Peter Romeo

In a matter of months, restaurateurs will need to notify employees of their new health insurance options under the Affordable Health Care act, officers of the National Restaurant Association alerted attendees at the Restaurant Leadership Conference. In a short, focused presentation, CEO Dawn Sweeney and chairman Phil Hickey stressed that operators need to learn their obligations and options now to contend with one of the greatest challenges ever faced by the industry.

Mike Roberts’ is doing what he’s always done: following the customer. It’s tempting to see Guest Editor Mike Roberts’ new LYFE Kitchen and its array of socially responsible attributes as a departure from his old job as Global President and COO of McDonald’s.

Zipping around the industry’s annual Woodstock, you may have missed a few developments that added color to this year’s gathering. While feeling is returning to your feet, here’s your chance to catch some of the unsung moments from the National Restaurant Association’s annual convention.

Regular attendees of the National Restaurant Association’s annual convention could be forgiven for wondering if they’d descended on Chicago’s McCormick Place during the wrong week this year. How else to explain all the talk about products and management strategies that would’ve been dismissed a year or two ago as decidedly on the fringe?

Fazoli’s is stratifying the Italian fast-casual market with the spin-off of a new concept positioned upmarket from its sister.

Let us share the experiences of accommodating what were once health extremists, because my world is fast becoming yours.