Nearly 12,000 restaurant and foodservice industry professionals from California attended the Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo, which took place Aug. 14 to 16 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The event, sponsored by the California Restaurant Association (CRA), was co-located with Expo Comida Latina, showcasing the latest products for the Hispanic restaurant and retail market.
Among the event hightlights were:
The Innovative New Product Gallery. Here, the newest and most innovative products were introduced into the marketplace. The first place People's Choice winner selected by attendees was EarthKare Packaging Innovations for its portable cup with integrated lid that locks into place. The second-place winner was Winco for its professional induction cooker. Third place went to Frextr for its mobile texting service.
Raising funds for ProStart. U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina met with ProStart students from Santee Education Complex in Los Angeles during her visit to the Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo. Fiorina also made a donation to the CRA Education Foundation. During the Expo, CRAEF raised more than $10,000.
Feeding the hungry. At the close of the show, the exhibitors of the Western Foodservice Expo and Expo Comida Latina donated 10,000 pounds of food to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. The Food Bank provides food for nearly 900 member agency sites.
New Solutions Center. A highlighted feature on the show floor, the New Solutions Center offered educational content focused on food, marketing, operations, beverages, management and strategy. Attendees crowded in to learn about such topics as the 10 most common hiring mistakes, advice from Yelp, how to recruit and hire and online marketing strategies.
Ferdinand Metz Foodservice Forum. Attendees received free education at the Ferdinand Metz Foodservice Forum with sessions such as "Hottest Trends in Restaurant Nutrition," which offered educational and networking sessions with experts that shared innovative practices and how to capitalize on offering healthy options (presented by www.healthydiningfinder.com); and the "Women in Foodservice Education" session, moderated by Kathleen Wood, of Kathleen Wood Partners, who discussed the key secrets to professional growth for women in foodservice.
Top names in L.A. dining weigh in. Top professionals in Los Angeles participated in a panel on what's next in fine-dining. Among the names were Brendan Collins, chef/proprietor of Waterloo & City; 2 star Michelin chef Josiah Citrin of Melisse; Sherry Yard, two-time James Beard winner and executive pastry chef for Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining; and Warren Schwartz, chef of Westside Tavern.
Next year's Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo will take place Aug. 28 to 30 at the San Diego Convention Center.
by Maggie Shea, Chef Magazine
Summer may be winding down, but there are still plenty of diners looking to capitalize on al fresco dining and cocktails before the first frost hits. Here Chef has rounded up some beverages to serve up ice-cold alongside small plates or a refreshing salad, as well as a few products for enhancing cool cocktails and mocktails in the dog days of summer.
This spring, EWG Spirits & Wine debuted L'Esprit De June (June), the world's first vine-flower liqueur. Made in the heart of the Cognac region of France, this elegant new spirit captures the fragrance of French grape vines, which flower for just three to five days during the month of June. L'Esprit de June is a blend of carefully selected ephemeral vine flowers from Ugni Blanc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and other grapes. The flowers are swiftly handpicked and prepared with a grape spirit base. An exciting new tool for mixologists, June complements the flavor profiles of a variety of other spirits, including gin, whiskey, vodka and champagne. Visit www.eurowinegate.com.
Real Sangria, the producers who brought you Real Sangria Red, have recently introduced Real Sangria White to the U.S. market. Real Sangria's latest introduction is a wonderful blend of natural citrus fruit flavors and fine Spanish white wine. Light-bodied, fruity and refreshing, it is ideal for serving chilled in a pitcher on the restaurant patio or pouring alongside a light appetizer of tapas. Real Sangria White can also be incorporated into a variety of thirst-quenching recipes along with fresh juices, fruit and a variety of spirits. Visit www.real-sangria.com.
Restaurants can now serve organic unsweetened iced tea without having to brew it in-house. B.W. Cooper's Organic Unsweetened Iced Brew Tea is the first bag-in-box (BIB) tea on the market made with organic tea leaves. It received USDA organic certification earlier this year. It is brewed, concentrated using a proprietary process, and then packaged in a convenient BIB format for easy use by the foodservice industry. BIB teas offers several operational benefits: no labor required to brew tea, no need to throw away stale tea, no need to brew additional tea during the rush hour, flexible dispensing options and enhanced food safety. Visit www.coopertea.com to learn more.
Monin Gourmet Flavorings, a leading provider of premium syrups and flavoring products, has introduced a smooth, classic European style bitters that offers wide taste appeal. A staple bar ingredient, bitters has been used to accent cocktails since the 1800s and is staging a comeback in bars and restaurants across the country. Monin Bitters has an herbal aroma and flavor with fruity notes and is lightly sweet with cherry undertones. Monin also offers over 200 specialty syrup, sauce and puréed products designed to add flavor and profit. Visit www.monin.com.
Two Leaves and a Bud tea company recently introduced a new iced tea program for restaurants and cafés featuring three teas that are just as richly flavored as its award-winning line of whole leaf tea sachets. Organic Black Iced Tea, Alpine Berry Herbal Iced Tea and the newest addition, Organic Tropical Green Ice Tea, are all available in 1-ounce filter bags and 3-ounce loose tea packets, for brewing 1 gallon or 3 gallons of iced tea, respectively. The three teas suit a variety of tastes. Organic Black Iced Tea is smooth and well-balanced, Alpine Berry Herbal Iced Tea has a refreshingly fruity taste without caffeine, and the new Organic Tropical Green Iced Tea has a tart green tea flavor mellowed out with the taste of goji berries for a smooth sweetness. For point-of-sale promotion, Two Leaves and a Bud also offers table tents as well as waterproof stickers for iced tea dispensers and pitchers. These stickers are unique to each variety of tea available. Visit www.twoleavesandabud.com.
Jan Marie Chesterton, president of the New York State Hospitality & Tourism Association (NYSH&TA), has been named to the board of directors for the International Hotel, Motel & Restaurant Show (IHMRS).
The nine-member board of directors also includes Joseph Spinnato, president, Hotel Association of New York City; Joe McInerney, president and CEO, American Hotel & Lodging Association; Vijay Dandapani, COO, Apple Core Hotels; John Fitzpatrick, CEO North America, Fitzpatrick Hotel Group; Michael Hoffman, president, Turf Hotels; Pedro Mandoki, CHA, president, Mandoki Hospitality Group; Anthony Mangano, CHA, vice president, Syramada Hotel Corp.; and John Russell, CEO, NYLO Hotels LLC.
The next edition of IHMRS will take place Nov. 13 to 16 at the Javits Center in New York City. For more information, visit www.ihmrs.com.
Foodservice operators can save up to $150 by participating in the Marzetti Italian Celebration, a fall promotion from Marzetti Foodservice that will run Sept. 1 to Oct. 31. To qualify, operators must purchase items from two of the three Italian Celebration categories: Marzetti Italian Dressings, New York Brand Frozen Bread or Marzetti Frozen Pasta.
Participating operators can save on dressings in gallon or 1.5-oz. packet sizes, New York Brand frozen hearth-baked garlic breadsticks, garlic toast or mini garlic toast, or Marzetti Frozen Pasta brand frozen, fully-cooked fettuccini, cheese tortellini, penne, rigati, tri-color rotini, spaghetti and lasagna cheese rollups.
For more information, the participation form can be downloaded by visiting www.marzettifoodservice.com/
foodservice_solutions/specialoffers.php.
Barry Callebaut is calling on all culinary professionals and students to submit their best recipes using the Cacao Barry brand in the 2010 L'art du Chocolatier Challenge. The grand prize in the professional category is $10,000 in cash, $1,000 in Cacao Barry product and a feature in a renowned culinary publication.
Contestants have until Nov. 30 to submit up to 10 recipes incorporating Cacao Barry chocolate at www.lartduchocolatier.com Barry Callebaut will select finalists in both the professional and student categories to be flown to Chicago to recreate their recipes at the Barry Callebaut Chocolate Academy the week of Jan. 10, 2011. For official contest rules and entry form, visit www.lartduchocolatier.com.
Alluserv, a newly established solutions provider in healthcare foodservice and equipment, has debuted www.alluserv.com, an online resource for healthcare foodservice directors.
Alluserv developed the website to enhance collaboration and learning opportunities for healthcare foodservice professionals. The resources available on Alluserv’s website include an "ask the expert" section, downloadable content including foodservice case studies and exper- driven articles and links to usable solutions for healthcare foodservice operation. Healthcare foodservice professionals can quickly search for new and innovative equipment and products for retail, catering and meal delivery systems. Alluserv also offers easy site navigation and access to brief descriptions and spec sheets as well as an online forum for discussing topics of interest.
Visit www.alluserv.com for more information.
SOL Cocina executive chef Deborah Schneider drove her own food truck for the day to benefit St. Vincent's Meals on Wheels program on Aug. 28 at the OC Foodie Fest. Schneider joins the ranks of Los Angeles chefs participating in Cart for a Cause to help feed homebound senior citizens.
SOL Cocina executive chef Deborah Schneider
The OC Foodie Fest is a one-day gourmet food truck event at the Honda Center in Anaheim that featured Southern California's most popular mobile eats combined with local entertainment and shopping to support local charitable organizations.
From her truck, Schneider served SOL Carnitas: street tacos with carnitas, tomatillo salsa, chicharron and avocado (pictured, below), as well as ceviche.
For more information on Cart for a Cause at the OC Foodie Fest, visit www.ocfoodiefest.com.
During the 15th anniversary of celebrity chef Nick Stellino's Cooking with Friends" public television program, one of his 10 guest chefs this fall will be John Tesar, corporate chef for DRG Concepts.
Tesar, corporate culinary director for DRG Concepts' Dallas Chop House, Dallas Fish Market and Go Fish Ocean Club concepts who has cooked at the James Beard House six times, will tape the show on Aug. 17 at Chef Stellino's studio in Los Angeles. He will prepare lime and curry marinated ribeye steaks with cucumber and honeydew melon chutney and spiced basmati rice.
For more information, visit www.nickstellino.com/tvshow.asp.
Restaurants around the country are partnering with American Farmland Trust for the inaugural Dine Out for Farms, a national, weeklong event to support a sustainable future for America's farms. During the week of Oct. 10 to 16, participating restaurants will raise funds for AFT's programs that support farms.
In return for supporting Dine Out for Farms, AFT is providing promotional tools to the participating restaurants, along with online and other outreach activities to appeal to consumers who care about farms and food--encouraging consumers to dine out often and make a difference.
The "Founding Circle" restaurants kicking off Dine Out for Farms are:
- The Red Devon Market Bar & Restaurant, Bangall, N.Y.
- Alder Wood Bistro, Sequim, Wash.
- Galletto Ristorante, Modesto, Calif.
- Sheppard Mansion, Hanover, Pa.
- The Market Restaurant, Gloucester, Mass.
For more information on joining as a participating restaurant in Dine Out for Farms, visit www.farmland.org/restaurant.
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Chef's Stirrings is the official blog of Chef Magazine, the industry publication for restaurant and foodservice professionals. The blog offers culinary news and online exclusives from the editors ofChef.
