Industry News for February 8, 2025Industry News for February 8, 2025

Hilton West Palm Beach has announced two new additions to its food and beverage program as it seeks to elevate and expand on its offerings in booming, downtown West Palm Beach. 

Timothy Ahrens has been named director of food & beverage at the 4-star hotel, bringing two decades of industry experience to a growing department. Ahrens most recently was assistant director of food and beverage at Bonnet Creek Complex, for both Waldorf Astoria Orlando and Signia by Hilton Bonnet Creek in Orlando, FL. Previously, he was director of restaurants and bars at Arizona Biltmore, a Waldorf Astoria Resort, in Phoenix, AZ. 

A native of Palm Springs, California, Ahrens graduated from University of California Riverside with a Bachelor of Psychology and Social Sciences. He is also a Certified Sommelier. 

Ahrens will oversee operations for all Hilton West Palm Beach restaurants and bars (Galley, Moody Tongue, Mezze, La Playa, and Palma Lobby Bar), retail operations (Provisions), meetings and events, and in-room dining.  

Jayden Blashinsky has joined Hilton West Palm Beach as general manager of Galley, the award-winning signature grill house and bar located inside Hilton West Palm Beach. 

Blashinsky comes to West Palm Beach from Key West, where he served as restaurant manager for Casa Marina Resort, a Curio Collection by Hilton resort. Previously, he was Task Force manager for Hilton Orlando and assistant general manager for The Boca Raton Beach Club.  

Blashinsky earned a Bachelor of Business Management from Florida Atlantic University and holds a number of specialized industry certifications. 

ezCater, the #1 food tech platform for workplaces in the US, today launched a new public menu API that enables restaurant technology platforms to integrate with ezCater, ultimately helping restaurants sync their menus and streamline their catering operations.  

With menu syncing, restaurants can manage their ezCater catering menus directly from integrated middleware or POS solutions. This capability reduces the manual effort needed for menu updates, lowers the likelihood of human error, and significantly decreases the time required for updates to take effect—from days to minutes. 

Checkmate, a leading provider of unified ordering solutions for enterprise restaurants, is the first partner to build an integration with ezCater’s new menu API. The partnership allows restaurant brands using both Checkmate and ezCater to edit and update their catering menus directly from the Checkmate dashboard. Jet’s Pizza and Anthony’s Pizza & Pasta are some of the first restaurant brands to use the integration to streamline catering menu management. 

For technology partners interested in building an integration using ezCater’s new menu API, please visit www.ezcater.com/integrations. 

Genpak LLC, leading food service packaging manufacturer, recently launched Grab-A-Bowl, a new line of polypropylene bowls and lids. Designed with easy grip tabs, Grab-a-Bowl containers offer enhanced usability and convenience for on and off-premises dining. 

Grab-A-Bowl is Genpak's answer to convenient, versatile packaging for on and off-premises dining. 

Suitable for both hot and cold meal applications, Grab-A-Bowl delivers performance, reliability, and functionality. Its stackable design enables space-saving storage and easy transport. The clear lid provides quick visibility of contents, supports order accuracy efforts, and helps maintain freshness, making it ideal for convenience stores, value-added grocery retail, and restaurants. 

Engineered for durability and versatility, Grab-A-Bowl is microwavable and refrigerator safe for meal prep applications. Available in a variety of sizes to meet restaurant operator needs. 

Visit https://www.genpak.com/brands/grab-a-bowl/ to learn more or request product