Yesterday we had the opportunity to attend the annual food show at Chef Source in Canton. Chef Source is Michigan's most well-respected, high-end gourmet food distributor under the direction of Roger Kreager that helps chefs explore and acquire a wide range of unique and hard-to-find food products from all around the world.
The gathering of over 35 vendors enabled chefs and operators from some of Michigan's leading clubs, restaurants, and hotels to look at the latest trends, cutting edge products, and sample a wide range of delicious food items to conduct research and development for their own restaurants and products.
This event allowed us to film interviews with the vendors as well as chefs to better understand the value of food shows for chefs and operators. It was no surprise to see Chef Jim Oppat, the Corporate Executive Chef of the Andiamo restaurants that fall under the 27 restaurants owned and operated by the Joe Vicari Restaurant Group umbrella: https://vicarirestaurants.com/.
We also saw Pastry Chef Amy Knoles and her assistants from the Country Club of Detroit who were kind enough to let us follow them along while they tried items from a few of the stations. To emphasize the importance of these specialty food products all under one roof, all you had to see was the reaction and excitement from the vendors when humble but glorified Chef Jimmy Schimdt, made his rounds as he tried new and different products that could enhance his Lucky’s Fire & Smoke brand: https://luckysfiresmoke.com/about-us
Detroit’s culinary scene is a tight knit community making events like these enjoyable for chefs who oftentimes spend hours in the kitchens of their restaurants unable to connect with colleagues and even idols that inspire each other's journey in the culinary arts.
We appreciate Roger Kreager inviting us to attend this truly inspiring event.
Here is a list of all those who were in attendance:
BLiS: https://blisgourmet.com/
Chef Source: https://chef-source.com/
Midwest Imports LTD: https://www.midwestimports.com/
Bridor: https://america.bridor.com/en
Carmela Foods, Inc: https://www.carmelafoods.com/
Gourmet Kitchen: https://www.gourmetkitcheninc.com/
Gourmand Pastries: https://www.gourmandpastries.com/en_US/home
Red Goose Spices: https://redgoosespice.com/
Sfoglini Pasta: https://www.sfoglini.com/
Athens Foods: https://athensfoods.com/
Taste It Presents: https://www.tasteitpresents.com/
CORE Foodservice: https://corefoodservice.com/
Lakeland Food Company: https://lakelandfoodco.com/
Stuffed Foods: https://www.stuffed-foods.com/
Rizults: https://rizwitsch.com/rizults/
English Bay: https://www.englishbaycookiedough.ca/
Amoy: https://www.amoy.com/en/index.html
Boulart: https://boulart.com/en/b2b/homepage/
Paris Gourmet: https://www.parisgourmet.com/
Puratos: https://www.puratos.com
Barry Callebaut: https://www.barry-callebaut.com/en
Woodland Foods: https://woodlandfoods.com/
Valrhona Selection: https://www.valrhona.com
Master Professional: https://www.martiniprofessional.it/en/master-martini/
Itaberco, Inc: https://itaberco.com/
FOODMatch: https://foodmatch.com/
Malongo: https://www.malongo.com/en/
Hopes Cookies: https://www.hopescookies.com/
David’s Cookies: https://www.davidscookies.com/
Morrisons Pastry: https://morrisonspastry.com/
Riverside Foods: https://riversidefoods.com/
Sweet Swiss Confections: https://sweetswiss.com/
Wallace Scones: https://www.wallacescones.com/
Guernsey Farms Dairy: https://www.guernseyfarmsdairy.com/
Iorio Gelato: https://www.ioriosgelato.com/
VerTerra: https://www.verterra.com