NRA SHOW 2011

Recently I attended the 92ND Annual National Restaurant Association show at McCormick Place, Chicago. Oh what a fun time it was, sensory overload in the best kind of way! Celebrity chefs cooking up close and personal, chit chatting with the audience while the room filled with the smells of their signature dishes. The day I arrived at the culinary showcase arena, Chef Kevin Sbraga, winner of Top Chef DC Season 7, was demonstrating how he smokes olive oil, a trend that's really taking off, (more about that later) and right after that, Chef Rick Tramonto, a well known Chicago chef and cookbook author, started cooking up some good old fashioned Italian comfort food.

Rick Bayless, Marcus Samuelsson, Wylie Dufrense, Gayle Gand and many others were a part of this years show.
The visuals were a food lovers dream, sort of like Disneyworld for foodies! Walls and walls of the latest gadgets, top quality knives of every kind, beautiful platters and plates in all different colors, shapes and designs.
Food companies from all over represented their very best, I was surprised to see how many Italian products were featured, breads, olives, oils, vinegars, pastas, gelato, coffee, espresso, desserts, cheese everywhere you turned, meats, believe me I could go on and on!
Did I tell you there were samples everywhere! Smiling faces ready to pitch their products, and eager for you to taste. I told you it was fun!
High end pastas in wonderful shapes coming straight from Italy.
Entrepreneurs of all sorts looking for distributors.
Dietz and Watson always had a huge crowd around them as the fumes of their gourmet chicken sausages filled the air!
Innovative technology was the focus on equipment to run any type of restaurant or food service business.
I want one of these on my kitchen counter!

And this pizza oven in my back yard!

Vendor after vendor representing all the top brands in cookware, bakeware and specialty pots and pans. Waffle and crepe makers filling the air with sweet smells! Panini grills, meatball machines, honestly I haven't even scratched the surface!

Are you ready for some dessert now? How about some Chicago based Eli's Cheesecake.

A little chocolate never hurt anyone!

Or maybe you prefer gelato?
I had a great time navigating all the isles and looking at all the beautiful displays of food. Thank goodness I wore comfortable shoes! I came home with lots of goodies too.

I have to give a shout out to two of my favorite products, Flamous Falafel Chips, they come in original and spicy, all I can say is... FIND THEM!

So addictingly good!

My ultimate favorite food product of the show was this smoked olive oil from a company called, The Smoked Olive. A Napa Valley couple created this award winning olive oil using their own innovative process to infuse extra virgin olive oil with wood smoked flavor without exposing it to light or heat. There business has taken off in a direction they never could have imagined, they knew they were on to something good when celebrity chefs starting endorsing them and international companies started calling.
When I tasted the samples, I immediately fell in love with the flavor, it's so unique, imagine using it with scallops or any type of seafood for that matter, it enhances meats and all sorts of veggies, a little pricey but worth every luxurious drop! There are 3 different versions
do check them out when you get a chance.

The NRA show unfortunately is not open to the public.