San Francisco Gourmet Products Show : Baghdad by the Bay Puts on an Splashy Exhibit

Larry Hurd, electrics buyer for Bloomingdales, New York, summarized the San Francisco Gourmet Products Show held last week at the Moscone Center as follows: “It was a show that ran at a perfect time of the year, at the right place and with great weather. I liked the content and atmosphere of the show . . . it was pure gourmet, not a lot of fringe things, and important people were there.”

Most buyers, 6,019 this year, were in agreement. Many stated that they’ll be back next year. That made the 435 vendors displayed cookware, table-tops, gadgets, accessories and kitchen appliances happy and inspired. It was a complete twist from last year’s show, where attendance was poor because the event ran so close to the Chicago national housewares spring show.

A gourmet town, San Francisco has all the food and cookshop elements to create extra learning opportunities for show visitors. One of the most talked about opportunities during the three-day event, which proved to be a second show in itself, was a chance for show guests to see the recently remodeled Cellar at Macy’s. A haven for cooks, the gourmet department’s layout features effective groupings of kitchen goods from linens to appliances, from ultramodern merchandise to country, as well as sections of fresh and packaged foods.

‘Instant’ Ice Cream

Larry Hurd’s disappointment (which was naturally expected after going to so many shows a year) was that he “truly did not find a lot of new things.” However he did express interest in the Frozen Express from Takka Products in New York. A fall product, the instant ice cream machine can freeze liquid preparations or juices in seconds. He was also thrilled with the Takka pasta machine, which is already finding success in his store.

For the first-time buyer or retailer, there were more surprises than disappointments. Excitement started with the wide range of futuristic and fashionable merchandise featured in the life style division of the show called In Style. In pottery and ceramics, designs were varied from Southwest flair to Mediterranean, while plastics like the Guzzine line played with high-tech to toylike moldings.

Colors were splashy, running amok from jet-black tools and tableware to cheerful reds in bakeware, appliances, storage goods and accent pieces. Overpowering country slate blues and mauves were the bold and bright pinks or fuchsias, periwinkle blues and aquas. Although that splash of red just seems to be stepping into the American kitchens, “Red is dead in Europe,” commented Tage Strom, Rosti’s vice president of marketing. Pointing to their colorful buckets, bowls and juice pitchers, he said, “In relation to the fashion boom are housewares in bright aqua and pink.”

The wild European colors were also seen in some of Krups’ appliances. “They are colors favored by most people under 35, and surprisingly enough, the big department stores have already placed orders for them,” said a manufacturer’s representative from Krups.

New to some and maybe no longer to others, this sampling includes some of the more interesting gourmet products highlighted at the show. Expect to see most of them around summer or fall.

In the hot field of microwave, capturing attention by way of its unique design and revolutionary function of “flash canning” in the microwave, was the Micro-Dome. The concept was scientifically masterminded by George York of UC Davis and Ray Camezon, who developed it from a stove-top metal flash canner project.

Made of a new plastic invented by General Electric, the amber-colored bucket can contain a 1/2-pint to 1-pint mason jar filled with food to be preserved. Equipped like a pressure cooker, the unit can be microwaved to preserve food at full power for about 8 minutes. After the product is sealed, no refrigeration is required, of course.

Another brand-new concept was introduced by Welbilt’s Ariete and Salton with their little cappuccino or froth makers. Independent of the espresso machines, the units can steam and froth milk or cream, which is wonderful for hot chocolate (or tea) too.

Irons were also hot at the show. Ariete unveiled its upscale steam iron that can produce non-stop steam for 45 minutes. Tefal’s white and pastel pink irons created quite a stir with their smooth and sleek non-stick soleplates.

If you’re on the lookout for the ultimate mixing machine, Kenwood’s 600-watt mixer sets have it all for the serious baker. Exceptional with its space-age look is the Kenwood Professional model with an aluminum die-cast body and steel bowl. On the other hand, the need for a portable cordless mixer was realized by Cuisinart. By mid-September, it will position its powerful yet easy-to-use three-speed hand mixer on store shelves.

Maybe it was the way they were being demonstrated, but mechanical cutting devices were seen outperforming some of their electrical counterparts. Throwing thin, thin slices of tomatoes into the air, demonstrator Jerry Knoll kept everyone’s focus on the V-Slicer from Boerner, distributed by Minuteman Trading in Virginia. “I can make you the finest julienned carrots or cabbage in a few seconds. They’re not the mishmash you get in a food processor,” said Knoll, a free-lance demonstrator from Germany. And he did indeed, to our amazement.

Personality Enough for Kiwi

The German V-slicer is a set of five mandolin-type attachments that can shred, chop, julienne, dice or slice into spiral or waffle shape various fruits or vegetables. “I love to demonstrate this type of product because it has more personality than any electric tool,” Knoll added while he pulled out the non-stick hash brown grater from what he called the “garage,” the storage holder for the attachments. He also put the Boerner Five-Function Peeler to work, peeling oranges and kiwi, which he described as “the problem child” in fruits.

Vegetable and fruit peelers and multicolored garlic presses from Europe and the Orient ran galore at J and F Imports from Los Angeles. One of the most intriguing peelers that comes from Solingen, West Germany, was J and F’s Double Wonder, which peels on two sides, curls butter, peels citrus and does ric-rac garnishes. The company also just acquired Oetker, which has a full line of stunning red Baccara bakeware and molds as well as some upscale nonstick black bakeware called Profi.

What’s new with coffeemakers? “The coffeemaker is certainly the strongest category at Bloomingdales,” Hurd said, “They’re now built with more refinements. . . . I like the improved styling and freshness that I see in the new ones.” At the show, coffeemakers that brewed continued interest were those that carried the all-black look. Black is back indeed as evidenced by Braun’s snazzy coffeemaker and grinder, the new Krups Cafe-Presso dual coffeemaker/espresso machine, as well as other kitchen electrics like Maxim’s wide-mouth toaster and Cuisinart’s black food processor.

Dual Brewing System

One convenient feature in coffee machines whose time has come is the dual brewing system. Mr. Coffee has introduced Mr. and Mrs. Coffee, which can simultaneously make coffee in two independent four-cup carafes. Now you can heat water for tea and brew coffee at the same time, according to Brian Davis, vice president of sales for Mr. Coffee. “If the husband wants Decaf, the wife can have her regular coffee from the other side.” Another dual system was exhibited by Krups in its black and white Duothek coffee/tea maker. Electronically controlled, it brews from one to 20 cups of coffee, a wonderful plus for large groups or the office.

Notably one of the busiest booths at the show was Brita’s. The German company introduced a more attractive glass carafe for its water filter pitcher, a travel size filter device and Aqua-Flor, a water-purifying watering device for plants and cut flowers. With the concern in impure water in many localities as well as the increasing costs of bottled purified water, these systems are becoming more and more in demand.

Another filtering system that commanded attention for its contemporary design was the Donvier pitcher from Nikkal Industries. The forthcoming item has a dome-like opaque white cover with a tall and somewhat slimmer clear plastic base.

Not too many foods were being cooked to demonstrate cookware, but whatever few there were, the best aroma came from the wok. There was stir-fry being tossed by Martin Yan, a TV chef, using the Meyer wok. At the end of the day, Shirley Fong Torres, a San Francisco cooking instructor, was gathering her leftovers to make a delicious “Chinese goulash” in a Roshco wok. Even the popcorn being made from the Maxim electric wok strongly aroused gustatory senses.

Joyce Chen upgraded her versatile flat-bottomed Peking Pan by making a lustrous looking mirror-polished tri-ply stainless steel version with a carbon steel layer for quick heating. Other wok entries came from Le-Cook’s Ware with its hard-anodized exterior and high-grade stainless lining, and Roshco with its flat-bottomed hard-anodized non-stick woks, which came in small and medium sizes.

Little woks were making sense, too. For smaller households and advocates of country kitchen design, Progressive International presented complete non-stick wok sets for one or two that came in pretty pastels of slate blue and mauve.

On the subject of scents, fragrances and potpourri warmers are now in demand for entertaining and for creating a pleasant-smelling home atmosphere for the stay-home “couch potato.” Extremely salable for Spice Hunter is its Cinnamon Apple Spice scent. Watch out (and sniff) for exciting new floral and herbal scents from Pfaltzgraff’s Secret Garden, including gift items like centerpiece bowls.

New shapes and uses can trigger or revive attention in cookware. Of interest in the oval shape were Calphalon’s hard anodized au gratin casserole, Cuisinart’s stainless roaster with rack and Le Creuset’s Glissemail skillet for fish.

Peppering areas of the gourmet show with their black and white patchwork were the Holstein cow designs in aprons, tee shirts, mugs, pitchers, China, napkins, vases and bowls. Tagged as the animal star of 1988, the black and white cow is predicted to make it past spring on to the rest of the year. One of the most distinctive designs spotted was the complete set of dinnerware and accessories from Metlox Potteries in Manhattan Beach. Woody Jackson of Holy Cow Inc. in Middlebury, Vt., provided a subtle Southwestern flavor in his place setting of plates, bowls and mugs.

Automatic Bread Makers

A hit in the recent Chicago housewares show were the automatic bread makers, which mix, knead, allow dough to rise and bake bread in about four hours. Back-ordered for 60 days, Panasonic seemed unaffected by the presence of other show stealers like Welbilt and Hitachi. According to Chuck Williams, who was one of the first to market the National brand bread maker in his Williams-Sonoma catalogue, the company can’t keep enough of a supply of this home “bakery.”

Hurd, however, seemed skeptical about the machine. “We have not been that successful yet; it appeals to certain groups and we are not convinced that a demo is the best way to promote it. Nobody has got four hours to wait.”