In late August, nearly 5,000 restaurant, pizza and foodservice industry professionals, representing a 51% increase in buyers, were at the Los Angeles Convention Center for the California Restaurant Show, which for the first time included the Pizza Tomorrow Summit Pavilion. The sold-out trade show floor featured 220-plus exhibiting companies, with 50% of them new to the show, offering new food, drinks, technology, equipment, tableware and much more. The education program, developed in partnership with the California Restaurant Association and a brand-new Conference Advisory Board, featured 60-plus speakers, dozens of culinary competitions, demonstrations, and a sold-out Food and Wine pairing. The tradeshow and conference was co-located with the Coffee Fest Los Angeles, which attracted thousands of additional coffee shop owners and industry professionals.
“We renamed the event to the California Restaurant Show earlier this year and are thrilled with the industry response. We saw a 51% growth in attendees, 55% new to the event, and had 100 new exhibitors. All in all, a very successful event,” said Glenn Celentano, partner and CEO of Restaurant Events LLC, producers of the event. “We thank all our exhibitors, especially our lead sponsor Sysco Los Angeles, and our long-standing partner, the California Restaurant Association. We were also thrilled to welcome the Pizza Tomorrow Summit exhibitors to a new Pavilion and the US Pizza Team, who held three days of exciting competitions.”
The education program featured 40-plus education sessions with new content and new culinary demonstrations, and attracted standing-room-only crowds to all the sessions. There were many new sessions, including a sold-out Food and Wine pairing event, featuring Master Sommelier David Glancy of the San Francisco Wine School. Other sessions focused on Hottest Trends in Food and Beverage, Increasing Food-Friendly Financials, Steps to Great Service, Digital Hospitality, Effective Leadership, Team Building, Legal Advice, Workplace Violence, FDA’s Traceability Rule, Reducing Food Loss and Waste, AI’s Impact on Foodservice, Direct Mail, Negotiating Leases and much more. As part of the education program, the California Restaurant Association hosted two sessions—Legal Center Live Session and Learn Practical Solutions to the “New” PAGA Environment featuring dynamic speakers.
Dozens of restaurant owners and their staff took advantage of the Restaurant Management 201 Workshop led by Darren Dennington and Alison Anne, who guided management teams through the process of becoming a cohesive team with strong leadership.
The newly branded Culinary Innovation Theater featured Distinguished American Chef Rocco DiSpirito; James Beard Award-winning Chef Stephanie Izard, owner of Girl and the Goat, and Cabra; plant-based Chef Nina Curtis; the founder of Chefs Feeding Kids, Glenn Cybulski; chef and author Eric Greenspan; as well as two culinary demonstrations from Sysco Foods, sponsors of the theater. All the chefs showcased their skills and shared their culinary secrets, and engaged in conversation with the theater’s emcee, Deanna “Bomb Chica” Colón, chef and food personality. The Culinary Innovation Theater also featured the Rapid-Fire Sizzling Skirt Steak Competition sponsored by Sysco. Judges Deanna Colón; Michael Horn, host of What’s Cooking Today on CRN; and Sysco Chef Steven Mary presented the winning trophy and $1,000 to Melissa “Chef Mel” Cottingham, private chef/owner, Melnificent, for her Skirt Steak Wrapped in Prosciutto.
Pizza Tomorrow Summit Pavilion was a new feature area on the show floor featuring the California Pizza Challenge (CPC) sponsored by REAL California Milk, celebrating California’s long history of producing some of the country’s finest cheese. The CPC, hosted by the US Pizza Team, featured four culinary events to showcase California cheese, as well as four Pizza Athletic categories.
Congratulations to all the competitors of the California Pizza Challenge sponsored by REAL CALIFORNIA MILK. Giovanni Labbate of Tievoli Pizza Truck in Palatine, Illinois, took home top honors in Non-Traditional, the main culinary event of the day. Second place was awarded to local legend and US Pizza Team member Alex Koons of Hot Tongue in L.A. Third place was USPT member Jamie Culliton of The NONA slice house in Safety Harbor, Florida.
The largest dough stretch and the fastest pie maker events also took place. Taking first place in the largest dough stretch was USPT member McKenna Carney of The Nona Slice House. Second place was awarded to Wilhelm Rodriguez of Papa’s Pizza in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. Jamie Culliton of The NONA slice house in Safety Harbor placed third. David Whisker of B.C. Pizza in Boyne City, Michigan, won 1st place in the Fastest Pie Maker division. Grabbing 2nd and 3rd respectively were McKenna Carney and Jamie Culliton.
The 2025 California Restaurant Show and Pizza Tomorrow Summit Pavilion will take place August 5-7 at the Anaheim Convention Center. The shows are owned by Restaurant Events, LLC, which also produces the Florida Restaurant Show and Pizza Tomorrow Summit, to be held November 6-7, 2024, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, and the New York Restaurant Show, taking place March 23-25, 2025, at the Javits Center in New York City.
