Author and TV Host Anthony Bourdain Takes Center Stage at NRA Show 2013

Bourdain to deliver featured speaker presentation, host Restaurants Rock, and judge live Star of Bar mixology competition

CHICAGO, Jan. 29, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Anthony Bourdain – best known for his Emmy Award-winning series No Reservations and new programs The Taste (ABC) and Parts Unknown (CNN) – will play a prominent role at the 2013 National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show and International Wine, Spirits & Beer Event (IWSB). He will deliver a special feature presentation, sign his latest books, and host the third annual Restaurants Rock industry celebration, the official after-party of the NRA Show and IWSB. NRA Show 2013 will be held May 18-21 at Chicago's McCormick Place.

As the celebrity host of Restaurants Rock, Bourdain will judge the action-packed IWSB Star of the Bar mixology competition finals – to be held live at the May 19 event at Chicago's The Castle.

"The NRA Show and International Wine, Spirits & Beer Event are all about celebrating our excitement and passion for food, drink and hospitality," said Jeffery W. Davis , Convention Chair for NRA Show 2013 and CEO of the United States Beef Corporation. "As the foodservice industry gathers in Chicago, we are thrilled to welcome Anthony Bourdain as the official host of Restaurants Rock and featured speaker at NRA Show 2013. So plan to attend the greatest foodservice show on the planet to experience food, connections, innovations, ideas, inspiration, opportunity and more."

Bourdain has somewhat notoriously established himself as a professional advocate, social critic, and pork enthusiast, recognized for his caustic sense of humor worldwide. The "chef-at-large" at New York's famed Brasserie Les Halles, Bourdain is the author of the bestselling Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly – as well as the bestselling graphic novel Get Jiro!, Les Halles Cookbook, and others.

Registered NRA Show and IWSB attendees may purchase Restaurants Rock tickets for $50 each through April 5, 2013. After April 5, tickets will be available for $60 to NRA Show and IWSB attendees.

Bourdain's featured speaker presentation and book signing will take place on Monday, May 20, 2013.

The annual National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show is the largest single gathering of restaurant, foodservice and lodging professionals. NRA Show 2013 will be held May 18-21 at McCormick Place in Chicago, and the 2013 International Wine, Spirits & Beer Event held in conjunction with the NRA Show will take place May 19-20. The events attract 61,000+ attendees and visitors from all 50 states and 100+ countries, and showcases the latest products, services, innovative ideas, up-to-the-minute information about trends and issues and more growth opportunities than any other industry event. For more information, visit the Show and IWSB websites at Restaurant.org/Show and WineSpiritsBeer.org, and find the NRA Show on Twitter @NRAShow,  Facebook, YouTube and its widely read blog Floored!

Founded in 1919, the National Restaurant Association is the leading business association for the restaurant industry, which comprises 980,000 restaurant and foodservice outlets and a workforce of more than 13 million employees. We represent the industry in Washington, D.C., and advocate on its behalf. We operate the industry's largest trade show (NRA Show May 18-21, 2013, in Chicago); leading food safety training and certification program (ServSafe); unique career-building high school program (the NRAEF's ProStart, including the National ProStart Invitational April 19-21, 2013, in Baltimore, Md.); as well as the Kids LiveWell program promoting healthful kids' menu options. For more information, visit www.restaurant.org and find us on Twitter @WeRRestaurants, Facebook and YouTube.

SOURCE National Restaurant Association