The business of eating is big business

Last week's November Dinner Meeting of the Ocean City Hotel Motel Restaurant Association turned out to be an enjoyable who's who of our hospitality contemporaries in the southern hinterlands. The huge banquet was held at the Holiday Inn Oceanfront at 67th Street and, as such, was catered by none other than Touch of Italy.

Probably one of the most stressful endeavors in the food industry is to feed your peers. Say what you will, but I can promise you that fellow restaurateurs will smile their way through a dinner you prepare, while quietly making even the pickiest food critic look like Mary Poppins. This explains why Touch of Italy handed that dinner over to Chef Robbie Jester. I'm going to guess that if you've made it this far into my column that you probably watch Food Network. You might recognize Robbie Jester as the seasoned chef who recently distinguished himself on the show "Beat Bobby Flay" ... by actually beating Bobby Flay. 

The dinner was as close to perfect as anyone could expect when a kitchen is tasked with preparing and plating several hundred courses delivered to several hundred people by an army of servers and bussers. This was not the parchment-like roast beef or limp salad that Mel's Pretty Good Catering dished up at Aunt Murlene's wedding. Jester and his team (that included culinary students from Wor-Wic Community College in Salisbury) accepted the challenge and stepped up to the plate with a main course of spinach and fontal-stuffed chicken rollatini served over top of an impossibly moist and creamy pecorino polenta. (Fontal is a semi-firm cheese made from pasteurized cow's milk.) Nestled up to the chicken was scampi-style shrimp resting on braised greens in a Kennett mushroom pan sauce. For that, Jester and his crew received a standing ovation. (By the way, he trounced Chef Flay on TV with his scampi. So there.) 

On March 3-4, 2018, OCHMRA's annual Spring Trade Expo will bring together hospitality industry buyers and sellers from up and down the Atlantic coast. Over 5,000 attendees will peruse 406 exhibit booths overflowing with new and innovative products. Production demonstrations and training classes will bring attendees up to date on the latest trends. Ticketholders must be 21 years old, and be a buyer or a guest of a buyer. Far from just being a "Maryland" thing, many of our Cape Region food industry people make it a point to attend the event. Interested? See more at OceanCityTradeExpo.com/admission-policies-register. 

On the night after the oceanfront event (no rest for the weary), focus turned to Fish On Restaurant in the Villages of Five Points in Lewes where SoDel Concepts presented their third annual SoDel Cares Fundraiser. As the philanthropic arm of SoDel Concepts, the foundation continues the humanitarian efforts of SoDel Concepts founder Matt Haley. SoDel Cares gives money to local organizations to assist children, at-risk youth, adults and the elderly. SoDel Cares' stated mission is to contribute in a positive way to the communities that support their 10-plus restaurants. 

Wall-to-wall humanity packed the restaurant, elbowing their way through the silent auction items and waving their assigned placards in the air as Director of Operations Mike Dickinson and Delaware Coastal Realty's Richard Bryan conducted the live auction like real pros. 

One of the fun things about the fall season is that restaurants have the time and the energy to fill their booths and tables for charitable causes. It's definitely one of the values-added for our hospitality community here at the beach.