Knicks in 5: The Summer Fancy Food Show Gets it (All Photos By Gail)

The annual Summer Fancy Food Show is a full-on sensory adventure —a kind of Foodie Disneyland where there’s something delicious, delightful, or downright unexpected around every corner. Wander the seemingly endless aisles and you’ll discover tempting bites, eye-catching booth displays, and brand mascots roaming the floor with tasty samples to share. Mangia! With its West Coast counterpart, the Winter FancyFaire, heading to San Francisco in January 2027, there’s no better time to revisit the summer show. Consider this a little appetizer for future attendees — and a delicious look back at one of the food industry’s most satisfying events.

Let’s kick this off with some of my favorite bites, the first being the ice cream bars and flavored milks served up from the Melona booth. Melona is a Japanese brand that not only makes a variety of delicious frozen treats but also embraces a serious cuteness factor. Because Japan.

The Melona honeydew ice cream bar (my favorite) tastes  like a hunk of a fresh  ripe melon on a stick and excels in both exquisite flavor and creamy mouthfeel — the perfect summer treat. Their banana milk, which is not what you get from squeezing a banana very hard but rather banana-flavored oat milk, has a long shelf life in case you want to stock up and are afraid you’re not going to get to it all. Trust me, you will drink it long before it expires. Melona Mania: it is a thing.

The Deliciousness.

Do you like Ramen? I sure do, and the Fancy Food Show has ramen for days! One of my favorites brand is Otoki, who specialize in cheesy ramen for the kid in all of us! Macaroni and Cheese meets Ramen — what’s not to like?

It’s fun to watch the chef prepare the ramen that you will soon be noshing.

If you’re nice, they might give you a package (or two) to take home for later enjoyment! So yummy!

Brioche Pasquier is a family-owned French brand whose line of specialty baked goods taste like they came fresh from your neighborhood gourmet bake shop. I stop by their booth every year to grab some samples before they’re gone.

Elevate your workday breakfast routine with individually-wrapped Beignets and Pancakes To Go that can be warmed and dressed up at home, or enjoyed from your office desk. They sure beat Pop-Tarts and frozen waffles!

Their booth partner, Anthony & Sons also introduced their new super-moist Avocado Bread  brand, The Avocado Bread Company at the show. This bread incorporates fresh avocados directly into a blend of healthy grains and seeds. Since avocado loses its distinct flavor profile when baked, the bakers infuse the dough with robust guacamole spices to provide a uniquely savory, aromatic kick. Imagine how awesome your next grilled cheese would taste on this bread? Mmm.

The ubiquitous Dubai Chocolate craze nearly passed without me ever tasting Dubai Chocolate anything even once. That changed  when I sampled Assi brand’s U.S. line of treats, the Dubai Chewy Cookie (inspired by the viral Korean Dujjonku trend).

This ‘hybrid’ dessert features a soft, chewy chocolate-marshmallow outer layer wrapped around a rich pistachio cream and crispy toasted kataifi (shredded phyllo pastry). In a word, scrumptious! Consider me one of the converted.

Frida’s Foods is an appropriate name for a brand of authentic, classic Mexican frozen specialties that taste like they were made according to your Abeula’s secret recipe.

At SFFS, I was introduced to Frida’s outrageously yum Chile Relleno (pronounced reh-YEH-no), which is a mild poblano pepper stuffed with cheese, battered and fried golden. Mouth watering.

You could serve these topped with a mild red sauce, alongside rice and beans for an authentic Mexican supper at home, but this dish is also quite versatile.

How about trying it out for your next Taco Tuesday or using them as the filling for a tasty burrito? Si, me gusta!

Michael’s of Brooklyn is a gourmet, gluten-free Italian-American pasta sauce made and packed directly next to the family’s restaurant in Brooklyn, NY. Michael’s is a wildly-popular local brand about which I’ve heard great things, but this sweet taste of their sublime Vodka Sauce was my first time trying any of their sauces for myself.

Can I just tell you? It lives up to the hype.

I must have eaten my sample of Freezcake (freeze-dried cheesecake bites – it is a thing) before I could snap a  photo. I definitely recommend this snack,  based on remembering that it is  delicious!

If you love cheese, SFFS is cheese heaven.  Make a point to spend some time at the BelGioioso booth where samples of amazing cheeses flow freely! A BelGioioso highlight for me was this Artigiano Blood Orange: a handcrafted hard cheese soaked in blood orange marinade. It tastes amazing.

Serve this at all your holiday parties and win every cheese-lover’s heart!

Here’ a unique, delicious and healthy product that I can’t stop recommending to everyone: Natural Heaven rice and pasta made from hearts of palm. Yes, I just typed that.

Natural Heaven Sphagetti Bolognese. It was Insane.

Forget spaghetti squash and Zoodles: Natural Heaven should be your go-to for plant-based pasta and rice with the taste and mouthfeel of the real thing. What a game changer!

One dessert to rule  them all: Ligao Rainbow Mousse Cake. It’s beautiful and delicious. I rest my case.

A UK brand that you can now find stateside, Fairfield’s Farm Crisps (or chips, as we call them) come in flavors like Roast Rib of Beef, and Bacon and Tomato, for a mouth-watering way to elevate any ordinary sandwich lunch. Hand-cooked and made from homegrown potatoes sourced at their family farm, these will be your new favorite potato chip brand. Trust me.

We are moving along now from the bites to the sights portion of this post. Sights include cool booth and display design, brand mascots, product packaging and anything else that does not involve putting something in my mouth. For a  visually high-impact  booth that looked more like an elite electronics store than the home of a Korean sweet snack, Pepero gets high marks.

Comprising a thin pretzel wand dipped in chocolaty coating and then rolled in nuts or candy bits, Pepero is both sophisticated and down-to-earth. Being Korea’s number-one candy brand, it’s no wonder they put cute Boy Band members on their packaging. Because why not?

Korean Bros is another brand specializing in authentic Korean street food and noodles with bold flavors to match its attitude. Just take a look at this packaging and tell me you aren’t curious for a taste.

It’s probably pretty tasty, right?

Who could avoid being captivated by this psychedelic acid trip of a booth? Coolioh! Freeze Dried Candy literally melts on your tongue, but does not make you high, contrary to what this vibrant, flash-back-inducing booth backdrop might lead you to believe.

The Chicken Mascot for Brooklyn Bites Crispy Chicken Bites looks like he’s having a crisis of conscience.

Sunshine Buns inflatable mascot inviting the invasion of personal  boundaries. Interesting.

Mantis Hot Sauce Mascot

I didn’t spot as many full-size human mascots or oversized inflatables on the show floor this year as I have in the past. Perhaps exhibitors are looking for ways to keep display costs down while still making a strong visual impact and creating a memorable theme. One clever solution? Small mascots in the form of plush toys and figurines, some of which may even come from the exhibitors’ own collections.

Salsas Don Sebastian Display with Spanish Doll

These little characters add personality, playfulness, and a touch of joy to food displays, giving visitors something fun to discover without the expense of a larger production. Here are a few of the tiny mascots that caught my eye at this year’s Summer Fancy Food Show.

In this display, a slice of Cake Roll becomes the shell for an adorable snail!

Thus cute Bunny in the Juicy Chew booth adds a bit of sassiness.

Kang Shi Fu (康师傅), internationally known as Master Kong, is China’s largest instant noodle and beverage manufacturer — Wow! Their little mascot sports a #1 on his shirt, and yet he  looks to be upset about something.

The official mascot for Filiera Madeo and its line of Calabrian pork products — including their famous ‘Nduja Calabrese —is Happy Pig, a friendly character modeled after the native Suino Nero di Calabria (Calabrian Black Pig). Adorable.

The Président Tapas de España Toasted (Queso Madurado Tostado) is an aged Spanish cheese wedge featuring balanced, toasted, and caramel-like notes.  The little Spanish Dancer lady really sells it.

MalaTown featured its authentic spicy hotpot (Spicytos) and instant vermicelli noodle products at the show alongside its smiling Panda mascot!

And that’s a wrap for SFFS 2026 — better late than never! if January’s  Winter FancyFaire is on your agenda, be sure to check out these awesome brands!