Extra Innings
Nominations for this year's RISE Awards officially closed last week. For Hospitality Headline readers, they just reopened.
Here's the deal, and it's a good one. New York State Restaurant Association (NYSRA) is hosting the Fifth Annual RISE Awards (RISE is short for Restaurant Industry Spotlight on Excellence) and the nomination window closed on October 23. NYSRA is reopening and extending it, specifically for H^2 subscribers.
So if you blinked and missed the nomination window, consider this your extra innings. The nomination link is right here: RISE Awards Nomination Form.
Full disclosure, and a proud one: NYSRA is a friend and partner of Branded, we offered to run this Shoutout, and as a native New Yorker running a firm headquartered in this state, I'm glad to put our shoulder behind it.
So what are we talking about. The RISE Awards are New York's premier state-level recognition of hospitality excellence, and they close with a live gala on Tuesday, January 19, 2027, at the Albany Capital Center. In one of the most competitive restaurant markets on the planet, this is the benchmark for the whole industry: operational excellence, the people who deliver it night after night, and the technology pushing the business forward.
And here's the part I love, b/c it connects straight to this morning's Top of the Fold. Eleven categories, and almost every one of them is about people, not P&Ls: Favorite Restaurant, Front of House Team, Back of House Team, Favorite Mixologist, MVP, Rising Star, Caterer of the Year, Favorite Social Media, Community Impact, the Innovation Award (presented by Rational), and the Women in Hospitality Award (presented by Google). That's a roster. That's the talent engine the lead was all about today, the one that wins championships on a small-market budget.
Which is exactly why you should do this. Recognition is the cheapest, highest-return thing a leader ever gives. It costs you a few minutes and a nomination form, and it can make a line cook's or a bartender's or a GM's entire year. Think about the person who makes your place actually run, the one whose name never shows up on the P&L but without whom the whole thing falls apart. Put them up for the recognition.
The reopened window will not stay open long, so please don't let this one sit in your inbox. Nominate someone today at the link above, then go see the full slate at The Fifth Annual RISE Awards.
Go make somebody's January.
