Ontario Restaurant News - February 2013

I S H C O M P U B L I C AT I O N S S I N C E 19 8 6

O

N

T

A

R

I

O

estaurant News R Brand Culture Marketing & Promotions

14-5250 Satellite Drive, Mississauga, Ontario L4W 5G5

February T: 905 361 0305 F: 905 629 9305 2013

REVISION:

0

Vol. 28 No. 1

DATE: JANUARY 29, 2013

DOCKET: XXXX

CLIENT: CRFA Show 2013

COLOUR: CMYK

PROJECT: CRFA Show 2013

TRIM SIZE: 10.75” x 7.5”

DESCRIPTION: CRFA Show 2013 Ontario Restaurant News Ad (George S)

bLEED SIZE: 11” x 7.5”

CONTACT: barbara MacDonald

LIVE AREA: .5 margin on bottom & sides

DATE REqUIRED: January, 2013

N A T I O N A L

C O V E R A G E

R E G I O N A L

F O C U S

$ 5 . 9 5

ONESTOPSHOP ONE STOPSHOP

March 3-5, 2013 Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place, Toronto, Ontario

www.crfashow.ca

Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40010152

seminars

industry trends

Chef DaviD aDjey

networking

REGISTER

fresh Ideas

NOW! www.crfashow.ca

new products

Breakfast with Champions

demonstrations

EQUIPMENT

Show boothS boothS already already 80% SOld OuT! become an exhibitor and erve your booth Space today! reServe

CAll 1-800-387-5649 ext. 4240

WITH CBC HosT GeorGe sTroumBoulopoulos

www.facebook.com/crfashow @crfashow Join the CRFA Show Group

Signature Reception Sponsor

Signature Breakfast Sponsor

82 N 5B O M ritaW IS n OP SI nia E SS R N AU d.W GA es t

restaurant

• pub

Fionn MacCool’s established 1996

franchising@primerestaurants.com 1-800-361-3111 ext. 404 primepubs.com FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITIES NOW AVAILABLE IN: LONDON | ST. CATHARINES | HAMILTON | TORONTO | MISSISSAUGA | BURLINGTON | NEWMARKET | OSHAWA | CAMBRIDGE | OTTAWA

Client: Prime Restaurants

Docket: Development

Project: Restaurant News Ad ONT EDITION

Date: Jan14, 2013

Trim: 10” x 3”

Build: 100%

Colors: CMYK

Revision: 2

BRIGHTEST CHOICE FOR SEAMLESS INNOVATION When you want to make an impact, go big!

Now available in 3D!

Slimmer Bezel

low Power ConSumPtion

The slim bezels create powerful and impactful video walls that can be easily installed, maintained and managed.

By using LED panels without mercury or other harmful substances, this display is eco-friendly.

Most of all, it consumes little energy.

WV70

WV70

Shine-out

The perfect fit for bright environments by reflecting away ambient light for the best picture quality under any lighting conditions.

WV70

External Light Source Light from B/L BLU PANEL

Bezel to Bezel 5.3mm

210W(Typ), 120W(SES)

For more information, please call 1.888.824.6211 or visit LGcommercial.ca

Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40010152

As innovators in digital signage, LG can help you reach customers like never before with our professional video wall solutions.

I S H C O M P U B L I C AT I O N S S I N C E 19 8 6

O

N

T

A

R

I

O

estaurant News R February 2013 Vol. 28 No. 1

N A T I O N A L

Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40010152

Keeping up with supply and demand OTTAWA—Unlike some of his peers, when it came time to name his new restaurant, chef and owner of Ottawa’s Supply and Demand Foods & Raw Bar Stephen Wall didn’t exactly make it a priority.

“The name was one of those things we didn’t want to spend a lot of time thinking about,” he told ORN just before the restaurant’s Jan. 21 opening. “We wanted to focus on being good at what we do, and being good employers.”

Using a slogan glimpsed on a passing bumper sticker, Wall and his wife Jennifer christened their 1,500 square foot restaurant with a moniker that highlights Supply and Demand’s ingredient-driven menu.

“We’re doing a big focus on raw plates, such as crudos and tartares featuring duck, scallop and marinated razor clams,” said Wall.

Although the restaurant also features a strong emphasis on vegetables, “it’s not a health bar with smoothies,” he said.

Instead, the kitchen highlights composed vegetable plates, such as charred brussel sprouts with bacon and a gastrique of anchovy juice,

vinegar and onion. The vegetable plates run from $4 to $6 and the crudos from $8 to $16.

Three or four large plates, such as butter poached lobsters or whole suckling pigs, will also rotate through the menu. All seafood is sustainably sourced from Joshua Bishop at the Whalesbone Sustainable Retail Oyster & Fish Store, where Wall worked as sous and then executive chef.

Co-owner Jennifer Wall and chef/owner Stephen Wall at Ottawa’s Supply and Demand. Photo by Erin Petruska.

C O V E R A G E

Six local beers, including one from Beyond the Pale Brewery, come on tap, and the white focused wine list includes Canadian, American, French and Italian offerings.

In consultation with designer Shannon Smithers Gay, owner and principal designer of One80 Design, co-owner Jennifer kept with an oyster house theme when putting together the 55-seat restaurant.

“We wanted to keep it classic and comfortable,” said Wall. Padded bar stools, schoolhouse lighting and a seahorse motif on the flooring contribute to the feel.

A self-described “East coast boy” from Happy Valley-Goose Bay in central Labrador, Wall trained at the Culinary Institute of Canada in PEI and worked under chef Jason Lynch at Le Caveau restaurant at Nova Scotian winery Domaine de Grand Pré. He was also the executive chef of Ottawa restaurant Luxe Bistro.

Both Stephen and Jennifer are alumni of Ottawa’s Town restaurant, where they met when he was the opening chef and she was a server.

Both first time owners, the Walls both subscribe to New York chef Danny Meyer’s style of restaurant operations: to focus on the staff.

“We have strong opinions of how a place should be run,” said Wall. “We wanted to offer our 15 person staff health and other benefits such as wine courses and education.”

For now, Wall is looking forward to doing a dinner service only at the restaurant.

“You don’t often get the opportunity to just focus on dinner,” said Wall.

“We really want to do the best we can at this one thing and it’s fun to imagine how we’re going to evolve.”

R E G I O N A L

F O C U S

A JAPANESE CONCEPT FOR MANCHU WOK

CHASING THE NEW COFFEE CONSUMER

5

16

$ 5 . 9 5

8

2013 SPOTLIGHT ON TORONTO: PIZZA

VINEXPO TRENDS FOR CANADA

24

On the road again: Food trucks are heading down new paths.

Here’s the route from concept to longevity to drive your foodservice offerings home.

20

Supply and Demand Foods & Raw Bar. 1335 Wellington St. W., Ottawa.

(613) 680-2949. Supplyanddemandfoods.ca. @SupplyOttawa.

We Have Solutions... » » » » » »

Canada Wide 14 Branch Showroom & Warehouse Distribution Coast to Coast Parts & Service Network National Group Buying Power Platinum Rewards Program RUSSELL Trained Sales Professionals Professional Food Service Planning

www.russellfood.ca

You’re going to love this!

Presents

TM

R E W A R D S

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS:

SIgn up

buy pROducT

EaRn pOInTS

gET mOnEy!

no catalogues - no Hassles - Just money!

Talk to your Summit Sales Professional about Culinaire REWARDS, visit www.culinairerewards.com or call South Western Ontario & GTA 1-800-265-9267 | Eastern Ontario & Quebec 1-800-267-9610

| 5

www.can-restaurantnews.com

F E B R U A RY 2 013

A Japanese concept for Manchu Wok TORONTO—Chinese fast-food operator Manchu WOK has opened its first Japanese restaurant concept in Canada.

Wasabi Grill and Noodle opened on Jan. 7 at the North York Civic Centre’s new foodcourt operation in Toronto’s north end.

The concept has been in the works for more than a year, said president and CEO Kelvin Chen to ORN, but finding the right location is what took more time.

“Every significant food court already has some kind of Asian or Japanese concept,” said Chen. “These concepts have developed stronger among a younger crowd.”

Chen said he sees the concept being popular among a younger demographic because of the fresh and health conscious menu.

“We think that in the university and in the airport circuit, there would be a lot of attractive opportunities,” he said.

The food offerings at Wasabi come from three platforms, said Chen: sushi – in a grab and go style; noodle soup; and teppanyaki.

Prices range from $8 - $9 for menu items.

“I think the critical thing of Wasabi Noodle and Grill is that it offers a more balanced, as well as trendy, type of food,” Chen said. “It gives a balance between protein and vegetable.”

Manchu WOK made a previous move into the sushi market with Oishii (named after the word for “delicious” in Japanese).

Oishii opened in the United States, but Chen said they felt that the increasing consciousness towards health made this an ap-

Now for as little as $40K (financing available) you can add Atlantic Canada’s hottest new restaurant brand to your business. A proven money maker with all the marketing pizzazz you need to bring more customers through the door. $ Easy process $ Training set up supplied $ On-going marketing $ No royalty reporting

NOW 35 Locations in Atlantic Canada

contact: info@captsub.com

Wasabi Grill and Noodle at the North York Civic Centre

propriate time to introduce a new Japanese concept in Canada.

The Wasabi location is next door to its sister-brand, Manchu WOK. “This is the first of our twin units,” said Chen. “In the front of the house, you see that it’s two distinct units and brands, but in the back of house they use some of the same facilities.”

While the units share some amenities,

such as a walk-in freezer, Chen said the sushi is all freshly prepared on the premises and the vegetables used are all high quality and fresh cut.

It’s these distinctions that he said are attracting their target demographic.

“We really actually see it as the vehicle to get into the hearts and minds of a younger group,” said Chen.

The hunt is on at Farmhouse Tavern TORONTO—The Farmhouse, a Junction Triangle restaurant owned by Darcy MacDonell, launched a new dining series called Hunt Camp that will run until Apr. 21.

Six to eight guests will be able to purchase a ticket to to be served a meal of game meats, birds, and fish in he restaurant’s backroom each Wednesday after operational hours.

“This was something fun to do when we’re closed,” said MacDonell, who attributed the idea to an interview he heard on Q with Jian Ghomeshi with Lily Raff McCaulou, author of Call of the Mild: Learning to Hunt My Own Dinner. The radio show inspired MacDonell to explore the world of hunting and cooking.

“Society has a very negative perception of what hunting is all about – I’m trying to

ADD PROFIT TO YOUR MENU!

bring in a new appreciation for hunting and cooking,” he said to ORN. After researching restaurant trends in Los Angeles and New York, MacDonell feels that game hunting is something different than the many Japanese and Mexican trends on the foodservice market today.

The Farmhouse Tavern space includes a bar in the back room that will host the Hunt Camp festivities, with a high table that seats up to 12.

MacDonell has aspirations of testing this idea to potentially turn it into a full-time restaurant if Hunt Camp becomes a success, and the customer feedback is positive.

Reservations are made through an email ticketing system, said MacDonell. “We’re

Get the latest news...online!

about 60 per cent filled for reservations right now.”

The $150 five to six course meal is split with $100 towards food, and $50 towards the wine pairings, with an additional $30 corkage fee for customers interested in bringing their own wine.

MacDonell said that 90 per cent of the meat he serves comes from Ontario, as well as fish. As for wines, the majority will be international, from regions such as California and Australia. For MacDonell, this is ultimately a fun project, meant to break even, not necessarily make a profit. “It’s fun and exciting for the staff here, our chefs can cook different foods, and our servers get to serve all of these different wines,” he said.

1-800-201-8596

www.can-restaurantnews.com

NEWS? We want to hear from you.

Email tips about your restaurant openings, appointments, acquisitions or other news to lwu@canadianrestaurantnews.com

for editorial consideration.

See us at the CRFA Show-Booth #2204

Elite Peameal Bacon

Restaurant News is your one-stop shop for all the industry news.

GOT

Elite Pork Breakfast Sausage

The BEST Peameal Bacon, WINS repeat business!

A NEW and BETTER Breakfast Sausage!

Our traditional Elite Peameal Bacon The number one selling branded Peameal Bacon in Canada!

Operators and Distributors told us a better product is needed.

The taste and the texture has been praised as “much better than what is available”

*Elite Peameal is GLUTEN FREE *Elite is the lowest in fat, in the industry *Elite is the lowest in sodium, in the industry *Elite is the highest in meat protein in the industry *Elite is ALL Canadian and always made from FRESH pork!

*Elite is voted Best Tasting *Elite is ALL Canadian *Elite is the lowest shrink *Elite is better value *Elite is high quality and high performance

The Elite Meat Company Contact-Magnum Food Brokers (905) 474-1500

www.can-restaurantnews.com

6 |

RestaurantNews

C om m e n t

Bully for you

www.can-restaurantnews.com Editor Leslie Wu ext. 227 lwu@canadianrestaurantnews.com Senior Contributing Editor Colleen Isherwood ext. 231 cisherwood@canadianrestaurantnews.com Assistant Editor Elaine Anselmi ext. 226 eanselmi@canadianrestaurantnews.com Online Editor Veronica Zaretski ext. 238 vzaretski@canadianrestaurantnews.com National Sales Manager Dave Bell ext. 230 dbell@canadianrestaurantnews.com Senior Account Managers Debbie McGilvray ext. 233 dmcgilvray@canadianrestaurantnews.com Joe Couto ext. 229 jcouto@canadianrestaurantnews.com Production Ext. 0 pweber@canadianrestaurantnews.com Circulation Manager Don Trimm ext. 228 dtrimm@canadianrestaurantnews.com Controller Tammy Turgeon ext. 237 tammy@canadianrestaurantnews.com How to reach us: Tel (905) 206-0150

O N TA R I O R E S TAU R A N T N E W S

R

estaurateurs, meet Brad Newman.

He’s about to make your life more difficult.

As if the restaurant industry doesn’t have enough to deal with in terms of meeting the expectations of an increasingly demanding customer, along comes Newman with a new low: a “reviewer card” for online amateur reviewers of restaurants and hotels.

“I’m going to review them anyway, so why not let them know in advance? It’s not hurting anyone,” said Newman to the Los Angeles Times. He explained that the idea came about when he received what he felt was shoddy service in France, threatened to post on TripAdvisor and was then comped his meal.

“It’s not a threat,” Newman told the

Times. “It’s the way to get the service you deserve.” He plans to peddle his cards for $100 to those he deems worthy through an Internet screening process based on the number of reviews applicants have under their belts.

Let’s overlook the fact that the idea of revealing themselves is anathema to most legitimate reviewers. Let’s disregard the idea that the card is a new tool for bullies to use to menace front of house staff. Let’s even set aside the notion for a moment that such a card would be met with, at the very least, polite disdain from any number of restaurateurs, chefs, hoteliers and servers.

When it comes down to it, the worst thing about this card is that it removes the ability of the restaurant to correct its mis-

Bits Publisher Steven Isherwood ext. 236 sisherwood@can-restaurantnews.com

Editorial advisory Council Mickey Cherevaty Executive Vice-president, Moyer Diebel Limited Neil Vosburgh President, Imago restaurants Inc. Marvin Greenberg President, S+H Realty Corporation Jack Battersby President, Summit Food Service Distributors Inc. Barney Strassburger Jr. President, TwinCorp Mark Cator The Coolinary Connection Inc. Paul LeClerc Partner, Serve-Canada Food Equipment Ltd. Michael Stephens Director of Retail, Inventory and Wholesale, LCBO Ralph Claussen Director Food and Beverage Operations Woodbine Entertainment Group Adam Colquhoun President, Oyster Boy John Crawford Director of Sales-Canada, Lamb Weston Tina Chiu Chief Operating Officer Mandarin Restaurant Franchise Corporation Matt Johnston Vice-president, Marketing, Moosehead Breweries Martin Kouprie Chef/Owner, Pangaea Restaurant Joel Sisson Founder and president of Crush Strategy Inc. Leslie Wilson Vice president of Business Excellence Compass Group Canada Volume 28 No. 1 Ontario Restaurant News is published 12 times year by Ishcom Publications Ltd., which also publishes: Pacific/Prairie Restaurant News, Atlantic Restaurant News, Canadian Lodging News, Ontario Chains and the ORN Buyers’ Directory.

2065 Dundas Street East, Suite 201 Mississauga, Ontario L4X 2W1 Tel: (905) 206-0150 Fax: (905) 206-9972 In Canada 1 800 201-8596 Subscriptions: Canada: $52.33/year or $78.57/2 years, $102.67/ 3 years; U.S.A.: $58.85/year or $84.85/2 years, $108.70/ 3 years. Single copy: $5.95 (Plus taxes where applicable) Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to circulation department, 2065 Dundas Street East, Suite 201, Mississauga, Ontario L4X 2W1 Publication Mail Agreement No. 40010152 ISSN 0834-0404 GST number R102533890

Flip service in a new Brazilian restaurant RICHMOND HILL, ON— Touro Churrascaria is set to open in the spring in the space previously occupied by Nava Restaurant and Bar. The Brazilian steakhouse and wine bar will feature continuous table side service of select cuts of various meats and occasionally seafood, according to the restaurant’s website. Patrons can expect a salad and appetizer bar with fresh vegetables, cheeses, meats and Brazilian side dishes.

Like many churrascarias, a disc at each table will allow customers to indicate the need for service by flipping the green side up, and to stop service by turning to the red side.

The restaurant is currently under construction with Glen Peloso, the principal of Glen Peloso Interiors, at the helm of interior décor plans. No stranger to renovations, Peloso was a staple of “Restaurant Makeover”, which ran for four seasons on the Food Network.

Pizza Pizza releases ordering app and new website design TORONTO—Pizza Pizza announced the launch of a mobile ordering app for the iPad in a release.

The app will allow customers to place pizza orders and includes features such as the “Pizza Builder,” a visual tool that will let customers virtually create and customize a pizza, and “Spin-to-Win,” a game offering the opportunity to win free menu options with orders.

The app was developed by Plastic Mobile, and is part of a number of technological developments at Pizza Pizza, including a recently redesigned website. “Our mobile and web-based business is growing rapidly,” said CEO Paul Goddard.

Beefing up funding for corn-fed cattle in Ontario LONDON—There will be $2.5 million spent over three years on marketing the Ontario Corn-Fed Beef Program, Provincial Agriculture Minister Ted McMeekin,

and

announced at the 15th annual Beef Industry Convention, held in January and hosted by the Ontario Cattle Feeders’ Association.

The funding is meant to help expand sales in North America and abroad. The initiative also aims to increase the numbers of distributors and retailers that carry Ontario corn-fed beef and increase the involvement of producers in Ontario. “We’ve been strong on the retail side in Ontario, and we feel that this is an opportunity for growth in Asia and the Middle East,” said Ontario Cattle Feeders’ executive director Jim Clark.

Clark said that the certified platinum Ontario corn-fed beef is a prime product that opens up opportunities to expand to international markets. “Foodservice and restaurants in domestic markets and abroad is one key area of focus,” he said.

The Ontario Corn-Fed Beef Program was launched in June 2001 by the Ontario Cattle Feeders’ Association.

Hot news in the Canadian frozen yogurt market TORONTO—Yogurtworld Franchising Corp., franchisor of Menchie’s has sold development and operation rights to the self-serve frozen yogurt brand in Canada.

According to a Jan. 28 release, the master franchise agreement for Canada, the signed franchise agreements, as well as the multi unit development agreements were sold to Alex Shnaider, chairman of the Midland Group.

“By pursuing an aggressive expansion strategy, we will build upon its success and bring the Menchie’s experience to more communities across the country,” said Shnaider.

Air Liquide obtains food safety certification MONTREAL—Air Liquide Canada has obtained Food Safety System Certification 22000 for its carbon dioxide production plants in Canada.

The company, a subsidiary of Air Liquide Group, operates carbon dioxide

take (if there was one), to make the customer feel valued, or to go above and beyond to save the dining experience, which many operators do daily.

By flashing a card and making a very real threat, the diner shuts down the conversation, and any act of graciousness on the part of the operator is then reduced to “the service they deserved.”

And unfortunately, when demands are made with threats, too often the service will be exactly what that kind of diner deserves, to the detriment of all involved.

Leslie Wu Editorial Director

BItes plants across the country, supplying the agrifood and beverage industry, according to the Jan. 30 release. Liquid carbon dioxide is used within the foodservice industry for cryogenic freezing and surfacing hardening, as well as within cold chain management.

Air Liquide’s food safety certification is a part of the Global Food Safety Initiative to provide improved food safety systems.

“We’re proud to support our customers, and their customers in turn, by providing impeccable quality in our products for use in the agrifood and beverage industries,” said Adam Peters, president and CEO of Air Liquide Canada.

MTY Group goes overseas for international expansion MONTREAL—MTY Food Group Inc. announced the expansion of their brands Mr. Sub and Jugo Juice overseas. The sandwich shop and smoothie franchise will open location in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, according to a Jan. 22 release.

The openings are a part of a master franchise agreement. “With approximately 100 stores currently in operation outside Canada, and following the successful signing of area master franchise agreements for Morocco, London (United Kingdom) and Lebanon, the two new agreements are in line with our overseas growth strategy,” said Stanley Ma, president and CEO of MTY Group.

Lettuce recall focuses on foodservice industry TORONTO—Freshpoint Toronto, a fresh produce supplier to the foodservice industry announced a major recall on shredded lettuce distributed to various foodservice outlets.

According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency website, the contaminated lettuce was distributed throughout Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador.

When your hot water stops flowing, so can your revenue.

Protect your bottom line with the Reliance Commercial Solutions™ water heater rental program today.

Lots of things can go wrong in the food services and hospitality business, but few can compare to a water heater breakdown, and having to close your doors to customers.

That’s where Reliance™ comes in. A leading provider of worry-free water heating solutions for over 30 years, we’re proud to guarantee outstanding service: • Four-hour service response guarantee, 24/7/365

• No upfront equipment replacement costs*

• No repair bills*

• One predictable monthly payment

• Customized solutions

Plus, if you own a water heater that’s less than 6 years old, or a boiler that’s less than 8 years old, you can benefit from our exclusive Buy-Back Program and earn $3,000 to $9,000 to invest in your business.

To find out if you qualify for our Buy-Back Program and learn more about our customized water heating solutions, call 1-866-326-9392 today.

™ “Reliance”, “Reliance Commercial Solutions”, and the Reliance Commercial Solutions logo are trademarks of Reliance Comfort Limited Partnership. * Subject to standard rental program terms and conditions. Some additional charges relating to installation (e.g. code required venting) may be applicable. Call for details.

Receive up to $9,000 through our exclusive Buy-Back Program.

Dough Makers

By Leslie Wu and Elaine Anselmi

T

he pizza landscape in Toronto has gone truly pie shaped in the last few years, with new innovators and old favourites bringing ideas to the table.

This year’s Spotlight on Toronto takes a look at five of the city’s prominent pizza paragons.

Whether you’re in town for the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association show or just interested in some pizza players, read on...

PIZZERIA DEFINA 321 Roncesvalles Ave. 416-534-4414 www.pizzeriadefina.com Open Sun. to Thurs.

Noon to 10 p.m.

Fri. to Sat. Noon to 11 p.m.

Average check price: $35 salad, drink and tip included.

Take out and reservations available for large groups, as well as party bookings for upstairs.

Left: Pizza at Pizzeria Defina.

Right: Team members toss dough at Defina. Photos by Neil Barbisan.

The pedigree: When owner Roksolana Curkowskyj bought the Roncesvalles building that houses this artisan pizzeria, she acquired all of the original equipment from its former incarnation as a pizza takeout restaurant.

The restaurant’s original use really piqued her interest in pizzerias.

“It was something that intrigued me…the whole artisan style of cooking and baking,” she says.

Curkowskyj registered for a course in Neapolitan pizza making from Tony Gemignani in California, where she learned the theory and scientific background behind the dough.

“That’s the key to the pizza,” she says. “The flour, water and yeast, and how it reacts.”

The restaurant’s design was intended to complement the area and the community – a traditionally Polish neighbourhood, in

spite of being an Italian-style restaurant.

The wood-burning oven was constructed on site and the restaurant’s design incorporates elements of the food industry, such as back benches made of Eastern European grain bags and a door handle from a Romanian grain shovel.

The menu: The menu at Defina offers both traditional and more unique pizza offerings.

The wild mushroom pizza and pesto chicken have been top sellers as well as the more traditional margherita option.

For patrons looking for something a little different, Defina has the Caesar, a pizzameets-salad menu item, as well as a nod to the neighbourhood with the Polish inspired, potato-topped Roncy pizza.

There is a range of wines offered at Defina, including varieties from California, Italy, France and local wineries.

Sweet options are on the menu as well, such as a honey, gorgonzola, pear and pecan topped pizza and Roncy tails – in the fashion of the Canadian iconic beaver tails.

The philosophy: Defina embraces different cuisines and has a variety of influences as well as Italian. “I like our pizzas to be a little bit more unique and different,” says Curkowskyj. “Of course I respect the tradition.” The family owned and operated restaurant has evolved a lot in the last year and a half since its opening, says Curkowskyj, who works closely with the chef to develop the menu.

“I have great talent in the back of the house.

My intention was always to offer good quality for a good price,” she says. “It’s not too fancy, but it’s good food,” she says. “It’s something that I look forward to when I go to a restaurant.”

s

The Pedigree: “There’s no mistaking what we are: we’re a pizzeria first and foremost,” says Gary Quinto, managing partner of Libretto Restaurant Group. “We’re not an Italian restaurant, we’re a chef-driven Neapolitan pizza restaurant, and we’ve always focused on that aspect.”

Both the locations are Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (VPN) certified (Ossington is #291 and Danforth is #292), and chef Rocco Agostino goes for recertification every three years.

The Menu: At Libretto, the focus is pizza – no mains or entrees exist on the menu as a deliberate choice by management.

The Pedigree: Coming from an Italian family entrenched in the food business, co-owner John Chetti says opening a pizzeria was something he always wanted to do and saw the market for it in Toronto’s east end. “We had a very rustic product and figured it was perfect for the Leslieville neighbourhood,” he says. “The recent stretch of restaurants there indicates that it’s an up and coming trendy food area.”

With a new west-end location that opened in early February, and several others slotted to open doors throughout Toronto, Queen Margherita has become a noted figure on Toronto’s pizza scene in its two years of business.

“The beauty of the situation is that while discovering great

“The pizza that defines Neapolitan is margherita, and hands down, it outsells all our other pizzas four to one,” says Quinto. For those diners with a more experimental bent, the menu offers less traditional pairings such as a duck confit, Bosc pear and mozzarella pizza, or one topped with nduja sausage, tomato, garlic, oregano, basil, mozzarella and stracciatella.

Agostino is currently experimenting with an Andouille sausage pizza.

All pizzas are cooked in handmade ovens, shipped from Naples, which reach the mandatory 900 degrees Fahrenheit needed to maintain the 90-second cooking time required

by VPN standards.

The Philosophy: Although items such as 00 flour and San Marzano tomatoes are shipped from Italy, Libretto tries to support local butchers and farmers as much as possible.

Agostino has cheese produced

by Dolce Lucano to his specifications, and also works with the butcher to make cured meats that meet his criteria for flavour profiles.

products of Italy, there was also the local movement in Toronto, and we’ve felt that we could be a major player in that culture,” says Chetti.

“We either import from Italy, or locally source for our cheese,” says Chetti. Queen Margherita’s fior di latte (an Italian-style mozzarella made from cows’ milk) is sourced from a private Ontario farmer, specifically for the restaurant through Toronto’s Cheese Boutique.

“We are a niche pizzeria, which offers the best Italian and locally sourced products,” says Chetti.

The Menu: The restaurant’s namesake is also their signature and top selling pizza.

The traditional Neapolitan margherita pizza, topped with fier di latte, rather than processed mozzarella, is a staple at Queen Margherita, says Chetti.

The pizzeria also offers two other varieties of the standard fare: a margherita extra, with cherry tomatoes and parmigiano, and a doppio margherita, with mozzarella di bufala and parmigiano.

“The menu changes every month,” says Chetti. “There’s always something local and seasonal,” as well as the traditional offerings.

Queen Margherita’s location at Jane and Annette in Bloor West Village will offer a new wine program in conjunction with Norman Hardie of Prince Edward County, ON.

PIZZERIA LIBRETTO 221 Ossington Ave. 416-532-8000 550 Danforth Ave. 416-466-0400 pizzerialibretto.com. @PizzaLibretto Hours: The restaurant also makes environmental efforts such as having its kitchen grease recycled into biodiesel fuel, not serving bottled water, and using wind and water power from Bullfrog Power.

“At the end of the day, we do this because we’re super passionate about it,” says Quinto. “We want our food to be very honest. We want you to come in and order a margherita or marinara, take that first bite, and feel like you’ve been transported to Naples.”

Quinto, Agostino and CEO Max Rimaldi opened the first Libretto in 2008, and plan to open another two or three locations in select areas of Toronto in the next two or three years.

“We want to grow and give people better food and better service as we grow,” says Quinto. “We see ourselves primarily as a neighbourhood restaurant.”

Ossington: Mon. to Sat. Noon to 11 p.m.

Sun. 4 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Danforth: Daily: 11:30 a.m. to 11: p.m.

Average check price: $30 including drinks, tax and tip Number of seats: Ossington: 70 seats. No reservations.

Danforth: 140 seats Reservations available for groups.

Takeout available at both locations.

Left: Chef Rocco Agostino. Right: Arugula and prosciutto pizza.

Queen Margherita

1402 Queen St. East 785 Annette St. (opening early February) 416-466-6555 www.queenmargheritapizza.ca The winery will be providing wine on tap, says Chetti, and Hinterland Wine Company will be supplying bubbles on tap.

The Philosophy: “Pizza is like the original slow food,” says Chetti.

He says that while the, approximately 900 degree Farenheit wood burning oven allows them to cook a pizza in 90 seconds, the preparation behind each pizza is a much longer process.

“We spend most of our time searching for ingredients that are true to us and we put all our time in our pizza,” he says.

“We’re constantly sending people to Italy to train, constantly learning, trading ideas and concepts and passion with other restaurateurs outside of Toronto,” says Chetti.

“That knowledge that we’ve acquired is probably what sets us apart now and it’s becoming more of a finesse rather than a mass production,” he says.

Hours: Mon. to Thurs.

Noon to 11 p.m.

Fri. to Sat. Noon to midnight Sun. Noon to 10 p.m.

Average check price: $35 appetizer, drink and tip included.

Number of seats: 120 (at Queen Street location) Takeout and reservations available. No delivery.

Left: Pizza cook at Queen Margherita’s Leslieville location.

Right: A margherita pizza coming out of the woodburning oven.

Photos by Elaine Anselmi.

Everyday Ideas & Solutions Smucker’s Foodservice has been meeting the needs of foodservice professionals for over a century and are dedicated to delivering variety, quality and service.

Contact your broker: West – IPS: ’ & # # # ##

Atlantic – AMCA: ’ ' "$& #

Freeman Signature Ontario: Â’ B]`]\b] $"% #"% & ' Â’ =bbOeO $ ! !$$ ' Â’ :]\R]\ # ' "'# '$"$

Freeman Signature QuĂŠbec: Ä‘Ĺ?Ĺ?:]\UcScWZ "# $# " Â’ ;]\b`{OZ # " ## #' Â’ ?c{PSQ 1Wbg " & "%& #'

ÂŽ/TM The J.M. Smucker Company

www.smuckerfoodservice.ca

Š Smucker Foods of Canada Corp.

80 Whitehall Drive Markham ON L3R 0P3

ÂŽ Smucker Foods of Canada Corp.

Via Mercanti 188 Augusta Ave. 647-343-6647 www.pizzeriaviamercant.com @via_mercanti Open Sun. to Thurs.

Noon to 10 p.m.

Fri. and Sat. Noon to midnight Average check price: $25 drinks and tip included Number of seats: 48 Reservations and takeout, no delivery.

The pedigree: Naples: the staff, the ingredients and the recipes are imported directly from the land of Neapolitan pizza. Owner Romolo Salvati told ORN he has been making this style of pizza his whole life. “Making real pizza is not easy,” he says. “There’s a lot of different pizza, but if you want a Neapolitan pizza, that’s what I do.”

The food: Mercanti’s top seller is the margherita pizza, Salvati says. The traditional Neapolitan staple consists simply of a tomato sauce with mozzarella and fresh basil. “That’s what I like,” says Salvati. “I grew up making margherita.”

The restaurant’s signature pizza, the Via Mercanti is a double-layered pizza. The top layer offers Salvati’s favourite margherita, and the bottom layer is loaded with ricotta,

prosciutto, soppressata and mushrooms.

The menu also offers alternatives to a main dish of pizza, such as paninis, risotto, and pasta. Salvati makes all of the pasta in house. The fagottino di Parma is Mercanti’s most popular pasta dish, offering pasta wrapped in prosciutto in cream sauce.

The wine list is predominantly Italian and of that, Salvati says 80 per cent is from the Naples region. Some Portuguese and Spanish options are also available, as well as two Ontario VQAs. The philosophy: In the style of his predecessors, Salvati cooks in a Neapolitan wood oven that is heated to approximately 900 degrees Farenheit. Pizzas are cooked from 60 to 90 seconds. “90 seconds is perfect, any more than that and it becomes too crispy,” he says.

The dough is made fresh, and Salvati highlights the importance of his Neapolitan roots. “The flour is from Naples, the cheese from Naples, everything is imported from Naples,” he says.

While Salvati’s responsibilities now extend

Blending cuisines in Yorkville “As a responsible restaurateur we should be buying local. We should be supporting Canadian agriculture in any case,” he said. Dyne will serve locally sourced meat when possible.

As for the interior design, Andino said that he was interested in creating a fine dining space, with a casual feel.

“We want people from the neighborhood to come around and feel comfortDyne restaurant in Yorkville. able,” he said. The restaurant has a minimalist and clean aesthetic, with a few art piecTORONTO—A new restaurant offers a blend es scattered around, such as a canvas painting of Portuguese, Spanish, and Asian cuisines to of Andino’s Japanese chef ’s knife. The simple customers. Dyne restaurant opened on Jan. 4, off-white walls offset the darker colour of the at 120 Avenue Road, the former location of ceiling, and the rich chestnut and cedar woods Maléna Restaurant. found throughout.

Owner Richard Andino, formerly the chef Interested customers can ask for the “chef ’s and co-owner of Flow, brought his former last meal,” based on what Andino would want sous-chef Julie Marteteira, to work as the exas his final dinner. At $325, the meal is meant ecutive chef at Dyne. “I’ve been experimentto be shared, and includes butter-poached ing with different blends, how to refine diflobster, two pieces of foie gras, a steak florenferent flavours after I left Flow,” said Andino. tine, chili-garlic rice with egg yolk incorpoMarteteira, who has travelled extensively over rated to make the rice richer, seasonal veggies, the last few months, also brought inspirations and bone marrow mashed potatoes. from her travels for new dishes, he said.

A drink menu is available, with highlights Options include PEI potatoes served including the eighteen eighty, an old fashalongside lap cheong (a Chinese sausage, usuioned Manhattan, and the PYT, an aged rum ally made from pork), and fried beans. Anothserved with passion fruit foam. Drinks cost er dish is the salted cod, which Andino said is between $11 and $16, and menu offerings cost de-salted and left in a brine mixture for four from $4 to $32, excluding the chef ’s last meal. to five days, and then served with an olive tapenade, and locally grown tomatoes.

Dyne, 120 Avenue Rd. 416-962-5655.

As for ingredients, Andino said that he dyneonavenue.com, @dyneonavenue plans to use predominantly local ingredients.

into owner and operator, his role in the kitchen is just as important. “I like to cook, I don’t like to be the owner,” he says. “I’ve got a manager doing that.”

Left: A Mercanti pizza going into the woodburning oven.

Right: The team at Via Mercanti.

Photos by Elaine Anselmi.

Terroni 720 Queen St. W 416-504-0320 Sun. to Thu. 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Fri. to Sat. 9 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.

Number of seats: 234 No reservations.

57 Adelaide St. E 416-203-3093 Mon. to Wed. 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Thu. to Sat. 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Number of seats: 368 Reservations available.

The Pedigree: “Terroni was started by my brother Cosimo and his best friend (now deceased) Paolo Scoppio,” says general manager Vince Mammoliti.

“What started as two guys, a coffee machine, a fooseball table and a lot of passion evolved with family, friends and loyal patrons to what you see today, 21 years later.” The group has also made inroads into the American market, with a second Los Angeles location opening in the next four months. Forno del sud, a Terroni bakery, is also opening this spring close to the Queen West location, where a variety of naturally leavened breads, roman style stirata and pizza by the slice will be sold. “We have been making our own inhouse cakes for years now, so the progression is only natural,” he says.

The Menu: “We don’t consider our pizza authentic Neapolitan, and we’ve never claimed it to be. We know it’s different,” says Mammoliti. “Our pizza has always been this way, a much thinner,

1095 Yonge St. 416-925-4020 Sun. to Wed. 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Thu. to Sat. 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Number of seats: 455 Reservations available. terroni.com. @terronito Average food check: $35 drink, tax and tip included.

Left: Terroni’s margherita pizza.

Right: PIzza cook at Terroni’s Queen location. Photos by Elaine Anselmi.

SOCAN_CRFA trade show 2013_pressready.pdf

1

1/18/13

crispier crust than the traditional pizza napoletana. Nevertheless we use authentic ingredients, 00 flour from a little flour mill in the Marche region in Italy, DOP tomatoes from Campania.”

The olive oil is pressed by a close friend in Puglia who grows his own olives and presses them exclusively for the restaurant, the chocolate for many of the desserts comes from the oldest producer in Piedmont, and coffee beans are shipped from a roaster in Rome. “We try to import as much as possible because we like to ensure quality, authenticity of origin, and at the same time, price,” says Mammoliti The margherita is always the classic and most requested, but many of the other popular pizzas have a story or are named after a family member, says Mammoliti. Some items have been on the menu as long as the restaurant has been open, such as the smendozzata with gorgonzola and homemade sausage, and the San Giorgio (named after the hometown of the Mammoliti parents) with spicy calabrese salami, mushrooms, tomato and mozzarella.

“We focus a lot of our energy on the dough production because it is what defines the pizza,” says Mammoliti.

The Philosophy: “We celebrated our 20th year in

2012 with a philosophy that has not changed,” says Mammoliti. “We are about tradition and authenticity: simple, southern Italian food and recipes we do not mess around with.”

Terroni famously does not allow changes to its dishes. The website warns “our menu is filled with regional Italian dishes that have been prepared the same way for generations. So out of respect for Italian gastronomy—and our Grandparents— we maintain a no-modifications, no-substitutions policy.”

“We understand the importance of a consistent product, no matter what day or which location you dine at,” says Mammoliti. “It’s extremely important.”

3:29 PM

Food for thought

Do you use music in your business?

C

M

SOCAN will be on hand at the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association(CRFA) Trade Show, taking place from March 3 – 5, at the Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place, Toronto, Ontario to connect you to virtually the entire world’s repertoire of music for use in your business.

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

Visit SOCAN at Booth #1645 and get answers to any questions you might have about getting the right music licence required.

You can also call us now at 1.866.944.6210 or go to socan.ca to find out more.

@SOCANmusic SOCANmusic

socan.ca

www.can-restaurantnews.com

14 |

O N TA R I O R E S TAU R A N T N E W S

Having a nocturnal drink with a tarantula in Ottawa to be made once ordered and it’s said. “You can have a drink and and its galleries will be open made to be eaten standing up,” she chat with them about what it was for the event, said Iberg, alsaid. lowing for an occupancy of a like in the Arctic shooting the rapWith menu items such as few thousand people if necesids and crossing polar bears.”

The museum already houses cheeseburger spring rolls, and sary. a café and offers a venue rental macaroni and cheese balls, Iberg A DJ and dance floor will said the team took the idea of comservice since the in-house caterer, be set up in the glass tower fort food, but made in a new way.

Gourmet Cuisine, already holds lithat is the central architecThe no-stress foodservice is tural feature of the museum, censing for food and beverage serintended to allow guests to enjoy vice in the space. and in the mammal room, While there is no age restrictheir food or drink and go on examongst traditional dioramas ploring the rest of the and dim lighting, a classical guitar “We’ve brought in lots of little elements offerings.

“With every galplayer will set the that speak to different ways people might lery, we’ve added a tone. little twist to it,” said Five or six bars want to experience the museum.”

Iberg. will be in opera“We’ve brought in tion amongst the Cynthia Iberg, project lead lots of little elements rooms, serving up that speak to different Bowes beer on tap, The glass structure at the centre of the Museum of Nature transforms into a ways people might want to experition at the door, guests will have to as well as a drink created for the dance floor for the evening of Nature Nocturne events. Photo by Brian Scott. ence the museum,” she said. event, the Mexican red-knee – show ID to order drinks.

Each event will offer different “We’ve been working really hard to named after a type of tarantula.

By Elaine Anselmi opportunity to welcome people make really easy price points, so it’s not installations that add to the muA VIP bar is set up to alinto the museum and get outside seum’s regular gallery and displays, leviate line-ups at the various bars, a complicated process,” said Iberg.

OTTAWA—Flora, flauna and food of our traditional focus of famiand were selected through the Nuit The food and beverage service and will be open to guests who text are on the bill at the Canadian Mulies and children,” said Cynthia Blanche organization. an SMS code found on event postis based on a grab-and-go model Iberg, project lead for Nature seum of Nature.

Iberg noted that a benefit of rethat allows guests to enjoy the iners, said Iberg.

On the fourth Friday of evNocturne. stallations as well as foodservice. cruiting these artists is that they’ve At another bar, some of the muery month, from January through “It’s a way to discover the muexperienced the expedient set up seums more adventurous research“We’re going with what we’re callApril, the museum will host Nature seum in a new way, and in a new and teardown that will be a necesing a food truck style,” said Iberg. ers will be talking about their adNocturne after regular hours. state of mind,” she said.

“It’s quick and easy, you won’t sity of this “there one night, gone ventures in the Arctic, said Iberg.

“We’ve been looking for an The majority of the museum in the morning,” event.

“It’s a bar, not a lecture,” she be waiting a long time for things

Northern restaurants get a funding boost

Gordon Food Service® 2013 Spring Food, Tabletop & Supplies Show

April 10, 2013, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Toronto Congress Centre Halls A, B, and C

For more information, contact your Gordon Food Service® representative at 1-800-268-0159.

KENORA, ON—Two restaurants in the area of Kenora–Rainy River, ON have qualified for funding from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC). Through a series of funding programs, the NOHFC is supporting local businesses and economic development in the North.

There are seven programs under which businesses can apply for funding. Both Finland Corners Family Restaurant of Emo, ON and Bijou Steakhouse in Kenora, ON qualified under the Northern Ontario Entrepreneur program that offers a maximum funding of $125,000, Michelle Lavoie of the NOHFC communications branch told ORN. Finland Corners received funding of $44,000 to expand its 30-seat restaurant and attached convenience store.

The Bijou Steakhouse, which opened in September of 2012, received the maximum funding for its 55-seat operation. “We’re a young family with two kids and another on the way and it blessed us to be able to realize our dreams and open up a great place of dining and live music in the place we love,”owner David Caissy told ORN. Prior to purchasing the building, Caissy and his wife had planned to move back to their native

Montreal. “We saw this opportunity and saw this space,” he said. “It changed our lives, really.”

The funding is generally given half as a repayable loan and half as a conditional contribution, said Lavoie. With a conditional contribution, the amount is not paid back as long as certain provisions are met, such as offering employment and opportunities within the community.

Caissy said his funding was largely based on the tourism potential Bijou brought to Kenora.

The building that once housed the Bijou theatre – the restaurant’s namesake – offers a stage and mezzanine level, making it a favourable location for concerts and movies.

Bijoux saw Gordie Johnson play for three nights with Wide Mouth Mason, and also hosts dinner and movie nights.

Caissy said the success of Bijou has been overwhelming and he’ll be adding a 60-seat patio this summer.

Rick Bartolucci, minister of Northern Development and Mines, and chair of the NOHFC said, “Our support is helping to put the dream of business ownership within the reach of many northerners and encouraging a new generation to build their futures close to home.”

| 15

www.can-restaurantnews.com

A new location for Melt TORONTO—A new Melt Grilled Cheese location is set to open at 300 Richmond St. in February.

Operator and owner Barb Kiss said that the new location will cater to a downtown crowd. This will be the third location opened up in just a year for the shop that offers a BLT, and the tattooed chicken meal in addition to their grilled cheese specialties. Melt Grilled Cheese’s two other locations are found on Lakeshore in Etobicoke, and a franchise location in Upper Oakville Mall.

“It’s the same concept, but it’s a little bit different,” said Kiss. She said that the new location will have longer operating hours, and may stay open until 3 a.m. on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays to accommodate the night owl customers of the entertainment district.

As for menu choices, Kiss said that it is constantly being tweaked.

The new location near John and Richmond will offer more healthy foods, and a wider selection of salads.

While this new location will

be corporate-owned, Melt Grilled Cheese is looking to franchise more locations in the GTA, such as its current Oakville location at 1011 Upper Middle Rd. E. “We would love to open up to 10 new Melt Grilled Cheese locations by the end of the year,” said Kiss.

Each Melt Grilled Cheese location has an identifiable taupe/grey and orange interior decor. The new location will have stainless steel finishes, a tile backsplash, and a modern-chic environment, according to Kiss.

Hockey nights in restaurants again TORONTO—The end of a 113-day NHL lockout has given hockey fans and some restaurateurs reason to celebrate.

The resolution, announced on Jan. 6, meant that bars and restaurants that rely on game day traffic happily welcomed returning sports fans as of Jan. 19.

According to a Moneris Solutions report released on Jan. 23, credit card spending at bars and restaurants was up nearly nine per cent, over a six-hour period around opening game time in cities that had home ice.

Vancouver saw a particularly high increase of nearly 20 per cent, compared to same time period the previous weekend, followed by Winnipeg’s 10 per cent increase for the Jets puck drop.

Despite not hosting a home game on the opening Saturday night, Toronto drinking establishments saw an increase of approximately 12 per cent, according to Moneris.

During the lockout, a Dec. 4.

Moneris report showed that foodservice establishments in close proximity to NHL arenas saw an average decrease of more than 11 per cent in spending when com-

pared to game days during the 2011 season.

In particular, bars and pubs saw a drop of nearly 35 per cent in Canadian hockey cities: Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal.

Some cities saw a stronger effect than others. Fast food establishments surrounding Edmonton’s Rexall Place lost 27 per cent of sales compared to last year, while Toronto and Montreal also suffered major losses of approximately 20 per cent at bars and restaurants surrounding their home ice.

“While the NHL hockey lockout hurt many Canadian merchants, the return of the season – albeit shortened – is a welcome boost to their pocketbooks,” said Malcolm Fowler, vice-president of marketing for Moneris Solutions. “We anticipate that merchants will continue to reap the economic benefits of these games until the end of the season.”

Read the news when you want and how you want www.can-restaurantnews.com

6 |

O N TA R I O R E S TA U R A N T N E W S

A

“Once you’ve blended it, the spices can smell great and everything, but depending on the juices of the meat and how it cooks, everything changes,” she says.

Dash

of Wisdom

By Elaine Anselmi, assistant editor

S

ervice, atmosphere and price points aside, the one thing that keeps customers coming in the door is flavour. Good food translates to good sales and while starting off with top-of-the-line ingredients

helps, it’s what you do with them that counts. Using spices goes a long way to creating a flavour profile that will keep customers coming back for more.

Many chefs safeguard their recipe for the perfect spice blend, whether it’s for a sweet and salty barbecue rub, to put some punch into root vegetables, or the colonel’s secret recipe. In the world of secret spices, it’s every chef for him (or her) self.

So, what goes into creating that perfect blend, beyond a lot of practice, creativity and experimentation? ORN talked to industry experts to help you spice up your menu options.

Know your spice rack

1.

They say you have to know the rules before you can break them. When it comes to playing with flavours and mixing spices, the same ideology applies.

“You’ve got to understand your staples and your flavour attributes,” explains Juriaan Snellen, corporate chef for H.J. Heinz Company of Canada. Knowing the characteristics of each spice takes the guesswork out of tweaking flavours and working towards a specific flavour profile.

If a chef is looking for heat in a sauce that is more of a back note, the common choice is black pepper, says Snellen. In order to build a heat that hits the palate up front, cayenne would be the better choice.

There are no hard-fast rules of spice

2.

blending, says Allison Johnston, owner As a globof the Spicer Trader and The Olive Pit. al company, Johnston, whose store carries more McCormick than 100 spices and blends, says that has a broad blending is really more of an art. range of resources and She says that a good place to start knowledge on foods of rience,” Romis with amalgamating spices such as the world, says Mcbos says. paprika, fennel, thyme or marjoram. Cormick Canada’s It’s important “I always think of it in terms of paint- executive chef, Mito look at the characing: think of that as your base coat chael Cloutier. Depending on the inand then start to accent with different tended flavour, Cloutier says he will col- teristics of a protein to understand things, such as strong herbs or things laborate with his counterparts abroad what spices, as well as what quantities of that spice, it can carry without its with heat you’d use less of,” she says. as well as using his own knowledge of own flavour being masked by a bar“If you’re really creating some- that cuisine. thing from scratch, proportions are “Some of it is just knowing what rage of seasonings.

Rombos says that the quantity of really what makes something stand spices and herbs go together to deliver out,” says Johnston. a certain quality as far as flavours are spices he uses varies depending on the meat.

“It’s really all about balance.” concerned,” says Cloutier.

Go heavy on the spicing with Knowing your spices also allows a Jennifer Houston, executive chef chef to create this balance in a spice for Toronto-based vegetarian chain pork: salt, paprika, pepper and any blend. Preenah Chauhan, co-owner Fresh, says she draws on various fla- combo after that, even cayenne in of Arvinda’s artisanal Indian spice vours from around the world to cre- small amounts (Rombos uses a secret blends, says that learning your spices ate new blends that aren’t commonly combination of spices). He says this and their flavours is key to using them found. “Sometimes I stand in front of heavy meat can handle a lot of spice, effectively. all my spices and think ‘what would and in his own kitchen, he uses close Arvinda’s supplies 45 foodservice go well together?’ And then I try it,” to 10 spices.

On beef, stay heavy on the salt but clients with pre-mixed spice blends, she says. “Sometimes it works and ease up on the pepper. Rombos says he’ll allowing those not well-versed in tra- sometimes it doesn’t.” ditional Indian cooking to share in The goal is to find flavours and even marinate sometimes or just use a the strong flavours of curry, masala quantities of spices that work to- sauce, but it’s really all about the marand tandoori. gether rather than battling it out in a bling, texture and flavour of the meat.

Lighten up on the spices for chick“Spices are the building blocks of culinary showdown. en. White meat dries out easily, so Indian cooking,” says ChauRombos says he goes with han, who has been working lighter spices and mariwith spices for so long that nades to keep it moist but it’s intuitive. Pre-made spice still flavourful. blends, however, allow chefs Make sure the amount to explore exotic cuisines with of spicing you use is proporspecific spice notes, and also tional to your base. “While build off of traditional flayou never want an aftertaste vours in a new way.

David Neinstein, with your meat, something Chauhan says that a lot of chefs may not be incorowner and executive chef, Barque that tingles the senses is good,” says Rombos. porating Arvinda’s spices as Smokehouse Meat isn’t the only protein they would traditionally be to get the spice treatment and used, instead bringing their chefs have to be equally aware own backgrounds and culiof the vegetable or legume type they’re nary skills in unique ways such as ususing and how it works with spice. ing an Indian spiced filling on a soft Back to basics When it comes to spices, there is Before getting swept up into the shell taco or taking tandoori masala – typically used on chicken – and add- vivid colours and strong scents of the a huge difference between meat and spice rack, don’t forget to think about vegetables, says Chauhan. “Veggies, ing it to a dark chocolate.

As well, Chauhan says, with an the base. Be it meat, vegetables, le- lentils and beans are so much more increased awareness of healthy eating gumes or another protein, the vehicle delicate than meat.”

This doesn’t mean that different chefs are using Indian spices in dishes for flavour being used plays a very with a grain like quinoa, that would important role in determining what bases cannot carry the same flavour, types and amounts of spice will work. just that it will require an adjustment not be found in an Indian kitchen.

Tim Rombos, owner and chef at in quantity that is fitting to that base.

Experimentation and creativity with spices not only allows for pro- Big Bone BBQ and Wicked Wings in Chauhan adds madras masala to carrot ducing new flavours but opens the Newmarket, ON, says that when de- soup, but in small amounts so as not to overwhelm the rest of the flavours. veloping his rubs and recipes he was door for the less adventurous cus“Something like lamb is so strong tomers to order something comfort- very conscious of what type of meat able and familiar, like a soft taco, with he was cooking. “Ultimately, what we it can handle a lot of spice,” says were trying to achieve was making the Chauhan. “However, the same blend a hint of something new.

Creating blends in specific ethnic meat taste good on its own, even before could be used for both meat and vegtraditions is a large part of the spice the sauce process gets involved,” he says. etables, just in different amounts.”

It’s important to be conscious of The key is creating a balance bemarket, says Anna Stolee, director of marketing for McCormick Canada. tween good quality meat and the fla- how the spice interacts with the base, These blends can take 15 to 20 ingredi- vour that works with it but doesn’t says Johnston. She’ll create a rub inents, she says, and with specific quanti- overpower it. “We strive for a food tended for beef but try it on chicken, ties and ingredients that are not easily quality that stands on its own, com- fish or something else and it can work plementing it with a light sauce expe- in an entirely different way. sourced, this can be quite a feat.

“The trick is using fresh spices, and good quality ingredients. And then, just experiment.”–

From fractions to foodservice

| 7

www.can-restaurantnews.com

N O V E M B E R 2 01 2

Neinstein says it is buying fresh ingredients and grinding it in house daily that is Barque’s differentiating factor.

He also swears by kosher salt to fill the third quadrant of his rubs but switches up the sugar and spice depending on the meat. While Neinstein now trusts his hand with spices enough to deviate slightly from the rule of thirds, he maintains that the biggest key to great food and happy customers is consistency.

Rombos says, at Big Bones BBQ, recipes are down to the teaspoon.

“This whole recipe and formula, it really took years to find the balance that we were looking for,” he says. “At some point, you do find the recipe that becomes you.”

Houston says that sauces, soups, dressings and mixes are made in one place, then sent off to the three Fresh locations.

“We measure everything so that we can make things exactly the same every time,” she says.

3.

Johnston says it is the ratios that set these cooking styles apart. While East Indian cooking would use the largest portion of turmeric out of the three, other culinary styles weigh heavier on other flavours.

While cooking need not be The customer knows best an entirely mathematical equaWhen Barque Smokehouse first tion, some understanding of ratios opened, Neinstein was on the floor and certainly measurements allows every night asking one person after for using spices with success and conanother what they thought of the sistency in the kitchen. When cooking food. While reactions to the menu on a larger scale, this becomes even will vary, it’s a good way to find out more challenging, but well worth the what’s too hot, what’s too subtle and time to help chefs repeat their posiwhat just isn’t working at all. tive results.

“You have to take it with a grain of Neinstein says that when mixing salt,” says Neinstein. spices at Toronto’s Barque He goes by the numSmokehouse, he uses a bers, and if he gets rule of thirds to help keep the same response flavours in line.

“A rub is a balance of – Michael Cloutier, executive chef, repeatedly, he takes it into account. He sweet and salty,” he says.

McCormick Canada says these unbiased “A third salt, a third sugar, opinions on flavour and a third spice.” alleviate the palate Neinstein says that fatigue that can deMeasurement is key both in ensurworking off that ratio, he has experimented on thousands of pounds of ing consistency and in maintaining velop in the test kitchen. While some meat and currently employs four dis- the intended flavour profile. Johnston of Neinstein’s recipes are now fully continct rubs on the average day. He still gives the example of what she calls the ceived, he says it took months of mixing flavours and chatting with diners and Holy Trinity of East Indian cooking: works with new flavour profiles for feature dishes and specials, but his favou- turmeric, cumin and coriander. This there’s still a lot to learn.

“At the moment I would call mytrio is the backbone of traditional rite four are a constant.

“Once I found a flavour profile [that Indian dishes but also prevalent in self a student of spice,” he says.

Arvinda’s works closely with their Moroccan and East African cooking.

I liked],” Neinstein says, “I stuck to it.”

“Taste is king.”

foodservice clients to create spice blends catered to their liking. “We make everything to order, there’s no inventory on stock,” says Chauhan. She works with the customer to develop the flavour they’re looking for, sometimes this means kicking up the spice or making it more subtle.

Rombos says the cooking style at Big Bones BBQ developed over time but was largely influenced by the demand of his clientele.

“In a lot of ways, it’s a bit counter to what you might find in the southern states,” he says.

Rombos says he adjusted the traditional approach to better fit the tastes of the Canadian consumer. He found that leaner meats (and a subsequently adjusted rub) were the ways to go.

Houston says, at Fresh, she uses customer feedback and gauges the popularity of a dish before it earns a spot on the menu.

“Whenever I come up with something new that I want to try out, we have it as a monthly special,” she says.

“If it is a success and is quick and easy for the kitchen to do, we’ll bring it on the menu next time we change it.”

After all, while the chef knows best, the customers know what they want to eat.

4.

Get the most out of your spices From supplier to chef, it’s important that spices are handled with care. The Spice Trader’s Allison Johnston gives some tips on maximizing the shelf life and the flavour of spices.

Keep ’em cool The key to maintaining the full profile of spices is keeping them in a cool, dark place.

Pantries and cupboards – as long as they aren’t above or adjacent to a heat source – offer the ideal environment for spices, says Johnston.

As well, she suggests airtight tins rather than clear glass jars, as they act as an extra barrier against light.

And don’t even think about a plastic bag that offers neither an airtight seal nor protection against light.

Johnston warns against the possibility that bulk bins of spices have spent an unknown amount of time exposed to the air and light. She says in countries where you find spice markets with bins full of every flavour, these spices are constantly being used and the turnover is high enough that they aren’t sitting out for long periods. Here in Canada, she says, this just isn’t the way we cook and spices can sometimes sit in bins and then on shelves for years.

Know when to let go It’s rare to find a spice container with an expiry date since they do have a longer shelf life than most foods, but this doesn’t mean that they don’t have one, says Johnston.

Whole spices: Johnston recommends three to five years depending on how and where they’ve been kept.

For herbs and ground spices: approximately one year.

Johnston says the best way to tell if a spice is still up for the job is to taste it. Smelling can be deceiving because the container it’s kept in tends to take on some of the spice’s scent.

Johnston says to think of a ground spice as an octave: if the top and bottom notes are lost, it’s time to replenish.

McCormick’s 2012 flavour forecast: Since 2000, McCormick has been putting together a forecast of the coming trends in flavours and spices, says Anna Stolee, director of marketing, McCormick Canada. This year, for the first time the company brought together executive chefs from their offices around the world to create a global forecast, says Stolee.The above graphic shows the company’s predictions for what our taste buds have in store.

PRINT

Ontario Restaurant News, Canada’s only monthly magazine serving the foodservice and restaurant industry, brings you the news and in-depth analysis to your desk every month. Our tabloid size, full-colour magazine provides you with Canada’s most reliable source of the latest news.

Photo credit: 1. Zsuzsanna Kilian 2. Zsuzsanna Kilian 3. Jill Chen for Barque Smokehouse 4. Florin Garoi

WEB

The website for Ontario Restaurant News is being re-launched March 1st with an exciting new look along with daily updates. The news you can trust from the publishers of Canada’s most read foodservice magazine, Ontario Restaurant News.

Visit us March 1

DIGITAL MAGAZINE

The same product as the print edition served up on your computer, tablet/iPad or smart phone, so you can read anywhere, anytime. A high-quality, page-turning digital magazine is available now. More ways to get the breaking news and in-depth coverage that you need from Canada’s most reliable source.

w w w . o n t a r i o r e s t a u r a n t n e w s . c o m

Photo by Shannah Pace.

F E B R U A RY 2 013

DE C ODI NG TH E D ATA

Chasing

the coffee consumer

By Ian Wilson

Market overview of coffee

C

offee continued to be a huge success. The coffee segment represented 2.2 billion restaurant servings nationally, which was the top menu item.

Coffee continued its momentum last year with four per cent growth, which outpaced the two per cent growth of the foodservice market. Canadians continued their love of coffee with 37 per cent of restaurant occasions including coffee. This far exceeded our southerly neighbours, as the United States consumers only purchased coffee at restaurants eight per cent of the time.

While coffee at restaurants represented significant business last year in Canada, it remained small in comparison to the “at home” (AH) coffee industry.

Canadians drank almost two-thirds of their coffee consumption from coffee brewed in the household. As the fierce battle from “out of home” (OOH) coffee operators continued, many of the top players focussed greatly on the lucrative “at home” market.

Who is the “at home” coffee consumer?

The “at home” coffee consumer is very similar to the “out of home” consumer, as coffee drinkers tend to switch back and forth.

In fact, only 21 per cent of coffee drinkers solely consumed the beverage “at home” compared to 14 per cent who exclusively purchased coffee “out of the home”.

This coffee consumer

drinks ten cups per week and is predominantly male.

Overall, coffee consumption increases with age. However, increased future consumption of coffee is expected from the AH consumer. This is one of the reasons that top coffee manufacturers have aggressively pursued this market. In targeting this group, it is important to know the consumer.

Similar to the OOH consumer, the AH consumer predominantly drinks brewed coffee 80 per cent of the time and they are brand loyal. However, the top reason for drinking more AH coffee was to spend less on OOH coffee. As well, the AH consumer will switch brands over price making this market very price sensitive.

The future of “at home” coffee consumption

Devices Length of Ownership and % of Device Owners 78% 31% 20% 18% 21% 11%

To understand the future of AH coffee consumption, one should understand the present situation first. The automatic drip NPD Custom Research Proprietary and Confidential machine is currently owned by 78 per cent consumers seem willing to pay extra for noon and evening dayparts have witnessed of households, while the single serve mathese attributes. increased coffee consumption.

The single chines are found in 31 per cent of houseserve machine also allows the consumer holds. to make a cup of coffee exactly the same Ian Wilson is a director of client develThe automatic drip machine has been each time. opment in the foodservice industry for the the more traditional method to brew fresh NPD Group. The NPD Group has more than As well, coffee pods have increased the coffee. While it is important for coffee variety as it is easier for consumers to ex25 years experience in providing consumermanufacturers to continue to drive sales based market information for the foodserperiment with different types and flavours of their coffee through the automatic drip of coffee on a regular basis.

While the sinvice industry. For more info, visit www.npd. machine, the future is in single serve. gle serve machines may cost more money, com or contact ian.wilson@npd.com.

The demand for single serve machines has continued to increase.

Convenience/ ufacturers to branch out into many flavoured The Top Coffee Competitors ease of use coffees as well. All sorts of flavours The top coffee competitors from a ranked as the from the more common French retail perspective have started to top reason vanilla to chocolate and butbattle it out in the single serve consumers terscotch are available. coffee arena. have switched As well, Starbucks reTim Hortons, Starbucks to this macently introduced their and Van Houtte have all enchine. As a reown single serve machine tered the single serve market sult, the afterwith Verismo. This techwith brewed coffee pods. nology can provide a Starbucks and Van Houtte Starbucks brewed are available through Keurig, coffee, as well which tends to offer conas lattes and sumers a wide selection of espressos. brands.

T h e Tim Hortons recentsingle ly signed with Tassimo, s e r v e which will certainly boost market is Tassimo’s business in Canvery comada. petitive, and While all these differinnovation will be ent brands offer a traditional key to success in this inbrewed coffee roast, the single dustry. serve machine has allowed these man-

F E B R U A RY 2 013

| 17

www.can-restaurantnews.com

More than token effort to feed the hungry

By Leslie Wu TORONTO—Chef Rod Bowers wants to share a new way to feed the hungry.

A token for sandwiches program that is already running at Vancouver’s Save On Meats is making its way to the lower Roncesvalles neighbourhood of Toronto at Bowers’ Hey restaurant.

Customers can purchase a token that can then be distributed to the disadvantaged, to exchange for a sandwich at the window of Hey. “People can buy the token, knowing that no matter what, that money is going to help feed people, and go to charity,” said Bowers to ORN. The sandwiches will still line up with the Hey philosophy of hormone and antibiotic-free meats. “We want to give them real food,” he said.

The program in Vancouver is not without its detractors. Social activists and academics in both cities said the token program fosters the idea that the homeless can’t be trusted with money and is dehumanizing. Bowers has a different idea.

“We have die-hard anti-poverty activists in Toronto, and that’s great, we need those people in this community. But you know what’s dehumanizing? Hungry people,” he said.

He thinks that the token program will result in more people being fed than with just a cash handout, and a practical way to get food to the end user. “We don’t walk around with a dozen burritos to give out,” he pointed out, adding that people on the street might be skeptical of food given to them.

Save on Meats’ proprietor Mark Brand told ORN that he had originally hoped that 50 of the

1,000 tokens he printed would be redeemed a week. Now, he sees 700 of them in that time.

Unlike the program in Vancouver, Bowers is seeking sponsorship.

“I want to make it as affordable as possible, and the extra cash will go back to the community,” he said. “It’s not something I’m looking to profit on, just cover costs.”

One of the sponsors that’s in discussions with Bowers is Boulart, a bread company out of Lachine, PQ. Bowers is also looking to other suppliers to pitch in with the project.

“I want to offer a sandwich that has carbs, protein and a bit of fat,” said Bowers.

Hey, located at 89 Roncesvalles Ave., was built as a community restaurant, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. Bowers plans to test out the program there by this summer.

“I always have to tread a fine line between being a businessman and being charitable,” he said. “I’ll have to see what works, but I put a lot

Rod Bowers is taking on a token program at Hey restaurant.

of thought into this project. I have a restaurant that’s selling to this community, and I don’t want to ignore the social issues in our neighbourhood.”

Bowers is also looking to bring his Hey Meatball concept from Toronto to St. John’s by the end of May, although some tweaks to the

Newfoundland menu might include items such as salt cod balls.

Renovations will start in two months.

He is also in talks to do another small concept space in St. John’s, potentially a fish restaurant. Bowers hopes to have both concepts up and running by the summer.

The secret ingredient to success and winning a trip for two!

A taste of Portugal Contest!

Share your favourite recipes featuring Bonduelle and Arctic Gardens vegetables. www.bonduellecontest.ca

A

$

5,v0alu0e! 0

Rules and prizes description at www.bonduellecontest.ca. Contest ends March 31, 2013. No purchase required.

12-12_ACT_Pub_Bonduelle_Horiz_10x6,5_ang.indd 1

12-12-17 1:35 PM

SERVE UP HD SERVE UP MORE BEER By upgrading to HD entertainment, you can turn your bar, pub or restaurant into a destination for sports fans and office workers looking to relax and unwind. Best Buy for Business can design, install and maintain HD video systems – everything from TVs and projectors to video walls. Need a new audio or control system?

We can do that, too.

Upgrading is amazingly simple and affordable. ZeeVee’s HD modulators use your existing coax cabling to distribute HD shows and videos to any number of HDTVs for one low price. You’ll enjoy improved channel lineup, customer traffic, and food and drinks sales.

Visit us March 3 – 5 at the CRFA Show Booth 1817 www.BestBuy.ca/BBFB Email us at forbusiness@BestBuyCanada.ca or call us at 1.877.423.3429 to discuss your A/V needs today.

UPGRADING TO HD IS EASY WITH ZEEVEE HDbridge Rack Chassis x2 with 8 channels each

Single coax wire carries all channels

Satellite Receivers

12

Component video and digital audio

4:1 splitter as combiner

9dB amplifier

12

Digital Signage Player VGA video

ZvBox 170

ZeeVee enables you to bring HD programming into every HDTV in your bar, dining room and gaming room areas.

If your restaurant is already wired with coaxial cable, there’s no need to rewire the rooms or buy specialized and costly gear – use your existing wiring system to broadcast more than 100 channels simultaneously.

SETUP IS EASY: • Hook up a satellite receiver or cable box to a HDbridge Rack Chassis • Connect a digital player or PC to a ZvBox for in-house content • Combine RF outputs into one coax cable – splitters throughout your facility will tap the coax for each TV

Visit us March 3 – 5 at the CRFA Show Booth 1817 www.BestBuy.ca/BBFB Email us at forbusiness@BestBuyCanada.ca or call us at 1.877.423.3429 to discuss your A/V needs today.

On the Road again

By Elaine Anselmi and Leslie Wu

P

erhaps the familiar melody of the ice cream truck driving up the road is just a memory of earlier years, and doesn’t hold the same trigger of excitement for school kids of this era.

With the number of mobile food options available, can you blame them?

There’s a new generation of movable food operations that offer up everything from tradi-

The big idea After getting snowed in on a backpacking trip through the Himalayas, best friends Ryan Slater and Zac Berman waited in the town of Manang for yaks to clear the way out. The unforeseeable circumstance led the two to the high-altitude berry, seabuckthorn, that Slater says doesn’t taste the best, but is packed with nutrients and is blended into juices in the region for its strong nutritional value.

Gaining a respect for both the individual ingredients and final product of smoothies and juice blends, Slater says they made it a mission to try as many juice stands as possible as they continued through India and Nepal.

“India is filled with juice stands. Like a coffee bar, they’re a sort of gathering point for locals,” says Slater.

“When we got back to Vancouver, a passion for juice and smoothies blossomed.” The two opened The Juice Truck for business in July of 2011. We spent four months in [Berman’s] mom’s kitchen, literally trying everything,” says Slater. “We tried every variety of apple,

tional desserts, hot dogs and fries to a kimchi-topped taco with a side of udon noodle soup.

And chances are, if you look, you can probably find that hot dog topped with kimchi as well.

“We’re reaching culinary adolescence in the city, shedding our shyness in what we’re capable of doing and showing our multiculturalism,” says Suresh Doss, publisher of Spotlight Toronto and one

figured out the flavours, and now we have a black ‘holy grail’ bible of every combo we made.”

The opportunity for experimentation is a strong draw for many entering into the food truck industry. El Gastronomo Vagabundo, based in St. Catharines, ON is largely seen as an originator of gourmet food truck concepts, and came about in theory approximately three years ago, says co-owner Tamara Jensen. “My partner [Adam HynamSmith], who is a professional chef, was working in a restaurant at the time, playing around with different menu items.” She says the idea of a gourmet taco truck appealed to them because it gave them the freedom to work with different types of fillings and different styles.

The idea was based on gourmet tacos that were easy to eat on the street, says Jensen. “We’ve added things here and there, but we’re still really known for our tacos,” she says. Additional menu items have included seasonal salads, soups, Korean bbq wings and banh mi sandwiches.

“We switch things up quite often, so people will try something new and have a new favourite dish,” she says. “But, there’s some people who just like their staples.

They’ll come when they can get that.”

At the time of El Gastro’s in-

of the driving forces behind bringing food trucks to Canadian cities.

He points to trucks such as Gourmet Gringo, and Tide and Vine as examples of operators that have a business model that combines both staple items and the room to experiment.

Doss feels that operators are starting to see the real potential behind offering different items at food trucks, rather than stick-

ception, Jensen says there were no gourmet food trucks in Canada, but trucks in New York and Los Angeles were starting to get recognition. “We looked into it and realized it would be a bit of a challenge since the rules didn’t really exist yet, but we thought why not give it a go and take a risk.”

Also seeing a gap in the market for fresh-to-order seafood – something some would think was in abundance in the Atlantic provinces – Ryan MacIsaac introduced Dartmouth and the Halifax Regional Municipality to The Battered Fish.

“We wanted to do gourmet seafood in a fast-casual environment,” says MacIsaac. “At first the plan was to do festivals and events, and tour Nova Scotia to get our name out and get people knowing our food.”

The truck’s business grew steadily, offering Digby clams, scallops and haddock as well as fries and its own line of pop, says MacIsaac. Since its first food truck, The Battered Fish has now expanded into four concepts, foodcourt installments, a hut on the Halifax Harbour and a standalone restaurant.

“Our slogan is ‘always fresh, always to order,’” he says, and this largely underlines the concept of the brand. “A lot of places cook everything in the morning and re-cook it when it’s ordered,” says

ing with tried and true favourites, “We’re starting to see the second wave come through.”

Food trucks have been enlisted to cater events, to market pre-existing brick and mortar brands and to offer a creative outlet for chefs and foodies across the country.

They may have four wheels in place of a bricks and mortar foundation, but that doesn’t mean they’re rolling away anytime soon.

MacIsaac. “Ours gets dipped in batter when ordered, and then dipped in the fryer, and that concept hasn’t changed.”

Finding a unique spot in the market has proved a successful backer for food truck concepts.

Calgary food truck, Perogy Boyz, was founded on the theory that “short of a Ukrainian wedding or church service, it’s hard to find a good perogy,” says owner, Curtis Berry.

Perogy Boyz offers a traditional perogy, served with bacon and sour cream, as well as some twists such as a perogy poutine with cheese curds and bacon gravy, and nacho perogies with salsa and taco cheese.

While perogies remain the focus of the menu on Berry’s truck, he says it has undergone several changes including a new perogy supplier to bring down costs, and limiting the styles of perogies used, to cut down on wait-times.

“In the first year of operation, we served over 300,000 hand pinched perogies,” says Berry.

That year came with a lot of lessons on best practice, economics and efficiency.

Having a strong concept that appeals to a broad demographic is an important starting point for a food truck operator, but the ability to maintain that concept while learning and adapting is essential.

What they’re made of Before food trucks were legal in Calgary, Curtis Berry headed down to California to purchase a $100,000 truck that would become the home of Perogy Boyz.

While it was a risky gamble, Berry says it paid off, “It was the perfect truck for us in terms of what we needed to cook perogies, we just had to have our branding put on it.”

The process was pretty quick, says Berry, who purchased the truck in July and following inspections, branding and putting a menu in place, was open for business at a Calgary food truck festival in August.

The process is not always so expedient when starting from scratch, or if there is a significant amount of customization involved. As well, Barry notes that even after the acquisition of the truck he made a significant investment into upgrades to comply with codes.

Terry Sauve, owner of Kitchens on Wheels, says he has built the majority of food trucks parked along the streets of the Greater Toronto Area and Ottawa, from his shop in Alexandria, ON. He says the process takes approximately two months from the day he gets the order, but this can fluctuate depending on the time of year and demand.

The cost of a food truck can also inflate drastically depending on the requirements of the operator. Sauve says modern trucks are actually more elaborate than some restaurant kitchens, with electronics and high-end equipment.

“The average truck before was around $30,000, now it can be anywhere from $60,000 to $100,000,” says Sauve.

“These days, 75 per cent of trucks are in the $70,000 margin.”

One of Sauve’s first builds was the El Gastronomo Vagabundo truck. “We told [Sauve] what equipment we wanted,” says Jensen. “He outfitted it in case we wanted to add equipment in the future.”

Jensen says they make use of their space in their facility by stationing off the truck for larger events and having one person at each station making specific items. As well, she says there is always one person who deals specifically with cash handling and not food.

Being the first on the Canadian food truck scene, Jensen says the trucks Sauve is working on now are much more involved than El Gastro’s first order.

Since acquiring The Battered Fish truck, MacIsaac says he has gone through numerous modifications to accommodate the demands of business, and the way they cook products to order.

An upgraded fryer was on the bill last year for The Battered Fish and a touch screen point of sale system was installed for efficiency.

“There’s still things that we improve every year with the food truck but it’s like night and day from where we started,” says MacIsaac.

The industry itself is a somewhat unrecognizable creature to those manufacturing the trucks. Norm Kerfoot, owner of Apollo Carts, has been building food trucks and carts for 17 years, and says the industry has “really grown in leaps and bounds as far as volume goes.”

He says his B.C.-based operation built approximately six trailers and two trucks in the first year of the Vancouver food truck craze. Last year, he built 25 trucks, 18 trailers and approximately 20 food carts.

One of Kerfoot’s customizations was a 1984 delivery vehicle that became The Juice Truck. “It had 450,000 kms on it and had travelled across Canada throughout its life,” says The Juice Truck’s co-owner, Ryan Slater. He says his truck requirements were a lot less than most. “We pretty much have a large inverter powering two juicers, blenders and fridges.”

Refrigerator and freezer storage space, as well as dry goods storage is one of the main differences between a mobile kitchen and restaurant facility, says Kerfoot. As a result, many operators make use of storage spaces and commissaries that allow for freezer space.

“A lot of [operators] will get refrigerated trailers to store product if they’re doing a big event and store it somewhere on site,” says Kerfoot. “On a daily basis, you’re probably in most cases able to carry enough product for your day of service.”

For the Canuck Pizza Truck, having enough pizza dough on board to serve the masses means hours of preparation outside of the truck and extensive freezer space to keep it in.

Just finding an appropriate fridge for the truck, not to mention a generator, hot water heater and everything else proved a challenge, says owner Ted Lafleur.

The task was particularly unique in that the business operates off a converted 1946 GMC two-tonne dump truck. Lafleur’s six-figure investment is equipped with a wood-burning oven and subsequent smokestack. He says he sourced the majority of the equipment, as well as the materials that are unique to the 1946 model, online.

It was an imperative goal of the builder to fit as much as possible into the small space allotted on the truck.

“It was a really big job,” says Lafleur.

“We knew what we were getting into, but it was big, I don’t know that we’d do it again.”

“You’re always somewhat limited by the space you have inside these trucks,” says Kerfoot. “We often have people thinking it’s bigger than it is and wanting more equipment than you can fit, but sometimes there are substitutes or compromises that allow you to get what you want.”

Top: Perogy Boyz.

Middle: Canuck Pizza.

Bottom: La Homard Mobile.

Operate at own risk In The Battered Fish’s first winter, MacIsaac says he stepped into the truck in 18 degrees below freezing to find everything frozen, from the oil to the batter, and he immediately turned around.

Surviving the Canadian winter is a challenging reality of food trucks that the majority choose not to take on. Berry keeps Perogy Boyz rolling for as long as possible, but says he calls it quits at around 15 below. “That’s the breaking point for going out on the street, everything starts to freeze after that,” he says.

After two weeks of -30 degree Celsius weather, Berry says those are two weeks he isn’t going out and could be losing staff, as well as any prepped food that will spoil. Both operating through the winter and not operating come at a cost, so the key is working around those costs and finding new options.

To entice customers out of doors, Slater says they add soup to the nutritioncentric menu on The Juice Truck. “Because we’re a product that people feel is in demand for health, they’re willing to run out of the office for it.”

“We sort of just keep going even though a lot of trucks will shut down for the winter,” says Jensen, of El Gastro.

“People need to be constantly reminded that you exist, otherwise they’ll move on to the next thing.”

She offers a benefit for trudging out intothe winter, in that the slower business allows for more time to experiment on the truck and add to the menu.

While food timing is always at the forefront of their operation, Jensen says that particularly in the winter, they “are aware of the fact that people are freezing their butts off.”

A different type of mobile marketing With something as mobile as a food truck, traditional advertising methods of television or print may be too static, and your operating budget may be small.

Sometimes it’s a matter of going back to basics: word of mouth marketing.

Lynn Albert relies heavily on word of her Caraquet, NB,truck spreading. That, and curious tourists looking for lobster poutine. When the season starts, she hits the local tourist hotspots and leaves menus out. Albert has the advantage that her truck has dedicated parking in front of her wholesale operations.

Ryan MacIsaac of The Battered Fish relies on word of mouth and corporate branding to get his message out. “I designed the logo and really wanted to have that on everything that I could get it on: custom liners, napkins, takeout bags,” says MacIsaac.

The Battered Fish’s Halifax waterfront location near the Harbour Hopper hut also really helped in terms of the tourist trade ad visibility, boosting sales. “99 per cent of tourists who come to the city go to the waterfront, and having that helped,” he says. “In 2012, we were up 35 per cent over 2011.”

If you’re moving around a bigger market with more urban sprawl, it becomes a necessity to inform potential cus-

tomers of your location in an up-to-the-minute fashion. These days, word of mouth has a new incarnation in social media, and a savvy food truck operator will take full advantage of an online presence.

One of the first things that Curtis Berry from Perogy Boyz did after purchasing the truck was to set up a Facebook page and Twitter account to promote the business in Calgary.

Berry says it’s crucial to his customers for him to be on social media. “People aren’t going to find you unless there’s a chance that they’re walking down the street and see you and think ‘It’s Perogy Boys!’” he says. “We have 10,000 followers between Facebook and Twitter. If we can target one per cent of those people, maybe 50 of them will come out for lunch.”

Letting customers know the truck’s location in advance allows both sides to plan their day. “If we don’t use social media and let people know where were going to be, they pack a lunch and chances are they’re going to eat that lunch,” says Berry. “We have to let them know where we’re going to be so they can plan on that.”

Parking and other factors, however, can lay a wrench in the best-laid plans. “It’s tricky because you’re not always guaranteed a parking spot in the place you tweet,” says Berry. “So if there’s no parking there, and people plan to eat there, you have to update and plan accordingly.”

Adaptability to changing circumstances is key to Jensen, who uses Facebook, Twitter, Four-

Legislation

Photo credits: Asphalt photos by Fran Gambín. Pg. 20-21: Stoplight photo in top right: Davide Guglielmo.

Stoplight in bottom left: Asif Akbar.

Road work sign: Mark Brannan. Pg. 22: Pedestrian: Robert Linder. Traffic cone: Ryan Smart. Pg. 23: Success/ failure: Sigurd Decroos.

When it comes to legislation around food trucks, it can be a complicated matter.

Since food trucks are governed on a municipal level, laws and permits can change by region, and national overviews or metrics are scarce.

“Food trucks are a municipal item, with each municipality rolling out bylaws to govern them,” says Tony Elenis, president and CEO of the Ontario Restaurants, Hotel and Motel Association. “And right now, they’re all over the place.”

“We are not against food trucks – in this entrepreneurial business world we live in, there’s an opportunity for food trucks to have impact,” says Elenis. “We just need them to work within parameters that don’t impact the brick and mortar establishments.”

In an effort to get

square, Instagram, and the Eat St. and Toronto Street Food apps.

“Social media is pretty much entirely how we do it,” she says. “The food trucks are really amenable to using social media because we don’t have a fixed location and a fixed menu. It allows us to be really flexible and keep people in the loop.”

Jensen also uses Twitter and Facebook to promote limited supply secret menu items to attract customers.

Slater at the Juice Truck goes one step further and uses Instagram to show customers photos of the product, lifestyle and people working on the truck. “Social media was our biggest thing in making connections with customers,” he says.

Corporations get moving A sure sign that food trucks are here to stay is the move of larger corporations into the market. Last year, Canadian consumers saw Swiss Chalet and Jack Astor’s hit the streets in trucks to share new menu items.

Unlike a traditional food truck, where items are sold for profit like any bricks and mortar restaurant, these mobile units are meant as marketing vehicles only, distributing samples designed to drive people into fixed locations and boost their average check.

Jack Astor’s ran a 12-day food truck program in Ontario with a “tweet to taste” idea that asked customers to tweet their location for the food truck to stop by, and also handed them a coupon for use at a nearby Jack Astor’s location.

some hard data on the financial impact of food trucks, the ORHMA drew up a comparison chart of food truck costs versus brick and mortar start ups. “For something as basic as insurance, you can see minimums of $2,000 for a food truck and $10,000 for the average restaurant,” says Elenis.

“Food trucks don’t have the same barriers of entry that bricks and mortars have in terms of build, staff, up front investment. We don’t want to see expanded food truck licenses at the expense of brick and mortar businesses, but we want to support the element of innovation that food trucks provide,” says Stephanie Jones, sustainability and Ontario vice-president at the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association. “For us, it’s more about creating a set of circumstances where restaurants will continue to thrive.”

“It’s not only an either/or proposition any more when

Swiss Chalet’s four-week stint had custom food trucks travel to various locations around Canada to give away free samples of their fries and Chalet dipping sauce, as well as a coupon with either 15, 25 or 100 per cent off their next meal at Swiss Chalet.

Terry Sauve from Kitchens on Wheels is seeing more corporations coming in to this market, such as a mobile unit he’s working on for Tim Horton’s. “You’ll see more advertising from big companies who rent a truck for six to eight weeks just going out on the street and giving out free food,” says Sauve. “I think this will be the biggest year that we’ll see corporations stopping on corners.”

Sauve, who supplied trucks to Frank’s Red Hot Sauce when the company did a promotional drive across Canada, sees the marketing value of a food truck as a worthwhile investment.

“You’ve got a 25 foot truck that’s a full billboard,” says Sauve. “The value the corporation is getting out of that driving around and giving out food is pretty huge.”

it comes to food trucks and brick and mortar restaurants,” says Jones. “It’s a very different scene than it was 10 years ago.

We’re not talking about hotdog vendors on the side of the street any more.”

“Consumer tastes are changing, and the licensing agreement regime hasn’t kept up with those changes,” says Jones. “We think that it’s a good thing to have a review of how customers demands are addressed.”

One of the main sticking points in many of these discussions is the proximity between food trucks and brick and mortar restaurants.

While it is unlikely that diners heading out for a meal at a fine-dining establishment will change their minds and dine at a food truck due to ambience and price point, a restaurant with a lower average check may be affected.

“In food court restaurants, for example, the price point

is very similar,” says Elenis. “Proximity is the ultimate factor that has to be incorporated into any argument.”

Jones feels that there should be a minimum distance between food trucks and brick and mortar restaurants.

In many of the pilot programs that have been introduced in Calgary, Hamilton, Montreal and Vancouver, for example, there are minimum regulated distances, but “the question is what that metre number should be,” says Jones.

Doss thinks that it’s premature to be having this argument.

“When it comes to food courts, there should be some space,” says Doss. “But there are so many spaces where there are no food areas. The compromise comes down to zoning areas for food trucks.”

F E B R U A RY 2 013

Finding success To operate a successful food truck, you’ve got to get real. Know your limitations, know what works and what doesn’t, and be prepared to make the necessary changes to adapt to a better way of business.

“Don’t be afraid of change and don’t stay stuck in a rut,” says Berry. “If one thing isn’t working try another.” His perogy operation has gone through several changes in its just over one-year run. In order to keep costs down, he switched perogy suppliers, from a hand-pinched maker, to a family run business that he says is as close to handmade as possible and uses all local ingredients. The difference: this business uses a machine to finish the perogies which allows for faster processing and brings the cost down for him and his customers.

Berry read up on comments and complaints from customers on sites, such as Yelp, that said his truck was overpriced at more than a dollar for each perogy.

“We’re down to $8 for eight perogies and there’s more filling and less dough,” he says. “You’ve got to respond to all criticism, good or bad, and don’t let it get away from you.”

As well as finding a better-suited supplier, Berry limited the variety of perogies cooked from four or five, to two. “We’ve simplified the perogies and added different toppings, instead of a variety of perogies on the grill,” he says.The change allows for faster cooking times, and all around better service for customers.

www.can-restaurantnews.com Customers are “simply going to go to a restaurant if you can’t get it out in five minutes,” says Berry. “More than five to eight minutes and people get anxious.”

Lafleur encountered long wait-times as a problem on his pizza truck. “Last year, rolling [the dough] out by hand was taking a lot longer and people were waiting 10 or 20 minutes,” he says.

While Lafleur prepped and froze the dough ahead of time, proofing and then rolling out the dough was a lengthy process, particularly at a large event. This year, he is adding a sheeter to the process – a large press that takes the place of rolling out a dough ball into pizza crust. “It takes more like two seconds, rather than a minute and a half to roll it out,” says Lafleur.

Even with a new expedited process, Lafleur says there are some events that just won’t benefit his operation when prep time and costs are put into consideration.

“We’re just learning now what is worth going out to and what isn’t,” he says.

For El Gastro, Jensen says they learned that family festivals and events focused around children aren’t their best market.

“You have to go to a lot of events and see what works for you,” she says. “There’s a lot of trial and error, and a steep learning curve.”

One thing that has to be factored in is that sales on the truck account for all income. “That $9 for a couple of tacos has to cover everything, including gas, licensing and all,” says Jensen. This may not be the case for every vendor at an event, a point El Gastro’s co-owner and chef, Adam Hynam-Smith says not all operators realize.

“When it comes to food trucks operating at festivals, or taking part where restaurants are involved, they have to be aware that they are paying the same sort of fees that the restaurants are,” he says.

“The big thing is, the restaurant has its [storefront] still in operation, so they can send a secondary crew out while still making income from the restaurant.”

Whereas a food truck operator at a festival has to recognize that while paying fees to be a part of that festival, the only money coming in is from that event alone. “You might slave away that entire weekend and you’ve kicked away a really good revenue,” he says. “So trucks have got to be aware, and pick and choose those festivals, if you’re going to do them.”

Operating The Battered Fish as both a food truck and standalone location, MacIsaac says, in the end, both outlets are tasked with the same challenge of offering goods worth paying for. “People work hard for their money and are looking for a quality product, whether in a food truck or a high-end restaurant,” he says.

“We didn’t spare any expense on anything from our packaging, to every ingredient.

If people think they can just cheap out, it’s really going to hurt your business.”

Keeping competitive means going above and beyond and giving customers enough incentive to return. A lot more goes on than is seen through your window, but when what you sell is how you survive, it all begins with a great first bite.

| 23

Want to learn more about food trucks?

Visit us online to learn more about dealing with city hall, packaging, and other handy tips. Check us out at canrestaurantnews. com

www.can-restaurantnews.com

24 |

O

N

T

A

R

O N TA R I O R E S TAU R A N T N E W S

I

O

BeverageNews A MONTHLY REPORT ON THE BEVERAGE INDUSTRY

Vinexpo sees growth in Canadian wine market

Vinexpo chairman Xavier de Eizaguirre was in town in January to share Vinexpo’s annual study: Current Trends in the International Wine and Spirits Market and Outlook to 2016.

TORONTO—“There’s a very dynamic restaurant scene here in Canada,” said Vinexpo chairman Xavier de Eizaguirre to ORN. “Due to new, trendy young chefs who are putting out new cuisine, we’re seeing wines with more personality from boutique type wineries gain in popularity with the Canadian restaurant market.”

Vinexpo was in town in January to present its annual study: Current Trends in the International Wine and Spirits Market and Outlook to 2016.

According to the report, domestic wine consumption in Canada is growing, with an increase in wines sold for more than $10 overall.

Wine consumption in Canada has increased by 14.55 per cent and reached 43.21 million nine-litre cases (the equivalent of 518.52 million bottles) between 2007 and 2011. Vinexpo expects that this growth will continue, with an annual projected increase of three per cent between 2012 and 2016, making Canada the fifth fastest growing wine market worldwide.

According to the report, this growth is three times faster than at world level.

Everything’s coming up rosé, as these wines increased in Canada by 38.24 per cent between 2007 and 2011, and the study forecasts even greater growth of 45.41 per cent between 2012 and 2016. Canadians still lag 9.2 per cent on the world scale when it comes to still, light wines consumed in 2011.

In terms of price point, wines sold at retail prices higher than $10 US per bottle accounted for 69.5 per cent of all still wines purchased in Canada.

The report sees this consumption going up 30.45 per cent between 2011 and 2016.

Although de Eizaguirre said that Canadian

producers are paving the way for Canadian wine worldwide, especially in icewines that are familiar to world consumers, almost three out of four bottles of wine drunk by Canadians are imported (72.36 per cent in 2011.)

This consumption grew by 16.09 per cent between 2007 and 2011. Domestic wines grew by 10.71 per cent in the same period.

Consumption of imported wines are predicted to grow by 16.75 per cent in five years, and Canadian wines will increase by 7.72 per cent in the same period.

What wine producing countries are finding favour with Canadian palates? Italy supplanted France as the leading supplier of wine to the Canadian market, with 6.28 million cases of Italian wines imported into Canada in 2011 versus 5.72 million cases of French wines in the same year.

Canadian taste buds also chose France, Australia (although imports to Canada decreased by 2.57 per cent between 2007 and 2011), American, Chilean and Spanish wines.

New Zealand imports nearly doubled during this period as well, and it now ranks eighth on the list.

When it comes to spirits, Canadians are drinking more than before, but not by much. A 1.73 per cent growth in 2011 over 2007 is based primarily on imports rather than domestic products, which are on the decline.

Canadians still love vodka, with 4.76 million 9-litre cases consumed in 2011, a growth that’s predicted to continue. A similar trend with rum, bourbon and tequila has also occurred.

On the decline are liqueurs, Canadianmade and imported whisky and gin.

Cocktails and community at annual Made with Love TORONTO—Mixologists across Canada went head to head and drink to drink to win a chance to showcase their skills on an all expense paid trip. Made With Love is in its fourth year and its final stop on the 20122013 tour is Toronto.

“The whole premise is sort of bringing together like minded people who have the same passion for culture, for cocktails and for creativity,” said Jessica Vachon, who does PR and marketing for Made With Love. The competition illustrates where cocktail culture is going, Vachon said, as well as gathering people in the industry to share and discuss their own ideas.

The final round of the Toronto competition will take place in March, at the Marche Restaurant in the Financial District. Toronto finalists are: • Aaron Beaudoin – Goods & Provisions Restaurant; • Adrian Stein – Mistura/Sopra Upper Lounge; • Atsushi Suzuki –Kanji; • Japhet Bower – Soho House; • Jay Meyers – Miller Tavern on Bay; • Joe Howell – The Spoke Club; • Joshua Oliver Prout – The Oxley Public House; • Neil Ramrattan –BartenderOne; • Reed Pettit – The Miller Tavern on Bay; • Rob Renda – BartenderOne andCollege Street Bar; Robin Kaufman – Toronto Temperance Society; • Ryan Smyth – Dolce Social Ballroom; • Scott McMaster – Origin and College Street Bar; • Simon Hooper – Nyood; • Taylor Corrigan – origin; and • Veronica Saye – The Harbord Room.

Each provincial competition has two stages. The first level is a qualifier round in which participants are given a specific challenge or theme to create a drink around, said Vachon.

Previous themes have included a “market theme,” where participants were given a time limit and budget and had to collect ingredients to make their drink.

In the last qualifier round in Toronto, Vachon said the theme was “neighbourhoods of the city.” Participants were given a specific neighbourhood and had one week prior to the competition to come up with their own incarnation of that community within a cocktail.

“It was really neat to see what [different peoples’] interpretation of that same neighbourhood was,” said Vachon.

“Some people had the same sort of elements, some were totally different.”

A panel of judges who select 14 people to move on to the final competition decides the first round of Made With Love. Of the 14 competitors in the finals, two winners are selected: one peoples’ choice, and one judges’ choice.

“There’s typically four judges, and their decision is based on originality, presentation and taste,” said Vachon. With an entrance tickets, guests are given 14 tasting tickets – each taster has approximately a half ounce of alcohol – and one dog tag. After tasting each cocktail, guests give the dog tag to their favourite bartender, to decide the peoples’ choice.

Beginning with the 2013 competitions, Made With Love will add a new facet: a national competition in which the winners of all cities will compete in Montreal for the Canadian grand finale, said Vachon.

The finalists from this competition will win trips from the various alcohol industry sponsors of the event, “the trips are all over the world, to see how the spirits are made,” said Vachon.

“Made With Love gives [mixologists] a platform to express and celebrate what they’re doing,” she says. “They get to showcase their craft and come up with new creative ideas.”

This year, Made with Love announced a new level of competition: a national face-off between contestants in a grand finale, which will take place in Montreal. Photo by Simon La.

F E B R U A RY 2 013

| 25

www.can-restaurantnews.com O

N

T

A

R

I

O

BeverageNews A MONTHLY REPORT ON THE BEVERAGE INDUSTRY

Brick Brewery CFO resigns WATERLOO—Jason Pratt, chief financial officer of Brick Brewing Co. Limited resigned from the company on Jan. 29. Pratt has been with the Company since October 2008. He will continue in his role for a brief transitional period while the company looks for a new CFO. Brick is an Ontario-based craft brewery, founded in 1984. Its brands include Waterloo, Laker, Red Baron, Red Cap and Formosa Springs Draft. The company also produces, sells, markets and distributes Seagram Coolers across Canada since March 2011.

Bellwoods Brewery opens storefront on Ossington Avenue

Taking Stock of sparkling TORONTO—Angelo Pavan (far left), vicepresident, winemaker and founding partner at Cave Spring Cellars, led a tasting seminar of Ontario sparkling wines in December for Wine County Ontario.

Held at Stock restaurant in Toronto’s Trump International Hotel and Tower, sommelier Zoltan Szabo (left), pastry chef

David Chow (middle) and executive chef Todd Clarmo (right) showed off a tasting of the restaurant’s menu paired with Ontario sparklers such as Henry of Pelham Family Estate Winery, Cuvée Catharine Estate Blanc de Blancs ‘Carte Blanche’ 2007 and Tawse Winery, David’s Block Chardonnay “Spark” 2009.

TORONTO—The Bellwoods Brewery’s Bottle Shop officially opened on Jan. 23, offering bottles and growlers of their microbrewed lineup.

The storefront at 126 Ossington Ave. is next door to the old garage–turned brewpub, and has been under construction for the past few months.

The store opened with nine different beers available in 650 ml bottles for $4.75-$8, depending on the beer, and two styles are also on offer in growlers for $14. The store is open seven days a

week to serve the Ossington strip, and the brand can be found in select Toronto restaurants.

BRIEFS

LCBO is coming to supermarkets TORONTO—The LCBO will be opening “express” outlets in 10 grocery stores around Ontario, finance minister Dwight Duncan announced in a Dec. 31 release. The pilot project is designed to measure the success of alcohol outlets beyond the walls of LCBO and Beer Store.

Duncan also announced the addition of Ontario VQA Destination Boutiques in some full-size LCBO stores. The new format will promote local wineries and offer a wider selection of Ontario wines.

The new outlets are expected to open in 12 to 18 months. “Ontarians have been asking for more convenience in where they purchase alcohol beverages. They also have a growing interest in local wines,” Duncan said in the release. “We are responding to the needs of consumers, while also providing increased support for the Ontario wine, spirits and beer industry.”

The announcement comes after a push in late 2012 by Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak to privatize liquor sales in Ontario.

www.can-restaurantnews.com

26 |

Profiting From hotel and restaurant partnerships

Photo courtesy of Metropolitan Hotels.

By Marni Andrews

S

teve Halliday, managing director of Vancouver’s recently opened 156-room Rosewood Hotel Georgia, knows what a successful hotel restaurant looks like.

The hotel rents space to onsite Hawksworth, a farm-totable contemporary restaurant run by chef/owner David Hawksworth. Despite only being open since May 2011, it was named Restaurant of the Year last October by Jacob Richler in Maclean’s magazine.

Halliday says that Hawksworth is mentioned by guests as a bonus to staying at the hotel almost as much as the hotel’s Bentley car and driver.

“It’s seamless to the customer because they can charge their dinner at Hawksworth to their guestroom,” he says.

Delta Land Development, which was behind the reopening of the Rosewood Hotel Georgia, was responsible for bringing David Hawksworth on board.

Halliday says that Delta sought out a great local chef so that he would have a personal stake in the success of the restaurant. “When you buy a chef’s name from Paris or New York, it’s not the same.

That may work in Vegas or New York but not in Vancouver,” says Halliday.

At the Rosewood Hotel Georgia, about 40 per cent of revenue comes from food and beverage (including room service, a lobby bar called 1927, a seasonal patio called Reflections and banquet facilities but not Hawksworth). Prohibition, a music lounge/ club, will open in a year and will skew that ratio further.

“That percentage is high for a hotel of our size. The average room to F&B ratio is more like 80/20. We have a lot of liquor-selling seats. You don’t tend to find that outside of cities like New York or Vegas or somewhere in Asia,” says Halliday.

O N TA R I O R E S TAU R A N T N E W S

partnering with a restaurateur is that hoteliers are not in the restaurant business, says Andrew Higgs, senior associate with HVS, which offer hotel consulting and evaluation. The returns they potentially get from F&B compared to rooms are minimal but they have the majority of the operating headache. It’s seen as a necessary evil because the consumer expects a restaurant within the hotel, says Higgs.

A good restaurateur, on the other hand, is in tune with local markets, resourceful and quick to adapt with menu changes to current food trends.

One of the big shifts in dining is to more transparent eating, nose to tail.

This shift also marks a higher profit on the restaurant side because they’re using more of an animal.

“You are probably not going to see those trends picked up by a typical 365-day hotel restaurant that’s also empty six nights a week. It’s the hotels that have partnered with chefs or fulltime restaurateurs who can really embrace those new concepts,” says Higgs.

There can, however, be drawbacks to outsourcing a food and beverage program. The biggest disadvantage of having someone else running the restaurant operation is that if it is not done well, the hotel can suffer by implication, says Dover.

“Guests don’t see the difference between the restaurant and the hotel. If the focus of the restaurant is not the same as that of the hotel, it might be negative for the hotel. You want a mar-

ket focus that matches your hotel. And you have to be able to handle breakfast, room service and catering and deal with the hotel’s F&B standards,” he says.

“Generally a hotel/restaurant partnership is done with a lease agreement of base rent with possibly some profit sharing. With or without profit sharing, there is the guarantee of a monthly stipend from the lease and that monthly income is valuable,” says Dover. “Restaurants within the hotel are more common with full service properties while suburban markets and limited service properties can do well with a branded restaurant because it can draw customers in what is often a competitive market.”

Ultimately, though, Higgs emphasizes that flexibility is required for the decision to outsource or not since every market and every hotel is different.

Work with a feeder market A limited service property without a restaurant can gain a competitive advantage by bringing in a branded restaurant. The operating controls that are in place are much better when working with a chain, says Dover.

For co-branding to be successful, both brands must bring something to the table: the hotel gets more guests because of the restaurant, while the restaurant benefits from the captive hotel market. They must have a similar brand presence and similar customer focus.

Case Study: Casey’s & Algoma’s Water Tower, Sault Ste. Marie, ON Algoma’s Water Tower Inn located in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (left) and general manager Donna Hilsinger (below).

Leasing out Traditionally, hotel restaurants did not make money, but as long as the rooms division made enough to cover the losses, it was considered an acceptable arrangement, says Gabor Forgacs, associate professor at the Ted Rogers School of Hospitality and Tourism Management in Toronto.

In recent years, financial pressures have placed hotel management under heightened scrutiny and now each revenue stream must be profitable.

“The main advantage for leasing out a restaurant instead of operating it is in the elimination of a headache – [that] of an operational challenge and of a loss-producing unit,” says Forgacs. “As a business, rooms are a lot simpler to sell. One can sell a room online and let guests check themselves in. Provide a room attendant to clean the room and that seems just fine for budget or even midmarket operations.”

In the opinion of vice-president of fsStrategy, Jeff Dover, hotels are very good now at yielding their rooms but they don’t do food and beverage well.

“Depending on whether a hotel has meeting space for catering revenue or not, F&B is typically only a 20 to 30 per cent contribution,” estimates Dover.

The major advantage of a hotel

Who: Donna Hilsinger, general manager, Algoma’s Water Tower Inn & Suites (176 rooms) Approach: Over the years Algoma’s have had a combination of their own restaurants and a couple of franchise opportunities to handle foodservice. They have had a 250seat Casey’s Grill Bar franchise since 2008. It serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and room service daily.

History: Algoma’s Water Tower Inn was opened by Donna’s father James John Hilsinger in 1974. He started his career in the early 1960’s by reviving a bankrupt KFC, ultimately ending up with five stores which were sold in 1985 and were known by the name of JJ’s Chicken.

A building renovation in 1989 added 12,000 square feet of public space to the hotel including additional banquet facilities with a hall to feed 350 and meeting rooms. A pub location was also added, which was developed in 2008 as the 180-seat

Water Tower Pub to provide two distinct F&B opportunities for guests.

Results: “On the revenue side, we’re approximately 60 per cent rooms, and 40 per cent F&B including banquets.

Growth is certainly a challenge.

Since 2008 and the global economic crisis, we’ve grown but it’s very slow.

It’s simpler to deliver profit in a limited service hotel compared to full service but you need F&B to attract room clientele.”

Day Parts: “We have a bakery based in the pub kitchen where we make our own granola, cinnamon buns, granola bars and healthy muffins. For the morning and throughout the day, we have a Starbucks We Proudly Brew on site. Within the Casey’s there is a coffee counter where Starbucks is served with a grab and go cooler of prepared foods. Or breakfast can be ordered in the restaurant. Lunch and din-

ner are available in the pub and in Casey’s.”

Communication: “We make sure that all staff receive employee bulletins and newsletters. It’s so much easier with digital, not like the old days with paper spreadsheets.”

Operations: “Casey’s has recognition from both local and regional clientele in northern Ontario, in part due to the fact that Prime started in that region.”

“We’ve always endeavoured to ensure our concepts within the hotel are liked and used by locals as much as hotel guests. The building was designed with a separate entrance to the main parking area so it can operate on its own. Because we own the franchise, there is no arm’s length.”

www.can-restaurantnews.com

F E B R U A RY 2 013

| 27

Case Study: Ricky’s All Day Grill & Best Western Seven Oaks, Regina

IHOP entrance and dining area at Four Points by Sheraton in Niagara Falls.

This situation was the case at the Blue Mountain resort in Collingwood, ON. In November 2005, The Westin Trillium House Blue Mountain opened in conjunction with Oliver & Bonacini Café Grill, Blue Mountain, a 60-seat restaurant with 10,000 sq. ft. meeting space.

O&B paid rent to Intrawest Commercial (now Skyline Hotels), which managed several restaurant and retail spaces within the resort village. O&B also pays fees to the condo corporation that owns the hotel (similar to common area maintenance fees) and marketing fees to the Blue Mountain Village Association, says Andrea Sire, general manager of Oliver & Bonacini Café Grill. A percentage of sales from in-room dining and from the banquet operation is paid to the hotel directly.

“Partnerships [like this] allow operators to focus on their core business,” explains Sire. “Often in hotels the F&B is a cost or loss centre. With this sort of relationship, the hotel is guaranteed profit via fees/commissions paid by the F&B operator.”

Stacy Manning, director of sales and marketing for the 224-room Westin Trillium House Blue Mountain, says Westin chose O&B as their restaurant partner because O&B worked with Westin to incorporate certain Westin brand standards. As well, Toronto, where O&B is headquartered and has a number of popular restaurants, serves as a feeder market for both the hotel and the restaurant.

“The Blue Mountain O&B location has more destination diners, so they pulled items from some of their other locations such as Jump and Canoe because people are often eating there several times in a row and want more selection. They’ve tweaked the destination

for the consumer who’s here,” she says.

The O&B name also serves as an attractive draw for Toronto-based group conference traffic.

“It’s a huge sell. They know it, they live it, some of them already dine there twice a week,” explains Manning. “It’s a very positive relationship.”

The hybrid approach: hotel as restaurant franchisee At the 391-room Four Points by Sheraton in Niagara Falls, director of operations Anthony Lucisano is confident that the approach his property has taken—franchisee or licensee of four well-known foodservice outlets on the premises—was the solution that gives everyone what they want.

There is a Starbucks, IHOP, East Side Mario’s and a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse located inside the hotel to provide “control and one-stop shopping” for the diverse range of clientele who visit, says Lucisano.

The hotel has no kitchen but room service is available from IHOP for breakfast, East Side Mario’s for lunch or dinner and from Ruth’s Chris. Starbucks coffee beans are also provided in every room with the coffee maker.

“We chose franchises that were recognized and popular. It’s the trust and credibility,” he says. “If customers have a favourite dish, they know they’ll get it every time. We save by not having a hotel kitchen, but we pay royalties through the franchises. It’s not about savings as much as it is giving our customer what they want.”

Lucisano does not see any negatives with franchises. In fact he says they are actually an amenity for the hotel. To maintain control over communications between the different concepts

Who: Stacy Hansson, vicepresident operations, Ricky’s All Day Grill, says the success of the Best Western Regina location really launched their hotel partnership program. They have 65 restaurants across the country, 10 of which are partnered with hotels.

When: “Ricky’s All Day Grill is 52 years old. Hotel partnership program is officially six years old though there was one partnership done 10 years ago with Best Western in Saskatoon.”

Approach: “Conversion if there’s an existing independent restaurant. Otherwise if they are building and want to build a restaurant shell, we go in there new.”

On Hotel Brands: “Best Western is a brand we work really well with.

We also have two Econo Lodges that do well. Have a Ramada Inn, and independent resort in Banff, a Super 8 and we will soon have two Holiday Inns. One group has a Holiday Inn and is building a Pacific Inn on the property in Vernon, BC.” “Sales have tripled or quadrupled in all locations except one, where we doubled sales because it was already an outside chain concept.”

Day Parts: “Breakfast is a requirement for a hotel. Continental breakfasts cost hotels quite a bit to execute depending on how lavand the hotel, there is a weekly meeting with the different restaurants’ general managers. Changes in hours of operation, a monthly special or something exciting going on at one of the food concepts is passed along to the hotel who may communicate it to the customer at check-in, through an inroom directory or email confirmation, or even via reader boards or an easel in the lobby.

Kim Cunningham, director of foodservice, Starbucks Coffee Canada, says that after 20 years or so of focusing on the lodging channel, there are now about 300 hotel properties across the country that use their We Proudly Serve Starbucks program or the Serving the Best, Seattle’s Best coffee pro-

ish they are so they get away from having to do that. Or they may offer guests a voucher to use in the restaurant. Guests don’t tend to stick around for lunch but we have strong lunches from locals and businesses. And then those people say ‘When my relatives are in town they can stay here.’ It’s nice to have a dinner so people feel they don’t have to leave.”

Communication: “We work with the restaurant manager and provide them with training and support. Sometimes the hotel owners want to take a step back and not be involved with day to day. We give them a turnkey. For the first six months, we’re in contact every week or two with the restaurant manager. We go in and help them run it for a few weeks if necessary.”

Operations: “The hotel owns the Ricky’s as a franchise but charges rent to themselves so it’s a revenue stream. Occasionally a hotel owner has a family member who can run the restaurant. If not we bring in a manager.”

“We run the franchise as a business within a business. Since they’re already franchisees with a hotel, there may be certain rules we have to accommodate such as kids eat free with the Holiday Inn. We work it out in an agreement.”

Marketing: “We have a lounge gram. About 10 properties have a retail location within their hotel. For example, The Delta Bow Valley in Calgary has a Starbucks banquet program, a restaurant program, and a retail store.

The Hyatt Vancouver offers Starbucks’ Torrefazione Italia program in-room, and for their banquets, restaurants and the retail store in the lobby.

“One of the things that has given us leadership in the channel is that we consult on solutions from stem to stern. We have a team of coffee experts for quality assurance audits,” she says.

“It doesn’t have to be all one roast profile; it’s about offering the guest choice so F&B doesn’t have to think about coffee at all.”

in Fort Saskatchewan and an 80seat RJ’s Lounge which is almost like a bar. They have UFC nights so we created a huge marketing package they use for UFC nights that we wouldn’t do anywhere else. In Banff, they have an outdoor skating rink across the street. We invite parents to sit outside and watch their kids by offering a special menu with hot chocolate and appetizers.”

Employees: “The two partners in the Regina Best Western made significant changes and they needed foodservice. That Ricky’s was number one in Canada three times last year. They created a fourperson company by bringing in the Ricky’s GM Tammy Wright and the Red Seal chef, who now each have one-quarter of a booming business and are incredibly dedicated.”

Tammy Wright, general manager/proprietor of Ricky’s All Day Grill in Regina, says “I have been in the hotel industry for over 20 years.

Having a franchise allows guests to feel comfortable with the food quality, consistency and atmosphere. At our hotel, all food and beverage aspects belong to Ricky’s so there is no confusion as to responsibilities.

The operations team conducts area meetings four times a year. This is where your voice and opinions are heard. They work alongside you to give you what the customer wants.”

Keeping it in the family CEO and president of SIR Corp.

Peter Fowler has run a number of restaurants within hotels in his career and has also been approached to build restaurants within hotels.

None of SIR Corp.’s restaurants are located within hotels.

“The challenge with operating restaurants within hotels is that hoteliers are looking for a restaurant offering that works for all dayparts across a broad spectrum of guests,” says Fowler.

“However, the same restaurant atmosphere that works for lunch, dinner and late-night tends not to work for breakfast offerings. And breakfast is the least profitable daypart,” he says.

Continued on page 28

www.can-restaurantnews.com

28 |

Profiting From hotel and restaurant partnerships

Continued from page 27

Furthermore, because the guest base is so broad, hoteliers often request that key parts of the concept be altered, such as turning lights up for older guests who can’t see, turning down the music for business meetings, and/or accommodating families within a lively bar space, he says. All of these aspects are often in conflict with providing a compelling restaurant experience that attracts guests from outside the hotel.

“Successful restaurants in hotels in larger cities such as New York and Toronto [succeed] because they have not tried to satisfy all of the guest base across all the dayparts. Restaurant concepts can be a help to hotels by driving excellent food and a great experience so long as they are not hamstrung by satisfying a broad range of guests,” says Fowler.

Metropolitan Hotels operates Diva at the Met in Vancouver and Senses at

the SoHo Metropolitan in Toronto.

Metropolitan’s chief operating officer Nancy Munzar Kelly explains that Metropolitan’s restaurants have always been operated in house since they opened their first property in Toronto with Lai Wah Heen and Hemisphere’s Bar and Bistro almost 19 years ago. She says that Metropolitan’s restaurant clientele are both travellers and locals.

“Having first class restaurants that are not only a part of the hotel but have a place in the community is important. This community recognition and support takes our restaurants beyond being a ‘hotel restaurant’ to becoming a noteworthy part of the cities and neighbourhoods in which they are located in Toronto and Vancouver,” she says.

“As an independent Canadian hotel chain, we’ve worked hard to set ourselves apart from other hotels. One way that we have done this is through our food and beverage. For us, the advantage of not outsourcing is twofold: it allows us to be local and relevant in

the community as well as allows us to have creative freedom.”

One aspect of that creative freedom is a trend that Andrew Higgs is seeing in Europe and increasingly in North America: the pop-up restaurant.

“Because hotels are so vast and capital put into them is so intensive, a lot of planning goes into their design and the space can’t be shifted overnight. Pop-up restaurants offer that versatility. Opus in Vancouver did one and it was wildly successful. By using a space not otherwise being used to drive revenue and by continuing to adapt that space to something new, people are drawn in to check it out,” says Higgs.

The SoHo Metropolitan in Toronto did a series of pop-up dining experiences last fall that were very successful, says Munzar Kelly. During the Toronto International Film Festival in September, Senses Bakery staged a 20-seat dim sum pop-up featuring Lai Wah Heen’s master chef making dim sum on site and in the open. During November, Senses played host to the GwaiLo pop-up that featured a local chef, Nick Liu.

O N TA R I O R E S TAU R A N T N E W S

ple are looking for design-oriented spaces, often in newer hotel bars, to go after work or after hours. I didn’t expect to see this happening. Also the way that people are eating now is not traditional. No longer is it a dinner at 6 p.m. They may have a snack at 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. and a few cocktails later. Hotels are capitalizing on that.”

“Some hotel brands have recognized the changes in eating habits of their target segment, especially lifestyle hotels targeting young professionals 25 to 45,” agrees Forgacs.

“This generation eats differently.

They eat at odd hours, they may want a grab and go item or may want to work while they eat. However, they don’t want junk food. They want nutritious, well-presented and creative food and they don’t mind paying for it. It’s not a pizza at midnight. It’s teriyaki glazed salmon

with salad wrapped in an organic fajita at 2 a.m. with a no-whip, tall mocha made with soya milk and an extra shot of espresso.”

An article in the Wall Street Journal from April 2012 confirmed that there is an army of sophisticated mobile workers, especially in urban locations, who are abandoning crowded coffee houses and embracing the free WiFi that many downtown hotels are offering in order to create desirable buzz in their lobbies.

Once there, many are racking up substantial F&B tabs of high quality food. They say the convenience and the overall ambience is worth the cost.

Put simply, lobby guests are another revenue stream. It’s one more thing to add to the already complex decision making process for hotel/ restaurant partnerships.

Liquid gold and mini-meals A few key trends further driving hotel/restaurant profitability is the emergence of beverages as a driver as well as the rise of all-hours mini meals preferred by many younger urban professionals.

Higgs has noticed the beverage side of hotels really picking up in urban centres on the West coast.

“There is a lot of potential profit in beverage revenue,” he says. “Peo-

Three hundred hotel properties across the country use the We Proudly Serve Starbucks program or the Serving the Best, Seattle’s Best coffee program.

GOT CHOCOLATE NEWS? SWEETNESS YOUR NEW

We want to hear from you.

LMGCOM.COM

T 1 866 392-0220 exT. 240 marTindesserT.com

VelVeTy chocolaTe crispy sTrip | CODE 1277-78

Represented in Ontario by

D

UniiDirect

Sales & Marketing

TORONTO (ONTARIO) T 416 781-4949 jvalsamis@rogers.com

Email tips about your restaurant openings, appointments, company acquisitions or other news to lwu@canadianrestaurantnews.com

for editorial consideration.

F E B R U A RY 2 013

| 29

www.can-restaurantnews.com

What’s next for Michael Blackie OTTAWA—After chef Michael Blackie left the National Arts Centre last November, the food community wondered what his next move would be.

Blackie’s answer? Taking over Sixty Four Hundred Celebration Centre, an 11,000 square foot banquet facility that will incorporate a restaurant, catering and takeout aspects.

“This is a great opportunity to work on something to call my own,” he said to ORN before his first day on Jan. 28 as partner, co-founder, executive chef and general manager.

“I wanted to get involved in Ottawa’s entrepreneurial spirit,” said Blackie.

“This idea’s been festering for a long time.”

Partnering with Tim Snelling, the new project in Stittsville, ON will be rebranded as NEXT. With an 80 seat dining room, a 15 to 20 seat bar and two rooms that can be joined to accommodate 180 people upstairs, the banquet facility will host large scale functions.

“The food is going to be a departure from what I’ve done before,” said Blackie.

“It’ll be family style: casual dining and sharing plates, but not tapas.” Plates will come out as they are made (“with logic”, said Blackie) and will be more informal. “The dishes will be Canadiana, with an Asian influence and a European background,” said Blackie.

Appetizers will range from $4 to $6 and the average check at dinner will be $31 to $36 including alcohol.

Blackie wants the wine list to be very price sensitive, with glasses around $7 to $8.

On Blackie’s back of house team will be seven full time positions and some part time staff, as well as around 12 front of house positions, depending on banquets.

The food will be regionally based, with lots of roots in the community, said Blackie.

He’ll be using local producers like Seed to Sausage, an Sharbot Lake-based salumeria.

“It’s community-based dining,” said Blackie. “We’re in the suburbs, but it’s not really the outskirts of Ottawa any more.” He feels that diners are looking for a more laid back dining experience. “What people have gone through in Canada in the past couple of years call for a need to slide back into something more casual, still fun and still exciting,” he said. “We want Next to be a viable piece of business that I can share with the community.”

Blackie also plans to target local busi-

nesses in the area, and introduce a new banquet facility package. There are four nearby business parks in particular that Blackie will be looking to for potential clientele.

Next is slated to open this spring, and although the banquet facility is going to be completely rejuvenated, Blackie said that the focus will be on the open concept kitchen. “I always kind of blazed my own trail,” he said. “I don’t want to pump a lot of money into aesthetics, but would rather spend the money on things like chinaware, cutlery and kitchen equipment.”

Blackie is no stranger to producing meals for crowds: he was the NAC’s executive chef for three years.

While he was there, he hosted a Gold Medal Plates, and several galas, including the Governor General Performing Arts Awards and the Genie Awards.

He also created the The Celebrity Chefs of Canada in 2011, which promoted local and visiting talent with cooking demonstrations to the public.

Born in England and raised in Montreal, Blackie came to Ottawa in 2003 to open Perspectives restaurant in Kanata’s Brookstreet Hotel.

Along with Next, Blackie will also be building the MB brand, although he may not re-enter the television world right away.

“The problem with TV is that it takes time,” he said. “Chef Off was a four year odyssey.”

He’ll be focusing his efforts on the food and wine component, with interactive events, festivals and appearances in Delaware for a meals on wheels event.

6400 Hazeldean Road, Stittsville, ON. www.nextfood.ca.

Subscribe to Ontario Restaurant News at

www.can-restaurantnews.com/sub1

revive your patio stocked in oakville

www.BUMCONTRACT.com Showroom / Office / Warehouse 2150 Winston Park Dr. Unit 20 Oakville, ON L6H 5V1 www.DCREPGROUP.com

info@dcrepgroup.com 1 855 337 2995

www.can-restaurantnews.com

30 |

O N TA R I O R E S TAU R A N T N E W S

CRFA Show and FCPC Foodservice Interchange 2013

In store at the CRFA Anna Olsen will again be on the Inspiration Stage at the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association show, running from March 4 - March 6, 2013.

The CRFA’S Breakfast with Champions will be hosted by the CBC’s George Stromboulopoulos and held on March 5.

This year’s show will host more than 1,200 booths exhibiting a variety of food, beverages, equipment, technology, smallwares and services.

Show attendees are also invited to the Industry Night Out reception at the Liberty Grand, Exhibition Place on March 4.

Seminar Schedule Direct Energy Centre, March 4 to 6 SUNDAY MARCH 4 10:30 a.m., Salon 103 Mark Kelnhofer: Boosting Your Profits with Accurate Recipe Costing and Menu Engineering 10:30 a.m., Salon 105 John Young: Making the Customer Loyalty Connection

11:00 a.m., Presentation Room Bruce Bell: Restaurant Loyalty Programs: How they can Maintain and Grow your business 11:00 a.m., Inspiration Stage, Hall A Michael Blackie: Culinary Demo. To be announced.

12:00 p.m., Salon 105 Joel Cohen: Websites, Google, Email and Facebook – The Ultimate Guide To What You Need To Know 12:00 p.m., Presentation Room Daniela Saccon: PreGel Canada New Products in the Marketplace 12:15 p.m., Inspiration Stage, Hall A Jonathan Collins: Culinary Demonstrations: Old World Cuisine I 1:30 p.m., Salon 105 Jamie Drummon: Everyone’s a Food Critic these Days – does the Food Blogging Phenomenon Helf or Hinder the Restaurateur?

1:45 p.m. Inspiration Stage, Hall A John Placko: Molecular Cuisine Demonstration 3:00 p.m., Salon 103 Kathy Klas, Unexplored Business Opportunities for Liquor Licensees 3:00 p.m., Salon 105 John Young: Remarkable Customer Service – It’s the Experience, Stupid 3:00 p.m., Presentation Room Brad Forsyth: How restaurants can make the best use of Facebook 3:00 p.m., Inspiration Stage, Hall A Anna Olson: The Art & Science of Sauces, Dressing & Condiments - Culinary Demonstration 4:00 p.m., Presentation Room Cris Jucan, Kal Irani, Bren da Crainic: Increased Revenue by Riding the Wave of Mobile Adoption for Restaurant-Goers 4:15 p.m., Inspiration Stage, Hall A Anna Olson: Culinary Excellence in Guelph/Wellington County

MONDAY MARCH 4

10:30 a.m., Salon 103 Dave Swanston: Boost Employee

Performance 10:30 a.m., Salon 105 Joel Cohen: How to Develop a Restaurant-Building Sales Plan in 20 minutes 11:00 a.m., Presentation Room Craig Brockie: SOCAN – Does Your Business Need a Music License?

11:00 a.m., Inspiration Stage, Hall A Jack Milan: Side Effects - Innovative Side Dishes for Plated Meals and Food Stations 12:00 p.m., Salon 103 Debra Lykkemark: Taking the Leap! Being a Successful Entrepreneur 12:00 p.m., Salon 105 EpiPen: Food Allergy Awareness for Restaurants 12:00 p.m., Presentation Room Tea Association of Canada: TEA$ Your Customers 12:15 p.m., Inspiration Stage, Hall A Kira Smith, James Keppy, Norm Myshok: Putting the ‘Yum’ in Premium… Grilled Cheese, Hot Dogs and Breakfast Sandwiches 1:00 p.m., Presentation Room Gary Prenevost: Should You Franchise Your Restaurant?

1:30 p.m., Salon 103 Robert Carter: Five Strategic Trends Influencing the Market in 2013 1:30 p.m., Salon 105 Joel Cohen: 15 Marketing Mistakes That Can Affect Your Growth and What You Can Do About It 1:45 p.m., Inspiration Stage, Hall A Michael Blackie: Culinary Demo To be Announced 2:00 p.m., Presentation Room Gary Prenevost: The Process of Franchising Your Restaurant 3:00 p.m., Salon 103 Dave Swanston: Strategies to Improve Your Bottom Line 3:00 p.m., Salon 105 Frank Puleo, Debra Lykkemark, Jack Milan, Russell Day: Sixty Catering Ideas in 60 Minutes 3:00 p.m., Presentation Room Sol Cuisine: Meatless Mainstreaming & Going Against the Grain: Answering Customer

Celebrating 50 years at the CRFA Show and 50 years representing Broaster in Canada.

See us at Booth #2211 at the CRFA Show

• Compact, High-Efficiency Pressure Fryers – select from 3 models that cook up to 20, 40, and 64 pieces of fresh chicken per load in under 10 minutes!

• Healthier, Better Tasting Foods – Broaster® pressure frying process results in more tender, juicy, and flavorful foods that have lower carbs, less fat, and fewer calories.

• Complete Branded Food Program – includes packaging, point-of-sale materials, training, and marketing support for a signature product that will separate your operation from the rest.

• No Licensing, Franchise, or Royalty Fees – you control and keep your profits! Available as a delicious menu item or full turnkey concept.

Demand for Meatless and Gluten-free Options 3:00 p.m., Inspiration Stage, Hall A Anna Olson: The Art & Science of Sauces, Dressing & Condiments - Culinary Demonstration 4:00 p.m., Presentation Room Cris Jucan, Kal Irani, Brenda Crainic: Increased Revenue by Riding the Wave of Mobile Adoption for Restaurant-Goers 4:15 p.m., Inspiration Stage, Hall A Anna Olson: Culinary Excellence in Guelph/Wellington County

TUESDAY MARCH 5

10:30 a.m., Salon 103 Darren Tristano: Engaging the Evolving Foodservice Consumer 10:30 a.m., Salon 105 Chase Paymentech: Cutting through the Confusion – What You Need to Know About Mobile and Integrated Payments 11:00 a.m., Presentation Room David Adjey: Trade Show Safari – Unlocking Hidden Treasures Part 1 11:00 a.m., Inspiration Stage, Hall A Jonathan Collins: Culinary Demonstration: Old World Cuisine II 12:00 p.m., Salon 103 Denis Hancock: Using the Brand Wheel to Drive Marketing ROI 12:00 p.m., Salon 105 Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council and MERCAN Recruit: Labour Shortages and Foreign Recruitment 12:30 p.m.

Vikram Vij: Culinary Demo. To be announced.

1:00 p.m.

Chef David Adjey: Trade Show Safari – Unlocking Hidden Treasures Part 2 1:30 p.m., Inspiration Stage, Hall A Mark McEwan: Rustic Italian the “Fabbrica” Way Housemade Ricotta Gnocchi with a Braised Lamb’s Neck Ragout For more information, please visit the CRFA website at http://www.crfa.ca/tradeshows/crfashow.

FCPC at a glance Monday March 4, Allstream Centre, Exhibition Place 7:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. fcpc.ca The annual conference is in its 21st year and will again run in conjunction with the CRFA Show. This year’s conference will focus on forecasting the future of the foodservice industry, including Canadian and global trends. The schedule is as follows: Breakfast & registration • • Welcome/opening remarks. Brian Arbique, vicepresident, foodservice & retail sales, Heinz Canada, FCPC Foodservice Council Chair • CEO Opening Panel: Future of Foodservice. Garth Whyte, president & CEO, Canadian Restaurant & Foodservices Association, Susan Senecal, A&W Food Services of Canada Inc. North Vancouver, BC, incoming chair CRFA. • Technology and social media trends that influence entire value chain: your customers are ahead of you! Ari Ojansivu, head of industry, CPG, Google Canada focusing on CPG vertical business group • Regulatory Roundup! Snapshot of the regulatory landscape. Derek Nighbor, FCPC senior vice-president, public and regulatory affairs.

• Economic Overview. Benjamin Tal, managing director & deputy chief economist, CIBC World Markets • Trending – Global to Local: Insights without the crystal ball. Darren Tristano, executive vicepresident, Technomic, Inc. • Networking Lunch

See

at us n t o

o See Tor 7

FA 61 C R ooth # B

N A us a Boo F E M t th #

what if one company

could handle...

200

4

every issue you have in the dirtiest room in the house?

Champion Integrated Systems Accumulate, Wash & Dispose

Every foodservice operation has complex issues keeping the wares under control.

It’s way more than just washing. With more than 100 years of warewashing experience... we wash very well and can do so much more than just that. Regardless of the size of your operation or the number of covers you produce a day, we can help control the flow of dirty dishes from the customer...scrap and dispose of the food waste...clean and sanitize everything in record time while recovering energy, reducing operation costs and improving flow... still producing great clean results. So if you’re feeling overwhelmed in the dishroom, let Champion Integrated Systems take that off you plate.

800.263.5798 | championindustries.com/canada Follow us @championind

Search: Champion Industries

www.can-restaurantnews.com

32 |

O N TA R I O R E S TAU R A N T N E W S

Greenbelt extends, looks to new opportunities

By Elaine Anselmi

Top: Organizers and panelists, from left to right: Kathy Macpherson – Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation, Burkhard Mausberg – Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation, Amanda Oborne – Food Hub, Franco Naccarato – Greenbelt Fund, John Fisk – Wallace Center, Karen Chan – Ministry of Agriculture – Food and Rural Affairs, Linda Nyquist – New Venture Advisors, Larry Yee – The Food Commons, Evan Smith – Cherry Capital Foods. Photo courtesy of the Greenbelt Foundation.

Bottom: Burkhard Mausberg introduces the panel discussion at the Royal York Hotel, Toronto.

cultural land surrounding the GTA and supporting local farming.

Greenbelt Fund CEO Burkhard Mausberg said in his opening remarks that local food is much more than a trend. He said that due to the impending climate change, the oftenexceptional quality of locally sourced food and opportunities in economic development, eating local is more of a necessity.

A focus of the Greenbelt’s panel was in making local food systems more apTORONTO—Premier Dalton pealing and feasible for public instituMcGuinty’s announcement tions. In making the transition to local of the extension of Ontario’s food hubs, panelist John Fisk of the Greenbelt on Jan. 10 to inWallace Center – a U.S. national orgaclude the Glenorchy Lands in nization for sustainable food systems – Oakville, ON will expand the said, “restaurants are an important entry area of protected farmland and market for food hubs.” The concept of green space to more than two “know your farm, know your food,” is million acres. Friends of the gaining considerable ground with the Greenbelt Foundation adpublic, said Fisk. vocates for the protection “Restaurants are an imConsumer demand is a key facof agricultural and natural portant entry market for tor in the restaurant industry, and food hubs.” lands and has supported similarly in institutions, such as John Fisk, The Wallace Center schools, where students are drivthe local food movement, which is penned, by the Naing industry change, said Oborne. tional Restaurant Association, The event brought together exFoodHub established Farmeras one of the biggest trends perts on food systems from the Unit- Chef Connection 13 years ago to for the foodservice industry in ed States to discuss the establishment bring together chefs and farmers 2013. of food hubs and ideas surrounding from the Portland area. The event, “By expanding the Greenbelt local supply chains and operations. now co-hosted by the Portland Chefs with our municipal partners, we Panelist Amanda Oborne, acting Collaborative and Friends of Family are protecting more green space director of FoodHub, shared her in- Farmers, occurs every year on the first and preserving our natural heri- sights from running a website that Monday of March. tage for future generations,” min- connects wholesale producers, disThe Greenbelt Fund’s Ontariister of public affairs and housing tributors, food suppliers and buyers oFresh website operates similarly to Bob Chiarelli said. “We will con- within their own region.

FoodHub, giving Ontario foodservice tinue to work with municipaliIndependent restaurateurs are the operators a connection to a network ties to protect sensitive lands and predominant buyers on the site, said of suppliers and producers in the regrow the Greenbelt.”

Oborne, which she attributes to flex- gion. Such operations use technology The Greenbelt Fund hosted ibility in menus and quantities. She cit- to facilitate connections that would a panel discussion, Developing ed cost, complexity and consistency as otherwise have trouble finding each a Regional Food System, on some barriers keeping larger scale fran- other, said Oborne.

Jan. 8 underlining the impor- chises from making use of local supply tance of maintaining the agri- systems such as FoodHub. For more information: ontariofresh.ca

April 30 to May 2, 2013 Direct Energy Centre

&

Stimulate your imagination at sial Canada

Special Offer

-30%

RegisteR NOW at sialcanada.com

an event by

SIAL, a subsidiary of Comexposium Group

make your food connectionS in north america

> Shop for innovations > inSpire your menus > ViSit us at sialcanada.com

| 33

www.can-restaurantnews.com

F E B R U A RY 2 013

Alliance in new deal with Cargill

Conference Middleby acquires Viking Board calls CFIA opens for ideas centres for expertise

REGINA—Cargill, an international producer and marketer of food, agricultural, financial and industrial products and services, is now the exclusive agent for Alliance Grain Traders Inc.’s U.S. subsidiary, United Pulse Trading Inc., according to a release.

The five-year agreement will see Cargill as United Pulse Trading’s agent for the sales and marketing of protein ingredient products for the animal feed sector. “Our agreement with Cargill is the first step towards realizing the opportunities that our new pulse ingredient platform provides,” said executive chairman of the Alliance Grain Traders’ board, Murad Al-Katib. “We expect that this new platform will assist in making AGT one of the preferred suppliers of ingredients critical for food companies, retail and food service sale.”

OTTAWA—The Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced on Jan. 7 that 16 information centres are being created across Canada to advise inspectors and industry on key areas of regulation.

The centres, to be implemented over the next few years in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and PEI, will focus on specific areas within the CFIA’s scope, according to the release. Each centre will have a specific area of focus, such as red meat slaughter, processed meat and poultry, or labelling and claims.

“These Centres of Expertise will pool expertise and make it available through a single window, making the CFIA more efficient and giving industry, CFIA inspectors and Canadians better, more consistent service,” said agriculture minister Gerry Ritz.

S U P P LY

L I NES

Have you got appointments, staff changes, new hires or other people news to share with our readers?

Let us know at lwu@canadianrestaurantnews.com

OTTAWA—According to the Conference Board of Canada, the country’s receding global presence in the food and drink market is due to a lack of innovation in the industry.

The board cites a lack of investment in new research and ideas as a factor in Canada’s share of food and drink exports, dropping from 4.3 per cent in 2000 to 3.2 per cent in 2010. In 2011, Canada’s percentage share rose slightly to 3.9, but remained below previous levels, and was significantly lower than the United States share of 12.2 per cent and China’s share of 6.3 per cent (both of these countries increased their share from previous years.)

The board recommended several actions to encourage innovation in the food industry including: collecting customer data to cater products to customer demand; altering the Food and Drugs Act to reduce barriers in food innovation, while still adhering to food safety; and government funding for incentives on healthier and more environmentally sustainable food innovation.

“When it comes to innovation, the Canadian food industry is content to compete for a bronze medal,” said Daniel Munro, principal research associate for the board’s report, Competing for the Bronze: Innovation Performance in the Canadian Food Industry.

GREENWOOD, MS—Middleby Corporation has acquired Viking Range Corporation.

“We are looking forward to launching a new product line in 2013 and excited about the great R&D and innovation Middleby brings to the Viking brand,” said Fred Carl Jr., founder, president and CEO of Viking Range in a release.

Viking manufactures appliances for the foodservice industry. It began manufacturing major residential appliances in 1987, such as

the Viking range.

Middleby produces commercial cooking, food processing and packaging equipment for the foodservice industry. Chairman and CEO of The Middleby Corporation, Selim A. Bassoul said, “we hope to aggressively grow and expand the Viking brand and add to their product offerings for the residential market.”

Viking Range will continue to be located in its current Greenwood, MS location.

Cascades receives Green Seal certification

SUPPLY BRIEFS

Artisan Incubator fosters up and coming bakers TORONTO—Ace Bakery is celebrating 20 years of artisan baking by inaugurating 20 new chefs into their artisan showcase.

The company will select food artisans from across the country to come to Toronto and show off their craft, and have enlisted Canadian chefs and culinary experts as a part of the selection process.

The Artisan Incubator will run from June 20 to 22.

CANDIAC, PQ—Cascades Tissue Group has achieved Green Seal Standard, GS-1, for its line of sanitary paper products.

According to Cascades, this certification makes the company the provider of the largest offering of Green Seal-certified towel and tissue products in North America. “[We] commend Green Seal for their detailed, comprehensive approach to ensuring high standards of product performance and environmental quality,” said Suzanne Blanchet, president and CEO of Cascades Tissue Group.

The Marketplace Manufacturer of beverage cooling & dispensing equipMent Back Bar coolers

1-303-447-3334

reach-in refrigeraTors

draughT Beer coolers

glycol power packs Beer sysTem parTs Beer Towers

BEER TOWERS AND FAUCETS

VisiT BooTh #1241 aT crfa trade show (march 3-5) 5266 General Rd. Unit 11 Mississauga, ON, L4W 1Z7

Phone: (905) 629-2597 Toll free: 866-995-9965

www.beer-co.ca Email: info@beer-co.ca

www.can-restaurantnews.com

34 |

O N TA R I O R E S TAU R A N T N E W S

PEOPL E

From left to right: Ken Locke, Patrick Yarush, Alex Shterenberg, Steve Page

Changes at Cara operations There have been changes made at the executive level of Cara Operations Ltd. Don Robinson, president and CEO (shown right), said that Rick McNabb has been appointed to chief operating officer for Swiss Chalet and Harvey’s.

McNabb replaced Dave Minnett, former president of Swiss Chalet, who took on the added role of president of Harvey’s in 2009.

McNabb swapped the presidency of Milestones for that of Kelsey’s and Montana’s in 2009.

Mark Findlay has been appointed to chief operating officer for Kelsey’s, Milestones and Montana’s. He was formerly president of Milestones Restaurants from Jan. 2012.

He replaces Jeff Stipec, who joined Cara in 2006 to develop the Italian food concept Coza! Tuscan Grill.

When asked about the overall changes to the executive structure, Robinson said “the most recent organizational structuring has been put in place to ensure Every Guest Leaves Happy, as a result of superior restaurant operations”.

The new year has seen some changes at Russell Food Equipment’s Toronto and Vancouver offices.

Ken Locke, who had been general manager of the Toronto office for 22 years, was initially said to be retiring, but has taken on a management position in Russell’s Vancouver office.

Patrick Yarush, who has been with Russell for 18 years, moved into the Toronto general manager position. Yarush started with Russell as a service technician, part of what was then a no more than three person department. He rose through the ranks to become supervisor and service manager.

Now the department has eight staff including five technicians, two inside parts and service coordinators and the service manager.

“Russell saw that I did a good job building the service department, and they gave me the general manager role to see if I could do something there,” Yarush told ORN. His two goals are to add to the outside sales force and build the contract department, increasing Russell’s presence in the area.

Contract work, where Russell designs and builds restaurant kitchens, accounts for a fair share of the company’s Toronto-area business, Yarush said.

Alex Shterenberg became executive chef of the

Sheraton Gateway Toronto Hotel in mid-January.

Shterenberg was most recently executive sous chef at the Intercontinental Toronto Centre Hotel, and his experience also includes commis, chef de partie and senior sous chef positions at The Westin Harbour Castle. Trained in Switzerland and Russia, Shterenberg also attended the Culinary Apprentice Advanced program at George Brown College and received his Red Seal Certification in 2003.

Steve Page is taking on the role of chef du cuisine at Stone Road Grille, in Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON. Page has worked in kitchens across the country, beginning with Apres, in British Columbia.

Page is familiar with the southern Ontario culinary scene, having spent three years working at Treadwell’s Farm to Table Cuisine in Port Dalhousie, under Stephen Treadwell. Following his move to Niagara, Page traveled to England to work at a Michelin restaurant, Gravetye Manor, and then to Toronto where he spent two years in the kitchen of Yorkville’s Pangaea Restaurant.

“My experiences have been diverse and at each step my passion for this business continues to develop,” said Page. “My journey is not over – it’s never over when you’re in love with your craft.”

COMING EVENTS

April 1, 2013.

Feb. 4: CAFP, Toronto Branch Top Management Night. International Centre, Mississauga, ON. For information go to: www.cafp.com/toronto.

Feb. 5-6: CDN Tourism Marketing, Summit, Hilton Toronto, Toronto, ON. For information go to: www.cdntourismmarketing. ca.

Feb. 7-9: NAFEM Annual General Meeting. Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, FL. For information go to: www. nafem.org/education-certification/annualmeeting.aspx.

Feb. 23-24: Franchise Show. Toronto Congress Centre, Toronto, ON. For information go to: www.cfa.ca/thefranchiseshow.

Feb. 23-26: CDN Society of Club Managers. National Conference, Delta City Centre Hotel, Ottawa, ON. For information go to: www.cscm.org.

Mar. 4: FCPC Foodservice Interchange Conference. Mississauga Convention Centre, Mississauga, ON. For information go to: www.fcpc.ca/events/upcoming-events/ FSI13.

Mar. 3-5: CRFA Show, Direct Energy Centre, Toronto, ON. For information go to: www.crfa.ca/tradeshows/crfashow.

Mar. 3-6: COEX. Red Rock Casino, Resort & Spa, Las Vegas, NV. For information go to: www.ifmaworld.com.

Mar. 10-12: International Boston Seafood Show. Boston, MA. For information go to: www.bostonseafood.com.

Mar. 19-21: International Pizza Expo. Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV. For

information go to: www.pizzaexpo.com Mar. 20: National Food, Tabletop & Supplies Show, Hotel des Seigneurs, St-Hyacinthe, QC. For information go to: www.gfs.com Mar. 27-30: Anuga FoodTec: The International Trade Show for Food and Beverage Processing and Packaging, Cologne, Germany. For information go to: www.anugafoodtec.com.

Apr. 8: Terroir 2013, Arcadian Court, Toronto, ON. For information go to: www.terroirsymposium.com.

Apr. 10: National Food, Tabletop & Supplies Show, Toronto Congress Center, Toronto, ON. For information go to: gfscanada. com/en/helping-you-succeed/foodshows.

Apr. 30 – May 2: SIAL Canada, the International Food & Beverage Tradeshow, SET CANADA, the National Food Equipment and Technology Tradeshow, Direct Energy Centre, Toronto, ON. For information go to: www. sialcanada.com.

May 18-21: National Restaurant Association Show, McCormick Place, Chicago, IL. For information go to: http://cf.restaurant. org/show/.

May 29-June 2: Canadian Association of Foodservice Professionals National Conference, Delta Vancouver Airport Hotel, Richmond, BC. For information go to www.cafp. com/conference/2013/.

May 29-30: Canadian Restaurant Investment Summit, Hilton Toronto Hotel, Toronto, ON. For information go to: www. restaurantinvest.ca.

GUSTO CHEF COAT $ .95 ea.

32 From

Fast delivery • large in-stock inventory embroidery and silk-screen printing service available

A proudly CAnAdiAn CompAny

toronto town & Country uniforms store 557 Dixon Road, Unit 122 Etobicoke (Ontario) M9W 6K1 Phone: 1-877-571-8286 Business Hours 9 am to 6 pm

ORN-UTC01-2013.indd 1

$ 7.50 Flat Rate FReight ChaRge to anywheRe in Canada

Free catalogues

GUSTO BIB APRON $ .95 ea.

13 montreal BoutiQue l’atelier town & Country 5675 Christophe-Colomb Ave. Montreal (Quebec) H2S 2E8 Phone: 514-271-5107 Business Hours 8 am to 5 pm

ottawa locatioN opeNiNg sooN

No miNimum order required

1-800-361-0388

View our Latest coLLections at www.tcuniforms.com

13-01-09 14:16

sell only the finest quality by offering–

Sterling Silver® Premium Beef the sterling silver® brand represents the finest beef, delivering unsurpassed quality and providing exceptional flavour, tenderness and juiciness. sterling silver Premium Beef possesses many attributes that make this beef so distinctive: • Every cut guaranteed flavourful and juicy or you don’t pay for it* • State-of-the-art processing for food safety • Meticulously hand-selected and trimmed • Only the top 12 percent of all beef cattle meet the rigid standards that allow it to qualify as sterling silver Premium Beef As a result, you can be assured that you’re serving only the very best, and that your guests will enjoy a dining experience they’ll never forget. That is the Sterling Silver brand promise.

Flanagan’s is the Exclusive Foodservice Broadline Distributor of Sterling Silver® Premium Beef in Ontario** For more information on Sterling Silver® Premium Beef, please contact Flanagan’s Sterling Silver Specialist at 1-855-Flanagan.

www.sterlingsilvermeats.com w w w. f l a n a g a n . c a

© 2013 Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation. All rights reserved.

SS669-FlanagansAdR5.indd 1

* Qualifying product must be Sterling Silver beef, aged a minimum of 21 days and not cooked well done ** Excluding the Ottawa/Kingston region

1/15/13 2:58 PM