I wasn’t disappointed, generally, from my wanderings on the show floor at the National Restaurant Association show last week. Well, maybe the cherry chili was a bit of a disappointment. (It fell in the “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should” category.) I was out looking for novelty, and that sweet/savory chili got my “nice try” award. The biggest-buzz prize goes to the mobile truck displays. I could hardly get close enough to the truck for a brochure, there were so many crazed people flocked around. I talked to an analyst with Chicago-based Mintel for his thoughts, and he said that the future of mobile trucks will be with the big chains looking to diversify. It won’t be with independents, as it is now, because of inevitable food safety, insurance, tax (general operations stuff) regulations that will push aside the independents.
The “best idea” award goes to Chipstix for its potato swirl/slicer that makes a spiral-on-a-skewer out of a fresh potato. The unbroken swirl of “chips” goes into the deep fryer and then succumbs to spices like cheese & onion, Mexican chili, BBQ and sour cream & chives. The displaying company was at the show for the first time as the North American distributor of the equipment/concept. Loved it! And I wasn’t the only one. I talked to the foodservice director for the Idaho Potato Commission about it, and he said it’s a new trend.
Most interesting workshop, as always, was Nancy Kruse’s “Menus 2010: Turn Trends into Money Makers” session. Her insights are a subject by themselves.
By the way, for anyone curious about the cherry chili, I have the recipe. J
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