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A round-up of must-see booths with new and old innovative products at the National Restaurant Association Show |
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Over the course of four days, more than 18,000 suppliers and tens of thousands of buyers will visit the booths at the National Restaurant Association, Hotel-Motel Show taking place May 17-20 at McCormick Place in Chicago. Trends and topics highlighted at the almost 100-year-old show include operational issues, menu development, sustainability, marketing, technology, special dietary needs, health and nutrition. More than 70 educational sessions will be led by industry experts. Guests can experience what's possible in sustainable horticulture and urban farming at the McCormick Place Rooftop Garden Tour taking place on Sunday and Tuesday. In addition the International Wine, Spirits and Beer Event will coincide with the show May 18-19. Stop by our May advertisers' must-see booths to learn about new products and see how they can be used in your restaurant. |
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DayMark • 866/517-0490, daymarksafety.com • Booth: 3201
The 9700 offers a range of features that no other unit on the market can boast, including an 8.4-inch Hot Touch Full Color display and a premier labeling provider bringing the most innovative labeling options to the prep table. The patent-pending DissolveMark Direct Thermal label technology allows flexibility in the kitchen and the performance you have come to expect from DayMark's Dissolve-a-way Labeling. |
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Equipex • 800/649-7885, equipex.com • Booth: 1612
Vitroceramic salamanders offer instant-on and infinite power setting features for movable top Vitroceramic models. The electric finishing ovens have a Quartz or Vitroceramic heating element. Models with an adjustable, movable top or a fixed top and adjustable bottom trays pull out with a wire rack. They can be free standing or wall mounted (kit optional), and infrared cooking enables operator to melt, brown, roast or glaze meat, fish, soups and desserts. |
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Worcester Industrial Products Corp. • 800/533-5711, shortening-shuttle.us • Booth: 1737
The Shortening Shuttle Waste Oil Carrier returns to the NRA Show for the 24th year. See the changes made to the device over the years. Representatives have models, accessories and ideas to help transport waste oil from kitchen to recycle area. |
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Alto-Shaam, Inc. • 262/251-3800, alto-shaam.com • Booth: 4840
Alto-Shaam's latest line of Combi ovens, the CT PROformance Combitherm Ovens, deliver a unique combination of features, expanding menu offerings by providing endless versatility and reliability in the kitchen. Considered an alternative for a convection oven, kettle, steamer, fryer, smoker and dehydrator, the line features the new PROpower setting. While in turbo mode, the CT PROformance operates up to 80 percent faster than conventional technology and can preheat up to 575 degrees Fahrenheit. The Absolute Humidity Control allows the user to select a precise humidity level from zero to 100 percent and the CombiSmoke feature increases versatility by allowing operators to smoke any product, hot or cold. |
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Robot Coupe USA • 800/824-1646, robot-coupe.com • Booth: 4037
The new table-top Robot Coupe CL51 Vegetable Prep Processor is designed to process from 20 to 300 meals per service. The CL51 has two hoppers that provide consistent processing of all fruits and vegetables and its kidney-shaped feed holds seven tomatoes; use its cylindrical feed tube for long, thin veggies. Slice, ripple cut, grate, julienne, dice and French fry in various sizes with its 52 steel discs. |
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Boggiatto • 831/424-8952, boggiattoproduce.com • Booth: 7928
Chefs have spoken. Garden Hearts are one of the most requested brands of romaine hearts in the industry. Why? Consistent quality, superior yield, minimal prep, and they are inexpensive. Your guests deserve the best and so does your bottom line. |
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Master-Bilt • 800/647-1284, master-bilt.com • Booth: 4257
Master-Bilt's ENERGY STAR qualified, bottom-mounted medium (BMG Plus) and low-temp (BLG Plus) glass door cooler and freezer merchandisers, deliver value and performance. High end design features include full-height glass doors, four adjustable cantilever shelves per door, and double strip LED lighting for maximum product visibility and illumination. |
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EdgeCraft home of Chef'sChoice • 800/342-3255, edgecraft.com • Booth: 3105
The Model 2100 Chef'sChoice Commercial Electric Knife Sharpener from EdgeCraft Corporation is a perfect solution for quickly sharpening knives in a cost and time efficient manner in today's commercial environment. Anyone can quickly and easily put a razor sharp edge on all commercial cutlery with this item. This three-stage Diamond Hone sharpener with advanced technology sharpens both fine-edge and serrated knives. It's dishwasher safe and includes a removable 20 degree edge sharpening module. |
Located on 
A favorite
dish among visitors is Today’s Fish and Chips which includes a Guinness battered-fish
with malt tartar sauce and lemon. If you
just want to stop in for lunch, try one of the specialty sandwiches such as the
Gage Venison Burger which comes with smoked Gouda, fried jalapeño, woodland
mushroom, pickled onion and mustard aioli.
Enjoy a
delightful and light appetizer like the House Smoked Rainbow Trout or the Spring
Pea Soup. With that, order a local craft
beer such as The Two Brothers Cane & Ebel or the Jameson Black Barrel Irish
Whiskey.
The Gage, open-close, every day:
Sundays from 10 am
to 10 pm (bar closes at 12 am )
Mondays from 11 am
to 10 pm (bar closes at 12 am )
Tuesdays through Fridays from -Christina Danno
The NRA Show features three distinct awards programs
designed to identify and share these innovations with operators across the
globe. The Kitchen Innovations Awards
(KI)
recognize and celebrate breakthrough
back-of-house equipment and technology; these are items that are improving and benefiting
operators on a daily basis. Rewarding bold imagination in food and beverage, The
Food & Beverage Innovations Awards
(FABI)
highlight the products with the greatest
potential to help operators capitalize on consumer trends.The third and final innovation awards program
is the Operator Innovations Awards (OI), which will announce winners this Saturday,
May 17th at the Destination: Celebration Gala. The OI Awards recognize and celebrate restaurant operators
worldwide who are combining imagination and hard work to find fresh ways to
improve business.
For the 10-year Anniversary of the Kitchen
Innovation Awards, recipients were judged by a panel of industry experts who determined which products have been working to solve operator
challenges and specifically improve back-of-house effectiveness.
This year’s winners included
Alto-Shaam, Inc.; BioZone Scientific International; Edlund Company; Fired Up
Kitchens; Garland; Manitowoc Beverage; Neico Corporation; Volcan; Turbo Coil
and many, many more. To see the full list of Kitchen Innovations Award Winners,
click here.
The FABI Awards Program rewards food and beverage products
that truly have the potential to drive operator success. From Schmacon’s Smoked and Cured Glazed Beef to Kiki’s Gluten Free Deep
Dish Pizza, the FABI Awards features trending ingredients, healthy living,
special diets and artisan offerings as just a few categories rich in products
that have helped operators expand menus, meet demand and retain customers.
The third annual Operator Innovations Awards will select
finalists in five categories: health and nutrition, marketing, menu
development, sustainability and technology. The finalists include men, women,
boys and girls who, through innovation and imagination, are finding ways to
improve the foodservice industry. The current finalists include everything from UNC Health
Care’s Restaurant Delivery Program where patients can choose from a menu with more
than 93 different entrée options, to Subway’s Project Subway marketing
initiative in which they sent models down a New York Fashion Week runway in
branded materials such as napkins, straws and salad bowls. The winners of this year’s Operator Innovations Awards will be announced
live during the gala, in addition to the prestigious award of Innovator of the
Year.
Last night I had the opportunity to go
on a foraging adventure in Chicago’s Lincoln Park, drink some delicious CaorunnGin cocktails and dine at Sepia.
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Although I wouldn’t recommend novices forage
alone, with the help of our guide, Urban Forager Chris Mayor, our group managed
to pick several native greens without getting sick and using them in our
cocktails later. Mayor taught us some tricks of the trade—of the 7,000
varieties of mint, most have square stems and few are poisonous. If it doesn’t smell
like something you want to eat, then that variety of mint should be fine to
consume. Also, you will never have to buy straws again as long as you have a
supply of long-stem dandelions and some cold water to soak them in. While on
our excursion, we picked Catnip, Creeping Charlie, Wild Onions and Crabapple
blossoms for a garnish.
Caorunn Gin had hosted a competition
earlier in the day among local Chicago bartenders to see who came up with the
best drink. The winning team had a member from Lone Wolf and from The Chop Shop.
They created a delicious concoction, Caorunn Sour.
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Caorunn
Sour:Splash of Talisker
.75 oz. lemon
.75 oz. botanical syrup (simple syrup made with dried heather, lemon and orange zest)
2 short dash barkeep fennel bitters
1 heavy dash dandelion bitters
Shake with diced quarter-sized sliver of ginger and:
Catnip—2 big leaves
Creeping Charlie—small sprigWild onion—2 sprigs
Fine strain into coup
Express lemon
After
experiencing the abnormally high May temperature, it was nice to relax in the
air-conditioning at Sepia. The Near West Side eatery is a must-try, with a
rotating seasonal menu, homemade pastas, and organic and sustainable ingredients
are used when available. I had a
refreshing salad with baby arugula, toasted pine nuts, pickled lemon zest and
grana padano. It paired well with the Caorrun Sour. The entrée I chose was just
as light and delicious. The chef prepared pan roasted cod with a sweet corn and
clam chowder and chive oil.
Caorrun Gin is manufactured in Scotland,
and I had the good fortune of sitting near Gin Master Simon Bouley. He explained that its profile is distinctive
with a base of Rowan Berry, Myrtle, Heather, Dandelion Leaf
and Scotland’s “Forgotten” Coul Blush Apple, infused with six traditional
botanicals to give it a sense of terroir rarely seen in a gin.
If the opportunity arises when you are in town for the National Restaurant Association Show, I recommend a trip to Lincoln Park whether or not you are with an expert forager. I also recommend wining and dining at Sepia and incorporating the flavorful Caorrun Gin into your restaurant’s repertoire.
Tucked away inside frosted windows on south Wabash Street and
intriguing an area that is fairly barren and quite devoid of heavy night traffic,
Michelin Star-rated Acadia Chicago brings to the South Loop what L20 or Alinea brings
to Lincoln Park: strongly recommended fine dining.
Chef/Owner Ryan McCaskey is a Saignon, Vietnam transplant
who was raised in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago and has built quite the following
of chefs. McCaskey’s broad skill set and diverse kitchen experience—Trio under
Grant Achatz and TRU under Rick Tramonto, Goose Cove Lodge in Maine and the
Black Locust in Wisconsin, to name a few—has layered the talents and techniques
required for McCaskey to build a successful, harmonious fine-dining hot spot.
His culinary style, described as simultaneously contemporary
and classic, has certainly lent itself to not only the menu, but the experience
and even décor at Acadia. The simple bar area is paralleled with beautifully soaring
ceilings and neutral, two-toned walls. The chairs, wrapped in white, don’t-spill-on-me
fabric are a serene accent for the large dark tables. The minimalist design sets the
table for the modern American cuisine that’s featured in both the twelve-course
chef’s tasting menu and the more approachable bar offerings (at gastropub
pricing.) Beyond its first AAA Five Diamond Restaurant rating and second One
Star Michelin Guide Award, the restaurant is touted for its bar food—though I
use that term loosely, it’s still the technique-driven quality that Chef
McCaskey is known for—including his award winning Acadia Burger (a double patty
with house made apple wood bacon, double crème gouda, “special sauce”, garlic
dill pickles and potato salad) and the Stonington, Maine Lobster Roll with
paprika and chives.
For a la carte options, check out the 62 Degree Swan Creek
Farm Egg with pistachio bread, frisee, radish and allium juice. Or the Foie Gras Torchon
with Asian pear, Maine blueberry gelee, almond, brussels sprout leaves, and vin
santo.
Acadia is open
for dinner on Tuesday through Thursday from 5:30 p.m. until 10 p.m., Friday
through Saturday from 5 p.m. until 11 p.m., and Sunday from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m.
Reservations can be made online or by
calling 312.360.9500.
Industry pundits encourage limited-time offers (LTOs) to boost brand excitement and drive sales. Some popular Strawberry LTOs return annually due to customer demand, and some find their way on to the permanent menu. That’s why so many chains rely on an annual strawberry promotion, year-after-year, it’s what the customers want, and it increases traffic during a high volume season. Look to the California Strawberry Commission for innovative menu ideas for your summer menu specials. Expand the beverage menu with a refreshing Basil Strawberry Lemonade which can be served as a cocktail, too. Add a versatile summer Strawberry Salsa which is great with chips and an excellent topping for a white fish entrée, or taco. Or try adding a savory appetizer like Strawberry Gazpacho to start and Grilled Strawberries with Black Pepper Ice Cream as a show-stopping finale. Good news for operators: California strawberries are available all year round, so LTOs can easily
become permanent customer favorites.
Visit www.californiastrawberries.com for summer menu ideas. From whole, sliced, diced, grilled,
roasted and braised, California strawberries has a recipe for you.
Next on the list of places to see while you’re in town for the NRA Show, is the Terrace at Trump (401 N. Wabash, 312/588-8000), which opened for the season on May 7th. With a view that can bring anyone to a place of Zen, not one of the 250 seats currently housed on the Terrace will disappoint. The strategic mirrored building complements the chic Chicago skyline, and everyone is treated like royalty at the premier rooftop lounge.
Don’t let the wind deter you,
once the sun goes down and the lights from the Wrigley Building and the
InterContinental Hotel come on, Mother Nature flips off her ill-humored switch,
providing the most serene of scenes.
Something new I noticed on the drink
menu this year is a blank page titled “Reserved List.” Whitney, our server,
explained when a light is shone onto the page, it reveals a special menu of
cocktails that are served after sunset.
We
enjoyed the bites on their menu, where spice is a reoccurring theme. Pickled
Chayote, Chili Lime Cashews, Cheese & Habanero Jelly and Bacon Cheddar
Cookies paired well with our Moscow Mules.
Chef Fiddler’s
Mediterranean-inspired menu offer a variety of options and are presented in a
brilliantly simplistic manner. Among the classic wagyu Shrunken Burgers and seafood
platters, lies a new item that is certain to grow into an instant classic—the PLT
(Pancetta, lobster & tomato).
The hard-working staff seamlessly
takes care of you, and the managers visit each table to ensure everyone is
enjoying their time being royalty, maintaining Trump’s five-star standard.
Open daily from 2pm-12am.
The
ambiance is chic. The place is decorated with rich tones, chandeliers, contemporary
furniture and marble floors.
Fleetwood
serves American-style food. The Lobster Ravioli, made with pieces of
tender lobster tucked in homemade sheets of pasta and served in a tomato cream
sauce, is a favorite among patrons. Another seafood dish that guests enjoy is
the Prosciutto Wrapped Shrimp. Each piece of sautéed jumbo shrimp is wrapped
with prosciutto and served with a side of Cajun tarter sauce. Vegetarians will
love the Tuscan Salad with spring greens, Endive leaves, red onions and
Gorgonzola cheese drizzled with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and a balsamic
reduction.
Open
Wed. - Sat. 5 p.m.-Midnight
Sun. 10
a.m.-4 p.m.
Open
additional hours for the National Restaurant Show on Monday, May 19 and
Tuesday, May 20.
In honor of the National Restaurant Association Show,
we’re continuing our coverage of top-tier places to visit while you’re in
Chicago.
Next on the bucket list, we
kicked off National Barbecue Month this May at Old Crow Smokehouse (3506 N.
Clark, 773/537-4452), located in the heart of the ever-popular Wrigleyville.
Quickly establishing itself among the best country bar/barbecue restaurants to
recently blitz the Chicago scene, Old Crow’s concept is proving to be
epic.
With the barbecue/country music
pairing being as wildly popular as it is across the city, Old Crow’s ace in the hole has to be Chef Tony Scruggs (and it doesn't hurt that Wrigley Field is
approximately 200 yards north). Form-fitting
the restaurant’s hours to coincide with Cubs games in the summer, Chef Scruggs
seems to know exactly what people are looking for. In addition to offering your
traditional barbecue favorites—ribs, pulled pork and brisket—he has also put
together an omnibus of unique, modern dishes which he features on the menu. Start
off with their Pulled Pork Egg Rolls, a brilliant infusion of flavors. The Pulled Pork wrap with bacon and French-fried onions mixed with a Worcestershire cheese and barbecue sauce is just as heavenly as it sounds. The brisket ends melt in your mouth and
the twice-baked and mashed sweet potatoes are the perfect companion to all
things pork.
Chef Scruggs has such an interesting story, and I was lucky enough to have him share it when we were touring the
smoker, indulging in the brisket ends he made available. He started with a
career as a steel hauler/truck driver, where he furthered his interest in food,
in particular barbecue, as his territory was in the barbecue-loving states of
Tennessee and Arkansas. While driving, he regularly tried new barbecue places, and he began
perfecting his own style back in Illinois. After racking up numerous awards
from county and state meat competitions, his daughter convinced him to take his
concoctions to the next level and encouraged him to audition for the Fox
Network’s MasterChef. He landed a spot as a contestant on season two, giving
him national recognition and celebrity-status throughout Kankakee County. Hunting
ramps in his free time to incorporate into dishes, Chef Scruggs has a passion
for locally-produced products. He believes that the wood used in the smoker is
just as important as the spices used on the meats, and his signature “Scruggs
Rubs” throughout the menu prove that these dishes maintain their mouth-watering
standards, with or without barbecue sauces.
Housing two large, open
warehouse-style rooms, Old Crow offers the best of both worlds. One with a
retractable glass roof for enjoying the best of Chicago summers, and another,
offering a central stage for the abundance of bands that play and open space for dancing.
Swearing by the
motto, “Come for the barbecue, stay for the music,” Old Crow reminds you to make sure to bring your
cowboy boots and a hearty appetite on your next visit.
Cubs Game Hours:
12:05pm games—open at 10:00am
1:20pm games—open at 11:00am
3:05pm games—open at 12:00pm
7:05pm games—open at 4:00pm
Regular Hours:
Sunday - Tuesday—5pm – Midnight
Wednesday – Friday—5pm – 2am
Saturday—5pm – 3am
Kitchen Hours:
Full menu until 11 pm daily
Late night menu available 11pm-1am Wednesday-Saturday
