Amy Marks-McGee (Trendincite) led members of Women in Flavor and Fragrance Commerce on a multisensory tour through New York’s West Village neighborhood, highlighting novel fragrances, flavors and textures.
The Aphrodisia Herb Shoppe featured a range of essential oils and culinary and apothecary herbs and spices. The space’s walls were cluttered with endless ingredients including cloud ear mushrooms, powdered wasabi, north cove cranberries, powdered morita chiles, California cilantro leaves and casabel pods. The store also featured a number of candies, including chocolate blood orange cordials.
- McNulty’s Tea & Coffee Co. presented an array of teas, many of which haven’t yet become household names as in the case of white and green tea. The store’s glass canisters overflowed with Kenya FOP (black tea), elderberry tea, Shui Hsien (“Water Nymph”) oolong, spring rosettes green tea, Lung Ching (“Dragon Well”) green tea, Genmai-Cha (Japanese tea with toasted rice) and white flowery pekoe white tea.
- A visit to edgy florist Ovando provided a sense of architecture to the event. Sandra de Ovando discussed her creative philosophy: simple, not simplistic. Favoring shape, color and texture over smells, Ovando has reinterpreted floral arrangements with acrobatic flourishes, stark textural contrasts and stark framing. During the visit, Ovando mentioned that she has pursued the creation of a fragrance, which is expected to launch later this year.
- Finally, a small-dish lunch at P*ONG melded the diverse flavor possibilities of McNulty’s and Aphrodisia with the halting aesthetics of Ovando.