Baldor BITE is not your typical food show—it’s an all-day celebration that assembles chefs, growers, and food brands for a full-sensory showcase of what’s fresh, next, and unforgettable. It’s held at the spacious Basketball City which overlooks the East River.
This year, Baldor BITE included a Boardwalk that had a type of Jersey Shore type of vibe—-and at the side of the Basketball City main entrance there were games and outside food stands. I played Skeeball and won a Baldor BITE logo beach towel and enjoyed several delicious Melissa’s Juice flavors directly out of their cart on wheels! My friend played Skeeball and kept winning—you can see all her “plush produce” in the photo above.
Row 1100 was pure gold for meat lovers! The boys from Demkota Ranch were cutting up some unbelievable strip steaks so that meant that I had to do several visits! Before I left the BITE show, I made sure to stop by and eat one of the delicious beef ribs I had seen other guests walking around with. (I was green with envy and I probably ate my bone like it was my last meal on earth, LOL!) Demkota’s quality is just off the charts!
I live in Yorkville so I was happy to see Shaller & Weber in attendance—they are neighborhood legends of 90 plus years. I had no idea that they had their own brand of cold cuts and charcuterie—their pastrami and several types of turkey breast really are a big cut above what your would find at a regular supermarket or even gourmet deli! S&W’s delicious hot dogs and sauerkraut where served by the game area out front as well!
There were plenty of demos and classes at BITE including one sponsored by Golden and Baldor meats that talked about cutting your own personal size steaks from larger pieces to save money. I was hoping that at the end of class, these cuts would have wound up on a grill with me closely waiting for a medium rare Cowboy Steak to come my way, but it did not happen, LOL!
I noticed a couple of fun games in the produce sales and being a top fan of Andy Boy (especially their broccoli rabe), how could I not stop and play at their mini golf setup? I won an Andy boy logo golf ball which I proudly put up on the bookshelf over my desk when I got home. Many of their incredible veggies were on hand to taste!
Here was another fun indoor game—Driscoll’s, who are arguably the country’s most famous strawberry brand, has a crane machine where you won both the plushie berry that you picked up but both cut water bottles and sock merchandise! Before or after your crane machine visit, you could get a cup of blueberries and strawberries topped with white, milk or dark chocolate!
The upstairs area was titled Emerging Brands and it was a thrill to check out about 20 innovative booths—but the one who really captured my heart (and my sweet tooth) was a bakery called Four & Twenty Blackbirds! They gave out generously sized personal pies and I went nuts when I tasted the Caramel Apple Crumble. They have a pie with strawberries in it that is now on my bucket list! I will be making a visit out to Brooklyn someday to check out more of their items but for now I will have to order off of Goldbelly. They have both traditional and edgy flavors available.
There were plenty of cheese vendors at BITE and I was thrilled to see a big booth from NYC’s own Murray’s Cheeses! They are legendary for a good reason—they find the best in every cheese category out there and sell it all in one place! Their West Village store is where I go when I want to spend hours looking at artisanal cheese, but when pressed for time, I check out their Grand Central location.
Finally, I would say that the most eye catching part of any BITE show is the gorgeous produce that gets put up front and center so you see it the minute you register at the front desk. Taproot Farm had both common and little known veggies and it was great to try fruits that I never had before. The produce brands at BITE are always generous with giving out their products so guests always need to bring a backpack or wheelie bag to get their swag home! For more info on BITE, which is held biannually in the city, keep an eye on baldoorfood.com/bite. This is a great event not only for tastings and take aways but it is a great event for networking with people in the food business!
