The expression “the show must go on” applies to the restaurant business in more ways than one.
Everyone in the industry comes to the realization that the dining experience is about entertainment perhaps more so than about nutrition. The cast includes servers, hosts and bartenders. The “show” goes beyond the dining experience, too. Supplies, equipment and services are evaluated and investments are made based on face-to-face experience.
That said, during the past two years, many advances have been made in online presentations of big-ticket items, which led to something known as “showrooming.” Would-be buyers would visit brick-and-mortar merchants to look over goods with the actual intent of buying from an online seller. But the unspoken mindset that has prevailed was that it was just a temporary measure until the real “show” returned.
This spring, finally, it has.
On April 8, the Specialty Coffee Expo, North America’s largest gathering of specialty coffee professionals, will open in Boston. Specialty Coffee Expo 2022 will feature more than 400 exhibiting companies, bringing with them what are considered by the industry to be cutting-edge products and showcasing leading innovation in specialty coffee. Local coffee purveyors such as Springline Coffee LLC, a Newport startup, have said they are planning to attend. This year’s event also features a sold-out “roaster village,” learning opportunities such as workshops and lectures, the brand-new green coffee buyers and sellers program, coffee design awards and best-new-production competition and display, and the highly anticipated 2022 U.S. Coffee Championships.
The weekend prior to that, the New England Food Show returns to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center run by the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau and its president, Martha Sheridan, who for many years led Providence’s bureau.
The event brings together both the food service and retail sectors. The latest products, services and technologies will be showcased. Chef demonstrations will be presented by celebrity chefs, including Lydia Shire and Andy Husbands. The keynote address will be delivered by former Red Sox star Kevin Youkilis, who is now in the craft brewing business of both coffee and beer. Craft beer was a major draw of this show in the days before COVID-19, and it appears to be picking up where it left off.
[caption id="attachment_401717" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]
GALLEY MAVEN: Chef Jenny Baxter prepares a dish as part of the yacht chef competition at a previous Newport Charter Yacht Show. / COURTESY NEWPORT CHARTER YACHT SHOW/BILLY BLACK[/caption]
In June, the Newport Charter Yacht Show returns to the Newport Shipyard LLC, which was acquired during the pandemic by national management company Safe Harbor Marinas LLC. While this is not strictly a food service trade show, there is a culinary connection. This is an exhibition of mega yachts that are available for charter, and the amenities are endless. Some yachts have multiple dining areas for hosting parties and just about all of them come with a full culinary crew, including a chef. It was not uncommon before COVID-19 to observe food delivery trucks pulling up to Long Wharf in Newport. Crews would load a dinghy to be run out to a yacht to restock the galley.
Another local coffee merchant, Custom House Coffee of Middletown, has its locally roasted coffee on board several of these mega yachts.
The Newport Charter Yacht Show will be held June 20-23. The four-day showcase of luxury charter yachts includes a chef competition alongside its display of ancillary goods and services for the charter industry. The event is exclusive to yacht charter professionals: agents, owners, brokers and captains. The Newport Charter Yacht Show is produced by Safe Harbor Newport Shipyard, also the host to the Newport Brokerage Boat Show in September. It, like many returning events this spring, anticipates sellout crowds from pent-up demand and the fact that indeed the show must go on.
Bruce Newbury’s radio show and podcast, “Dining Out with Bruce Newbury,” is broadcast on WADK 1540 AM and several radio stations throughout New England. Email him at Bruce@BruceNewbury.com.
