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News ..............................................3 Ad Index .......................................22 www.kitchenwarenews.com BY LORRIE BAUMANN Ariston Specialties used this year's Summer Fancy Food Show as an opportunity to debut its My Dressing Center to the industry. My Dressing Center, shown in prototype and expected to be available to the market in the coming months, is an automatic dispensing station that allows users to customize their own blends of salad dressings and marinades to suit their own tastes. The machine stocks 18 products, including any of the Ariston Specialties olive oils Ariston Specialties Debuts My Dressing Center Continued on PAGE 16 Continued on PAGE 8 Continued on PAGE 9 Continued on PAGE 10 and balsamic vinegars. Consumers choose a bottle size – either 8.5 ounces or 17 ounces – and use a touch screen to custom-blend their mixtures, which can include four to six items in a blend that's selected by adjusting sliders on the screen. "You can do your own. You can say, 'No, I feel creative today. I want to do my own,'" said Tom Doukas, Ariston Specialties' Founder. The dispenser provides entertainment and engagement value for consumers together with a gourmet experience. "It is not a BY MICAH CHEEK If you're taking home a wedge of delicately aged raw milk blue cheese, you want a way to serve it that is as refined as the cheese you chose. Americans are excited about artisan cheeses, and this interest creates an opportunity to help customers set the table for their next cheese party. Design styles aimed towards more natural and organic looks are popular in cheese and serving boards, says Jon Blatchford, President of JK Adams. " The grey tone of our Driftwood and Ash ser ving boards have been very popular; it's that natural and Las Vegas Market Registers Gains organic look that lends itself to artisan cheeses. It really makes the food pop, we develop the backdrops to good ser ving. " Boards in these materials, as well as rough-hewn slate boards, are enjoyed for the sense of craftsmanship they evoke. "Artisanal products in general are extremely popular. In wood products there's an interest in locally produced things." As a general trend, Blatchford sees consumers looking for cheese boards in smaller sizes. " W hen we brought our 1761 collection out, we produced only larger sizes and they were very popular. However we've had people asking for smaller sizes. Most of our releases over the last year have been smaller in size," he said. "When you think about serving more expensive cheeses, BY MICAH CHEEK Cooking classes are no longer an adults-only attraction. For a child's birthday or other event, parents increasingly have the option of skipping the usual arcade and pizza venue for kid-sized kitchens that educate as they entertain. While taking children to classes might not seem intuitive for entertainment, cooking classes let kids play with their hands, socialize, use ingredients with bright colors and put whatever they want into their mouths, all hallmarks of a fun time. As they do so, they learn by playing with their food. "We're teaching more than just cooking, we're teaching math, science, counting, color, social skills, music, art nutrition, I could go on and on," says Cricket Azima, Founder and Big Cheese of The Creative Kitchen in New York City, New York. Azima, a professionally trained chef with 17 years of experience teaching cooking classes, finds that children have a great time cooking, and often want to cook more after classes. "We are educating kids through and about food inn hands- on and engaging ways," says Azima. "We have some families, they're on sibling number three [attending The Creative Kitchen], and our recipes are part of their dinner repertoire." For any cooking class, judging the audience correctly is key. But bored kids could start throwing pizza dough or simply wander away. "That's why we keep everything so fast paced. Generally in the older ages, we'll have them read the recipe cards, but for the younger kids we just move as fast as we can to keep them interested," says Anastasia LaBorde, Co- Owner of The Kid's Table in GENERAL NEWS n Jessie Steele 8 SMALL ELECTRICS n Coffee Makers 14 THE PANTRY n Jams 18 OVEN TO TABLE COOKWARE n World Kitchen 11 THE KNIFE RACK n Messermeister 16 BUYER'S GUIDE n "Art of the Pie" 20 TRADESHOW CALENDAR n Upcoming Shows 22 THE PANTRY: SNACKS SEE PAGE 19 GADGET OF THE MONTH: PRODIGIO SEE PAGE 21 SMALL ELECTRONICS: SAVOY COLLECTION SEE PAGE 14 H o u s e w a r e s R e v i e w KITCHENWARE NEWS Retailers Discuss: Bringing Kids Into the Kitchen Tools for Entertaining with Cheese Las Vegas Market announced today that the just-concluded Summer Market registered exponential attendance gains, with overall attendance up 8 percent over last year's Summer Market, and gift buyer attendance up 28 percent specifically. The Summer 2016 edition also showcased the largest-ever number of resources in the Market 's 10-year history, with exhibitor participation topping 3,100 for the first time, including a record 500 temporary exhibits. The Summer Las Vegas Market ran f rom July 31-August 4, 2016. "Summer Las Vegas Market was epic," said Bob Maricich, CEO of International Market Centers, "Punctuated by unprecedented attendance, order- writing and new resources, we are continuing to deliver on our promise to create the leading furniture, home décor and gift destination in the western United States." While there were year-over- year gains in the market 's three product categories (furniture, home décor and gift), attendance growth was particularly robust in the rapidly-escalating gift segment, with increases of 28 percent over last year's Summer Market bringing parity for the first time to the total number of gift buyers attending both Summer and W inter Markets. The increasing home décor VOLUME 22, NUMBER 9 SEPTEMBER 2016 n $7.00

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