The Californian Restaurant Show opened today at the Los Angeles Convention Center and runs through Tuesday, August 27. The trade show and conference showcases menu trends, cutting-edge design and decor, cooking demonstrations, competitions and hundreds of exhibitors offering the latest food products, technology and equipment. It is also the new home of the California Pizza Challenge (CPC), sponsored by REAL California Milk and hosted by PMQs. US Pizza Team.
The event takes place simultaneously with the Pizza Tomorrow Summit Pavilion and Coffee Fest Los Angeles. On the spacious exhibition floor, 220 exhibitors present new products, services and technologies from leading suppliers and innovators in the industry.
Training sessions will focus on topics such as the hottest trends in food and beverage, increasing food-friendly finance, steps to service excellence, digital hospitality, effective leadership, team building, legal advice, dealing with workplace violence, the FDA’s traceability rule, reducing food loss and waste, the impact of artificial intelligence on the food service industry, direct mail, negotiating leases, and others.
The Culinary Innovation Theatre Featuring renowned American chef Rocco DiSpirito, James Beard Award-winning chef Stephanie Izard, plant-based chef Nina Curtis, master sommelier David Glancy, Glenn Cybulski, founder of Chefs Feeding Kids, and chef/author Eric Greenspan. Culinary Innovation Theater sponsor Sysco Foods will also host two cooking demonstrations. The stage will be hosted by chef and food personality Deanna “Bomb Chica” Colón.
Additionally, the Culinary Innovation Theater will host the Rapid Fire Challenge Sizzling Skirt Steak Competition, sponsored by Sysco. Eight participating chefs will compete for a chance to win $1,000 and recognition. The competition will take place on Tuesday, August 27 at 12:30 p.m.
All participants are invited to register for the Restaurant Management 201 workshop led by Darren Denington and Alison Anne, who will guide the entire management team through the process of becoming a cohesive team with strong leadership.
For pizzeria owners or those who want to add pizza to their menu, Pizza Tomorrow Summit Pavilion offers new sourcing opportunities as well as several educational opportunities, including a cooking demonstration by Cybulski, a certified Italian pizzaiolo, and Kira and Mark Zabrowski, owners of Much Ado About Pizza, and the California Pizza Challenge.
The latter honors California’s long tradition of producing some of the country’s finest cheeses. Hosted by the US Pizza Team, the CPC features four culinary events and four sporting categories. Culinary competitions include: Unconventional; Pan-Fried Pizza; Best Traditional Sauce; and the REAL California Milk 3-Cheese Championship. Sporting competitions include Individual Freestyle Acrobatics; Team Freestyle Acrobatics Challenge; Biggest Dough Stretcher; Fastest Pie Baker; and Fastest Box Folder.
The Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo is sponsored by the California Restaurant AssociationThe CRA is hosting a Legal Center Live session and a session entitled “PAGA has been reformed: what now? Learn practical solutions for the new PAGA environment.”
The California Restaurant Show is owned by Restaurant Events, LLC, which also organizes the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Show And Pizza Tomorrow Summitwhich will take place on November 6 and 7 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, as well as the New York Restaurant Show will take place from March 23 to 35, 2025 at the Javits Center in New York City.
