FRESNO (KMJ) – You might have seen him on the Food Network’s Iron Chef series….the 2016 Fresno Food Expo is drawing a familiar name to the Central Valley.
“My name is Simon Majumdar and I am a food writer and travel writer and a food critic – I’ve written two books that have become best sellers and I have become recognized as someone who is very honest about food.” – Simon Majumdar.
Author, broadcaster and food critic Simon Majumdar returns to the San Joaquin Valley for the 2016 Fresno Food Expo.
Although this is not Simon’s first visit to Central California, it was the success of the Fresno Food Expo that piqued his interest in the region prior to his first visit in September of 2015.
His passion for food has taken him to all fifty states and dozens of countries around the world, and he has written three books including “Eat My Globe,” “Eating for Britain,” and his latest, “Fed, White and Blue,” which catalogues his journey to American citizenship.
Majumdar is a well-recognized personality on the Food Network, regularly appearing on shows such as “Iron Chef America,” “The Next Iron Chef,” The Best Thing I Ever Ate,” “Cutthroat Kitchen,” “Extreme Chef” and “Beat Bobby Flay.”
“My mantra is ‘Go everywhere. Eat everything.’ During my last book tour, it was the smaller towns and cities that provided the highlights and often the best things to eat,” – Simon Majumdar.
Restaurateurs from the eight-county Central California region are invited to highlight diverse food and beverage products from Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tulare counties.
The Expo will host a new culinary portion as part of the Public Event on July 28, inviting restaurants from the Central California San Joaquin Valley to help deliver a food tasting experience truly reflective of the region.
Ten restaurants will be creating a dish to wow the crowd — an appetizer that integrates at least two locally sourced products from food or beverage producers exhibiting at the Expo.
The Food Expo will host five awards as part of the evening celebration, three of which will be judged by Simon himself – categories such as Best Integration of Expo Products, Best Food & Drink Pairing, Most Creative, Valley’s Voice and The Buzz.
The Fresno Food Expo was developed as an economic development initiative by the City of Fresno in 2011, and has emerged as the nation’s only exclusively regional food show bringing together growers, processors, manufacturers and industry service providers with buyers from around the world.
The Expo has introduced 226 different food and beverage companies to new customers and hosted 1,825 different qualified buyers, including over 100 strategically recruited international buyers – with more than 150 exhibitors and 950 international and domestic buyers expected to participate, including Whole Foods, Vallarta Supermarkets, Save Mart Supermarkets, Food 4 Less, Tony’s Fine Foods, JD Food, and Saladino’s Foodservice.
Additional information is available at www.FresnoFoodExpo.com.
Ticket sales to the Public Event filled with sampling and discovery will go on sale May 23.
