CALIFORNIA RESTAURANT SHOW 2024 PREVIEW
I’m happy to report that our state Restaurant Show returns to Los Angeles, (after being held in Anaheim last year,) for three days at the end of this month. (All the pertinent info is at the bottom of this preview.)
A beautiful display from The Beauty Tea Company, just one kind of product you’ll discover at the upcoming California Restaurant Show. Photo by Karen Salkin.
As a restaurant reviewer, (among a few dozen other hats I wear these days,) I love letting all my California restaurant peeps know about this truly amazing professional expo which benefits their businesses.
And, of course, I enjoy attending myself, so I can apprise everyone of all the innovations in one of all of our favorite pastimes—dining out. I’m so excited to discover new culinary and related products to tell you about.
In case you don’t recognize the moniker, it was finally changed this year, from the semi-complicated “Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo” to the simpler and more-to-the-point “California Restaurant Show.” (But their website has stayed the same, so keep that in mind.)
A colorful display of teapots at the 2022 show.
In addition to all the fabulous taste treats to be found at the Convention Center from August 25-27, there will be vendors of beverages, dishware, cutlery, to-go containers, tablecloths, equipment, (such as neon signs and pizza ovens,) and even apparel for chefs! There is sooo much more to running a restaurant than people not in the business can ever imagine! This California Restaurant Show is very eye-opening. There will actually be over two hundred exhibitors, so there’s something for every eatery in Cali!
The California Restaurant Show will also provide many culinary demonstrations featuring several top chefs, including Nina Curtis, who will showcase her plant-based cuisine; the still kind-of cute even sixteen years post his Dancing With the Stars stint, celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito; and James Beard Award Winner Stephanie Izard; along with Master Sommelier David Glancy and Author Eric Greenspan.
Some of the yummy creations on offer at the 2022 show. Photo by Karen Salkin.
For Italian eateries, (and for all the pizza lovers in attendance,) there will be a new area this year—the California Pizza Challenge, sponsored by Real California Milk, which is always one of the favorite vendors of my associates and me. Who knew there were so many varieties of cheese?! (And I love their new commercial, where everyone, including the waiter, in a restaurant starts bopping as soon as they eat a dairy product. It is adorbs, especially the toddler who goes crazy for ice cream.)
On top of all that, there are educational seminars and even competitions over the three days. (If “who can eat the most” is one of those latter ones, I just might possibly win!)
So if you’re in the restaurant or hospitality business, on any level, from new eatery to mom-and-pop cafe to chain restaurant to upscale brasserie, you need to be there; the experience is invaluable to your livelihood. [Note: I’m sorry to the rest of you, but the California Restaurant Show is not open to the public. However, do not fret—I’ll share my discoveries there as soon as I can.]
California Restaurant Show
August 25-27, 2024
L.A. Convention Center
For all the official information and to register: www.westernfoodexpo.com
