2019 National Restaurant Association Show Recap

Alto-Shaam introduced its new booth and full line of cutting-edge foodservice equipment at the 100th annual National Restaurant Association Show, held in Chicago’s McCormick Place last week. 

Famous for being the largest single gathering of restaurant and foodservice professionals, NRA has an expansive reach, with attendees visiting Chicago from all over the world.

To better engage with our customers, Alto-Shaam’s redesigned booth featured new interactive displays, in addition to three cooking demonstration stages—an elevated main demonstration stage, two side stages and touchscreen displays. 

We were excited to showcase our innovative foodservice equipment during back-to-back live cooking demonstrations running throughout the weekend. Alto-Shaam corporate executive chefs demonstrated cooking techniques in our full line of foodservice equipment, including Vector® Multi-Cook Ovens, Cook & Hold Ovens Combitherm® combi ovens and waterless hot food wells.  

Demonstrations

We were proud to host our friend Charlie the Butcher, who cooked his famous beef on weck sandwiches at the NRA Show. His delicious demos are always a hit with attendees. 

Three decades ago, Charlie befriended Alto-Shaam founder Jerry Maahs at the NRA Show, where he saw a Cook & Hold Oven demonstration for the first time. Today, Charlie the Butcher’s kitchen relies on Cook & Hold Ovens to cook its iconic roast beef overnight, until remarkably tender for service the next day.

We also hosted Chef Rosana Rivera and Chef Ricardo Castro of Xilo Street Mexican, who cooked their entire menu in the Vector Multi-Cook oven throughout the show. With a single ventless Vector H Series Multi-Cook Oven, their food stand has become the top-selling attraction in the Tampa food hall where they are located. 

Featured Products

Our corporate executive chefs also hosted a number of live demonstrations, so that attendees could see equipment in action and taste the superior results. 

During the Vector Multi-Cook Oven demonstrations, our Product Specialist Tim Murphy cooked 10 pans of food in 17 minutes—from fried eggs to pizza and fish.

Meanwhile, Chef Robert showcased our new self-cleaning rotisserie oven, which is designed to save labor and operational costs with its self-cleaning capability and automatic grease collection that activates during the cooking cycle.

Chef Nic, Chef Alejandro and Chef Gabriel shared advice on expanding menus and preparing international dishes with Cook & Hold Ovens.

Chef Kristina and Chef Brett showcased how c-stores and quick service restaurants can easily build a breakfast program with ready-made sandwiches using the Vector H Series Multi-Cook Ovens and a countertop heated shelf merchandiser. 

Chef Andrew and Chef Isaac cooked mouth-watering homemade bread and butter among other dishes that can help full service restaurants stand out from the competition. 

Chef Rocky and our partners Chef Adam Klosterman, of Apex, and Chef Chuck Asher, of Swanson-Girard, shared menu expansion tips for K12 and university foodservice programs, with techniques such as smoking with real woodchips in Cook & Hold Smoker Ovens. 

At Alto-Shaam, we offer innovative solutions for today’s foodservice industry—no matter what segment you serve.

To see our system solutions in action, sign up for A Taste of Alto-Shaam demo in your area.