Pacific/Prairie Restaurant News - April 2014

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estaurant News R April 2014 Vol. 20 No.2

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McBarge gets a lifeline

MARY BROWN’S PLANS TO DOUBLE UP

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FARMERY GETS BOOST FOR ESTATE

8 The flat-bottomed boat known as McBarge.

By Jonathan Zettel, assistant editor

Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40010152

2014 CRFA SHOW COVERAGE

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VIKRAM VIJ TO JOIN DRAGONS’ DEN

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DIGITAL INNOVATION From mobility to customer interaction, we asked experts what’s new and what’s next in point of sale technology.

MISSION, BC—A developer is applying to anchor the McBarge in Mission, BC with two full service restaurants.

The McBarge—officially named Friendship 500—was built for Expo ‘86 in Vancouver and received its moniker because it was home to a floating McDonald’s restaurant.

“It may always be called the McBarge by the older generation but the project is called Mission Landing,” developer Howard Meakin told PRN. The lengthy permit process to see the 15,000-square-foot vessel dock along the Fraser River is ramping up, with a finalized deal coming as early as this summer.

Plans call for a 6,800-square-foot upscale seafood restaurant on the

upper deck and a 5,500-square-foot pub-style restaurant on the main level.

Meakin purchased the vessel in 1999 and has since been working to find it a home and expects to invest $3.5 million in renovations.

According to Meakin, the barge is currently anchored in Burrard Inlet, where it has been mothballed since 1988. The superstructure is made out of concrete and steel and is clad with porcelain dipped alucabond panels, which will be buffed up to look as good as new. All of the exterior metal work will be replaced and Meakin said the interior will be gutted with new plumbing, electrical, sprinklers, elevators and HVAC system installed.

Michael Younie, director of developmental services for the district said there are many obstacles to overcome including building dykes up to meet

new standards, building a community pier and ensuring the soil near the site is not contaminated by previous industrial activities. Nonetheless, “we remain optimistic,” Younie said, adding the barge is part of an overall project to develop Mission’s waterfront.

According to Meakin, Mission is the perfect location for the barge because more than 550,000 people live within a 25-minute drive from the proposed site and the population could double within the next five years.

“The Fraser Valley is the area that is experiencing the most growth in the lower mainland,” Meakin said.

Although tenants have not been confirmed, Meakin said he has spoken with several groups and is willing to speak with any interested parties.

Continued on page 3

Aquilini acquires Toptable restaurants VANCOUVER—The ownership group of the Vancouver Canucks and the team’s home ice arena has bought Toptable Group.

Toptable—whose operations include CinCin, West, Blue Water Café and Whistler’s Araxi—announced on March 18 it had been acquired by the Aquilini Group. Terms of the deal have not been released.

The acquisition of Toptable will add to Aquilini’s growing list of holdings including real estate, agriculture, renewable energies and sports and entertainment. In terms of hospitality, Aquilini already holds the rights to Pizza Hut in Western Canada.

Michael Doyle, Toptable Group president, told PRN in an email the “acquisition aligns with Aquilini Group’s commitment to providing premium experiences for British Columbians.”

Doyle said the overall management and operations structure would remain the same with Toptable owner Jack Evrensel continuing with the company in a consulting role.

“Our team has never been stronger nor this rich in talent,” Evrensel said in a statement. “I’m proud of the three-decade reputation Toptable Group has established, which is built on the foundation of pursuing excel-

lence without compromise, a generosity of spirit, and a love of food and wine.”

Toptable opened Araxi in Whistler, BC as its first restaurant in 1981.

According to Doyle, there are currently no plans for expansion.

“This is a very positive alignment that will ensure the continuity of all Toptable properties,” Evrensel said.

According to The Province, in early March, Aquilini ended its contact with Aramark Canada to operate foodservice for Vancouver’s Rogers Arena, a move that will send nearly 1,000 unionized employees out of work as of July 1.

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Floating a restaurant

Interior images of the barge.

Continued from page 1

“Everybody thinks it’s a great idea and it will be, if we get the right operators on board, and that’s always the big question mark,” Meakin said. “But if we get the right operators on board, we’ll have a pretty viable operation.”

If the permit to anchor permanently is received, plans are to attach a dock for floatplanes with scheduled flights to Nanaimo, BC, and the inner harbour of Victoria, BC. Tours will also run from the barge, shuttling tourists to Hell’s

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Gate in the Fraser Canyon and offering fishing trips along the river.

“People from all over the world come here to fish,” Meakin said, noting sturgeon—one of the largest freshwater fish—jump right out of the waters around the proposed docking location of the flat-bottomed boat.

The project is being designed by Vancouver architect David Eaton and could be up and running six months after getting the nod from the municipality. “It’s going to be a hub of activity,” Meakin said.

Saskatchewan looking to privatize prison foodservice REGINA—The government of Saskatchewan is looking to privatize foodservice for all of its prisons and youth detention facilities across the province.

According to the CBC the move could affect 62 unionized workers.

Saskatchewan Government and General Employees Union (SGEU) said the move is unlikely to save the province money.

“Experience with prison privatization in other jurisdictions shows that contracting out foodservices costs more, not less,” SGEU president Bob Bymoen said in a release. “Independent audits in Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky have revealed a disturbing trend of over-charging and extra-billing for meals never served.”

The province issued a request for proposals on Feb. 25 to call for companies interested in taking over foodservice management at centres in Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert, with a closing date for applications of April 8.

According to the CBC, any change to prison foodservice would not take place until the fall of this year.

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The Roof is on at Fairmont Vancouver

Executive chef Cameron Ballendine.

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The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver in 1940.

VANCOUVER—The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver reopened The Roof on the 15th floor for a limited run while the hotel undergoes renovations.

The Roof Restaurant + Bar opened in late March and is slated to operate through the fall while 900 West Restaurant + Bar in the hotel lobby gets a facelift to coincide with the hotel’s 75th anniversary.

The 5,200-square-foot establishment will seat 100 people in the dining area and another 50 in the lounge section, which features banquettes, overstuffed wing-back chairs and live music Thursday through Saturday evenings.

The panoramic view features coastal mountains to the north and the Point Grey peninsula to the south.

Victoria-born executive chef Cameron Ballendine has returned to Vancouver from his

General manager Michael Pye.

travels that took him to kitchens in China, Egypt and France. He oversees the culinary operation at the hotel and is putting a contemporary twist on the cuisine in the steakhouse and grillroom.

Starters include classics like oysters, French onion soup, and Boston bibb wedge salad along with new offerings like tempura morels. Entrees include a variety of steaks, from an eight-ounce tenderloin to a 24-ounce porterhouse, and the menu maintains the hotel’s signature prime rib and Yorkshire pudding.

Other menu items include pork or lamb chops, grilled free-range chicken and B.C. seafood, with side dishes of creamed spinach, cauliflower gratin and sautéed mushrooms. Desserts range from sweet to savoury with lemon tart, chocolate cake, crème brûlée or artisanal cheeses.

The Roof features classic cocktails including a grand sazerac cocktail made with Louis XIII cognac.

The average check for food will be $20 for breakfast, $24 for lunch and $40 for dinner.

The original venue, Panorama Roof, debuted when the hotel opened in 1939. The Roof became known for its dinner and dancing.

The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver turns 75 this year, and a $12-million lobby renovation is being overseen by newly appointed general manager, Michael Pye. “Vancouverites have had a love affair with the hotel since it opened and it’s surprising how often we receive stories about the memories guests have of the property and our staff. The temporary opening of The Roof will introduce a new generation to the venue and, we hope, new memories to share,” said Pye in a release.

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RestaurantNews

Comm e n t

Good Neighbours

www.pacificprairierestaurantnews.com Editorial Director Leslie Wu ext. 227 lwu@canadianrestaurantnews.com Senior Contributing Editor Colleen Isherwood ext. 231 cisherwood@canadianrestaurantnews.com Assistant Editor Jonathan Zettel ext. 226 jzettel@canadianrestaurantnews.com Assistant Editor, Digital Content Kristen Smith ext. 238 ksmith@canadianrestaurantnews.com Senior Account Manager Debbie McGilvray ext. 233 dmcgilvray@canadianrestaurantnews.com Account Manager Kim Kerr ext. 229 kkerr@canadianrestaurantnews.com Production Stephanie Giammarco ext. 0 sgiammarco@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

PAC I F I C / P R A I R I E R E S TAU R A N T N E W S

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t the heart of every successful restaurant is being a good neighbour. After all, what could be more neighbourly than inviting people in to rest awhile with food and drink? Restaurants serve as a waypoint for residents and visitors exploring a community and while they thrive at inviting others in, operators across the country are also taking note of the opportunities to be made by connecting with neighbouring businesses.

Take Toronto businessman Alex Ling. In 1970, Ling pioneered Canada’s first Business Improvement Area in Toronto’s Bloor West Village. The mission statement of the project was under the banner of improving business, but what it really came down to was convincing others that better business really started with being a good neighbour. What Ling saw—and continues to persuade others of even to this day—is that business success cannot be realized in a vacuum and depends on a symbiotic relationship with others in the community.

Since the ‘70s, BIAs have flourished around the world. Former mayor of Toronto David Miller called the concept “one of the country’s greatest exports” with similar organizations now active across the world including the U.S., Australia and Europe.

So when brothers Ryan and Patrick O’Shaughnessy picked up everything to move from Edmonton to open a Famoso pizzeria franchise in Waterloo, ON, one of their first contacts on the ground was Patti Brooks, executive director of the Uptown BIA. According to Patrick, she was welcoming, supportive and acted as a gateway into the rest of the community with her dynamic and contagious energy.

In Bloor West Village, where it all began, giant oversized banners and solar powered light posts installed by the longest-standing BIA mark a community where something special has happened. As the area’s motto suggests “the small village in a big city,” is a real example of being neighbourly.

For his part, Ling has been lauded with

Bi t s Quiznos: bankruptcy protection Publisher Steven Isherwood ext. 236 sisherwood@canadianrestaurantnews.com

Volume 20 Number 2 Pacific/Prairie Restaurant News is published 6 times per year by Ishcom Publications Ltd. which also publishes: Ontario Restaurant News, Atlantic Restaurant News, Canadian Lodging News, Canadian Chains 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 & USA: $24.95/ year or $39.95/two years Single copy: $5.95 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to circulation department, 2065 Dundas Street East, Suite 201, Mississauga, Ontario L4X 2W1 Publication Mail Agreement No. 40010152 ISSN 1702-3483 GST number R102533890

OAKVILLE, ON—Quiznos announced on March 14 the company would file for bankruptcy protection, but expected the move won’t affect operations.

The Denver-based company said its 2,100 restaurants in 35 countries, most of which are independent franchises, would remain open.

“The actions we are taking are intended to enable Quiznos to reduce our debt, execute a comprehensive plan to further enhance the customer experience, elevate the profile of the brand and help increase sale sand profits for our franchise owners,” Stuart K. Mathis, Quiznos chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Quiznos Canada released a statement saying its locations remain open during the financial restructuring. George Jeffrey, chief operating officer of Quiznos Canada, said in a statement: “Our restaurants are open for business as usual.

CRFA: economic forecast TORONTO—The foodservice industry should expect “healthy gains” over the next four years, according to Restaurants Canada (formerly the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association) senior economist Chris Elliott.

“It has been a very challenging time in terms of the economic indicators and it really depends on which province you’re in,” Elliott said in a presentation at the 2014 CRFA Show in early March.

Commercial foodservice sales across the country grew by 4.6 per cent in 2013, according to Statistics Canada. Newfoundland and Labrador saw the highest rate in GDP growth last year, an increase of about five per cent.

“What’s alarming though, is that there are about six provinces here with growth of about 1.3 [per cent] or less; we should be seeing growth closer three per cent across the country,” he said.

awards and accolades and even had a memorial fountain—which runs throughout the winter—unveiled in 2005 at the western end of the village, an honour rarely bestowed on the living. He still runs his tiny shop, Ling’s Importers.

Inside the narrow store, delicate irreplaceable treasures lie inside a glass display case.

There’s red and gold jewelry, delicate silks and imported curios. At the end of the long, glass display case, a pile of papers hides a telephone that rings continuously: it’s his neighbours, and they need a helping hand.

From Osborne Village Business Improvement Zone in Winnipeg to any of the 22 BIAs in Vancouver or 73 in Toronto, restaurants and businesses are coming together to help foster neighbourhoods. All of it came from a single idea of a gentle businessman: let’s see if we can come together and make this place a little better—let’s be good neighbours.

Jonathan Zettel Guest columnist

a nd

“Back in 2002, the foodservice share of the total food dollar was 40.1 per cent,” said Elliott. It dropped to a low of about 37 per cent in the years following the recession.

“We are starting to see a bit of an improvement so its going in the right direction,” he said.

Elliott said Canada will see stronger real GDP growth of at least two per cent across the provinces this year and forecasted steady growth in disposable income over the next four years. “Because disposable income is such an important factor, as a result we’re going to see stronger foodservice sales growth,” said Elliott.

GMP 2014 competition dates TORONTO—The journey to the Canadian Culinary Championships has begun again now that Gold Medal Plates has announced the dates for its 2014 competition.

A celebration of Canadian excellence in cuisine, wine and athletic achievement, Gold Medal Plates features the premier chefs in 11 cities in a competition to crown a gold, silver and bronze medal culinary team in each region. This year’s dates include Winnipeg (Oct. 2); Halifax (Oct. 16); Edmonton (Oct. 23); Victoria, BC (Oct. 30); Saskatoon (Nov. 8); Montreal (private party); Toronto (Nov. 12); St. John’s (Nov. 13); Ottawa (Nov. 17); Regina (Nov. 21) and Calgary (private party).

First-place finishers of these competitions will go on to the Canadian Culinary Championships. Founded in 2003, Gold Medal Plates raises funds for Canada’s Olympic athletes, while celebrating Canadian excellence, and since 2004 has raised over $8.2 million.

Beverage trends for 2014 TORONTO—Fair trade and organic coffee once again topped the list of hot trends for non-alcoholic drinks in Restaurants Canada’s 2014 Chef Survey, based on the answers from about 400 foodservice professionals.

Bit e s

Also included in the top five are coconut water, green tea, mocktails and dairyfree milk, such as soy or almond milk.

The survey looked at up-and-coming trends, which indicated coconut water and organic coffee could continue to be popular within the non-alcohol category, with additional trends including house-made soft drinks, specialty iced tea and small batch sodas.

The survey also indicated that craft beer and microbrews are most popular when it comes to boozy beverages, with specialty beer, micro-distilled/artisan liquor, culinary cocktails and muddled cocktails rounding out the list.

Wirtz to move Diageo in Canada TORONTO—The company that owns the Chicago Blackhawks will become the exclusive broker and distributor of Diageo products across Canada.

Chicago-based Wirtz Beverage Group will form a new company, Wirtz Beverage Canada, and begin distributing brands such as Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker and Captain Morgan in Canada.

“This arrangement with Wirtz Beverage provides us with the best of both worlds—a broker that understands our business and a dedicated Canadian sales force that knows our brands and the Canada market,” Diageo North America president Larry Schwartz said in a release.

The company already represents Diageo in several U.S. states where it has been in business for nearly 70 years.

“We will leverage our commercial sales expertise with training and development programs, market analytics and technology tools to support the Diageo brands across Canada,” Wirtz Beverage president Rocky Wirtz said.

Jakob Ripshtein—who was been with Diageo since 2008—will replace Maggie Lapcewich as president of Diageo Canada, as of July 1, when the deal is finalized.

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Visit bell.ca/barsandrestaurants or call 1 866 716-8040.

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Mary Brown’s hits 100 stores, plans to double BARRIE, ON—The 100th outpost of Mary Brown’s Famous Chicken & Taters opened in Barrie, ON, in early March with plans to open 100 more over the next five years.

Now based in Markham, ON, the brand was born more than four decades ago in Newfoundland and Labrador as U.S. chain Golden Skillet. When that franchise closed, the N.L. locations were renamed. It has strong presence in its home province, with 39 locations there, and the other 61 are spread out between Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario and Alberta.

Mary Brown’s chief executive officer N.L. resident Greg Roberts—a former multi-unit franchisee—took over the company seven years ago, and since then sales have doubled, according to the company.

“In Canada, our goal is to be at 200 stores within five years. This year, we’re already slated to open 20 stores across Canada, which is good given this is only March,” Roberts told PRN. “We’re hoping to come in at 25 or more and continue a progressive increase right into year five.”

Mary Brown’s plans to open in Kelowna, BC, and Charlottetown this summer, and hopes to move into in Regina and Winnipeg by the end of this year.

“In the next year, we’re supposed to be in every province with the exception of Quebec,” said Roberts. “We’re hoping to eventually get to Quebec.”

Roberts said the Mary Brown’s franchisees are able to drive about 20 per cent more revenue to the bottom line compared to their competitors because labour costs, supply costs

and royalties are lower.

“We have reached a critical point for the brand that allows us to leverage buying power for our franchisees, which is important in terms of every day cost control and the ability to deliver a strong bottom line,” Roberts said.

“We have the economies of scale now that we’re at 100 stores and the marketing budget to further develop our brand and provide the good pricing and market exposure that we’ve always needed,” said Roberts. “We’ve got a positive catch-22 taking place.”

A private company, Mary Brown’s isn’t required to deliver a return on investment to shareholders.

Its limited breadth of selection results in lower labour costs. “We’re basically chicken and potatoes; do one thing and do it better than anyone else,” said Roberts.

The chain uses proprietary cookers, which cook with heat, rather than pressure.

“We use local chicken processors across the country; we bring fresh product into our store two or three times a week—the full chicken which we cut onsite,” said Roberts. “One of our taglines is: our taters started today as honest to goodness potatoes.”

With an average check of about $11, Roberts said the chain is making changes to the lunch menu, such as introducing smaller combos and lower price points, to promote traffic in that daypart.

Average square feet for the current concept is 1,500, and Roberts describes the look as 1960s traditional diner, homey and comfortable with warm colours and plenty of wood.

Topper’s Pizza’s new location in Chelmsford, ON. Inset: Thai Sensation pizza.

Mary Brown’s Bradford, ON, location. Inset: Chief executive officer Greg Roberts.

Mary Brown’s Inc. owns fast casual concept Mary’s Diner, which offers additional menu items, such as all-day breakfast and traditional diner fare, in a table service environment. With two N.L. locations open, Roberts said the fast casual segment has opportunity for growth and thinks some of the larger Mary Brown’s traditional units could be retrofitted for the newer concept.

The company recently opened its first international location in Istanbul, Turkey, under the name Mary’s Famous Chicken and Taters. Roberts said they are focusing on emerging markets.

job of gaining word of mouth quicker in the bedroom communities.”

He said he expects word of mouth to travel more quickly as the brand gets bigger and stronger.

In terms of new markets, Topper’s is looking at Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton and Toppazzini expects the brand to grow in the same way it did in Ontario by starting in suburban and commuting communities near major cities.

He said Topper’s Pizza is focusing on building the company internally “getting ready for major growth” and recently brought on Jeff Dillon as vice-president.

Dillon, formerly of Threecaf Brands Canada, has hired a director of training, more field people and someone to head up purchasing.

“He’s building a team and we’re going to get back into focusing on growth,” said Toppazzini.

He said the company plans to start with four or five new units this year and eight the following year.

“Our goal is to start off with a rate that is sustainable and then, once we get into a rhythm, ultimately we want to be opening a new pizzeria

Topper’s Pizza heading west

By Kristen Smith Assistant editor, digital content BARRIE, ON—Ontario-based Topper’s Pizza is tackling growth and plans to move into Alberta and Manitoba.

The brand was founded in 1982 in Sudbury, ON, and began franchising a decade later with nine locations already under its belt.

It currently has 35 units in Ontario and plans to add 12 more franchises in the next two years.

“As we look outside of the province, we’ll be focusing on multi-unit franchise operators,” said president and chief operating officer Keith Toppazzini. He hopes to open in new provinces within the next two years.

Toppazzini said the chain’s Ontario growth has been focused on smaller, suburban communities. “The goal is to kind of surround Toronto before we enter into Toronto,” Toppazzini told PRN. “Our brand is really known for flavour and taste. Word-of-mouth and reputation is most important and we seem to do a better

every two weeks,” he said. “We should get to that pace in about three to four years.”

The carryout and delivery chain is also trying out a new concept, opening its first fast casual location in Chelmsford, ON, a community Topper’s has been in for about 20 years.

The new prototype, a fast-casual pizzeria, opened on March 26 and seats about 75.

The delivery/carryout store has a footprint of between 1,200 and 1,500 square feet and an average ticket of about $24.

The fast casual concept has what Toppazzini describes as a look that mixes modern with old world and can have a footprint of between 2,500 and 3,000 square feet.

“We focused on making it very earthy and comfortable,” said Toppazzini, noting the company used corporate colours red and black and plenty of wood.

On the walls hang pictures of and quotes about food.

He said the company thinks the concept is suited to urban settings close to where people work and go to school, but will also work in rural areas.

Topper’s dough recipe is more than 110 years old passed down by Giuseppe Toppazzini who used the recipe at Toppazzini Bakery, which opened in 1904 in Toronto’s Little Italy.

On top of the Italian bread base, are creations such as the Chipotle Chicken Florentine and the Tropical Heatwave with extra cheese, pepperoni, pineapple and hot peppers on a garlic butter crust.

The Chelmsford location and any future fast casual stores—Toppazzini said the company should know if the prototype is successful within a month—will also offer beer and wine.

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BeverageNews A REPORT ON THE BEVERAGE INDUSTRY

Buying the farm NEEPAWA, MB—The Farmery got a boost from the CBC’s Dragons’ Den to turn its brewing operations into an estate brewery.

The plan has been more than three years in the making for brothers Lawrence and Chris Warwaruk (pictured above, from left), who began by contract brewing Farmery Premium Lager at Muskoka Brewery in Gravenhurst, ON. A deal struck with Arlene Dickinson and

David Chilton for $200,000 in exchange for a six per cent royalty will go toward the cost of building the estate brewery on a Manitoba farm, which is estimated at $1.5 million.

The Dragons’ Den outcome had to be kept under wraps for about a year until the show aired in January, said Lawrence Warwaruk, who didn’t even spill the beans to his wife.

The brothers operate Luxalune Gastropub in Winnipeg, which offers 150 types of beer.

Warwaruk said expanding into the brewing industry made sense as a next step. “The focus was on sourcing products as local as possible,” Warwaruk told PRN. “What could be more local than farmers brewing their own beer?”

The brothers have been brewing and distributing within the province both commercially and to foodservice operations. They plan to continue contract brewing a portion of the beer in Ontario when the Manitoba estate brewery is built.

The duo will grow many of the ingredients onsite, but Warwaruk noted there will be limitations on how much beer can be produced onsite, estimating 20,000 hectolitres annually.

“It’s like building a factory in the middle of nowhere,” he said, adding the hope is to eventually have another larger production facility in a more urban setting with existing infrastructure.

It has taken three years to establish the hops on the Neepawa, MB, property and Warwaruk said they plan to source as locally as possible in the future, hopefully from neighbours.

Warwaruk said the future brewery will look like a traditional barn with modern touches, a “worn wood look” and a copper roof. The Farmery Estate Brewery will sit along Highway 16. Warwaruk hopes to have the structure built

by November and be producing beer there by next spring.

B.C. winery makes uncooked kosher wine KELOWNA, BC—A B.C. winery has produced an uncooked kosher wine, calling it a first for the Canadian market.

Summerhill Pyramid Winery in Kelowna, BC, has created Tiferet—which loosely translates to mean beauty—and was uncooked and manufactured in accordance with Jewish dietary laws.

Most kosher wines on the market are mevushal wines—meaning cooked or boiled—a process that allows non-Jews to handle the product.

“In my opinion it ruins the wine,” Ezra Cipes, chief executive officer of Summerhill Pyramid Winery, said in a release.

Tiferet was made by Rabbi Shmuly Hecht and Rabbi Levy Teitlebaum who performed every task that required contact with the wine itself.

“This wine can be enjoyed by anyone, Jewish or not,” Cipes said.

Each bottle was hand sealed in wax by Rabbi Hecht with the seal of approval of the Ottawa Vaad Hakashrut to certify the wine is kosher.

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BeverageNews A REPORT ON THE BEVERAGE INDUSTRY

Campari to buy Forty Creek GRIMSBY, ON—Italian drinks group Campari has agreed to buy Forty Creek Distillery for $185.6 million.

“Through this acquisition we enter the very large and appealing Canadian whisky category, thus premiumizing our brand portfolio, driving a richer product mix and further leveraging the revival of brown spirits,” Jean Jacques Dubau, managing director of North America for Campari, said in a March 12 release.

“Moreover, integrating this business will enable us to internalize key activities in the Canadian market as well as position us for further growth in our core U.S. market,” he said.

Founded in 1992 by owner John Hall, Forty Creek’s portfolio includes whisky, vodka, brandy, rum and liqueurs, with Forty Creek Whisky as its core brand. The Forty Creek whisky family includes Barrel Select, Copper Pot Reserve, Forty Creek Cream Whisky and offers limited releases including Forty Creek Confederation Oak, Double Barrel and an annual special John K. Hall Reserve release.

Hall will remain chairperson and whisky maker at the distillery.

Joia soda comes to Canada

John Hall.

“Campari has the global ability to take Forty Creek to the next level. Introducing customers around the world to my whisky is a dream come true,” Hall said.

The deal is expected to close June 2. After the acquisition, all the business structures and processes in place will remain unchanged in Canada.

TODAY’S SPECIALS MADE EASY.

VANCOUVER—A line of premium glass-bottled soda is coming to Canada in May, with four flavours combining fruits, herbs and spices.

Joia All Natural Soda will be available through traditional foodservice supply companies.

“We’re heading towards rapid development with our distribution system and then placement in the market in early May,” president of Genesis Marketing Group Inc. Cris Fletcher told PRN. Genesis is a manufacturer, bottler and beverage developer, which has Dad’s Old Fashioned Root Beer and Koala beverages in its portfolio.

The company

will eventually look to sell Joia in a retail setting, but will initially focus on foodservice.

“We really see the value of building a brand in foodservice,” Fletcher said. “There is more of a full 360 experience for the customer when they get to try the product. So we feel the path to development with foodservice is critical.”

The flavours being launched in Canada include: grapefruit, chamomile and cardamom; blackberry, pomegranate and ginger; pineapple, coconut and nutmeg; and orange, jasmine and nutmeg. Joia also offers a ginger, apricot and allspice variety currently available in the U.S. and a lime, hibiscus and clove flavour, which will be sold exclusively through an unnamed buying group in Canada.

“They’re really unique because they are heading toward the craft-type of product just like they are doing with craft beer,” Fletcher said.

Joia announced its plans for Canada at the 2014 CRFA Show in Toronto.

“So far the response has been overwhelming—it’s kind of been beyond our expectations,” Fletcher said.

The product will be distributed through Flanagan Foodservice with deals in the works to include Sysco and Gordon Food Service.

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PAC I F I C / P R A I R I E R E S TAU R A N T N E W S

How they work

A look at Canadian corporate chefs in the different facets of foodservice

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s the name implies, a corporate chef must have both the culinary chops and a mind for business to succeed in the role. While creativity and a passion for foodservice remains the anchor of the job, some companies are asking for more from their top gastronomic minds.

PRN spoke with six corporate chefs across the foodservice industry about what their job entails and how they see the role evolving.

By Pacific/Prairie Restaurant News staff

Stefan Czapalay C

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Stefan Czapalay has been working with Clearwater Seafoods since 1999 when he starting catering important in-house events and in 2001 was contracted as a corporate chef. The partnership grew over the next five years. “After that it became a full-time job and now it’s certainly full time—way over full time,” he says.

Throughout the year, Czapalay builds relationships with other corporate chefs and participates in co-creating (or ide-

ation) sessions with new chefs. “A lot of the time it’s being able to eliminate a perceived hurdle that maybe a chef has,” says Czapalay, who works with the products regularly.

“My role, interestingly enough is part of the marketing department,” said Czapalay, who works with the team to come up with ideas that would fit well on a particular menu and work within the restaurant’s demographic.

He works closely with the marketing team, who use insight based on trends or demographics to help develop new products, a process he is part of.

Last year, Czapalay travelled for 160 days to 21 countries.

“I love the diversity and unpredictability,” said Czapalay, whose day could start with a 5 a.m. conference call to China, include one in the afternoon with the European team, involve fielding calls throughout the day from the quality assurance department and end at 9 p.m. with a call to the West Coast.

He says his role is changing to include more food science and over the years he has become more involved with product development and the marketing and research teams.

“I believe the position of corporate chef has shifted from someone in the back of the house to someone actually needed and required to assist with sales. The role became more of a sales role. Some corporate chefs are very famous and you see them actually as figureheads for the company,” says Czapalay.

Tony Fernandes a l Eq u Roya

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Tony Fernandes is the group executive chef and food and beverage director for hotel management Royal Equator Inc. He is responsible for F&B operations at Crowne Plaza Toronto Airport, Four Points by Sheraton Toronto Airport and Hilton Garden Inn Toronto/Mississauga.

His day starts with a 9 a.m. meeting, but how it ends is always up in the air.

On average he is there until about 7 p.m., but delayed flights might mean he needs to

hop on the line until after the rush and an important function might see him stay onsite until 1 a.m.

He is responsible for menu redesigns for each restaurant, which he tackles twice a year. “I talk to a lot of guests before I do the menus, then I see what sells a lot,” he says.

Fernandes says because of the location, the airport hotels see a number of international travellers with a variety of food preferences, but the menus must also cater to those who want to stop in for a sandwich or pizza.

The kitchens are responsible for the restaurant as well as the room service and banquets. Between the three properties there is 30,000 square feet of banquet facilities and at least one event every day.

Fernandes is also responsible for the business aspects of the food and beverage programs: marketing strategies to widen brand awareness, setting the budget, analyzing revenue. In a nutshell, he is responsible for the financial viability of the food and beverage programs.

“One of the things I do is compete. I make time—if you’re passionate about what you do, you find time,” says Fernandes. He and his teams have won 40 medals in culinary competitions worldwide and Fernandes says it helps him keep up with international trends to add to his repertoire. “I don’t want to be stagnant,” he says.

Tom Field

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Tom Field is a corporate chef for AltoShaam Canada, a branch of an international company that sells a wide range of kitchen equipment including ovens, smokers and deep fryers. He is responsible for the entire province of Ontario, the Atlantic provinces and fills in both nationally and internationally when the need arises.

Jason Rosso Mi

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Jason Rosso says he has lived on a plane for the past two years as the corporate chef for Milestones Restaurants. With more than 50 restaurants spread out across the country, and with several more planned to open this year, Rosso says he takes a hands-on approach to his role.

For the past eight years, Field has worked with Alto-Shaam equipment, pushing the boundaries of what the machines are capable of, determining where efficiencies can be made and providing consultation on possible improvements. According to Field, it’s a job where no two days are alike.

“There is no predictable thing,” laughs Field trying to pin down an average day as corporate chef. “Some days I am going to customers to do training on equipment that they’ve bought. Other days I am coming into the office … to set up demonstrations for people who are about to buy.”

For a week out of every month, Field travels across Canada and the world, meeting with customers, presenting at tradeshows, introducing new products and offering his expertise on how to maximize the handling of the company’s equipment.

When he is not on a plane, he spends countless hours at the office in Concord, ON, where the company’s test kitchen is located, developing programs for clients and testing new foods.

It’s the variety, which is his favorite part of the job, says Field.

Recently, he says, he had the pleasure of designing a booth for a tradeshow and he acts as a frontline representative for AltoShaam’s products.

“As a corporate chef I also look after minor service problems for people who have either new or older equipment,” Field says, pointing to a hands-on approach to the job.

“I ask them to call me first instead of phoning a service agent.”

As corporate chef at C.W. Shasky & Associates Ltd., Ryan Marquis is front-and-centre of the company’s foodservice operations.

He works directly with manufacturers as an ingredients sales representative to promote products the food brokerage represents including Tabasco, Dole, Faro and Mission Foods.

“From our Tabasco dry red flavouring to our Tabasco paste to our sauces to even some of our ready-made products like our Rosina meatballs,” Marquis says, adding he works with research and development to find ways to use products in items they are making for foodservice, retail or another manufacturer.

Marquis also works with the company’s national sales team to offer support, comes up with new ideas for key accounts and also works with restaurant groups.

“We basically come up with strategies and formulate different types of promotions and ways we can help drive revenue for them and support their processes and restaurant at the same time,” he says.

Through his relationship with manufacturers, Marquis is also able to drum up new accounts for the company and help coordinate new relationships.

“If you want to develop a specific sauce or rub or a new coating system, I’ve already got those relationships so I can turn around and say I know the manufacturer that can make that for you,” he says.

In January, C.W. Shasky unveiled its new test kitchen in Oakville, ON. According to

Rosso says he took the job because he wanted to see how he could influence food on a national level. In the past 18 months, 40 new menu items have been launched, with another 40 plates coming this year.

When he is not directly involved in food development, Rosso works with chefs to keep them inspired and moving forward.

He developed a program to allow Milestones’ chefs to create menu items, which are used across the country along with the creator’s name and bio.

“My success and my happiness really comes from seeing the chefs that work for me and work in our restaurant company really succeed,” Rosso said.

Rosso—who has worked with several television food shows—says restaurants like Milestones are bringing on strong talent to help brand their restaurant’s foodservice.

“From a marketing side it’s an easy sell to say ‘Hey look, we’ve got Jason Rosso doing great dishes for our restaurant’,” Rosso says. “But for me, its really about how we deliver each plate at a time.”

Rosso says although Cara—parent company of Milestones—has a test kitchen, he prefers to work out of the company’s Richmond, ON location. “It’s not a theory-based job, we try to keep it as tactical and practical as possible,” Rosso says.

Rosso says he’s lucky the job isn’t compartmentalized and boxed in. “My role is really very diversified, so I’m really involved in the entire operations of the restaurant.”

Kira Smith, corporate chef with Kraft Canada, says the job allows her to combine her love of food with her desire to help people succeed.

Her role is to support the success of the company’s foodservice customers, which range from chains and distributors to independent operators.

“There is also a wonderful balance of business and creativity, spontaneity and detail,” Smith says. “I might be getting my hands dirty in the kitchen, or working on building a food trends deck with consumer insights. On other days, I am meeting oneon-one with customers or taking meticulous measurements and notes on product performance—it is a true smorgasbord.”

While Smith sees the daily variety as a highlight in her job, one thing is consistent: she is always working on menu concepts in one form or another.

“With national and larger regional chains we can work directly with the customer on customized recipes and concepts,” Smith says, noting this brings culinary support together with industry research and insight.

Smith works with Kraft’s North American culinary team and the foodservice website manager to offer online recipes, product use ideas, trends and business information to the expansive number of independents the company supplies.

Within the organization, Smith supports Kraft’s category managers and sales team with the launch of new products and

Ryan Marquis C.W.

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Marquis, he is in the kitchen three or four times a week with clients from across the country testing and working out new ideas.

“You’re constantly learning and evolving your strategies,” Marquis says. “The job changes on a daily basis depending on needs.”

Outside of C.W. Shasky, Marquis lends his culinary skills to judge competitions and is the president of the Oakville branch of the Canadian Culinary Federation.

Kira Smith K ra f

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upkeep of existing items by testing, performing sensory evaluation and developing recipes.

“I think that having a corporate chef on staff has gone from a ‘nice to do’ to a ‘have to have’ for larger food manufacturers and suppliers,” says Smith, who adds the need for corporate chefs will increase as demand for value beyond the product grows.

“I also think that there may be more of a demand for chefs that have a strong grounding in nutrition and how to develop recipes that meet specific criteria while still tasting delicious,” Smith says.

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PAC I F I C / P R A I R I E R E S TAU R A N T N E W S

CRFA show and new name TORONTO—The Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association (CRFA) recently announced it was revamping its brand with a new name and tagline: “Restaurants Canada: The voice of foodservice.”

The association will be changing over all facets of its visual identity in a rollout over the year.

A contest will determine the new name for the CRFA Show for 2015.

More than 1,200 exhibitors set up at the Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place March 2 to 4 for the 70th anniversary CRFA Show.

PRN met exhibitors at this year’s show, sat in on sessions and attended demos.

Here’s some of what went on.

Breakfast with champions

From Left: Bill Simpson, Drake Hotel; Dilup Attygalla, Ovations Food Services; Christina Tosi, Momofuku Milk Bar; Roger Mooking, Chopped Canada judge; Annie Young-Scrivner, Teavana; James Henderson, Keg Restaurants; and moderator George Stroumboulopoulos.

Photo by Restaurants Canada.

Giacomo Pasquini, Vertical Restaurant, at the Greenbelt Foundation reception.

From left: Nick Kewin, Jerry Coburn and Kris Haig, Beau’s All Natural Brewing.

Tony White, Future Shop Business Solutions at Best Buy Canada.

Christina Tosi (right), Momofuku Milk Bar at birthday cake truffles demo.

Members of the foodservice industry gathered for the annual Breakfast with Champions at the Liberty Grand on March 4 as part of Restaurants Canada’s annual tradeshow.

The event—moderated by CBC’s George Stroumboulopoulos—featured a panel discussion on industry trends. The six-person panel included: Roger Mooking, Chopped Canada judge; Annie Young-Scrivner, who transitioned from president of Starbucks Canada to president of Teavana in February; James Henderson, vice-president of business development at Keg Restaurants Ltd.; Christina Tosi, chef and founder of Momofuku Milk Bar; Dilup Attygalla, Ovations Food Services; and Bill Simpson, general manager of Toronto’s Drake Hotel.

The discussion centred around the release of Restaurants Canada’s annual Chefs Survey, which asked more than 400 chefs about foodservice trends. Gluten-free items, quinoa, locally-sourced, leafy greens and craft beer rounded out the top five current trends.

“I think that personalization is so important to consumers right now,” Young-Scrivner

said. “Our number of ingredients [at Starbucks] is small but we have the ability to make 98,000 different beverages.”

Young-Scrivner also pointed out that tea is trending, adding that it is the second most popular beverage in the world next to water.

“Craft beer is very hot right now,” Henderson said. “It’s growing across the country—it’s coming out of the U.S. and I don’t think it’s going away,” he said.

According to Attygalla, the biggest trend right now is a return to the basics, keeping menus simple and healthy. “We use, in our menus, a lot of grains,” he said.

A strictly Canadian trend?

Mooking used the example of ribs in the Southern U.S. states saying that different regions have strict rules when it comes to preparation with different parts of the animal and different sauce bases. “North Carolina uses a mustard-based sauce. [In] South Carolina they use a vinegar-based sauce. In Tennessee, they are like, ‘We don’t really use a sauce,’” Mooking said. “And it’s the law … there’s a real downhome earnest connection to those things. I don’t feel that in Canada,” he said.

Tosi said something as simple as maple syrup could span sweet and savoury and even be used in beverages. “A flavour like maple syrup has so much depth and so much potential for what can be done with it beyond just saying it’s maple-flavoured or it’s just maple syrup poured over something or added. I think maple has a really wide voice,” Tosi said.

Simpson pointed out that Canadian seafood culture is prevalent right across the country. Simpson also noted some restaurants are using state-of-the-art ovens to cook off-cuts of Canadian beef.

“We do a short-rib that’s literally cooked for three days but it keeps some of the blue in the meat so instead of getting this sort of grey pot-roasty type of beef you actually have a little bit of pink inside the beef. So it’s a lesser cut that’s slowly cooked in a $25,000 oven,” Simpson said.

2014 Chef Survey Restaurants Canada released its 2014 Chef Survey, which highlights current and future trends based on responses from more than 400 professional chefs.

Top 10 hot trends: 1. Gluten-free/food allergy conscious 2. Quinoa 3. Locally-sourced foods 4. Leafy greens 5. Craft beer/microbrews 6. Food smoking 7. Heirloom fruits and vegetables 8. Charcuterie/house-cured meats 9. Food trucks 10. Inexpensive/underused cuts of meat

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Lessons from the A restaurant website is as important as its menu cronut burger A representative of NSF-GFTC spoke to the foodservice industry at the tradeshow about food safety.

Frank Schreurs, NSF-GFTC managing director, consulting and technical services, told the cautionary tale of the cronut burger to illustrate how easily people could become ill when food is improperly handled.

In August 2013, there were more than 200 reports of vomiting, diarrhea and cramping after eating the cronut burger—a cheeseburger sandwiched between a deep-fried croissant/donut bun—at the Canadian National Exhibition. In its investigation, Toronto Public Health (TPH) found Staphylococcus aureus in the bacon maple syrup, which was used as a condiment on the cronut. TPH concluded the infection came from inadequate refrigeration at multiple points, both at the supplier and at Epic Burger where the cronut was sold.

According to Schreurs, four lessons should be learned from the cronut burger when it comes to food safety: inspections do not ensure food safety; suppliers play a huge role in ensuring food safety; ingredient selection must be analyzed for food safety and operational risks; and operators must fully understand the potential risk to customers and the company’s brand.

To avoid future problems, Schreurs outlined several actions: • Buy from approved suppliers. Ask your suppliers if they have been audited and comply with health and safety regulations.

• Conduct a risk analysis of ingredients. Consider biological, chemical, physical and allergenic hazards with all ingredients.

• Conduct a risk analysis of operations. Identify crosscontamination points and storage requirements.

• Risk/crisis management procedures. Keep records of your food safety management and develop a plan in case of a crisis.

What’s in a menu label?

Food labelling expert Carol Zweep addressed the timely topic of nutritional information programs at Restaurants Canada’s annual tradeshow. Zweep, who is manager of packaging and food labelling services at NSF-GFTC, outlined what it takes to list nutritional information on a menu.

Zweep noted that almost one quarter of household food dollars is spent in restaurants. “One reason why people are making poor choices is because there is a lack of information,” she said.

According to the Technomic’s 2013 Canadian Healthy Eating Consumer Trend Report, 81 per cent of those surveyed say health is important to them and 35 per cent say they are more likely to visit restaurants that offer healthy options.

Zweep spoke about how a restaurant would obtain nutritional information to label menu items: • First, choose the item and appropriate serving size.

In order for the information to remain accurate the recipe and portion must be consistent. Set firm specifications.

• Choose the best method of determining the nutritional information for each item: the calculation method, which determines the total by the sum of a dish’s parts using a credible database, software and supplier specification sheets; laboratory analysis; or a combination of the two. The calculation method is less costly and can be very accurate (“it’s only as good as the information used,” said Zweep), but laboratory analysis is necessary for foods that are grilled or deep fried, as both cooking methods would affect the nutrient content.

• Tabulate the calories of 13 core nutrients (including sodium and fats) for each item.

“Canadians eat 3,400 milligrams of sodium each day, which is more than double what we need,” said Zweep.

She suggested foodservice professionals gradually reduce sodium over time—so they don’t shock customers with a drastically different taste—use low sodium sea salt and enhance flavours in other ways.

Andrea Orozco, owner of Kik Brand Marketing, said she can’t think of another business which needs a good website presence, especially a mobile friendly one, more than a restaurant.

“Forty-eight per cent of users say that if they arrive on a business site that isn’t working well on mobile, they take is as an indication of the business simply not caring,” she said.

A website needs to include the menu, reflect the ambiance, include hours and location and make it easy for potential customers to make reservations.

She said a website should be simple, sug-

gested only using a handful of good images and is adamantly against features like flash or music that may distract from the website’s message.

Some tips: • Use forms to learn about customers; • Establish the goals of your website; • Determine channels driving the most traffic with Google Analytics; • Check your site regularly to make sure it is showing properly; • Design your website for your dream customer; and • Search engines react to regularly updated content.

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PAC I F I C / P R A I R I E R E S TAU R A N T N E W S

By Kristen Smith

D

uring the inaugural Digital Restaurant Project held at Ryerson University last month, Anna Tauzin, manager of digital innovation for the U.S. National Restaurant Association painted a picture of the future of restaurant dining.

Imagine a couple going out for dinner to their favourite restaurant. Upon arrival the couple is greeted by name. The hostess wishes them a happy anniversary and leads them to the table they prefer on the patio. Their favourite drinks are waiting as the couple take their seats. The server describes the specials, but not the bisque, because he knows they are both allergic to shellfish because that information is in a customer database. They make their dessert decision based on the nutritional information on a tablet menu, and when they are done they use a smartphone to pay with PayPal and leave without waiting for the bill.

Nothing seems forced or contrived, says Tauzin, it’s seamless and it’s not that far away.

Don Smith, sales manager for POS Canada says more and more new generation restaurateurs are embracing mobile technology.

“If you had walked into the CRFA Show never having been before … you would think that the whole industry has gone mobile; that tablets and handhelds are the way to go,” says Smith.

It’s a concept being considered across the foodservice industry.

“I think that mobility is so much a part of everyone’s thinking

these days, I would say that almost everybody is thinking about it in some way, shape or form,” says Dan Schachtler, Micros Eastern Canada general manager.

Schachtler reasons that as more people are becoming comfortable with online ordering from home or work, there is a natural evolution to start doing so from their smartphones.

He suggests pre-ordering and prepaying will be a large trend going forward and as e-wallets and Paypal become more commonplace, customers will demand they be accepted as payment.

“All those applications that basically allow you to interact with the establishment and transact business, those are all going to become very popular,” says Schachtler.

Joe Finizio, executive director of industry strategies and relations for the Retail Solutions Providers

Association (RSPA) spoke of the transition of the POS platform from an all-in-one to a tablet-based system. He says the lighter configurations with payment devices, such as Square, are perfect for cafés, smaller operations and food trucks.

“Right now, technology is one of those key differentiators that are going to help your restaurant grow,” Finizio says.

Operations and marketing are intersecting in the form of geomarketing, loyalty programs and apps, he says, allowing the customer to place an order on the go. “Hospitality is really out front with mobile merchandising.”

Toronto-based TouchBistro has grown to more than 1,200 customers since the tablet-based POS software launched in 2011. Chief marketing officer Toan Dinh says he thinks other tablet-based POS software creators have also been successful in

their acquisition rate.

With so many restaurants closing and opening, Dinh says he thinks this change in the is a main driver of the adoption of new POS models.

“The concept of the traditional point of sale, in my opinion, has really being shaken,” he says.

He thinks restaurant owners are becoming more tech-savvy and are learning to demand more from a system. “It’s up to the point of sales solutions, whether its TouchBistro or not, to educate the market that you can demand more from your point of sale,” he says. Dinh says technology should add value in cost, efficiency and customer experience.

Shannon Arnold, director of marketing for Posera Software, which makes Maitre’D POS says tableside ordering has been around for quite a while, “But the adoption rate had been quite low until the past year or two.”

Mobility, notes Arnold, also includes mobile payment, ordering ahead and reservation applications.

“In the past 12 to 24 months, there has been a lot more demand for it.

Most of the leads that we get want to be sure, whether they implement it or not, that we do run on iPads [and] that we have the mobile apps.

They’ll always ask for it and half the time they’ll implement it,” she says.

According to Arnold, she and the Posera management team sat down at the end of last year and discusssed the state of the POS industry. “We haven’t seen this much movement in the point of sale industry since touch screen solutions were introduced 20 years ago,” says Arnold.

“It’s going to be interesting to see where the next 12 to 24 months are going to lead us.”

The question operators are tackling is whether customer experience is improved by this technology.

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Michael T h a l a s sino, regional s a l e s ma na ger, SilverWare, was recently in Las Vegas.

“A lot of the time trends start in the states and work their way up to Toronto and Canada,” he says. “There was no printed menu for beverages at multiple restaurants we went to in casinos, it was all on a tablet,” he notes.

In some cases, such as a share plate or sushi eatery, Thalassino

thinks letting the customer order from the full digital menu would fit well. In a high-end restaurant, he imagines the wine list on a tablet with tasting notes and pictures of the winery and perhaps a button allowing the guest to order.

“Soon enough, what’s trending and clearly what we’re going to see more and more often, is the table being able to interact on their own.”

He said tablets could be a menu, a game, Internet access, or can put ordering in the customers’ hands.

“If you allow the guests to kind of choose their own destiny and empower them with the tools to make

it really easy, then … its really just an opportunity for added revenue,” says Thalassino. “That technology has come quickly and will continue to adapt as it is adopted.”

While the concept of self-service isn’t new, especially in quick service, tablets and POS systems have recently earned a place at the table at full service establishments.

“I would say that the menu in question has to be very simple,” says Don Smith of POS Canada. He adds that customers shouldn’t have to go through more than one level of modifiers.

Co-founder of Toronto startup

Menyou, Thaves Ponnampalam, was inspired by a restaurant experience in Singapore about two years ago. The restaurant had traditional paper menus. The server punched in the order on a palm pilot and it was sent to the kitchen.

“That’s when I realized that we’re in a day and age when technology has somewhat evolved in our daily lives. Why not bring that whole experience to the customer themselves,” says Ponnampalam.

He says it doesn’t replace the waiter, but enhances the relationship between the serving staff and customers by allowing them to build

a rapport rather than be an order taker.

Menyou co-founder Ara Ehamparam says tablet menus allow customers to know more about what they are eating by including images and nutritional information and doubles as a marketing platform for specials or events.

“I think we live in a world of instant gratification; in the past the customer had to wait in various situations,” notes Ehamparam. “Restaurants are missing out on choices they make on the fly … servers are great, but are missing out on impulse buys.”

Don Smith compares the role of a server to that of an actor. “They have to go over to the table and they have to recognize what mood that table’s in.”

He says some operators are worried tableside ordering will result in losing that personal touch if the focus is to get the order to the kitchen and out to the table.

“Some restaurateurs, if the menu is complicated and has a lot

of modifiers, they fear [staff] will be punching in more than engaging,” says Smith, adding the upside is how beneficial it would be with a large group.

Smith asks: “What’s your guest experience? Never mind what the technology does, what does your guest get when they walk in the doors? If it’s too complicated, are they going to come back in the doors? Because you’ve got to get them back.”

He recommends operators consider how technology complements their vision of the food, customers, décor: is it at the table or behind the scenes?

Stuart Smith, Micros Western Canada general manager says, in the past, a fear that a personal connection would be lost led to limited acceptance of table-side tablet or-

dering.

A server should be making eye contact with the guest, “if you’re looking at your screen then you can’t do that,” he explains.

He credits widespread consumer acceptance of tablets as paving the way for tablet ordering.

“Whether the future holds everyone going out to a restaurant and being greeted with by a server with an mTablet and taking an order at the tableside—it may not work everywhere, but it’s certainly something that’s getting a fresh look,” says Smith.

Arnold says she sees benefit to adding self-service to the mix: it increases productivity, but doesn’t see a fully self-service establishment as a possibility.

“The foodservice industry is about food and service,” she notes.

“The adoption of technology is like a bell curve. There is a bunch of people who are on the bleeding edge, and that is all very exciting. These people are paving the way for the rest of the industry—figuring out what’s really going to work and what isn’t,” says Schachtler.

“There are a lot of other proven technologies that aren’t necessarily fully deployed yet,’’ says Schachtler, pointing to kitchen display systems, which present to each station what they need to prepare on a screen.

“It has a lot of advantages, it improves kitchen operations at one end of the spectrum and saves you paper at the other,” he adds, noting he is surprised how few restaurants take advantage of this technology.

Don Smith says kitchen video has been in quick service for some time, but more sophisticated ver-

sions are only recently gaining ground in full service operations.

The system times the meals so dishes come to the pass at the same time, it calculates how many you have all day and can alert the expeditor what station is getting slammed.

Thalassino says kitchen display is becoming less expensive and more widely accepted.

“Some operators like the idea and some almost feel like it’s the last old-school, traditional method that they’re trying to hold onto. Everything else is sitting on a screen or in the cloud,” he says.

Airport food and beverage operator OTG is in the process of installing 2,500 iPads at Pearson International Airport.

Albert Lee, OTG chief technology officer, said technology in airports is a solution to the problem of time.

Lee notes for infrequent or nervous flyers, the airport can be a very intimidating place.

“There is a general perception that the plane is going to leave without you and there is the temptation for people to want to run to their gate as fast as possible. They feel comfortable being there, they like seeing the podium there,” said Lee. He describes the tag-team food and beverage runs and marked up airport food as a thing of the past.

“We’re saying, you can sit at the gate, you can order a glass of wine, you can have a full meal and be in most public of places and have a great experience,” Lee says.

The self-service iPad concept was tested at LaGuardia Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport.

In Toronto, OTG is working with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority to roll out about a dozen eateries in waiting areas in terminals one and three. These concepts include Vinifera, which features a wine list by master sommelier John Szabo and menu by chef Michael Coury.

“We believe that the human element is still a big part of all these experiences. But I think there is a level of accountability that we are working towards, which is finding out where time is being spent and finding out how we can optimize experiences,” Lee says. He adds management can tell whether they are understaffed and where any bottlenecks might be in the flow of service.

“We feel like the order-taking experience itself should be replaced

with tablets. It gets rid of a lot of the are kept clean and well maintained, of traditional table service that we wasted time that we see,” Lee says, and customers, in turn, treat them consider to be wasted time,” says Lee, pointing to order entry, setnoting the order might not get to the with respect.

“You’re able to get up to two and tling up, ordering desserts, coffee or kitchen for five minutes if a server is a half more table turns in a regular another drink as key areas. “All the visiting more than one table.

“By giving the consumer the business day using our system and decision points that if you wait too ability to place their order on a tab- that’s just us getting rid of the areas long it’s a lost opportunity.” let and send it directly to the kitchen, that accelerates the time,” says Lee, adding wasted time is eliminated, but the dining experience is the same.

“We felt like it was a very negative experience for customers to have to wait to pay, so we’re having people prepay,” says Lee. “It eliminates this whole sense of urgency at the very end of your meal when you’re always looking for someone to give you your check so you can get up and go.”

He says there hasn’t been a problem with people walking off Marathi concept at Pearson International Airport. with the iPads—they

www.pacificprairierestaurantnews.com

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s U P P LY L i n e s

Tips for keeping a pest-free kitchen and paying particular attention to corners and crevices. Food should be stored at least six inches off the ground and in sealed containers. Shelving units should be on wheels so it’s easy to clean behind them.

3.

Ensure structural maintenance.

Make sure there are no openings in the walls or ceilings for pests to gain access. Coolers and food storage rooms should be checked monthly for cracks.

Steven Graff, quality assurance manager, Abell Pest Control.

TORONTO—As part of the 2014 CRFA Show, Abell Pest Control conducted a seminar on how restaurants and foodservice professionals can keep their kitchens free from critters.

1. Start with a clean kitchen. Make a list of tasks, assign them to each employee and ensure employees have the right tools and enough time to complete tasks. Concentrate on problem areas: floor and sink drains, garbage and recycling containers, under counters, in food storage areas and beverage lines.

2. Remove food debris. Do not leave food out on surfaces or floors. Sweep and mop daily making sure to reach behind prep tables

4.

Clean pop and beer lines. Clean pop machines nightly with warm water; do not use hot water or chemicals as it could damage seals or leave a residue. Pop lines should be cleaned every six months and juice lines every three months. Beer lines should be cleaned after each keg, or at least every two weeks. After each night, taps should be cleaned and spill areas washed thoroughly.

5. Keep garbage area tidy. Power wash dumpsters monthly and make sure leaking bags are never thrown in bins. Do not overfill bins, and keep area clear of loose garbage.

For more information visit Abell Pest Control’s CleanSAFE Kitchen at www.cleansafekitchen.ca

PAC I F I C / P R A I R I E R E S TAU R A N T N E W S

Capitalizing on coffee TORONTO—According to a coffee industry expert, coffee can be the most profitable item on a menu and operators should focus on quality and variety.

Rino Carbone, director of sales for Coffee Club, told reporters at the 2014 CRFA Show on March 3 the Canadian market is much further ahead than most other countries when it comes to consuming quality cups of coffee.

Carbone said that coffee has the highest profit margin on the menu.

He noted that 65 per cent of Canadians drink coffee.

One way to improve quality is by increasing the pack-size, Carbone said, because the more grinds used to brew a pot, the better the result.

Another way is to move away from blended coffee to 100 per cent pure arabica beans.

“To compete today there’s a couple of things: expand the offering and secondly start looking at the Fair Trade Organics and the Rainforest Alliance because what’s really interesting about these coffees is that they are cof-

NAIT launches line of cheese EDMONTON—The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology’s (NAIT) culinary arts students recently started selling artisanal cheeses made from scratch at the Retail Meat Store located at the main campus. The locally made feta, mozzarella and brie were created in a new cheese lab and are also used by the college’s fine dining restaurant, Ernest’s.

According to a release, NAIT’s culinary arts program plans to establish a centre of excellence for the training of artisan cheese makers in Alberta. All first-year students in the program now take a course in the fundamentals of artisanal cheese making.

fees with a cause,” he said.

According to Carbone, Coffee Club recently released an individually wrapped coffee capsule that comes in six different types and can be used in any Keurig compatible K-cup coffee machine.

“We did this because we are looking at the hotel in-room market. So you need shelf life on that,” Carbone said.

While it remains a challenge to produce large quantities of coffee for restaurants—especially those with a full service breakfast— Carbone said capsules could still be part of an operation’s coffee program.

“We see an advantage with this when you are dealing with the decaffeinated issue,” Carbone said, pointing out that a small machine next to the bar could brew a single cup of decaffeinated coffee so as not to waste an entire pot.

Carbone also said restaurants might want to use capsules for darker roasts or flavoured coffees.

To facilitate the program a 200-litre cheese vat was purchased in partnership with Alberta Milk and the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency.

Town & Country contest winners Town & Country Uniforms held a draw at the annual 2014 CRFA Show to give away personalized chef coats. Of the many entries, 12 lucky chefs were drawn to receive the prize. Chefs from right across Canada were chosen, with coats going to Charlottetown, Vancouver and throughout Ontario. For a complete list of winners visit: www.canadianrestaurantnews.com

coming events April 12-13: National Franchise & Business Opportunities Show, Vancouver Convention Centre, Vancouver. www.franchiseshowinfo.com April 14-15: Saskatchewan Hotel & Hospitality Association, Sheraton Cavalier Hotel, Saskatoon, SK. www.shha.co Apr. 24-27: Canadian Association of Foodservice Professionals 2014 National Conference, Delta Ottawa City Centre, Ottawa. www.cafp.com May 6-7: Canadian Restaurant Investment Conference, Eaton Chelsea Toronto Hotel, Toronto, ON. www.restaurantinvest.ca May 12: Terroir Hospitality Industry Symposium, Arcadian Court, Toronto. www.terroirsymposium.com May 12-13: Alberta Foodservice Expo, BMO Centre, Calgary. www.albertafoodserviceexpo.ca May 17–20: National Restaurant Association Show, McCormick Place, Chicago, IL. show.restaurant.org May 28–June 2: CCFCC National Convention 2014, Palais de Congress, Gatineau, QC. www.ccfcc.ca/conferences

www.pacificprairierestaurantnews.com

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productS App for skipping the lines

Dishwasher heat exchange

Stuffed chicken minis

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Customers can submit orders and pay through the newly launched Hangry smartphone application. Hangry—a play on the words hunger and angry—allows orders to be transmitted from the customer to a supplied tablet and a two-way communication keeps the customer in the loop about the status of their order.

Hangry also provides operators with instant sales reports and can set up ordering icons on the restaurant’s website. The app is compatible with Android and iPhones.

For more: www.hangry.io

The Novothermic NVX 2060 dishwasher heat exchange can be retrofitted to any brand of dishwasher to recover hot water going down the drain and uses it to preheat incoming fresh water. Inside, a patented double-wall heat exchanger allows operators to generate energy from the dishwasher and can reduce waterheating costs up to 50 per cent. In February, the machine was among the winners of the National Restaurant Association’s Kitchen Innovations Awards and will be featured at this year’s NRA show in Chicago May 17 to 20.

For more: www.novothermic.com

Reuven International has launched its latest frozen food line, the Stuffed Chicken Minis.

The bite-sized morsels come in four flavours: Swiss cheese and back bacon; pepper jack cheese and bacon; Buffalo with blue cheese and celery; and three cheese jalapeno. Stuffed Chicken Minis can be cooked straight from the freezer to the fryer.

According to a spokesperson, some restaurants use them in sandwiches while others serve them on a plate as an appetizer.

For more: www.reuven.com

Sonoco ThermoSafe has extended its line of wine shipping products specifically designed to protect wine and craft beverages from temperature extremes that could compromise product quality. Bottles will remain at a controlled temperature for up to five days and are padded to protect against breakage. According to the company, the shipping system was manufactured to be both sustainable and environmentally conscious with a purified recycled fiber padding in a permeable liner. Two- or sixbottle configurations are available.

For more: www.thermosafe.com

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2.

3.

6.

and West restaurant. After stints in Ontario and Italy, Guy returned to Whistler in 2008, working at Araxi restaurant and Nita Lake Lodge and running his own catering business in Pemberton, BC.

4.

5.

1. Vikram Vij. 2. Liam Dolan. 3. Paul Moran. 4. Robert Stelmachuk.

5. Michael Guy. 6. Taryn Wa receives the Curry Cup as chef Dino Renaerts looks on. Photo Credit: Tyler Branston.

1.

Vikram Vij has put his mark on Vancouver’s food scene with his restaurants, cookbooks, food trucks and line of retail goods, and now he will bring his entrepreneurial expertise to top-rated CBC television show, Dragons’ Den. Vij and technology and media investor Michael Wekerle, will replace Kevin O’Leary and Bruce Croxon at the end of the current season.

Vij grew up in India and moved to Canada in 1989. He opened Vij’s in 1994 with help from his wife Meeru Dhalwala and his parents.

Rangoli restaurant followed in 2004.

Liam Dolan, chef and owner of three restaurants in Charlottetown, is the new chair of Restaurants Canada. Dolan, who has served on the board for nearly 13 years, was elected chair at the association’s annual meeting on March 4 during its annual tradeshow.

Dolan opened his first restaurant in Charlottetown more than 30 years ago and now operates the Claddagh Oyster House, the Olde Dublin Pub and Peake’s Quay Restaurant and Bar. Paul Moran is the new executive chef at Nita Lake Lodge, in Whistler, BC. His wife Stephanie Noel will be joining him as the new food and beverage director.

His career began at Vancouver’s West restaurant, after which he worked at five-star properties in Dubai, UAE and Nice, France.

Stints at Laurie Raphael in Montreal and Saturne and Table restaurants in Paris followed before Moran returned to B.C. to consult at Source in Vancouver and take on the role of executive chef at The Outpost, a West Coast Fishing Club lodge in the Haida Gwaii.

Robert Stelmachuk has been named general manager and wine director of Cibo Trattoria and Uva Wine Bar, located in the Moda Hotel in downtown Vancouver. A 25-year industry veteran, Stelmachuk has contributed to and created wine programs at such Vancouver restaurants as Le Crocodile, Market By JeanGeorges at the Shangri-La Hotel and Chambar.

He succeeds Steve Edwards, who accepted an executive-level operations position in a soonto-be announced project expected to open later this year.

Michael Guy has been appointed executive chef for all foodservice at Dubh Linn Gate Irish Pub, Pan Pacific Whistler Mountainside and Pan Pacific Whistler Village Centre in Whistler, BC. Early in his career, Guy worked on the kitchen teams at Vancouver’s Blue Water Café

Taryn Wa of Vancouver’s Savoury Chef Foods Catering Company won the inaugural Curry Cup held March 4 at Heritage Hall in Vancouver. A fundraiser for the Chefs’ Table Society, the friendly competition challenged chefs to create a unique curry dish. Wa’s Malay lamb rendang with crispy quail egg and shallot pickle won top honours from the judges and captured the People’s Choice award.

Other competing chefs were: Alvin Pillay, The Blackbird Public House & Oyster Bar; Brian Skinner, The Acorn; Chris Whittaker, Forage; Dino Renaerts, Aura at Nita Lake Lodge; Hamid Salimian, NEXTJEN Gluten-Free; Joachim Hayward, Campagnolo ROMA; and Tret Jordan, Homer St. Cafe & Bar. Big Rock Brewery has announced Jody Hammel as the brewmaster of the company’s new Vancouver location. The brewery will be located at the corner of Alberta Street and 4th Avenue West in Vancouver’s growng craft beer district and will open later this year. Hammel has more than 20 years experience brewing for companies including Whistler Brewing Company and Kamloops Brewing Co. The new venue will cost the company more than $3 million, exceeding initial estimates of $1.5 and $2 million.

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