It's just pickled vegetables

“I don’t want any dog in mine,” said a visitor to the kimchi stand at the NRA show’s Korea pavilion, and he laughed and laughed. Get it? Because Koreans eat dog. Ha ha ha.

I wanted to tell him that dog is a delicacy in Korea and they wouldn’t try to just sneak it into your food, but I’d just have been reinforcing a stereotype. Besides, David Lee and Jennifer Chon of BCD Food Incorporated didn’t seem to care. They were too busy overseeing the fried rice balls and savory Korean pancakes they were making to go with their cabbage and daikon kimchi.

“No cat today?” the same unfunny guy asked.

“No, try the Chinese pavilion,” David said.

Good one.

-- Bret Thorn at bthorn@nrn.com.

New McCormick work rules expected

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, left, was expected to sign legislation Monday that would overhaul McCormick Place work rules and give Chicago convention center exhibitors more rights in setting up their displays, media outlets were reporting Sunday. A spokeswoman for the National Restaurant Association, which is only committed to Chicago for the NRA Restaurant, Hotel & Motel Show through 2011, said Sunday afternoon that the group had not confirmed Quinn would be signing the law on Monday during the show at McCormick Place.

UPDATE: Gov. Quinn did not sign the overhaul legislation Monday, saying he was still looking into the bill.
- Ron Ruggless, RRuggles@nrn.com

Cathy in full command

S. Truett Cathy was on fire last night at the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation's annual Salute to Excellence. His acceptance speech for the 2010 Thad and Alice Eure Ambassador of Hospitality distinction was at turns heartfelt and sincere, insightful and informative.

But I had no idea how funny the man is. He had two pretty good jokes in his remarks, the first of which dealt with Chick-fil-A's well-known decision to close all its restaurants on Sundays. Sure, it helps the chain not only to further its mission to glorify God and helps crew members achieve a healthy work-life balance, Cathy said, but also "when you work 24 hours a day for six days a week, you could really use a break."

And when Cathy recounted growing up in the depths of the Great Depression, his comic timing had more than a few foodservice executives guffawing and slapping their tables. "I don't remember having anything to play with except a loose tooth," Cathy said, "and it wasn't even mine — it was my brother's."

NRN@NRA Chat - Audio

Geoff Alexander,  of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises' Wow Bao division, was a double dipper Saturday, as he was part of two NRA Show educational sessions dealing with technology. That's Geoff, at left, checking out, what he said was one of several iPad, iPod and iPhone plays for foodservice POS. (Photo by Irene Kijak Photography)

Listen to what he had to say about his sessions.

PLAY NRN@NRA Chat

 -- Alan Liddle

Food Truck Spot

I promised a peek at the new Food Truck Spot on the NRA Show floor:





The Ludo Fried Chicken truck, on the top, is one of the first from new firm Mobi Munch (learn about the industry players behind that venture here), and climbing in was my first behind-the-scenes look at how mobile cuisine can work.

With standard kitchen managment technology, POS systems, and room to spare for at least four people, a food truck seems like a decent investment these days considering the consumer buzz and low cost of entry.


-- Sarah Lockyer at slockyer@nrn.com.

Which ’Wich to open R&D Center

Jeff Sinelli, founder and boss at Dallas-based sandwich chain Which Wich, stopped by the NRN booth and, when I asked to take his picture, he immediately walked over to the promotional poster for this year’s MUFSO conference and posed in front of it.

Yes, Jeff knows how to show gratitude. He’s the only restaurateur to have won two Hot Concepts awards from us, one for his Genghis Grill and the other for Which Wich. And Jeff’s all about leveraging relationships — with vendors, with customers and, yes, with the press.

So he gave us the scoop on the 1,500-square-foot test kitchen, or “R&D Center,” that he’s building in Dallas, and for which he’s shopping for equipment here at the show.

There’s no corporate chef at Which Wich. Jeff does all the product development himself with the help of his vendor partners — leveraging that relationship.

The facility, which he hopes to launch mid-Summer, will be open to the public and will feature different test items every week — maybe items using peppadews one week, naan bread the next — all available for customers at a discount. In return, he’ll ask for their feedback, leveraging his relationship with them to use them as focus groups.

I asked Jeff if he’d be at our MenuMasters party this evening, and he said, “Some things you don’t miss. You don’t miss your daughter’s wedding and you don’t miss a party by NRN.”

-- Bret Thorn at bthorn@nrn.com.

Steve Carley stops by the booth

I had a good chat with El Pollo Loco chief executive Steve Carley when he stopped by NRN’s booth this morning. He’s psyched about the chain’s steak offerings that were launched at the beginning of the year and that now account for 25 percent of the Fresh Mex section of the chain’s menu.

Earlier this month the company launched the first sandwiches that they put on their permanent menu (they’ve done LTOs in the past). They’re based on Mexican-style tortas, with thick, soft rolls, available with guacamole or jalapeños and Pepper Jack cheese.

Carley said the guac sandwich is selling better, accounting for about 60 percent of sandwich sales, compared to the spicy sandwich’s 40 percent.

Both the sandwiches and the steak cost more than your average Pollo Loco item, and that’s the chain’s focus now, Carley said. Traffic’s down and is going to stay down until people start getting jobs again — although at least traffic has stabilized. And check averages are actually up thanks to the new menu items.

-- Bret Thorn at bthorn@nrn.com.