FSR May 2022

First Course

gramming focuses on pressing—and unprecedented—issues that restau rants have been grappling with since 2020. Prominent themes on the docket include virtual brands, retention strate gies, and supply chain solutions. Other topics that were popular pre-pandemic, like plant-based foods, sustainability, and technology within the dining room, also crop up a number of times. Futuristic thinking is another throughline of this year’s show. Keynote speaker Alexis Ohanian, best known for cofounding online news aggrega tor and community forum Reddit, will address disruption in foodservice and how restaurants can take a proactive stance as cryptocurrency, blockchain technology, and other outside forces rewrite the restaurant landscape. The speaker roster features cele brated chefs like Andrew Zimmern (more on page 36 ), Rick Bayless, Tif fany Derry, and Lamar Moore, as well as executives like Union Square Hospital ity Group president Chip Wade and P.F. Chang's CMO Tana Davila. In both 2020 and 2021, the NRA Show was one of the last holdouts to cancel its McCormick conference, doing so in late February—nearly two months after Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker extended capacity restrictions through early June. The association has projected the show to amass some 44,000 attend ees and 2,000 exhibitors, but as of mid April, its website listed a little more than 1,700 exhibitors. The estimates are also lower than the 2019 show, which featured 42,500 attendees and 2,300 exhibitors, per Trade Show News Net work. Furthermore, of the 120 sessions on the schedule, 20 were still missing EQPƂ TOGF URGCMGTU CPF VJGOGU But given the state of things, even if the numbers fall short, the fact the show is continuing its century-long run is a heartening sign for the indus try. Throughout the pandemic, restau rant professionals have reiterated time and again how important face-to-face interactions with guests are—the same clearly holds true for in-person events.

Late-Night Noshing New York may be the city that never sleeps, but Las Vegas nabs the title for “city that never stops eating.” A study by consumer products review site SimpleGhar calculated average restaurant closing times across 78 international cities, and while Athens restaurants stay open the latest, Las Vegas is tied with Cairo for the second spot . Two more U.S. cities, New York and Los Angeles, also made the top 10.

Average restaurant closing time:

LAS VEGAS 11:35 P . M .

NEW YORK 11:10 P . M .

LOS ANGELES 11:02 P . M .

ADOBE STOCK

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FSRMAGAZINE.COM

MAY 2022