TechMunch Lives up to It’s Name…

TechMunch's Babette Pepaj and Nichelle Stephens

It might have been a cloudy day outside, but there were plenty of smiles and cheers inside the Astor Wine Center for TechMunch NYC 2011. Babette Pepaj from BakeSpace and Nichelle Stephens from Cupcakes Take the Cake produced a great event packed with educational panel discussions and food glorious food.

TechMunch Panelists Including Marc Matsumoto from No Recipes

I had the pleasure of seeing familiar faces such as Michelle Judd of Taste As You Go and Marc Matsumoto from No Recipes who I met at a previous foodie engagement. But I also met a few folks who I have only communicated with online and finally had a chance to shake hands in person. I also was in the company of an eclectic group of people including an attorney and HBO executive as well as of course food bloggers, all coming together for that special mutual love of food.

Highlight tweet: @constancek Excellent panelists throughout the day here at #TechMunch Valuable takeaways that transfer over to many different industries not only food.

Although being a foodie is a hobby of mine, I found myself picking up tidbits of information that transferred into other business areas. One panel discussed the elevator pitch and I found the singing chef Jackie Gordon hitting this right on the nail.  She said to create curiosity first, as in saying “I am a singing chef”, let them want to hear more and gear/modify the pitch depending on who is in the conversation.

Then there was the food! We kicked things off with the Chobani yogurt sponsored breakfast. I have never had Chobani before, and I have to say I am sold. I already went to my local market and stocked up on some strawberry banana and pomegranate flavored greek style yogurt.  Later on that day we were treated to refreshing and delicious yogurt based smoothies (I am told the recipe is on their website). Being a peanut butter and banana lover, I chose this one over the berry. It was fantastic!

Snack Time! Chobani Yogurt Smoothies

Lunch was sponsored by Tom Colicchio’s sandwich place wichcraft. The assorted sandwiches were displayed so nicely wrapped in the signature logo paper.  I grabbed the pole caught tuna sandwich and continued on my way to some salad, sun chips, a couple of foodie cookies and a Berkley and Jensen Orange drink.

Lunch Time!

The sandwich was lovely packed with the flavor you would expect to receive from a Tom creation. The fennel gave the sandwich a unique flavor and if it wasn’t for the dessert trays, I would have been back to the display table for more.

Wichcraft's Pole Caught Tuna Sandwich

Dessert was provided by Robicelli’s that included cupcakes and whoopie pies. While my partner in crime for the day Peter Davison of Our Man in Shanghai there representing chef David Marteau, enjoyed the Maltz, I enjoyed my foodie cookies from Tasty Morsels and a berry dessert.

Cupcakes and Whoopie Pies!

Foodie Techie Cookies by Tasty Morsels

At the end of the day, there were drinks and more dessert items from Jacques Torres and goodie bags from Driscoll’s Berries. Unfortunately I had to run out pretty early, as my husband pulled up to the curb doing a last minute favor for me and drove into the city because of my winning prize.  I was one of the lucky participants to win a KitchenAid appliance, my pick, the 5 Quart Stand Mixer in Cherry Red!

KitchenAid Giveaways!

First Mix of The Shiny Red Stand Up Mixer by KitchenAid

My husband and I just had to try out the new toy. So for a perfect Sunday Brunch, we made crepes with Driscoll’s Berries and whipped crème!

Crepes Made With My New KitchenAid Toy!

Yesterday was really quite an exciting day and went by so fast.  Kudos to Babette and Nichelle and to all the sponsors and food providers that made the day a remarkable experience.

Thanks to my husband Michael Korol for not only picking me up in the city saving the day, but for editing my foodie images as well.