NRA Chicago 2011

[JBailey]

I had a terrific time at the National Restaurant Association show at McCormick Place. There seemed to be lots of people, many new vendors and a couple stalwarts that might have been missing. Maybe, just maybe the economy is beginning to improve given the activity at this year's exhibition.

Among the booths that had interesting products, a gathering of people looking and intersting equipment or foods include in no particular order:

PolyScience - they had a whole raft of products running including the rotary evaporator where they were extracting chocolate flavoring

Nathan's Famous - a very long line to sample their hot dogs!

Rose Packaging with a Guiness brat

Sous Vide Supreme - they were showing a new 'Chef' version that meets higher standards and ratings to allow use in a restaurant kitchen

Coca-Cola - they were showing off their new dispenser with 100 flavor variables

Winston Industries - They were giving away a copy of Modernist Cuisine each day

Rotisol - One of their small machines was being featured at a very affordable price

Cook-Tek - It is always nice to see a company producing in the U.S. and not sending manufaturing overseas

DryBag Steak - they are coming out with sous vide bags that handle a very wide range of temperature and, of course, their dry aging bags

Robot-Coupe - Always they have most interesting products.

Waring - Another great grouping of products

WoodStone - They are certainly more than a wood burning oven company anymore

Rational - They were serving meals prepared during the demonstration

ThermoWorks - I am a fan of the Thermapen they distribute

MiniPack-Torre - Their booth was behind and seemingly in conjunction with PolyScience who is featuring one of their machines with a PolyScience logo!

Edlund - They have come out with a new scale measuring down to 0.1 gram

Guittard - Always an interesting array of chocolates!

BigAss Fans - What a great name and their fans seem to work really well

Edited May 23, 2011 by JBailey (log)

[oneidaone]

I went for the first time and had a wonderful day. I could not go more than Saturday but got there at 10:00 (via a big bus from the stop at the Hancock Tower.) We were shocked at the line for Starbuck's when there was amazing coffee available from a few booths that was delicious. We immediately did the cheeses from WI and the wine booth. We enjoyed the America pavillion and met some great pork farmers and seafood purveyors. We went primarily for the food truck pavilion and were not disappointed in the displays and information. We had a seminar "The Road Ahead for Food Trucks" that day and it was of great interest and full of information.

We enjoyed walking around seeing all of the food items, eating so much delicious things and meeting some amazing people as well. It was a great experience, I hope to go again next year. After all of the crowd at McCormick Place it was great to go up to the rooftop deck at our hotel which was "closed' but the concierge told us how to get

up there rather than the normal way. Cocktails ensued and the NRA tote bag was a great vehicle to take up everything we needed!