We are very proud to announce the official launch of the new ICCA Website designed for easier use from your mobile phone. To celebrate the launch and our successful ICCA Summit in Nashville, and enjoy the first video from our Summit where in just minutes you will learn nine-years of experience from Nashville’s leading restaurateurs Benjamin and Max Goldberg, owners of Catbird Seat, Pinewood Social and The Paterson House to name a few of their successes. 
They shared the successes and challenges for each restaurant concept, an amazing benefit for any ICCA member. Go to the video section of the Website (https://www.iccachefs.com/videos/) where you will find many of our new videos including this Edited Version of the Goldberg Brothers Successes and Challenges plus one from our ICCA Culinary Immersion DC for a comprehensive look into Bourbon, Whiskey and Scotch from one of the largest collectors of whiskeys in the nation. Here is a link to view the entire unedited one hour session from the Goldberg brothers during the ICCA Summit, it is worth the time to learn the secrets to their success: Ben & Max Goldberg’s Strategic Hospitality Successes and Challenges Educational Session (To view the entire video please download this from the dropbox for the best quality, or as mentioned above, you can watch the edited version first on our Website.)
From the opening songwriters roundtable to Maneet Chauhan’s demo and tasting – the ICCA Summit was one of our best ever according to the members in attendance. I must admit it was an exciting one to produce. My first take-away was learning why Nashville is the creative hub for country music. It is the creative home of the nation’s best songwriters that attracted the recording artists, not the other way around. The writers on our stage to open the ICCA Summit were Kelley Lovelace who won the Best Song of the Year Award and received a Grammy Nomination for his #1 hits with Brad Paisley, Joe Nichols and Carrie Underwood. Neil Thrasher who’s awards include ASCAP Writer of the Year for his hits with Kenny Chesney, Rascal Flats, Reba McIntire and Montgomery Gentry and the third songwriter, Dave Turnbull, also produced many #1 hits for many of the artists mentioned above plus Blake Shelton, Jake Owens, Trace Atkins and Alabama. They spent an hour talking about their creative process and singing the songs that made them famous in the Nashville music scene. We have never created unedited versions of our ICCA Summit educational programs before, but I feel it is warranted due to the unique nature of this creative session and the Goldberg brothers Strategic Hospitality session. To hear their entire unedited Songwriters Roundtable show go to this link https://www.dropbox.com/s/xcbi75z4op4vs6a/ICCA_Nashville_Songwriters_Full.mp4?dl=0 and download the video – believe me you will not regret taking time to watch this.
Here is another Full-length Video on an Educational Session Featuring Transfat Solutions. In this session, Mitch Riavez, Certified Master Baker and National Accounts Manager for Stratas Foods will share results from the latest round of functionality testing of high stability oils, including high oleic soybean oil, high oleic canola oil, mid- and high oleic sunflower oil. You will also learn about processing techniques that eliminate trans-fats while retaining the structural functionality needed for applications like donut frying, baked goods, frostings and icings. Pam Smith, RD will provide insight into nutrition benefits of using high oleic oils and share case study examples that offer real life experiences of the performance of these oils. This is a great example of our educational sessions that you can share with your R & D staff.
It was tough to follow an act like this, but Jack Li took the creative process to another level and we also had trend sessions about the hottest menu movement in the USA – southern cuisine. Stay tuned for these videos and articles from the ICCA Summit in the coming weeks.