The team at ChefUniforms.com just completed a very successful trip to the National Restaurant Show at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL. The show was an excellent opportunity to connect with some of our existing customers. It is so nice for us to meet them face to face after spending months of only knowing them over the phone or via email. We used the time to express our sincere thanks for their business and to catch up on how they and their families are doing.
Of course, the NRA is also a great place to meet new people and learn about their unique uniform needs. We were definitely struck by how many schools were in attendance. Many of them brought dozens of students with them and it was truly exciting to meet the future Chefs of this country as they are just getting started on their careers in the Culinary Arts. We are very excited about the prospect of providing uniforms to many of these schools next year.
Besides the schools, there seemed to be a very large contingent of international buyers in attendance this year. Latin America was especially well represented and we at ChefUniforms.com were grateful to be fully bilingual. (Ok, we had two really excellent native Spanish speakers and one hopeless gringo who only pretends to understand la lenguage). We look forward to strengthening our international customer base in the coming months.
The highlight of our trip came on Sunday night when we hosted a dinner for some new friends at Gibson’s, one of Chicago’s finest steakhouses. The meal was extraordinarily good and was only overshadowed by the quality of the conversation shared at the table with our guests, James and Victor. We were truly blessed to spend the evening with them and hope to count them among our friends for years to come.
Back at our booth, we received a steady stream of visitors. Many were drawn by the free Chef Baseball Caps that we were giving away, in part because they were such a cool item to own, and in part because we were offering a free restaurant uniform makeover for one lucky winner each day. Stay tuned to this space for news on who we selected as our contest winners!
All in all, the NRA was a great experience for ChefUniforms.com. We were grateful to be there and got to enjoy some wonderful food. Now that we are back, it’s time to nurse our sore feet and hit the gym to burn off all those extra calories we took in.
~ John Janenda
Contributing Editor
Award-winning chef/restaurateur, cookbook author, and host of Mexico—One Plate at a Time on PBS. Chef Bayless will also be holding a culinary showcase on Saturday, May 16 at 12:30 p.m.
