Horeca 2014: The best of Lebanese hospitality

The halls and parking lots of Beirut’s BIEL exhibition center were buzzing with activity from April 1-4 as professionals in the hospitality and food and beverage sectors networked with the latest and greatest in their field.

Horeca 2014, Lebanon's largest food and beverage conference, took place last week in Beirut

Among the attendees were Tourism Minister Michel Pharaon (second from left)

One of the participants in a cooking competition

Artistic presentation can be as important as taste

Small details make for an appealing visual display

A proud chef displays his skills as a mini-sandwich artist

Alcohol companies were also in attendance, displaying their goods

There was even live pottery making

The best chefs were awarded prizes

The 21^st edition of Horeca, the annual hospitality and food and beverage services trade show organized by Hospitality Services, received around 12,000 trade visitors from hospitality industries including, hotels, restaurants, supermarket and retail chains.

The 300 exhibitors – categorized into either food, beverages or services, and suppliers industries – were mainly from Lebanon but included some from Europe (Italy, France, Spain), the Middle East (Oman, Jordan, UAE) and beyond (Thailand, USA).

Aside from the networking opportunities, the four-day event featured competitions for both professional experts and students. The most popular competition was the Live Cooking Competition, in which more than 30 chefs and junior chefs participated.

Other competitions included the Art of Service Competition which judged table setting, decoration and presentation abilities, the Bartender’s Competition for the best cocktail and for the first time the Barista Competition for the best coffee.