I just returned from the San Francisco Fancy Food Show and am here to report what you'll be seeing in your grocery isles this coming spring, summer and fall.  It's funny how the tempo, texture and taste of the show changes with each year.   After 2001, the show felt like a library, as it was shortly after 9-11.  People weren't flying and new businesses (especially small start ups) were put on hold.  Compared to attendance this year...it was pretty stunning. 

This show was jammed!  Every available exhibitor space was spoken for and the aisles were crowded with buyers, gawkers and wannabes - people with million-dollar-ideas looking at ways to get started.  Years ago, when I first started going, the show was all about coffee. Every booth seemed to have a coffee this or a coffee that to sell.  This time, it was about hard goods - gourmet versions of mayonnaise, cake mixes and nut butters.

The flavor of the show changes each year, almost instantly, with news of what's happening in the food press.  The products on display reflect the trends incredibly fast, not unlike the big couture fashion shows influence local fashion on the streets.  Five years ago the show floor was inundated with products focused on low-carb.  Two years ago saw an influx of salt caramels and organics. 

This year watch for everything pomegranate, packaged in a more earthy friendly (less global warming!) way.   There were vitamin-enhanced goods galore and certainly no trans fats.  Teas of every flavor are still incredibly hot and frozen foods have begun to introduce lots of modern Indian flavors.  Rick Bayless has a new line of Mexican Pizzas coming out and Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa mixes are still hot this year.  I see the beginning of the end of the cocktail mixer phenomena.  So many people have gotten into it, and while it was a really strong category about two years ago, the market has now been saturated. 

Good eats in San Francisco:

I am drawn to shop the Ferry Terminal Market the way I used to be drawn to Union Square and Union Street.  There are a few "must stops for food" shops that I find charming ~

• Miette Organic Patisserie - butterscotch pudding and the best honey graham crackers
• Mistral Rotisserie Provencale - roast leg of lamb, broccoli rabe, and creamy polenta - take it to go and eat on the benches facing the Bay.
• Also, around town for the umpteenth time - the best chicken in America - Zuni Café.
• Nice tapas and atmosphere at Terzo. 

Cheers! ~ Tom Douglas