Themed pavilions will abound at the Restaurants Canada show. Answering the call for authentic pizzas made-from-scratch, Italian pizza master Cristian Zaghini and Morena Baleani of Moretti Forni will be on hand inside the Pizza Pavilion, demonstrating how to create Italian-inspired pizza and sharing the latest foodservice trends in Italy.
In the Design Pavilion, Jeremy Charles, executive chef of Raymonds restaurant in St. John’s, will be chatting with Nelda Rodgers, editor of Azure Magazine and interior designer, Sarah Parker Charles of Carvel & Helm Interior Design in St. John’s to discuss how Raymonds achieved award-winning results. Meanwhile, the team at Toronto-based Mackay Wong will chatt show attendees how to invest in design and choose the right interior designer.
Local purveyors are returning to the Ontario Pavilion, which is returning this year with a schedule of cooking demos, wine-and-beer pairings and serving snacks from the Humber College Food Truck.
Complementing the nearly 100 exhibitors setting up shop inside the Shake & Sling Pavilion, mixologists and educators will inform the crowds about the latest beer, wine and cocktail trends. Matt Rolfe, CEO, Barmetrix Toronto will be leading ticketed Barmetrix education sessions including Today’s Competitive Advantage – Hiring and Keeping “A” Players and Average Customer Service Sucks – Learn How To Create a Remarkable Guest Experience by Design.”
The Top Shelf Bartender of the Year competition, Hosted by Dale DeGroff, master mixologist, Matt Jones, whisky ambassador from Beam Suntory and Tom Dyer, co-founder of the World Flair Association, will see mixologists competing for a $25,000 prize. It will host four contests to measure their skill level in competitions such as free pour; a stopwatch cocktail challenge, a mystery box challenge; and a style and flair competition.
