05.17.11
See you in Chicago!
Michael Szyliowicz

The Mont Blanc Gourmet team will be at the NRA Show 2011 this weekend in Chicago, and we hope to see you there! This year, our booth is located at 1175E in the Organic and Natural Pavilion, and we’ve invited UTZ CERTIFIED Good Inside to help inform convention-goers about sustainably-sourced coffee, cocoa and tea practices.

UTZ CERTIFIED Good Inside is a market-oriented sustainability program for cocoa, tea and the world’s largest supplier of sustainable coffee. As architects of sustainable supply chains, UTZ CERTIFIED ensures a balanced standard regarding People, Planet and Profit. Unique to the UTZ CERTIFIED program is the focus on entrepreneurship of the farmer through cost efficient environmentally and socially responsible farming practices.

Our Director of Business Development Mark Crawford sits on the Board of Directors at UTZ CERTIFIED Good Inside, and our team wanted to inform NRA attendees about sustainable sustainably-sourced coffee, cocoa and tea...

Beverages, Diary of a Chocolatier, Innovation, News, Sustainability, Tradeshows, Travel
chicago, chocolate, cocoa, coffee, nra, sustainable, tea, travel
06.16.10
Èspesso
Michael Szyliowicz

 

 

Èspesso is a dessert I tried at Lavazza café. Lavazza coffee is the most well known Italian brand, dominant in Italy. They sell a lot of coffee in the United States in foodservice, but recently have opened their own branded cafes. In Chicago I visited one of their locations in the Loop. It had a nice ambience, offering the usual hot and cold drink selections, pastries, sandwiches and marble topped tables. But the unusual selection I tried was called Èspesso, supposedly created by the well-known proponent of molecular gastronomy, Ferran Adrià of El Bulli restaurant in Spain. Èspesso is a cappuccino flavored foam (Adrià’s signature creation), dispensed from a hand held whipped cream dispenser. It was light and airy, with a mild coffee flavor and eaten with a spoon. It was an unusual change of pace from the beverages I typically enjoy, and it’s good to see people continuing to innovate coffee service in new and...

Beverages, Diary of a Chocolatier, Travel
chicago, espesso, lavazza
06.04.10
Churros and Mole
Michael Szyliowicz

 

 

I was recently in Chicago for the annual National Restaurant Association trade show, still the biggest restaurant show in the country. It is known in the industry as the NRA, but for butter and not guns.

While there, I stopped in to a new restaurant by well-known food authority and chef Rick Bayless. Called Xoco (and pronounced SHO-koh), it is adjacent to his other restaurants, Topolobampo and Frontera Grill. Xoco is a casual operation, serving food quickly, but not fast food. Everything is fresh, and the attention to detail and care of preparation is evident. I loved the fact that I had chocolate in each part of my meal.

Mole is a wonderful dish, a savory sauce made from chocolate. Most people don’t think of chocolate as anything other than a sweet dessert, but for centuries cacao beans have been used to flavor meats in Mexico and Central...

Diary of a Chocolatier, Tradeshows, Travel
chicago, churros, nra
06.01.10
The National Restaurant Show
Michael Szyliowicz

 

 

Is simply not what it was. Years ago, the NRA Show – as it’s known in the industry – was the pre-eminent trade show for the restaurant and food-service trade. Always held the third week of May in Chicago, it was five days when all of the major food-service operators converged on the city to walk the show floor looking for new items and ideas, watch for trends and network with professional colleagues. It was always a very expensive undertaking for exhibitors. Chicago’s McCormick Place convention center is notorious for being an extremely expensive place to have a show, and the NRA charges premium prices for its exposition. Everyone spent large amounts of money to exhibit and attend, but nobody in the industry missed the show.

Now, however, the show simply misses this industry. The show that just concluded had the worst attendance I have seen in 15 years of exhibiting. Other exhibitors I spoke with felt the same way. Additionally, the few people on the show floor were individuals not in a position to purchase any significant items. Large, well-known companies that have been exhibiting for years had significantly downsized their presence or, as has been a more recent trend, simply don’t exhibit anymore. Iconic brands such as Budweiser and Tyson Foods...

Diary of a Chocolatier, Tradeshows, Travel
chicago, nra