Hello, Utility
Hello, Utility
A different kind of restaurant industry tradeshow debuts in Chicago this weekend.
A new tradeshow is coming to Chicago this weekend. Utility, a show for the hospitality industry, takes place on Sunday and Monday, May 19-20. It’s from the team behind Tilit, a New York-based apparel company specializing in clothes and accessories for chefs — home and pro alike. Utility takes some inspiration from the industry’s more… traditional events, but targets small and independent businesses with a curated roster of exhibitors and talent.
Its timing is intentional. The National Restaurant Association Show, the industry’s largest tradeshow, opens in Chicago on Saturday, May 18, taking over more than 500,000 square feet of Chicago’s convention center. It’s so big that when organizers confirmed they’d add more benches for people tired of walking around, it became actual news.
Utility, Tilit co-founder and CEO Jenny Goodman told me, is absolutely not that, for good reason. “What the huge chain world needs and what the mid-size to smaller, independent restaurants of the world need are very, very different,” she says. “It’s hard to be everything to everybody.”
Goodman speaks from experience. Tilit participated in a handful of NRA shows. “We always met a lot of people, but the ROI was never there,” she says. The investment is hefty — easily reaching six figures — and Goodman describes finding the right customer “like a needle in a haystack.”
Utility, which Eater Chicago correctly labels “independent-minded,” includes a restaurant pitch competition with a $20,000 prize, a sweet full-circle moment for Goodman. That’s because Tilit was once the recipient of a small business grant from Chase, now one of Utility’s presenting sponsors. (Chase reps will be on hand to talk through other attendees’ business plans, even if they’re not part of the official competition.) It’ll have panels programmed by the southern Smoke Foundation and Independent Restaurant Coalition, a traditional show floor (exhibitors pay a fraction of the price they’d shell out to set up down the road), flash tattoos (presented by OpenTable), and location-appropriate Chicago dog and classic tavern slice cook-offs with plenty of notable chefs and restaurateurs in attendance.
It’s easy, if clichéd, to pit an upstart event against a legacy show that draws tens of thousands of attendees each year. But I don’t think Utility is going for a David v. Goliath arc here; it’s more like an opportunity to arm the rebels. (We love to see it.)
“It’s an event, a celebration, more than this sort of mandatory shopping experience for new restaurant owners,” Tilit co-founder and chief creative officer Alex McCreary explains.
It’s also on brand. Tilit is a recognizable brand in certain restaurant-adjacent circles; it’s known for timely collabs with brands like S. Pellegrino and talented, pop-culture food personalities like Sohla El-Waylly. Chefs (and actors playing chefs) don the wares in kitchens both famous (Bravo’s Top Chef) and fictional (The Bear).
“At the core, our event will be fun,” McCreary says.
And at this tradeshow, fun is a flex.
Utility runs Sunday-Monday May 19-20 at Fairlie in Chicago. One-day tickets are $30, but industry workers can register on the Utility website (use code “Industry” at checkout) for free access.
This week on The Simmer: Will Guidara
Restaurateur and author Will Guidara has one of the most famous resumes in hospitality, once leading New York’s Eleven Madison Park to the top of the world’s best restaurants list before selling his stake in the business. Guidara’s recent book, Unreasonable Hospitality, became a fast industry favorite.
In this “season,” as Guidara describes it, he’s focused on creativity and new ideas — though he does say he’ll almost certainly open another restaurant someday. This might be our best podcast episode yet.
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