NRA Show Blog

A "Sex and the City" Cocktail Style Memorial Day Weekend

We'll drink to Memorial Day weekend kicking into high gear - you gotta love the unofficial start to summer! Blogitorial by Derrek J. Hull, Blogger-in-Chief

Whether that sentence is met with an obnoxious squeal of delight or the gag-like reflex of a child swallowing its first-ever dose of Robitussin, one thing's certain: the cocktail community has latched onto the film's marketing opportunities like Carrie Bradshaw to a pair of Manolos.

via leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com

The Stew: The weird and wonderful everything from the 2010 National Restaurant Association Show

Blogitorial by Derrek J. Hull, Blogger-in-Chief - Enjoy this blog post by Chicago Tribune's Kevin Pang, it includes everything spotted on the National Restaurant Association's NRA Show 2010 show floor ranging from the Mexican fortune cookie to the "chork" a chopstick and fork in one. Genius!

Posted by Kevin Pang and continuously updated. Every year, the National Restaurant Association convenes at McCormick Place and some 75,000 food professional gather to learn about the latest innovations and trends in ... blah blah blah.

via leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com

Top Ten Things Seen at the 2010 NRA Show - on The Food Channel

Missed out on all the action at this year's National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show? See for yourself the top ten things discovered by the editor of The Food Channel.

via www.foodchannel.com

Historic convention reform becomes law (Chicago Meeting Matters)

The Illinois General Assembly overrode Governor Quinn’s amendatory veto and wrote historic convention reform into law today, ushering in a new era of conventions in Chicago and giving unprecedented rights to you, our customers.

via meetinchicago.typepad.com

NRA Show 2010 Flash Mob Rocked "Just Dance"

By Derrek J. Hull, Blogger-in-Chief

The National Restaurant Association busted a move today at Chicago's McCormick Place, having coordinated the first-ever restaurant industry flash mob at the 2010 National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show®.

The originally choreographed flash mob — set to Lady Gaga's song "Just Dance" — was created by dancer extraordinaire Christina Chen exclusively for the NRA Show.

Participants in the flash mob included show attendees, chefs, culinary students, exhibitors, exhibiting company Ecolab's "mad scientist" and many others.

See you at NRA Show 2011, May 21 to May 24 at Chicago's McCormick Place.

Chile Guy Sanchez marks 20 years at NRA Show

Twenty years ago, Mark Sanchez traveled to the NRA Show for the first time, offering restaurant operators his company's bulk spices and chilies sourced from around the world. Today, The Chile Guy continues to travel from New Mexico and meets with some of his original customers at Booth 5117.

He returns year after year because he says the NRA Show is about making restaurant operations better. "It's not a tasters show," he says. "It a business show, and people in the restaurant industry come."

From pol to purveyor

After serving as ambassador to New Zealand, Carol Mosely Braun wanted to do something related to natural and organic food. She had a farm in Alabama, but after Sept. 11, 2001, the former Illinois congress woman wanted to be close to her family.

So she started Ambassador Organics, a company that sells organic and fair trade tea, coffee and spices. This year, she wanted to expand to the foodservice market, so she decided to come to the National Restaurant Association Show.

“We’d been going to the organics show, but we wanted to be industry wide,” she said.

VIDEO: First-ever Foodie Flash Mob a smashing success

NRA Show's first-ever Foodie Flash Mob moved to Lady Gaga's "Just Dance" this morning at the McCormick Place Grand Concourse. If you weren't there in person to see chefs shake it, here's the next best thing:

There's nothing like a good party to close out the industry's best event. Thanks to all participants. See you on the floor — both dance and Show — in the future!

See all NRA Show video on YouTube

Plant a garden, harvest profits

If you’re flying home from NRA Show 2010 today, keep an eye open during takeoff for patches of green dotting the rooftops. Despite its notorious winters, Chicago is a leader in promoting rooftop gardens, an eco-phenomenon that’s drawing increased interest from chefs and restaurateurs.

That was evident during the NRA Show education session, “Plant a Garden and Harvest Profits.” The large turnout heard restaurant operators like Deming Maclise and James Weimann of Seattle’s Bastille Café & Bar recount the financial, marketing and environmental benefits of having a garden atop their operation. The lettuce and other produce grown in kiddie pools and boxed beds provide the casual café with an annual net savings of $7,400, along with the freshest and absolutely most local food they could source.

Helen Cameron of Uncommon Ground, one of Chicago’s rooftop garden pioneers, stressed the additional benefit of a strong connection with the community. She recounted how 40 customer-volunteers showed up to help lug topsoil up the stairs when Cameron’s second restaurant built its rooftop garden.

But, the urban gardener said, “My biggest profit is the quality of life that I’m leading.” Cameron admitted that her passion for cooking has spilled into growing Uncommon Ground’s supplies. She ‘fessed up to spending hours perusing gardening catalogs—“I call it ‘seed porn’”—and she’s branched out into bee-keeping since opening the rooftop garden.

Cameron started the session by asking who in the audience was thinking of building a garden at their restaurant. The forest of hands that shot up prompted a “Whoa!” from the chef.

More information about  rooftop gardens is available online from Know How Gardening. You can read more about chefs’ experiences with urban gardening in this story on Conserve, the National Restaurant Association’s green website. 

Get kids to eat healthy by keeping meals delicious, simple, nutritious

Kids are notoriously picky eaters and can pose quite a challenge to restaurant owners interested in creating a kids’ menu. Chef Jeffrey McClure, director of culinary services for Sodexo USA, was on hand at the NRA Show's World Culinary Showcase to offer tips on how restaurant operators can create appealing kids’ options.