THE FOOD INDUSTRY

This month I am proud to be featured with Bruno Brunetti, Lenny Rago and Gino Rago, owners of Panino’s Pizza Restaurants with locations in Chicago, Park Ridge and Evanston, Illinois. Panino’s well-known and loved for their-winning pizza including pizza styles from across the globe including Chicago style thin crust, pan, Sicilian, grandma, east coast and Neapolitan style pizza. The Rago brothers are leaders in the pizza industry, having served on the US Pizza Team, competing in the USA and Internationally. Their restaurants offer authentic Italian and American Cuisine made from scratch. Try their Grandma Pizza! Sean Hennessy and Mike McGowan are with Elmhurst based Delivery First , a firm helping restaurants and other food businesses save money, improve the delivery experience for their customers while helping owners overcome high delivery fees from the major third party delivery companies. The firm’s drivers are employees, not independent contractors, ensuring that every delivery order is delivered with excellence. The firm provides uniformed drivers properly equipped to deliver your product at the optimal temperature for customer satisfaction. Before a driver is hired, they are interviewed, trained, scheduled and insured. They spend the time and resources to ensure their drivers are representing your establishment at the highest level, making it one less thing for every owner to worry about. For more information, you may see their ad on page 19 of this issue.

Mark Brooks is with ADP, a global provider of Human Resource services and cloud-based human capital management (HCM) solutions that unite HR, payroll, talent, time, tax and benefits administration. Mark’s many years of experience of working with restaurant owners enables him to strategically provide insights that others may not. If you are considering outsourcing your HR needs, contact Mark. You can find his phone number in our Buyers Directories under Payroll Services.

The husband-and-wife team of Collin Moore and Elise Bergman own Judson & Moore Distillery, located at Rockwell on the River in Chicago. The whiskey they make represents the bounty of the American Heartland–Midwestern grain, Lake Michigan water, Minnesota white oak barrels, and the good work of countless farmers, coopers, and artisans. Born from the boundless curiosity of a third-generation Minnesotaraised silo builder and entrepreneur and a third-generation Tennessee-raised distiller and engineer, Judson & Moore is founded on family legacy. You can taste the legacy in every sip. In addition to their product being available at their tasting room, you will find their whisky at upscale liquor retailers around town and at fine bars and restaurants. If you love whisky and rye, be sure to check out their products. They are very smooth.

Secret Shopper Program

Discover what your customers are seeing and experiencing when you are not there.

Let’s Chat.

Bill Lecos Owner and Founder

312-493-6310 bill.lecos@forkliftrestaurantconsulting.com

Chris and Rachel Kurn are the founders of and masterminds behind ChefTog , the apron uniform manufacturing company located in West Chicago, IL. With 15+ years in the restaurant uniform business, they set out to create Chef inspired apron designs using the highest quality fabrics and in colors people actually want. And because every person is a different size, their aprons come every shape, size and fit, from big and tall, to regular to petite. They offer many different fabrics, personalized embroidery, custom apron length, tie length and color options adding or removing pockets and even different hardware options. The result is a restaurant pro-grade apron that fits the personality of any food business. And since aprons are “todays uniform” you can even customize your order online with their easy-to-use website. Orders are shipped quickly with everything being cut, sewn and assembled in the USA.

Motif Foodworks Creates the Meatier, Juicier Plant-Based Experience Consumers Crave

Here are two truths about plant-based meat:

1. More than two-thirds of plant-based meat consumers expect to eat more plant-based alternatives this year.

2. The overall poor taste and texture of current plant-based meat offerings are the primary reasons why consumers that have tried plant-based meats, don’t continue to eat more of them.

Motif FoodWorks has developed the breakthrough taste and texture ingredients that give plant-based meats a richer flavor and a more delicious, juicy bite. How does that help you? It will power more sales with the meatier experience consumers want from plantbased alternatives across your menu. Motif has created a line of products with the consumer in mind. Armed with our two breakthrough food technologies Hemami and Appetex, these proprietary ingredients provide the meaty, umami flavor and aroma, as well as the juicy, springy chewdown, of traditional meat products, but without the animal. The pairing of these two ingredients in a formulation creates a finished product that better satisfies consumers.

Motif PorkWorks Plant-Based Grounds and Motif BeefWorks Plant-Based Grounds and Patties are available to foodservice today. These products are high-performing and planet-positive to provide you with plant-based solutions to meet your prep, service and recipe versatility needs.

Jump on your chance to experience the flavor and satisfaction consumers are seeking with an authentically meatier experience, from plants.

Get more from your plant-based alternatives with Motif FoodWorks. More flavor, more function, more satisfaction, more options, more sales. For samples and ordering information, see their ad on page 27

Elevating Culinary Precision: The DC Norris Commercial Sous Vide Cook Tank

In Chicagoland gastronomy, innovation reigns supreme, and the DC Norris North America Commercial Sous Vide Cook Tank (Model CT-1) emerges as a trailblazing force, redefining precision cooking in commercial kitchens like Smoque Steak.

Built to transform ingredients into culinary masterpieces, the Model CT-1 cook tank automates sous vide cooking for chefs while still employing the classic low-temperature, slow cooking technique that intensifies flavors and preserves nutrients. Versatile and scalable, this 50-gallon cutting-edge cook tank caters to all culinary establishments, ensuring consistent and reproducible results.

Prioritizing efficiency, safety, and hygiene, the Model CT-1 is manufactured in Michigan. Featuring stainless steel construction, intuitive controls, and advanced safety measures, it allows chefs to focus on and scale their artistry without increasing labor costs. The CT-1 minimizes food waste, maximizes ingredient utilization, and is NSF Certified.

The Model CT-1 stands as a culinary game-changer. Embracing tradition and technology, it empowers chefs to craft dishes of unparalleled excellence, elevating the dining experience for patrons even in these challenging times of labor shortages and rising overhead. As this innovative equipment is welcomed into professional kitchens, it heralds a new era of precision, efficiency, and sustainability. – You can find their ad on page 8.