USHG CEO Chip Wade named 2026 Gold Plate winner

IFMA The Food Away from Association honored the leader of the multi-concept Union Square Hospitality Group with the coveted award at its 72^nd annual Gold & Silver Plate Awards celebration

CHICAGO,  May 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Chip Wade, CEO of Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG), took home the prestigious Gold Plate Award Saturday, May 16, during a ceremony attended by hundreds of industry leaders in the Great Hall of Chicago's Union Station. The Gold & Silver Plate Awards are presented by IFMA The Food Away from Home Association to honor high-performing leaders across the food-away-from-home industry.

Wade was nominated in the category of Independent Restaurant/Multi-Concept by Nestlé Professional Solutions and PepsiCo. He was selected from among the nine Silver Plate winners of the 2026 class.

Wade's career had already included 30 years of restaurant leadership for companies including Red Lobster, TGI Fridays and more when he joined USHG in 2019 as president.

USHG founder and hospitality legend Danny Meyer turned over the reins of the multi-concept operation to Wade in 2022.

"This recognition, really, for me, deserves to go to the 3,000-plus employees and chefs and leaders who work tirelessly every single day at Union Square Hospitality Group," Wade said in accepting the Gold Plate. "We get the honor and the privilege to collaborate with Danny Meyer. I celebrate my employees, my chefs, the home office people. Thank you, all. This is truly an honor."

Wade was introduced as a Silver Plate winner by his mentor, former Darden CEO Clarence Otis, Jr., himself a Silver Plate awardee in 2012.

"Chip is a culture-first leader," Otis noted. "People follow him because he cares about everyone on the team and the team's success is what matters most to him. Second is Chip's burning curiosity about the guests who walk in the door, trusting us with their daily and special occasions. And that resonates deeply with his teammates. When Danny Meyer was looking for an operations leader, these attributes made Chip a natural choice."

For 72 years, IFMA The Food Away from Home Association has presented awards to extraordinary foodservice operators through the Gold & Silver Plate Awards, the most respected awards program in foodservice. Each year, the group solicits nominations from across the industry and a distinguished jury of industry experts weighs the merits of candidates who represent a variety of foodservice segments. Selected honorees receive a Silver Plate Award, and one is then chosen by secret ballot to receive the Gold Plate Award for overall industry excellence.

Past Gold Plate winners include Danny Meyer (2000), Van Eure (2004), Charlie Trotter (2008), Timothy J. Dietzler (2010), Wolfgang Puck (2017), Regynald G. Washington (2019), Antionette Watkins (2021), Lance Trenary (2022), Jessica Shelly (2023), Chris Tomasso (2024) and Kevin Hochman (2025).

In addition to Wade, 2026 Silver Plate recipients are:

Leisa Bryant, executive director at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, in the category of Healthcare, nominated by Ecolab, ITW and PepsiCo

Danielle Bock, director for Nutrition Services at Greeley-Evans School District 6, in the category of Elementary & Secondary Schools, nominated by Nestlé Professional Solutions and The J.M. Smucker Company.

Brad Haga, SVP of Prepared Food and Dispensed Beverages at Casey's, in the category of Grocery, Convenience and Specialty Retail, nominated by Nestlé Professional Solutions

Scott Murphy, chief brand officer of Inspire Brands and president of Dunkin', in the category of Chain Limited Service, nominated by PepsiCo

Sean Gamble, president and CEO of Cinemark, in the category of Travel & Leisure Foodservice, nominated by The Coca-Cola Company

Jerry Morgan, CEO and executive vice chairman of Texas Roadhouse, in the category of Chain Full Service, nominated by The Coca-Cola Company and Ecolab

Sally Minier, head of Workplace Strategies for Jane Street, in the category of Business & Industry/Foodservice Management, nominated by PepsiCo

Jeff Palmer, executive director of Campus Dining and Retail at UC San Diego, in the category of Colleges & Universities, nominated by Hormel, PepsiCo and Simplot

The 72^nd annual Gold & Silver Plate Awards were attended by hundreds of food-away-from-home industry innovators and icons, and were hosted by Julia Stewart, a 2005 Silver Plate winner in Chain-Full Service and former leader of chains including IHOP and Applebee's. Stewart is now the founder of wellness brand Alurx.

IFMA The Food Away from Home Association President and CEO Phil Kafarakis, in his welcome address, highlighted the role of the food-away-from-home industry in shaping America.

"This year, our celebration feels particularly meaningful," Kafarakis said. "As a nation, we stand on the cusp of a monumental milestone: the 250th birthday of the United States. Two and a half centuries of a grand experiment in freedom, opportunity, and the pursuit of happiness … The food-away-from-home sector is a vibrant tapestry woven from countless American stories, many of them immigrant stories. This nation offered the chance to dream big. It allowed families to open taverns and found manufacturing brands hundreds of years ago that are still serving and still gracing our tables today."

The black-tie event also celebrated Richard "Dick" Marriott, recipient of the 2026 Legends Award, presented in partnership with the National Restaurant Association.

"The hospitality industry has been the greatest blessing in my life," Marriott, 87, chairman of the board of Host Hotels & Resorts and chairman of First Media Corporation, said in accepting the lifetime achievement award. "It's a great honor to be recognized by an industry I love and enjoy and to which I've dedicated my entire working life. Hospitality provides the greatest career opportunities and growth for anyone who enters – even at the dishwasher level."

IFMA The Food Away from Home Association is currently soliciting candidates for the 2027 Silver Plate Awards. Nominations will be accepted through September. The 2027 Gold & Silver Plate Awards celebration will be held on Saturday, May 22, 2027, in Chicago. For more information, visit foodaway.org.

About IFMA The Food Away from Home Association
IFMA The Food Away from Home Association is a trade association founded in 1952. The organization empowers, nurtures, and connects an inclusive and diverse $1.5 trillion food-away-from-home ecosystem of manufacturers, distributors, operators, and others. By sharing insights, fostering best practices, and developing networking and educational opportunities through events, IFMA The Food Away from Home Association informs and instructs its members, and motivates change to improve both individual organizations and the food-away-from-home industry at large. For more information, visit foodaway.org.

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SOURCE IFMA The Food Away from Home Association