The 55th Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City featured more than 250,000 products and I feel like I tasted every single one. In the space of 3 hours I sampled pickled cactus from Mexico, coffee from Cameroon, European rose nectar, and even bacon lip balm that the exhibitor told me was an aphrodisiac. Hmm, maybe that explains why that Emeril Lagasse impersonator was getting all flirty with me.
Just when I thought my taste buds had gone to sleep, they perked up at the sight of season 4 Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard - the first, and so far the only, female chef to win Bravo's popular culinary showdown. Today Chef Izard was working her magic at the Lucini Italia Olive Oil booth and her Chilled Walla Walla Onion Soup with Green Garlic Vinaigrette & Olive Oil Poached Shrimp was DELICIOUS, refreshing and superbly seasoned - the perfect palate pick-me-up.
Gracious and down-to-earth, Chef Izard even laughed when I dorkily asked her if making the soup was as stressful as Top Chef's Quick Fire Challenges. Chef Izard told me that her new restaurant, The Drunken Goat, will be opening in Chicago in January 2010. If the soup is any indicator, her restaurant is going to rock!
