Gold standard on display

On Monday evening of the National Restaurant Show, I had the pleasure of attending the Gold and Silver Plate banquet in the Grand Ballroom of the Navy Pier. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening, capped off by witnessing another non-commercial foodservice operator—this time, George Miller of the U.S. Air Force—win the coveted Gold Plate.

You couldn’t have scripted a better ending for an emotional evening, which included IFMA saluting U.S. military personnel and donating $10,000 to the Wounded Warriors campaign. Master of Ceremonies Robert Irvine, the chef and one-time host of “Dinner: Impossible” who got his start in foodservice in the British Navy, even ad-libbed his own salute to Miller after the 47-year veteran of military foodservice had received his award.

The venue, a curved room with a wall of windows looking out onto Lake Michigan, was a refreshing break from hotel ballrooms of banquets past, and the dinner moved at a fast clip—90 minutes from entrance to Gold Plate announcement.

One might argue that the choice of George Miller was a sentimental one, a tribute to our fighting men and women, but the truth is that none of the 2011 Silver Plate winners oversees a more complex operation than Miller does.

It was refreshing, too, to see a non-commercial foodservice operator hoist the Gold Plate for the second year in a row. I believe it shows the respect that operators in those “non-restaurant” segments are receiving from their peers and the media. The gold standard is something that operators in all segments of the foodservice industry strive for, and in terms of quality, best practices and innovation non-commercial foodservice more than holds its own up against the restaurant world. I can’t wait to see what the Class of 2012 looks like.