NRA Show Blog

Eat Out America!

By Derrek J. Hull, Blogger-in-Chief

Why cook when you can eat out and make every moment special? With more than 945,000 locations across America to eat, there's something for everyone...so, get a move on, you've got a lot of ground to cover! After all, enjoying food never goes out of style.

Here are Web sites to help you savor the moment or simply just make the routine a little more interesting:

Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food: A new site developed by the USDA launched this week to better connect consumers with local producers. Search here to find a Farmer’s Market near you.

Healthy Dining: The National Restaurant Association has teamed up with Healthy Dining online to help consumers source healthy options on menus nationwide. You can search for restaurants by zip code and price range. Now that’s healthy made easy!

Dining Guides: A menu of national dining guides is only a keystroke away from your next dine-out experience.

Eating Smart: Practical tips to help you watch your calories during a night out on the town.

Here's to You, Honey

By Derrek J. Hull, Blogger-in-Chief

We’re buzzing with excitement! It’s September and that can mean only one thing – it’s National Honey Month. That’s right, honey!

In honor of this natural sweetener, this week’s edition of Floored! will feature honey-inspired recipes by several of the country’s top chefs and pastry chefs. 

Nationally acclaimed pastry chef, James Beard Foundation award recipient and NRA Show participant Gale Gand and other leading chefs will tempt and satisfy the honey lover in you. Stay tuned.

Not yet registered for NRA Show 2010? Register today!

Won't You Be Our Neighbor?

 
By Derrek J. Hull, Blogger-in-Chief

It's a beautiful day in NRA Show social-media land
A beautiful day for a fan or follower.
Would you be ours?
Could you be ours?

It's a neighborly day in NRA Show social-media land,
A neighborly day for a fan or follower.
Would you be ours?
Could you be ours?

We’ve always wanted to have a fan or follower just like you.
We’ve always wanted to live in a social-media land with you. 

So, let's make the most of this beautiful day.
Since we're together we might as well say:
Would you be ours?
Could you be ours?
Won't you be our fan or follower?
Won't you please,
Won't you please?
Please won't you be our NRA Show fan or follower?

Link up with the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and here at Floored!

Save the dates! NRA Show 2010 will be held May 22-25, 2010 at Chicago’s McCormick Place. 
 

Lights! Camera! Action!

 
By Derrek J. Hull, Blogger-in-Chief

A recent CNN.com article about what celebrities bring to the table in the culinary world piqued our curiosity. Does the combination of chefs and celebrities truly make for a perfect pairing? We put that question to two of the country’s top chefs.

Bravo TV’s celebrated “Top Chef Masters” winner and NRA Show fan favorite Rick Bayless (chef/owner of Frontera Grill/Topolobampo/XOCO) commented, “I’m not sure. One thing I do know is that having a higher profile does help get folks through the front door, but that isn’t what keeps them coming back. That said, I really try to concentrate on what matters…not my status or how many times I am on TV.  I try to work on what I can control—great food with flavor going on every plate to every diner in any of my restaurants.”

Ming Tsai (chef/owner of Blue Ginger, host/executive producer of Simply Ming) said, “Celebrities are very passionate -- that's why they're celebrities, right? They had a dream and followed it to its ultimate peak. You need that to be in the restaurant industry -- it's not for the meek.  Plus, people who are passionate usually enjoy food, so it makes perfect sense that celebrities are drawn to restaurants. It's all about food and service at the end of the day, not the name on the door or the celebrity involved.”

Don’t be shy, read the CNN.com article, Rick Bayless and Ming Tsai’s thoughts and share with us what you think.

Interact with culinary superstars and celebrities in the Celebrity Book Signings area and other Show features at NRA Show 2010 (May 22-25, 2010 at Chicago’s McCormick Place). Registration is now open.