southern spirits | Johnny Prime

My wife and I got access to the NYC Wine & Food Festival on what was essentially “industry day.” People there were mostly people who work in either the food, wine or liquor business in some way or another.

There were a few stand out tables that really blew us away. I’ll feature those up front, and then do a photo dump on the rest. Enjoy.

First, the big winner for me: Fossil Farms. This place was slinging the best food at the event: duck pastrami with pate, foie gras and micro greens on a wonderful baguette.

After getting down on that deliciousness, I was intrigued. I starting chatting with the representatives and the owner. They’re big on game meat, and not-so-common products, like alligator, kangaroo, elk, etc. Check out the list below:

Here’s a scan of their “about us” info pamphlet as well: This is like my dream supplier!!!

It turns out they supply some of my favorite joints in the city. It’s no wonder I was drawn to this table. Blue Smoke, Eataly, Freeman’s Alley, Hill Country, Momofuku, Ottomanelli… Some of my old favorites. I even noticed some others on the list that I’ve been wanting to try, like St. Anslem and Route 66 Smokehouse. After my experience here with the fine folks at Fossil farms, I will definitely be adding those two to the short list. Lance (CEO/Founder) and Jen (Marketing/PR) were really informative and easy to chat with. I’m glad I was exposed to this.

Next up was the 3D sugar printing machine. WTF?!?? YES. I couldn’t believe the stuff this thing was printing! All edible, all made of sugar. Incredible. They had everything from little candy machine type things, to modern art sculptures. You can imagine that my wife was floored by this masterpiece of modern technology, being a baker and all.

We got to speak with the inventor of the machine. Apparently these babies are selling for $10,000 each, and soon there will be a smaller, more affordable version available as well.

Next: Booze. There was an abundance of wine here, but my wife and I were all about the booze. Here are a few of the stand-out brands that we got to try:

Fifty Pounds gin. I’m a gin martini guy. This stuff was incredible. I sipped it neat and warm, but it still was delicious. It had all the flavors I want from a slightly dirty but very dry martini (this is a London dry gin) in all the right proportions. The name is clever too: it stems from an old tax that the king levied upon producers of booze. All distillers were supposed to pay 50 pounds per year.

Four Roses bourbon. The single barrel (on the right) was by far my favorite of the three. The cool thing is that these guys gave out high quality glassware as well:

Some very smooth brandy, which was set up next to the gin:

Nice aged rum:

An Irish cream type liquor, which I really loved, by Amarula. Silky smooth, lots of flavor, and a cool elephant keychain to take home. This hails from South Africa, I believe: