The highlight of The Takeout staff’s year is attending the NRA show here in Chicago. Before we tell colleagues, we have to catch ourselves and clarify: “No, not that NRA, but the National Restaurant Association show.”
The purpose of the Restaurant Show—this year was its 99th annual—is for food industry folks to connect: Maybe you’re a restaurant chain looking for new tabletops, or you’re a new soda company in search of a distributor, or you’re Jennie-O and presenting your 2018 line of turkey innovations. In years past, more than 60,000 attendees would traverse a convention center space the size of 20 football fields.
Though it’s not opened to the public, some of us in the press manage to weasel our way into the show. For us, what’s most relevant is the free samples bacchanal—it’s hundreds, if not more than a thousand booths featuring pricey Wagyu beef on toothpicks, fully dressed hot dogs, smoked salmon, and the buzziest new artisan ginger beer. Yes, we are unabashed about our motives: we are in it for the free food, full stop.
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It takes a while to traverse the magnitude of the show, but once you find the award winners, that’s a good place to hang out. The show’s FABI awards “recognize the industry’s most unique, delicious, and on-trend products that are driving sales and pleasing guests.” One of our favorite finds down those aisles was Sud’N’Sol’s Pepper Spread and Tomato Spread. The European company features condensed slow-roasted vegetables (the artichoke version was also great) into a series of spreads that would work as a dip, as a base for a sauce, or a flavorful add to a sandwich. Definitely worth seeking out.