Within the Mind, Body, Performance keynote, Competitive Eater Mary Bowers applies her experience as a world renowned athlete to fuel more creativity, productivity, and wellness in the workplace and beyond. This humorous, behind the scenes look inside the world of Major League Eating is sure to feed the soul and inspire audiences to stay hungry for success.

In this session, we will get to know more about ProStart, a cornerstone program from the National Restaurant Association Education Foundation. It is a two-year, industry-backed culinary arts and restaurant management program for high school students. It annually reaches approximately 150,000 students in more than 1,900 schools in all 50 states, the territory of Guam and Department of Defense Education Activity schools in Europe and the Pacific. ProStart gives students a platform to discover new interests and talents to open doors for fulfilling careers. Join us to hear more about this incredible organization and how you can align your brand with this cause.

Join Restaurant Directions for a rare - and guaranteed memorable - appearance by David Chang, the chef and founder of Momofuku. Called one of “the most influential people of the 21st Century” by Esquire and one of Fast Company’s “10 Most Creative People in Food of the 21st century,” David has been honored by Food & Wine Magazine and Bon Appetit, named a TIME 100, one of GQ 's “Men of the Year,” and Fortune’s “40 Under 40.” He has taken home four James Beard Foundation Awards and Momofuku Ko has two Michelin stars; his cookbook, Momofuku, is a New York Times bestseller. He was the first chef to be featured on the Emmy-award winning PBS television show, “The Mind of a Chef,” and along with Academy Award Winning Director Morgan Neville, David is a creative force behind “Ugly Delicious,” an eight-part Netflix original documentary series about foods we love and the stories that shape them. Don’t miss this conversation with one of food’s most fascinating personalities!

With their front-row view of industry performance and trends, the authorities at Technomic and Restaurant Business will provide a timely and data-backed look at what is challenging operators and what strategies are used to build traffic, sales and consumer demand among top brands. Peter Romeo and Joe Pawlak will cover sales trends, consumer demands, a look at new approaches to menu and marketing, and more, in an overview tailored for restaurant growth enterprises. 

Bethenny Frankel has always been ahead of the pack in identifying and capitalizing on business opportunities, from becoming a natural foods chef to creating the low-calorie cocktail category with the launch of Skinnygirl Cocktails. In this conversation, Bethenny shares with audiences the mindset of risk, perseverance and passion necessary to be a successful business leader. Adroitly mixing anecdotes from TV and business, heavily spiced with her self-deprecating humor (one of her best-selling books: “I Suck At Relationships So You Don’t Have To”), Bethenny will explore both the business landscape—for both genders—and how to live a balanced life while achieving your dreams.

Why is an egg yolk that’s been tinted blue more likely to taste like mould? And why does ice cream taste creamier if you’re holding a soft piece of cotton? Thanks to researchers like Dr. Irwin Adam, we now know there’s much more to taste than just sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. A creative scientist and food futurist, Dr. Adam is studying and creating multi-sensorial food experiences. His overwhelmingly cool talks introduce audiences to a new way to look at food—and to a future where tasting food may look very different than what we’re used to. Audiences will take home Dr. Adam’s lessons on creativity and innovation and bring them back to the office; learning from one of our top scientists about iteration and transformation. This is innovation you can literally taste.