Sunday, May 20

Main Course, former Sen. Fred Thompson Day 2 Subhead

Sunday, May 20 — The second day of the National Restaurant Association 2007 Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show opened with a bang — a starting pistol.

More than 2,000 Show attendees, exhibitors and Chicago-area runners participated in the Main Course, a 10-kilometer run and five-kilometer fitness walk. The annual race along Chicago's scenic lakefront demonstrates the restaurant industry's commitment to healthy lifestyles.

As the race wrapped up, other attendees and exhibitors — coffee cups in hand — flocked to McCormick Place to make business connections and attend educational sessions and special industry events.

The highlights of the day featured a keynote address by Sen. Fred Thompson and a recognition ceremony for the winners of the Association's Faces of Diversity Awards. Book signings by celebrity chefs Sally James, Tom Douglas, Paul Prudhomme and Rick Tramonto and cooking demonstrations by other top chefs, as well as ice-carving and cooking competitions, attracted hundreds of spectators.

At the exhibitor booth for Joseph's Gourmet Pasta, Haverhill, Mass., Chef Rosario Del Nero serenaded a woman in the crowd as he prepared an Italian chicken dish. Switching between English and Italian, he explained the origins of the dish's name, Ucellini Scappati di Pollo, and shouted to greetings to friends in the crowd.

Throughout the eight miles of exhibit space, company representatives courted potential leads. In the lower level exhibit hall, Jordan Ackerman, a salesman for Plainview, N.Y.-based Color-A-Cookie, wooed Karen Pfanmuller into the booth. Demonstrating how children can use food-coloring markers to play tic-tac-toe and hangmen — printed on the white icing — Ackerman convinced Pfanmuller to order the cookie games for her Yachats, Ore., resort.

"We're right on the ocean, and we get a lot of kids in the summer," said Pfanmuller, who owns Adobe Resort.

Although the exhibit halls closed at 5 p.m., Show-related events continued in the evening. The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation presented $73,000 in scholarships during its 20th Annual Salute to Excellence gala at the Hilton Chicago.

"Bringing together all of these gifted and motivated students to an event such as Salute to Excellence provided us with the perfect opportunity to recognize these bright young minds and encourage them to enter our industry," said Mary M. Adolf, NRAEF president and chief operating officer. "It is essential that our industry reward students who exhibit a true passion for the restaurant and foodservice industry."

-- by Linda Busche