Sam Toia
President, Illinois Restaurant Association

The President of the Illinois Restaurant Association on Chicago restaurants. There are 16,000 restaurants in Chicago. How do these drive tourism and boost neighborhoods outside downtown?


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Lee Zaremba

Head Bartender and General Manager, Billy Sunday

Julia Momose

Head Bartender, GreenRiver

On cocktails

Paul Virant

Chef/Owner, Vie (Western Springs) and Perennial Virant

On preservation and canning

Billy Lawless

Owner, The Dawson, The Gage, and Acanto

On Irish bars and whisky

Katrina Markoff

Founder, Vosges Haut-Chocolat

On chocolate