supporting fix-
tures to showcase their brand. I guess
for me, it comes down to presentation,
and kudos to all exhibitors for making
everything look so enticing.
Of course, I returned home with some
goodies. After inspecting thousands of
items and tasting countless delicacies,
it’s hard to resist the temptation to
accept an invitation or two to put
a product through its paces in the
comfort of my own kitchen. One such
product that I thoroughly appreciated
was Messermeister’s Peeler Trio (
serrated, julienne and fine-edge), which I
put to work right away on the carrots
for my salad. I previously used a grater
and found that it turned my carrots
to mush; this time, the julienne strips
were large enough to be crisp and
helped disperse the carrot throughout
the salad. I do love simple and effective
gadgets, which is why we feature some
of the latest and greatest in this month’s
issue. I especially appreciate those gadgets that can simply enhance the visual
appeal and presentation of food.
As you can probably guess by now, I
have a firmly held belief that one important element of taste that is often
overlooked is that of sight. How food
looks can have a profound impact on
taste and appetite, and that extends
beyond the food itself to the vessel it is
served in. I guess this does explain why
