On this week’s podcast, we take you through the Shut Up ‘n Eat team’s tour of the 2026 Fancy Food Show, the annual trade show from the Specialty Food Association that descends upon New York City’s Jacob Javitz Center for three days in late June. Matt and I both talked about our three favorite food discoveries from around the sprawling venue, as we met up with old friends (hugs, Burlap & Barrel and Brooklyn Delhi!) and new (great to meet you, Christine Liu of Hey Doh and Caroline Dai of TofuGo!). While Matt was more drawn to booths featuring raw ingredients with which to make fancy foods, I was excited by prepared foods that I’d seldom seen before. We’d be remiss not to share the links to those three picks from each of us. But before that, I wanted to bring up another trend that we didn’t talk about on the pod.

Gymkhana is one of the newer food brands that was at the Javits Center this year, but it’s no stranger to fancy food. It’s the name of a two Michelin-starred Indian restaurant originating in London, with sister restaurants in Dubai, Las Vegas, and, more recently, in New York City with The Ambassadors Clubhouse (of the recent New York Times 2-star review). Oh, and it’s inspired by “the elite clubs of India where members of high society socialise, eat, drink, celebrate and play sport,” according to its website.

Enter Gymkhana Fine Foods, a line of jarred Indian simmer sauces intended to help home cooks experience the restaurant’s butter masala and goan curry without hounding resy. In other words, it’s one of many successful restaurants to go the retail route. Gymkhana might find itself in crowded company, with similar offerings from stateside brands. But that doesn’t seem to deter restaurants from going CPG. For as long as we’ve had Friendly’s ice cream and White Castle sliders are in the freezer aisle, we’ve known the power of name recognition in the supermarket.

Another brand showcasing its wares was Carmine’s, the New York City Italian-American institution (with locations in Vegas, D.C., and the Bahamas). There’s a well-oiled route from Italian red-sauce restaurant to red sauce in supermarkets, one that’s been dominated by other NYC institutions like Rao’s and Carbone. A rep for Carmine’s told me that the restaurant began selling jarred sauces locally during the pandemic as a way to raise money for its employees. Customer demand for it grew enough that the New York mini-chain decided to launch the retail brand for nationwide distribution in 2023. I got to sample a jar of Carmine’s signature spicy vodka sauce with some spaghetti for dinner recently; the tomatoes were slightly chunky, like they’d been crushed by a nonna’s hands, and their umami tang was softened by a wave of cream which wasn’t too cloying or thick, like most supermarket vodka sauces. What I loved most was that the subtle chile heat really grew after the third or fourth eager mouthful. It definitely felt like more of a homemade sauce than my go-to Paul Newman Sockarooni, and therefore more of a restaurant-like experience.

It’s not just the bigger chains, though. One brand making its debut at the Fancy Food Show, and recent nationwide distribution, was Mimi Cheng’s. This was originally a small dumpling shop in New York City opened in 2014 by two Taiwanese American sisters who left their corporate careers. Slowly but surely, the brand amassed a following for its wholesome ingredients and homespun recipes, and now they’re found in Whole Foods Markets around the country (along with a small cohort of “next-generation” Asian American dumpling brands that I reported on last year).

Then there’s the second generation of a family-owned restaurant who broadened their parents’ business through CPG. (Is this a mini-trend within the restaurant-to-CPG route?) Such is the case for Mama Liang’s, the direct-to-consumer frozen foods arm of Liang’s Village, a Cupertino, California–based Taiwanese restaurant. They were not at the Fancy Food Show, but I was reminded of their story as I chatted with Julia Li of LuLu’s Asian Kitchen, which was at the show. This is a mother-daughter-owned business that began with the mom’s Chinese restaurant in University City, Missouri, and has evolved into a supermarket brand with frozen dumplings, egg rolls, and dinners like kung pao chicken with rice.

Last but not least, I mentioned on the podcast that one of my favorite bites of the day was Merkato by Marcus Samuelsson’s “Island Vibes” green simmer sauce on a cracker. This is a new brand coming soon from the famed chef, restaurateur, and TV personality (another well-traveled route to CPG), and first tastes didn’t disappoint. I also loved how versatile these sauces are — you can use them as a dip or marinade, too.

Okay, now back to our favorite food discoveries of the Fancy Food Show. Here’s what we talked about on the latest episode, and where to find out more about them!

Cathy’s favorite Fancy Food Show 2026 discoveries were:

Matt’s favorite Fancy Food Show 2026 discoveries were: 

We talk more about why we loved these on the podcast! You didn’t hear from Peter Cheng, our other Shut Up ‘n Eat partner, on the episode, although he was at the Fancy Food Show with us, more or less shutting up and eating. Here’s his favorite discoveries:

A week late, but here it is: 29 wonderful places to eat in Taipei — and we’re hardly scratching the surface of this incomparable food city.