Las Vegas — The Bar and Restaurant Expo returned to Las Vegas just about six months from the 2021 event which was delayed due to Covid-19 concerns. It featured hundreds of new products, tasting opportunities and a fine list of keynote speakers.
All of the fun and excitement began with a celebrity red carpet. It featured various local celebrities, chefs, restaurant owners and executives from Questex, which produces the annual expo.
Former NASCAR driver and Las Vegas native Brendan Gaughan cut the ribbon to kick off the event. He currently operates a distillery which produces the City Lights Shine moonshine. CLS also had a booth inside the expo so attendees could sample it.
“I don’t know how we got here honestly some days,” Gaughan said in an exclusive interview. “We’ve weathered the storms, everyone in the bar and restaurant business. Look, the last two years has been trying. If you’re still in it, you’ve worked your butt off. Any one of those companies here, we’re proud to say we’re one of them, we survived it, we’ve came out the other side. We’re strong and being here for us is huge.”
How does it feel to be the grand marshal this year?
Gaughan replied: “I’m born and raised here. The Nightclub and Bar Show was always a big deal. When they rebranded as Bar & Restaurant and made it as big as it is, it was an honor honestly. Look at the greats that have done this before me…Taffer’s done it, Jenny McCarthy’s done it. These are big names to follow. For them to ask me to do it was a great honor. Especially for my little bitty company. We’re just a local distillery here in Las Vegas and we happen to make a Moonshine. It’s like, you want us here? For us, it was awesome. Look at all of these people. If 5 percent of people like our stuff and go buy it, this is successful for me. I love being here.”
More than 400 suppliers showed off their new products and technologies during the B&R expo. Thousands of people—mainly bar and restaurant workers—were in attendance for the three-day show.
Stundenglass showed off their new gravity infusers for both cocktails and food. It is a rotating glass infuser that can be used to smoke a beverage or a snack. Stundenglass seems like a great addition to any bar or restaurant looking to increase their business.
“This bad boy works with food and beverages to smoke them with different types of wood chips,“ said Marni Unger from Stundenglass. “You put wood chips in on one side and then using gravity and water displacement when you flip it, it’s going to push the smoke out. It will smoke a really nice cocktail for you. It’s very versatile. My personal favorite is a really nice cheese. Raw vegetables, breads and cold cuts pick up the smoke really nicely. My personal favorite drink to smoke out of it is a jalapeño Margarita. It gives a really nice smoke on top of that spice. But it works great with whiskeys, tequilas, anything that you can add that smoky flavor to.”
Savi Controls and LG introduced me to their new technology with makes it easier to manage sports viewing on TVs and large screens. It features custom layouts for each bar or restaurant and requires virtually no training.
“We want to make people’s lives easier to control all of their technology in their bar…Displays, audio zones, digital signage, all of that,“ said Derek Wilson, CTO at Savi Controls. “We actually partnered with LG. We have a combination. Their software relies on commercial displays. We have a whole map layout for everything in their bar and we can give them metadata too. We can switch out different layouts. We also do health and statistics on all of our gear. A lot of times these displays are on 24 hours, sometimes 18 hours. You can make sure that gear is well taken care of.”
Attendees were able to free samples of new beers, wines, spirits, frozen drinks and energy drinks too. There were also free snacks such as tater tots, chips and salsas, french fries and garnishes like cherries.
Traditional companies like Heineken beer, White Claw Hard Seltzer and Sunkist also had booths at the BRE.
For more info about the Bar & Restaurant Expo, visit https://www.barandrestaurantexpo.com/
Former NASCAR Driver and Las Vegas native Brendan Gaughan gets ready to cut the ribbon 
He founded City Lights Shine, a Las Vegas moonshine distillery 
Savi Controls and LG introduced me to their new technology with makes it easier to manage sports viewing on TVs and large screens. 
White Claw Hard Seltzer passed out free samples and swag 
Free samples of cherries 
Light up signs for a bar or restaurant 