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The o al Issue 1 Volume 18
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UNLV Unveils Its New Hospitality Hall and Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits Beverage Academy
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January 2018
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CONTENTS AND COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLISHER MIKE FRYER THE SOCAL FOOD & BEVERAGE PROFESSIONAL WELCOMES YOU TO A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR 2018! As we wrap up the final fixings of 2017 and get ourselves ready for an exciting and NEW 2018 we would like to thank our great team of professional journalists, photographers, foodie news hounds and, of course, YOU, our Food & Beverage Professional Readers, without whom we would not exist. Again this year, we will push ourselves to even greater heights to bring YOU the latest F&B news to be better informed! Since 2018 is a NEW year, our theme this month is, of course, NEW!
Cover Our January cover feature is dedicated to the NEW Hospitality Hall building on the
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UNLV Campus and all the people and companies that helped complete this everso-worthwhile project. So fitting for this feature that we chose our UNLV Hospitality student journalist Kimberly Verdin to interview Harrah Hospitality College Dean Dr. Stowe Shoemaker, who has been instrumental in putting this project and personalities together. Congratulations to everyone involved with this NEW building and the lucky hospitality students who will be taught there. PAGE 7 Wine Talk with Alice Swift brings us a NEW Year, NEW Wine…News that is and a new wine book and new places for consumers to pick up wines. Look into Alice’s column and see what’s new in the wine business.
PAGE 16 Chef Allen Asch gives us a NEW introduction to an old traditional food not often seen these days on the culinary or even the home scene, TURDUCKEN. TUR-for turkey, DUCK-for duck, and the EN-for chicken all in one, or as the dictionary explains it, a chicken in a duck in a turkey and all cooked at once. Thank you, Chef, for reminding us about traditional foods we don’t see often these days. PAGE 22 Human Resources Insights by Linda Wescott-Bernstein introduces us to what she calls “A New Year! A Time for Renewal & Positivity.” Linda tells us: “in today’s topsy turvy world, I believe that there are three (3) key ingredients or values that we all need to have and hold onto…1-Compassion and love for others. 2-Integrity and honesty in all that we do. 3-A strong work ethic. Thank you, Linda, for all your thoughtful insights through the years! CHEERS! MIKE FRYER SR. EDITOR/PUBLISHER
Page 4 Hot off the Grill!
Page 10 Brett’s Vegas View
Page 20 What’s Brewing
Page 5 COOK•EAT: Asia Hawaii to Atlantic
Page 11 The Bottom Line The Most Important Menu Items That Customers Never Order
Page 22 Human Resources Insights The New Year! A Time for Renewal & Positivity
Page 6 Bob’s Beer Bits and Sips Page 7 Twinkle Toast Prepare to Wine While You Dine at Hamptons Page 8 Broads of Bourbon A Tale of Two Tastings
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Page 9 Wine Talk with Alice Swift New Year, New Wine... News that is!
Page12 Foodie Biz Page 14 COVER FEATURE UNLV Unveils Its New Hospitality Hall and Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits Beverage Academy Page 16 Chef Talk Turducken
Page 24 Sushi Roku Pasadena Much More than Sushi (but the Sushi Is Awesome Too) Page 26 Events Ad Index ACF Chefs of SoCal
Page 18 Made from Scratch Cinnamon Rolls from Scratch
January 2018 I The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional 3
The Socal Food & Beverage Professional 7442 Grizzly Giant Street Las Vegas, NV 89139
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HOT OFF THE GRILL!
January 2018 Mike Fryer
Sr. Editor/Publisher
Restaurant Editor Ben Brown attended Qdoba’s ‘United by Flavor’ campaign launch. The Mexican fast-casual chain celebrates its custom burritos, tacos and bowls with free guacamole, queso and in this case, luchadores. Find out if any epic wrestling matches, or more likely, great tastes ensued in Ben’s Foodie Biz column.
Thank you for joining us in this issue of The Las Vegas Food & Beverage Professional. For any questions or comments please email mike@socalfnbpro.com
Bob Barnes
Editorial Director bob@socalfnbpro.com Chaine des Rotisseurs Las Vegas Chapter held its traditional Christmas Induction Ceremony and Champagne Dinner hosted by the Mandalay Bay and held at their Convention Center. Celeb chefs included Rick Moonen and Charlie Palmer, pictured here with SGWS’ Larry Ruvo and his daughter Lauren.
Juanita Fryer
Ben Brown
Assistant To Sr. Editor ACF Chefs Liasion/Journalist juanita.fryer@socalfnbpro.com
Restaurant Editor ben@socalfnbpro.com
December had us enjoying the 10th anniversary of CarneVino inside The Palazzo Las Vegas. We were able to get a shot with three of the movers & shakers for the evening, who were OwnerPartner Joe Bastianich, famed butcher Dario Cecchini from the Tuscan village of Panzano and SGWS’ Michael Severino.
Juanita Aiello
Adam Rains
Creative Director juanita@socalfnbpro.com
Beverage Editor adam.rains@socalfnbpro.com
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Article Submissions/Suggestions articles@socalfnbpro.com
Calendar Submissions calendar@socalfnbpro.com
Website webmaster@socalfnbpro.com
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The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional
CONTRIBUTING STAFF
Legal Editorial Advisor Andrew Matney
Journalist What’s Brewing David Mulvihill
Accounting Manager Michelle San Juan
Journalist Brett’s Vegas View Jackie Brett Journalist
Best of the Best Shelley Stepanek
Journalists Broads of Bourbon Mary Powers & Delilah Tennyson
Journalist Made from Scratch John Rockwell
Journalist Chef Spotlight Leah Schmidt
Journalist Good for Spooning LeAnne Notabartolo
Journalist COOK•EAT: Asia K. Mike Masuyama Ph.D.
Photographer Audrey Dempsey
Journalist Chef Talk Allen Asch
Journalist Linda Duke
Journalist Pat Evans
Journalist Wine Talk Alice Swift
Journalist The Bottom Line Ben Brown
Journalist Victoria Pindrik
Photographer Joe Urcioli
Journalists Twinkle Toast Erin Cooper & Christine Vanover
Journalist Lisa Matney
Journalist HR Insights Linda Bernstein
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www.socalfnbpro.com
By K. Mike Masuyama Ph.D.
COOK•EAT: Asia Hawaii to Atlantic
Hawaii: once called the Sandwich Islands, located in the center of the Pacific Ocean, like croutons floating in the vast ocean soup rather than sandwiches. Due to its specific location, Hawaii plays a key role in the transpacific oceangoing for trade, fishing, military and migration. As a result, all kinds of people come and go: The Polynesian, Portuguese, Spanish, Asian, European and American stopped for supplies or rest and some settled down. They keep their own food cultures, though with local resources, as much as possible, but eventually and inevitably blended with each other. Then pineapple and sugar plantations drew more people from Asia, further integrating people and food cultures. Today tourists flood all parts of the islands to enjoy its Pacific cultures, natural beauties and ethnic-fused foods. As a matter of course, you can enjoy all kinds of good surf and turf foods in the mainstream as well. Soy sauce is locally made for flavoring Asian foods or BBQ sauces and also poke—chunks of tuna marinated in soy sauce and other ingredients. You may see it in J-grocery stores in the southern California today. Poke sushi rice bowls are good. West Coast: Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles and San Diego are places where people disembarked from or embarked to the Pacific Ocean and beyond for migratory works, immigrations or military missions. Asian people went inland or settled down there, so as did their food cultures. As a matter of fact, chopsticks, two pieces of sticks to eat, appeared to Americans’ eyes giving a culture shock for the first time. Also another thing, soy sauce for anything to eat, was called by Americans as bug juice for the color when crushing a bug between fingers. Chinese food gradually went to Gold Rush people who hired Chinese as cooks. Japanese food became visible after WWII, mostly sukiyaki, which is less seen nowadays. Korean food is emerging into the mainstream with Kimchee and electronics. The West Coast was an epicenter of spreading the Asian food culture. Midwest & Central: Wherever I go for business or vacation, a Chinese restaurant is an option to eat moderately. In addition to Chinatowns in big cities, they are at college towns and tourist locations. Even in a remote, unthinkable place, there is always one like North Vernon, ID or Hot Springs, SD in my memory. Thus, Chinese restaurants are all over the country or even the world for cozy, not-much-expensive but exotic family eating places. Thai restaurants follow likely with more southern Asian flavors or less oily, clear appearance trying to upgrade Chinese foods with a white tablecloth, some say. Today new settlements of diverse Asian populations are visible in traditional locations of the central regions but unlikely much integrated into the mainstream eating yet like the one on the way from New Orleans, LA to Biloxi, MS. East Coast & Atlantic: Today sushi and other Asian foods are well www.socalfnbpro.com
Mike Masuyama is a bi-cultural science-technologybusiness consultant. He earned a Ph.D. in Food Science at Cornell University, is involved in teaching, research and business in major-beer, micro-beer, soft drinks, sake, sea salt, rice, white soy sauce and other areas both in Japan and the US., and has published several books and dozens of articles. “West Eats East” was his last series in this journal.
mingled at the eastern seaboard from New England to Florida. Despite its distant location from Asia, this area had a tie with Asia around the middle of the 19th century. Whale oil, though for a brief duration, was our energy source, particularly for lighting. Whale ships went to the Pacific from RI or southern MA like Fairhaven or New Bedford, and brought back something from Hawaii or Asia including Japanese shipwrecks. A rescued Japanese youth became the first naturalized US citizen and met three presidents. Today Boston, NYC and D.C. are blending places of politics, money and food. Particularly NYC appears to be the one to draw new rich or stable Asians from their home countries. It seems to be a new epicenter to spread an authentic Asian food culture and also it’s fusing versions throughout the country.
TRADITIONAL YET NEW Perfect Soy Sauce Flavor without the Color! A golden color white soy sauce No burnt dark soy sauce flavor No darkening color in cooking Remarkable for sea foods, veggies, pasta, fusion and natural foods
www.whitesoysaucefood.com January 2018 I The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional 5
Bob’s Beer Bits and Sips By Bob Barnes
Sam Adams Old Fezziwig As our weather turns frosty, the spotlight shines on Sam Adams Old Fezziwig Ale (5.9% ABV), a spiced brown ale made for winter. Packed with spices including cinnamon, ginger and orange peel, it will go well with any cookies and sweets left over from the holidays. The name is taken from the festive Dickens character in A Christmas Carol, and festive it is, with roasted caramel and chocolate malts giving it a full body. Brewed since 1995, its part of the brewery’s Winter Sampler Pack and also is available in six-packs.
Ninkasi Ground Control Style Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout The name alludes to the fact that this beer is out of this world. This rich, complex imperial stout is brewed with Oregon hazelnuts, star anise and cocoa nibs, and is fermented with an ale yeast that survived a trip in a rocket to space and back. This third-edition release was also aged in Woodford Reserve Bourbon barrels, and at 10% ABV it is ready to enjoy now or suitable to cellar for later.
Firestone Walker XXI Anniversary Ale Firestone Walker is celebrating its 21st anniversary with its XXI Anniversary Ale, a blend of five barrel-aged beers created with help from friendly local winemakers. The Anniversary Ale blending session has become an annual late-summer rite at the brewery, and the 2017 session took place on August 22 with 27 winemakers in attendance. This year’s version is an 8.5% ABV mix of five of the California Central Coast brewery’s beers aged in spirits barrels: 42% Velvet Merkin oatmeal stout, 18% Parabola Russian imperial oatmeal stout, 17% Stickee Monkee Central Coast quad, 14% Bravo imperial brown ale and 9% Helldorado blonde barleywine. This marks the first inclusion of Helldorado aged in premium Jamaican rum barrels, which imparts notes of island spice and molasses.
Garage Brewing Company Garage Brewing Company asserted itself as a brewery not afraid to experiment with flavors not normally found in beer, and past creations have included the use of marshmallow, mango, lemon, lime, ginger and chile peppers, just to name a few. Four of its latest releases are proof positive that the Temecula, California-based brewery has no intention of changing its reputation. Hitting the shelves are Peppermint Stout (5.9% ABV) aged with real vanilla beans and balanced by a minty finish; Belgian Style Strong Ale (9.4% ABV) with addition of nutmeg and cinnamon; Apple Pie Pale Ale (5.4% ABV) with apple juice and spice; and Chocolate Orange Milk Stout (7.1% ABV), a confectionary doppelganger merging sweetness with the roastiness of a stout.
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HAMPTONS Tivoli Village, 440 S. Rampart Blvd. 702-916-1482 Open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., or 11 p.m. on Friday. Hamptons also offers a weekend brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and a daily happy hour from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. www.socalfnbpro.com
photo by Erin Cooper
Hamptons, located in Tivoli Village, is a brandnew concept created for Las Vegas by Heinrich Stasiuk’s Wild Thyme Restaurant Group. Although Hamptons might be new, it already earned a place in Eater Las Vegas’ 2017 Eater Awards. It was ranked among the top 5 prettiest restaurants in town, and was the only off-Strip restaurant to be recognized in the bunch. Hamptons’ Operating Partner, Howard Klubeck, describes their concept as an “upscale watering hole.” Its industrial-chic décor and modern American cuisine offer a beautiful yet comfortable environment that is a perfect fit for a Sunday brunch or casual bite and cocktails as well as a romantic date night. Hamptons also boasts an outdoor patio and a stunning secondfloor dining room for private events. When we spoke with Chef Jay Bogsinske, formerly of Saint Marc in Huntington Beach, he gave us a little insight into which dishes are proving to be most popular with their guests. With little hesitation, he noted two stand-outs: The Green Chili Pork Stew with Oaxaca cheese, cornbread, whipped honey butter, charred jalapeño, cilantro leaf and shaved scallion; and the Wild Isles Salmon Mignon with roasted cauliflower, honey and garlic-braised carrots and rosemary cauliflower sauce with caper and raisin emulsion. For those who might be interested in a glass of wine to pair with these delectable dishes, we would recommend trying the Bex Riesling or Jovino Pinot Grigio with the Green Chili Pork Stew, and the Handcraft Pinot Noir or the Louis Latour ChassagneMontrachet rouge, if you are up to ordering a full bottle, for the Wild Isles Salmon Mignon. Klubeck advised that they are brainstorming ideas for new promotions and events for the new year, and they are excited to offer three featured appetizer pairings with wines from Huneeus Vitners, founders of Quintessa estate, during the month of January. Flowers Sonoma Coast Chardonnay, Faust Cabernet Sauvignon and Leviathan red blend will each be available with its own appetizer for just $30. Considering that a glass of these wines alone can warrant that $30 price tag, this is quite the steal! Beginning in January, Hamptons is also planning on offering wine dinners for its patrons. Details are still being confirmed but JUSTIN Vineyards should be the first on the docket. For more information, or to make a reservation, visit www.hamptonslv.com. Space for these wine dinners will be limited.
photo by Tyler Hagan
Prepare to Wine While You Dine at Hamptons
photo by Erin Cooper
Twinkle Toast
By Erin Cooper & Christine Vanover
Erin Cooper and Christine Vanover have been residents of Las Vegas since 2007. Vanover is also a UNLV Alumnus. Both women are Territory Managers for the Resort Wine Team at Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, members of Women Gone Wine and the founders of Twinkle Toast. info@twinkletoast.com • www.twinkletoast.com Facebook: @TwinkleToast Twitter: TwinkleToastLV Instagram: TwinkleToastLV
January 2018 I The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional 7
Broads of
Mary Powers and Delilah Tennyson are a couple of whiskey enthusiasts from Las Vegas, NV known for their humoristic and unconventional whiskey reviews on YouTube. They are the ladies of Broads of Bourbon. thebroads@broadsofbourbon.com Instagram: @broadsofbourbon Youtube: @broadsofbourbon Facebook: @bourbonbroads
BOURBON A Tale of Two Tastings
photos by Mary Powers
of the diverse whiskies that Beam Suntory own. The evening was exclusively a cocktail-forward food pairing conspired primarily by Mixologist Jennifer Yim and Head Chef Steve Gotham, which heavily played the flavor notes of each cocktail with each of the five courses. One of the most interesting pairings was a Scotch-based cocktail topped with an Arbeg whipped cream and Fernet drizzle served with pan roasted fois gras on a cinnamon roll brioche. There was a lot going on here. We were a little reluctant with the sweetness of the cocktail at first, but it really complemented the richness of the fois gras and the cinnamon from the brioche. Several other eccentric pairings followed and by the end of the night we finished with a matcha crumble chocolate pudding and a nice high proof whiskey. Bobby G did an excellent job of sharing the history of each whiskey featured and even gave his own opinion on the origin of the word stemming from “uisce beatha.” The featured spirits of the evening included: Tyroconnel Irish Whiskey, Candian Club Rye, Suntory Toki, American Oak Scotch, Knob Creek Rye and Little Book—the newest edition to the Booker’s family and tied with Toki as our overall favorite for the evening. We even left with a gifted bottle of Knob Creek: whiskey, pudding, fabulous food, and did we mention whiskey and pudding? Overall a wonderful event to polish off tastings with the Beam Suntory portfolio and delicious cuisine from Rose. Rabbit. Lie.
Delilah in her natural habitat.
Women and Whiskey – Bottiglia Enotecha at the Green Valley Ranch Being able to pair whiskey with a full course dining experience is a bit trickier than your normal whiskey flight. There ends up being a mixed crowd; some want pure spirits, others prefer cocktails and we just keep thinking about the charcuterie board. Beam Ambassador Megan Breier did a great job on creating a balance between Chef Brian Massie’s Italian fare and pairing Maker’s Mark cocktails and spirits. Guests got to sample three neat pours and two cocktails that embodied a light not too sweet taste that complemented each course. This was a great way for a lot of the first timers to ease out of their sweet drink comfort zone and into a more spirit-forward presentation. Flash forward about two hours later to Delilah and I at a high stakes black jack table wearing someone else’s sunglasses singing “Careless Whisper” with a group of foreigners while exchanging holiday cookie recipes and still managing to make it on time to work the next morning—thanks Megan. Tangent aside, the spirit sampling included: Maker’s Mark, Maker’s 46, and Maker’s Mark Cask Strength. This particular whiskey
photo by Ashley Flaig
By Mary Powers & Delilah Tennyson
traditionally uses wheat instead of rye, which creates a lighter and milder taste. Maker’s Mark got its famous recipe by baking tons of bread to figure out what mixture of grains would yield a delicious smooth whiskey. Over time they released Maker’s 46 (only made during the winter months), and Cask Strength, which is unaltered and uncut. Maker’s 46 is definitely our favorite and love what the new aging process does to an already spectacular whiskey or whisky (Maker’s Mark spells it whisky to honor their Scottish heritage). In our opinion, you can’t go wrong with Maker’s Mark and delicious Italian food, so this night was a definite win for the Broads. World of Whisk(e)y—The Study—Rose. Rabbit. Lie. at The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas First of all, the Study looks like the place Charles Darwin used to go to hide from his kids. A perfect spot with low lights and an aged atmosphere (plenty of old school relics on display) to blend in if you are looking for a place to hide away and enjoy a cocktail. Hosted by Luxury Specialist Jessica Zivkovitch and Beam Suntory Master Mixologist Bobby Gleason, the evening was full of storytelling with an intimate look into several
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Maker’s Mark fist pump.
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Wine Talk
with Alice Swift
By Alice Swift Alice Swift has been writing Wine Talk since 2011, and has a passion for education and hospitality/ F&B. In 2016, she obtained her Ph.D. in Hospitality Administration from UNLV and moved from the “ninth island” to the island of Oʻahu. She now works for Kamehameha Schools as an instructional designer/project manager, and teaches part-time for UNLV’s William F. Harrah College of Hospitality. See more at www.aliceswift.com.
New Year, New Wine... News that is!
Happy New Year! As we welcome the 2018 year in, I’ve spent some time reflecting upon 2017. So much has happened, both in the wine world, and in the greater hospitality, food & beverage world. As we move to 2018, let us focus on the positive and innovative things happening in wine and other beverage fields. This year, I will stay abreast of current research and events, paying particular attention to what’s new and upcoming in the beverage industry. In case you missed it, I will recap three current events from the last quarter that are worthy of note. As I learn about new things in the “wine-iverse” in 2018, so will you…so let’s talk wine! New Book to Add to Your Collection - Red Wine: The Comprehensive Guide to the 50 Essential Varieties & Styles Whether you are in the wine industry, or just a personal consumer who likes wine, chances are that you know Kevin Zraly, wine educator and author. He is probably most well known for having been the cellar master at Windows on the World restaurant at the One World Trade Center, as well as the creator of Windows on the World Wine School and book. The Wine Guys, made up of Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen, are another well-known set of F&B journalists, educators and more. It’s no wonder that these three would combine forces to author their new book! So what makes this book so unique? For one, the book is focused solely on red wine. The organization of this book is also contrary to the common methods, as this book tells the story of 50 essential varieties/styles, ordered by grape. Of course, with most wine education books nowadays, this book is chock full of gorgeous photos and endless tidbits of information from profiles to pairings, history to contributions from industry experts. New Beverage Distributor Merger–Breakthru Beverage and Republic National Distribution Co. In 2016, I wrote an article about a couple large beverage distributor mergers that year, one of which was the merger between Wirtz Beverage Group and Charmer Sunbelt Group, which formed the new
partnership called Breakthru Beverage (https://lvfnb.com/articles/ Mergers-and-Acquisitions-The-Way-of-Beverage-Distributors-in-20164095d9f389e2). Less than two years later, Breakthru Beverage announced their latest venture with Republic National Distribution Company. On Monday, November 20th, the companies announced their signed letter of intent to merge the two. Sales strategy and expanded footprint seem to be some of the primary reasons why there have been so many mergers and acquisitions in recent years. The partnership is expected to formalize in the second calendar quarter of 2018 subject to approvals. New Locations for Consumers to Pick Up Ordered Wine – Walgreens & Supermarkets With the slow and steady rise in beverage consumers, the demand for direct to consumer shipping has become more and more difficult for wine retailers and carriers. Rather than relying solely on making purchases physically in retail stores, consumers are choosing to also ship direct to their homes. There are several options for delivery, such as ordering from wineries, or even subscribing to a wine club. However, there are also many online wine retailers who sell wines from a large portfolio, one of the largest being Wine.com. Both Wine.com, and even FedEx shipping has recently begun utilizing wine drop-off points to make their wine deliveries in retail stores such as Walgreens, Albertsons, Safeway, etc. What a great idea, as this adds thousands more locations for consumers to pick up their wine deliveries, and oftentimes could potentially be closer than a FedEx or equivalent shipping pickup location. In addition, there is less restriction on pickup day/times, as opposed to missing delivery attempts through a shipping company. Convenience is key, and the wine industry is picking up on ways to do just that! Be on the lookout for more news and happenings in the beverage world as we kick off 2018. Until next month, cheers~! Alice
Brett’s
By Jackie Brett
Jackie is a freelance public relations specialist and writer specializing in the Las Vegas entertainment and travel scene. Her writings have appeared in magazines and newspapers nationwide and on numerous websites.
Email: jackiebrett@cox.net
European/Asia hit fire show Inferno will open at Paris Jan. 24 featuring European illusionist Joe Labero and pyro aerial group, The Fuel Girls. Spiegelworld, creators of Absinthe, will launch the world premiere of another show: Opium at The Cosmopolitan on March 13. Meanwhile, balancing trio Silicon Valley Girls joined the Absinthe cast at Caesars Palace. The Voice: Neon Dreams is a brand new 360-degree live concert show coming to the Hard Rock Hotel in June 2018. Tony Award winning actor Kiril Kulish has joined BAZ—A Musical Mash-Up at The Palazzo as Scott the Ballroom Dancer. Sex Tips for Straight Women from a Gay Man at Paris has two new headlining stars: reality TV personality Scheana Shay and recording artist-MTV star Chester Lockhart. Circus 1903 ends its engagement at Paris Jan. 7 and Vinnie Favorito closed his Westgate residency to move his family to Boston. ABC’s Dancing With The Stars Maks and Val Chmerkovskiy are back with an all new show adding Peta Murgatroyd. Their tour will visit The Smith Center May 16. AJ Lambert will perform a monthly Fridayresidency at The Space beginning Jan. 12 at 10 p.m. featuring one of her grandfather Frank Sinatra’s 1950s albums. Jennifer Lopez’s final performances of her headlining residency at The AXIS at Planet Hollywood will run June 13 through Sept. 29. Pitbull will return for a fourth year there in 2018 for 13 performances of his show, Time of Our Lives. Donny & Marie have extended their Flamingo residency through 2018 and Piff the Magic Dragon’s show in Bugsy’s Cabaret is also extended through 2018. Legendary DJ Tiësto has extended his multiyear residency with Hakkasan Group headlining Vegas’ top nightlife and daylife destinations through 2020.
Country superstars Old Dominion will bring their Happy Endings World Tour, featuring special guest Michael Ray, to the Sandbar Poolside Stage at Red Rock Resort on Friday, April 13 as part of the 2018 ACM (American Country Music) Party For A Cause. Rap superstar Jeezy will bring the Cold Summer Tour to House of Blues at Mandalay Bay Thursday, Feb. 8. Portugal. The Man is part of The Chelsea lineup inside The Cosmopolitan on Friday, April 13. Mel Brooks will return for two exclusive performances at Wynn April 27-28.
DINING DYNAMICS
Gordon Ramsay Hell’s Kitchen at Caesars Palace will have its grand opening Friday, Jan. 26 with public festivities at 4 p.m. The 300-seat culinary venture will have perimeter floor-toceiling windows.
The Palms opened A.Y.C.E. (All You Can Eat) buffet with worldly cuisine presented in an innovative, technique-focused fashion in an open food hall with communal tables and seven different food stations. Eureka! will open in the Emergency Arts Building in Downtown’s Fremont East District in February. The 70-seat eatery with a patio will specialize in American classics with a modern twist. Brooklyn Bowl at the The Linq Promenade has a seriously sustainable upgrade to its menu with the addition of The Impossi-bowl Burger, a carnivore-duping plant-based patty by Impossible Foods. New York City staple, The Halal Guys, opened its second Las Vegas-location inside the Forum Food Court at Caesars Palace offering gyros and falafel. Local Lip Smacking Foodie Tours’ newest adventure is the Ultimate Steakhouse Experience highlighting three premier venues: Carnevino at The Palazzo; Bazaar Meat in SLS; and Jean Georges Steakhouse in Aria. Shake Shack opened its fifth location in Southern Nevada at the open-air village-styled Las Vegas North Premium Outlets. Pizza Forte opened its second location in the T-Mobile Arena.
10 The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional I January 2018
NEWS ABOUT TOWN
China Lights lantern festival will debut at Craig Ranch Regional Park Jan. 19-Feb. 25 with 40 larger-than-life illuminated lantern displays, cultural-dining options and entertainment. The Twilight Zone by Monster Mini Golf opened an indoor monster themed glow-in-thedark 18-hole miniature golf course at Bally’s with candlepin bowling and games. The Auto Collections at The Linq displaying vintage cars since the early 1980s closed. From Jan. 2-Feb. 28 vehicles and everything will be on sale (call 702-794-3174). Minus5 Ice Experience has unveiled a new experience with a lunar landing, ice castle and sea experience inside The Shoppes at Mandalay Place.
Wynn’s American steakhouse Country Club on the Wynn Golf Course will close after brunch on Jan. 14 for construction of the resort’s Paradise Park manmade lagoon. The Golden Nugget’s new sleek nightlife venue, Troy Liquor Bar, replaced the secondstory Gold Diggers nightclub. The multi-level Chandelier bar at The Cosmopolitan has received upgrades including new furniture, colors and spaces. Harrah’s has a brand new lobby bar with charging stations located in the hotel lobby of the recently remodeled Valley Tower. The Luxor unveiled its newly remodeled rooms as the hotel continues the redesign of more than 1,700 hotel rooms in its East and West Towers. Planet Hollywood completed a $100 million, 2,496-room renovation as part of Caesars Entertainment’s Las Vegas portfolio 23,000room renovation program, now half done. Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. at Treasure Island has new private event space overlooking the Strip. Drybar focusing on hair blowouts opened at The Cosmopolitan. Cesere Brothers Photography specializing in fine art underwater imagery opened at the Fashion Show mall. The Neon Museum offers Photo Walks in the Neon Boneyard with sessions coinciding with sunset. AAA is sponsoring the nation’s first self-driving shuttle pilot project for the public in Downtown Las Vegas. www.socalfnbpro.com
photo courtesy Sichuan Tianyu Culture Communication Co., Ltd
photo courtesy Anna Vinterall photography
E N T E RTA I N M E N T LANDSCAPE
The Bottom Line The Most Important Menu Items That Customers Never Order Not every menu item is going to be a bestseller. It’s reasonable to expect your signatures to outpace your lesser-known dishes, and for newer items to take a while to catch on. But the dynamic between hot plates and their not-sopopular counterparts goes much deeper. Some restaurants add items to their menu without expecting a sales lift at all, using them as a marketing ploy instead. Nefarious? No, there’s nothing wrong with putting an item on the menu that you can prepare but don’t expect to sell all that often. Strategic, on the other hand? Yes, absolutely. So what’s the point of adding an item to your menu that you don’t expect to catch on? Check out several applications for this approach. Branding Your menu says a lot about your restaurant. In the same way that chic, modern décor defines a hip, urban feel, so too does an exotic ingredient list and fusion of worldly flavors. On the surface, these trends reflect the masses’ yearning to try new and different creations, and thus the establishments that serve salt-crusted bone marrow and grilled octopus will bring new faces through their doors. In reality, however, many restaurant owners attest that while these intriguing items create the initial draw, most customers will revert to more traditional items when actually placing their order. So bone marrow may be a great crowdpleaser on paper, but servers will mostly relay requests for burgers and mac ‘n’ cheese. Sure, they may be short rib burgers with a kimchi and fried jalapeno, and truffle mac ‘n’ cheese, but the items with more familiar bases will often prevail in the end. So why add an item like bone marrow in the first place? Because if you limit your menu to the basic items, however exotic their additives may be, guests will limit their perception of your menu to be much less adventurous. In the same way that a Ferrari owner may not often take the car up to 220 mph, just knowing that the car can go that fast creates the appeal that justifies the price. Bone marrow essentially becomes an accessory, a kind of menu eye candy that lifts up everything around it, elevating the brand to demonstrate exotic appeal. Should everyone add something like bone marrow to their menu? Definitely not—if you own a casual restaurant that thrives on good food at low prices, exotic menu additions can lead people to assume that you’re more expensive, driving down volume. On the other hand, if you’re trying to become more ‘hip and trendy,’ then maybe a novel touch to your menu can help. Just be sure that any additions align with your restaurant’s central theme, fits into your margins and that you account for sourcing, storage and staff training. www.socalfnbpro.com
By Ben Brown Benjamin Brown, MBA is Restaurant Editor of The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional. A seasoned
writer and consultant, Ben works with Fortune 500
companies and mom & pop shops alike in Marketing, Analytics, Consumer Insights, PR and Business
Development. Contact Ben at Ben@lvfnb.com or follow him @Foodie_Biz.
Pricing A much more typical case of menu additions comes in pricing. Adding an item that is well below, or above the average menu price [or both] is known as anchoring, and can have a positive effect when it comes to the psychology behind your customers’ ordering process. When a customer sees entrees for $18, $17, $18, $19, $16, $29 and $17, the $29 item clearly stands out and poses little chance of being ordered. This can be a steak option amidst a lineup of burgers and sandwiches, but in any case makes every other item seem that much cheaper by comparison. On the other hand, when the entrée list reads $38, $46, $29, $41, $42 and $39, all of a sudden that $29 item seems like a bargain. In this case, most guests may not get the $29 chicken, but
because there’s a sub-$30 item on the menu, it makes the restaurant as a whole appear to be in closer reach of a more price-conscious consumer. Both methods used simultaneously can work, just be sure not to go too extreme in either direction. An item priced too low can lower your restaurant’s brand perception [“If they make a sandwich for $8, then their $38 steak can’t be that good.”]. An item priced too high will just be taken out of the consideration set entirely [“A $95 porterhouse for two…well that just sounds silly.]. Make these additions one small step at a time and test frequently to see if they’re making an impact on your volume or sales. It’s always easier to scale back on a small change than a huge rollout.
January 2018 I The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional 11
| Foodie Biz |
By Ben Brown Benjamin Brown, MBA is Restaurant Editor of The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional. A seasoned writer and consultant, Ben works with Fortune 500 companies and mom & pop shops alike in Marketing, Analytics, Consumer Insights, PR and Business Development. Contact Ben at Ben@socalfnbpro.com or follow him @Foodie_Biz.
Qdoba Launches New Campaign—United by Flavor
photos by Ben Brown
Qdoba, the national fast-casual Mexican chain known for customized burritos, tacos, bowls and other favorites, has unveiled its new ‘United by Flavor’ campaign to celebrate “flavorful food, flavorful places and flavorful people.” The campaign builds on Qdoba’s approach to personalizing every dish to the guest, and welcoming “people of all flavor profiles” to walk in through its doors. “We love giving our guests the freedom to try our food and create their own meals. In fact, we think that’s where the real magic happens, when people pair the most unlikely ingredients and make their own masterpieces,” said Jill Adams, vice president of marketing, Qdoba. “As great as our ingredients taste individually, they taste even better when the flavors are united together.” Qdoba backs up this statement in full by charging nothing for guacamole, queso and other premium ingredients. Their ‘Our Good Guarantee’ also allows guests to try new and different flavor combinations risk-free— if you don’t like what you ordered, Qdoba will make you something different for free. The campaign also highlights Qdoba’s focus on fresh ingredients and maximizing in-house preparation. Everything from avocados to jalapenos are carefully sourced and stored. Staff slice vegetables and fire-grill steak and chicken on a daily basis. Qdoba is also remodeling several of its restaurants to better represent the flavor campaign, as well as delivering an expanded alcohol menu to a select few. Some Qdoba guests will be able to treat themselves to draft and bottled beer and margaritas. For more information, visit Qdoba.com.
Locali: Bringing a Healthy Touch to Fast Casual Locali is a direct response to L.A.’s growing demand for quick, healthy dining. Meat is available on Locali’s broad menu, but ironically is more the exception than the norm given the restaurant’s dedication toward all things vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free and other iterations of hipand-trendy restrictions. The franchise continues to grow, and offers an experience that appeals to both the health-conscious and the broader market. Hot sandwiches, cold sandwiches, salads, quinoa bowls, toasts and an array of drinks and smoothies provide a plethora of options for guests to indulge without feeling quite as sinful. It’s the all-day breakfast, however, that takes center stage. The badass breakfast sandwich is the killer choice, served in decadent fashion with rich taste and consistency that would surprise just about any meat and cheese lover that it’s vegan. The brekkie burrito is another favorite and another big surprise, served piping hot with an excellent chipotle mayo. For meat eaters that wouldn’t have it any other way, the Vernon delivers what you’re looking for in a buffalo chicken sandwich, albeit with a melted vegan cheddar that’s just as rich and bubbly as its traditional counterpart. The Reuben is another hot specialty made with zesty turkey. In all cases, the paninis come out with bread crisped to perfection. If you’re going to smoothie, the warrior is a must. Made green through spirulina and maca, the warrior bears odd resemblance to a mint chocolate chip milkshake. Considering the nutritional benefits, the $11 price tag seems much more justifiable. Vegan and gluten-free desserts include fresh-baked cookies and whoopee pies. Locali also serves beer and wine, as well as a plethora of kombuchas and other health-oriented drinks and packaged goods. For more information, visit LocaliYours.com. 12 The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional I January 2018
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Pink’s: The Legendary Hot Dog Experience Pink’s is to L.A. as Old Faithful is to Yellowstone, or more appropriately, as hot dogs are to baseball. Quintessential components so iconic that if removed, the larger body may be left unrecognizable. But it’s not just hot dogs that have led Pink’s to nearly 80 years of success and visits from nearly every A-list celebrity in the galaxy. The food is but one part of a simple, yet soulful experience that every Angelino, and non-Angelino, for that matter, must indulge in. Pink’s has the privilege of membership in an elite circle reserved only for the finest of casual dining institutions, where customers see waiting in line as a badge of honor. Showing up to the humble restaurant without a slew of people standing between you and your decadent selection would be akin to entering a clear 10 freeway at 5 p.m. Treasure that day if it happens, but if it doesn’t, the light at the end of the tunnel is divine and well worth it. You might need that waiting time to decide on your order. There’s around 40 types of hot dogs to choose from, many of which stretch the hot dog concept to the deeper reaches of the imagination. The Giada de Laurentiis dog, for example, features a 9-inch ‘stretch’ dog, sautéed peppers, onions and mushrooms, chopped tomato and shredded mozzarella cheese…crafted by the celeb herself! Pink’s line of burrito dogs wrap various compilations in tortillas instead of a bun. And then there’s a good ol’ fashioned bacon chili cheese dog or a 12-inch jalapeno dog, where mustard doubles as an art medium. The menu spans far beyond hot dogs, however. No meal is complete without an order of hot fries or fresh onion rings, each of which hold that ideal balance of rich and crispy. The burgers at Pink’s are nothing short of superb—bacon chili cheeseburger…yes, please! Wash it all down with a Crush or Dr. Browns, because it always tastes better in a glass bottle. Seating is surprisingly vast for such an intimate space. There’s a modest indoor seating area but several patios allow guests to stretch their legs, relatively speaking. And be on the lookout, because you never know who you’re going to run into. The walls are plastered with celebrities who have crossed Pink’s off their bucket list—Jimmy Fallon, Ray Romano, Betty White, Bobby Flay and Katy Perry are just a drop in the bucket. Feel free to kick your legs up and enjoy your stay…you may need a nap after a meal like this. For more information, visit PinksHollywood.com.
Southern Smoke: Blow-Your-Mind BBQ in Santa Clarita Ask the typical Angelino what they know about Santa Clarita and ‘ridiculous BBQ’ likely won’t be anywhere near the list of things that come to mind. But ask anyone who’s been to Southern Smoke, and they’ll likely start to salivate at the very mention of the name. Yes, pit masters, home grillers, smoker enthusiasts and fans of all things American comfort food, you’ve got a solid reason to venture up north to get your hands on what the local community has treasured since day one. Southern Smoke is appropriately located smack in the middle of downtown Newhall, a cute little strip that plays home to the ‘Walk of the Western Stars.’ And if John Wayne was still around, you bet he’d be a regular. A massive menu that covers all things brisket, tri-tip, ribs, sausage and chicken, each dripping with succulent flavor and made all the more better with nearly a dozen creative BBQ sauces. One of the biggest challenges is choosing which smoker-born masterpiece to focus on, and that doesn’t even account for Southern Smoke’s artful selection of burgers, sandwiches, salads, seafood dishes and even chicken ‘n’ waffles. Let’s backtrack a second though, and talk about Southern Hospitality. Where else in L.A. are you going to find a place this good that starts you off with complimentary hush puppies and what seems like crack-infused honey butter? Oh, and if you really can’t decide what to order, they’ll bring out a complimentary meat sampler to give you a taste of four top-sellers. Does this now make it even harder to decide? Absolutely, but that’s a first-world problem most guests are happy to deal with. In the end, those beef ribs are hard to beat, ordered with extra Jack Daniel’s BBQ sauce that caramelizes with the heat for added sweetness. It’s a coin-toss with their two briskets, one firmer with more smoky flavor, the other juicier with decadent consistency, both served with a 5-cheese blend mac ‘n’ cheese, hearty mashed potatoes or a dozen other side options. If it’s burgers you’re after, Southern Smoke’s creations are as creative as they are delicious. You can’t go wrong with the bacon blue cheese, nor the Kansas City. And if you’re feeling adventurous, the PB&J may be up your alley. Yes, it’s exactly as it sounds. To go the extra mile, order just a smidge of the ‘53’ BBQ sauce…it ranks 6 million on the Scolville scale, which means it’s spiciness level borders boiling-lava hot. Wash it down with one of the many craft beers on tap, or perhaps a nice wine or soju cocktail. Dessert is a bonus round if you have the room. The deep-fried bread pudding is as rich as you’d imagine, served with delectable bourbon vanilla sauce and bourbon maple syrup. The monster cookie is your classic cast-iron pizookie, and the Texas canoli gets a gold star for creativity by deep-frying cheesecake wrapped in phyllo dough. There’s a good reason why there’s an hour-long wait at Southern Smoke most nights. Come prepared; it’s well worth-it. For more information, visit SouthernSmokeBBQandBrew.com. www.socalfnbpro.com
January 2018 I The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional 13
UNLV Unveils Its New Hospitality Hall and Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits Beverage Academy
Cover and feature photos by Audrey Dempsey @infinity photo
By Kimberly Verdin Kimberly Verdin, a Hospitality Management student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, represents the Epicurean Society, a collective of food and restaurant enthusiastic students, where she is on the leadership staff. She’s a Vegas local who believes that there is no end to learning about the hospitality industry.
As the spring semester commences, UNLV hospitality students will be experiencing a number of big changes. These changes may be in the form of job and internship opportunities as well as new coursework. Of course, there is one major change that hospitality students and faculty have been especially looking forward to: the opening of the recently-constructed Hospitality Hall, which is the new home of the William F. Harrah College of Hospitality. Formerly called the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration, the college changed the name in September 2017 to reflect the fact that the hospitality school does so much more than just teach people how to be hotel managers. Until last year, the Hospitality College shared the Frank and Estella Beam Hall with the Lee Business School, and space was tight. One of
14 The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional I January 2018
the most common complaints among students was that classrooms were so full there was little room to pass through each row. In addition to cramped quarters, students faced long lines to the restrooms between classes. Students also complained about finding places to study, which was never easy in Beam Hall. Basically, the two colleges were just too big for Beam. The new Hospitality Hall building, located across from UNLV’s Lied Library, was designed to solve many of these problems. The $60 million dollar structure provides 93,500-square-feet of new office, event and learning space and is equipped with spacious restrooms and plenty of common spaces for students and faculty. Other special features include: convertible and interactive classrooms; a PGA Golf Management learning center, with a retail store, simulation lab and an outdoor putting green; a state-of-the-art executive kitchen; a 120-seat auditorium; a student-run café; and a full-service beverage lab (the Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits Beverage Academy). Rather than being named after a single donor like many buildings on the UNLV campus, Hospitality Hall was designed to feature the names of numerous donors, or building “Founders.” The Founders names are highlighted at the entrance of the building as well as throughout the interior spaces, allowing students to be introduced to these companies and the huge impact they will have on their future careers. Without the help of donors like Caesars Entertainment, Las Vegas Sands, Konami Gaming, MGM Resorts, Boyd Gaming, Red Rock Resorts, the Marriott Foundation and the Engelstad Family Foundation, Hospitality Hall would not have been possible. Hospitality Hall will be opening to everyone at the start of spring semester classes on January 16, 2018. A building open house, welcoming in both the campus and the Las Vegas communities, will take place on January 25, 2018 from 4 to 7 p.m., featuring building tours and refreshments. www.socalfnbpro.com
Harrah Hospitality College Dean Dr. Stowe Shoemaker was instrumental in the process of getting Hospitality Hall up and running. Prior to serving as dean, Shoemaker worked in sales and marketing for the hotel industry as well as consumer research, specifically looking at product development for food and beverage companies. Dean Shoemaker kindly offered his time to answer a few questions about Hospitality Hall:
Why do you believe it took UNLV more than 30 years to finally build a home for hospitality majors? There’s been talk about a new hospitality building for a long time, and the idea for the building has been around since 2006; but for years, economic indicators suggested that it wouldn’t be feasible. Now the economy is at the right stage for having our own building. Were the needs of hospitality students taken into consideration when designing the blueprints for the building? We spent a lot of time looking at what makes a great hospitality space and thinking about how we make sure our building mimics that, because if you’re a student and you’re working on the Strip, where you go to school should mirror where you work. Hospitality Hall is a space where everybody wants to come and hang out, with lots of spaces where you can sit and study. At Beam Hall, there are not a lot of opportunities to gather because it’s mainly classrooms. So in our new building, we made sure there are numerous different little nooks and crannies and a coffee shop that has space where you can get together with your group to study. How is the hospitality college ensuring that the college’s curriculum reflects what is happening in the industry? We are actually getting ready to redo our whole curriculum. We brought industry folks in to talk about what the curriculum should really look like to make sure that what we’re teaching is what students need to learn. In terms of technology, one of my advisory board members is a leading expert in technological www.socalfnbpro.com
solutions for hospitality enterprises and is working with a couple of our faculty and with the industry to really say, “What are the tools the industry is using and how do we make sure we’re having those tools available for our students?” How different is the state-of-the-art kitchen in the Hospitality Hall different from that of the kitchens in Beam Hall? Welbilt, which is one of the leading foodservice manufacturers in the world of food service equipment, donated all the latest equipment for the kitchen. Every cooking station has combination ovens, or combi ovens, with three functions: convection, steam and combination cooking. In the convection mode, the oven circulates dry heat; the steam mode injects water into the oven to poach fish or steam rice and vegetables; or you can do both together. We have monitors spread throughout the kitchen, so you’ll be at your cooking station and you’ll be able to see the chef while you’re doing what you need to do. Will the new building better accommodate capstone events and will they no longer be held in the Stan Fulton Building? Our capstone classes will still be held in Stan Fulton Building and in Beam Hall because of the space needed to serve that many students in the restaurant format. Hospitality Hall will be used mostly for catered events, which works well considering that we have this beautiful balcony that overlooks the Las Vegas Strip. What exactly is the Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits Beverage Academy? The Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits Beverage Academy is where we will be teaching our beverage classes. There will be a working bar so that students [can] really learn everything they need to learn about beverage. What’s exciting is that the Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits team is really helping decide what features should go into the bar to really make this a teachable lab. It will be state-of-the art, and we’re really going to be able to focus on beverages. This means not only learning how to make beverages but
understanding the components of beverage. [Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits] putting in the Beverage Academy in Hospitality Hall really makes a statement to the industry that we really want our kids [students] to be leaders in the beverage field when they graduate. Why did the Hotel College decide to have a student-run café in the Hospitality Hall rather than allow Aramark to add another location to the building? It’s [called] the MGM Café and the director will be Chef Mark Sandoval. He’s created a team of managers who have been interviewing employees [students] to work in the coffee shop. It’s a great opportunity for students to get real applied experience. What we don’t want to happen is to have a student take a bunch of classes, earn a degree, start working in hospitality and go “oh, wow, I didn’t realize that it was like this. I don’t think I’m suited for the hospitality industry.” When you are doing an interview, you can say “when I went to UNLV, I started working in the coffee shop, became manager, was responsible for profit and loss and also worked in hospitality catering. So I have all this great experience and you should look at me as an investment and not just as an employee.”
January 2018 I The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional 15
By Chef Allen Asch
Chef Talk
Feel free to contact Chef Allen with ideas for comments or future articles at allena@unlv.nevada.edu Chef Allen Asch M. Ed., CCE is a culinary arts instructor that has earned degrees from Culinary Institute of America, Johnson and Wales University and Northern Arizona University. He is currently teaching at UNLV. He earned his Certified Culinary Educator Endorsement from the American Culinary Federation in 2003.
www.merriam-webster.com
Turducken
This past Thanksgiving I went to Utah to be with family and one of the courses we had was a Turducken. For those of you that do not know what that is, it is a boneless turkey stuffed with a boneless duck and then a boneless chicken. In between each bird is a layer of sausage. The term for this is engastration. Its current form was first created in 1985 at
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Hebert’s Specialty Meats in Maurice, Louisiana, so you can imagine that the sausage was pretty spicy. It was popularized with the nation by Paul Prudhomme on his television show. In 2014 the word Turducken was added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, but stuffing one animal inside another has been around since Roman times. The Romans had a dish that was cow, stuffed with a pig, stuffed with a goose, stuffed with a duck, stuffed with a chicken. Other old recipes included one with 16 birds; another contained three geese, three turkeys, seven hares, twelve partridges, a ham and a leg of veal; and another older recipe included turkey, goose, fowl, partridge and pigeon. The most bizarre recipe I found is from Greenland called Kiviak, in which a seal is stuffed with as many as 500 auks (a sort of penguinlike bird) and hidden under a pile of rocks for several months before consumption. I am not trying this one. As a chef I tried making it once but the problem is that you need to completely debone each bird, especially the inside ones. The most successful Turduckens were made by a New Orleans surgeon who used his scalpel to debone; maybe I’ll try it this way if I ever make one again. This is time consuming and not as easy as it sounds. To make a true Turducken you need to debone them in one piece without cutting through the skin. This is most important for the last layer so it holds everything in. Another problem with it is since it is solid, with no cavity, it takes a long time to cook—up to 8 hours—and due to that it is usually pretty dry. Another problem is the number of ingredients. I looked up Paul Prudhomme’s recipe, which had 32 ingredients. To buy a Turducken, they weigh in at around 15 pounds and cost $5-8 per pound. Many of the premade ones come from Louisiana.
16 The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional I January 2018
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IN THE TIME IT TAKES TO READ THIS AD, WE’VE MADE LITTLE TO NO PROGRESS. We slow-roast the finest 100% Weber Blue Agave for more than three days and then slowly crush it with a two-ton tahona stone wheel. The result is an earthy, complex taste that’s more than worth the wait.
The perfect way to enjoy Patrón is responsibly. Handcrafted and imported exclusively from Mexico by The Patrón Spirits Company, Las Vegas, NV. 42-45% abv.
Made from
SCRATCH
John Rockwell is a native Southern Californian and career English teacher working in the Riverside area. In his spare time, he rides his bicycle to breweries, restaurants, and cheese shops, and is always looking for culinary delights within riding distance of the vast network of SoCal bicycle trails. He is an ardent fan of the waiver theater culture in Los Angeles. He is new to cheesemaking, but has been a homebrewer for over twenty years.
photos by John Rockwell
Cinnamon Rolls from Scratch
By John Rockwell
The final product is a great way to roll in the day, especially if a carb- and sugar-loaded breakfast is your thing.
If you’re making sourdough bread for any extended period of time, it might occur to you that you are throwing out most of your starter each time you refresh it. New breadmakers want to keep it all—at least I did. But as you will find out, if you don’t throw out a bunch, you will end up with more starter than you can use. Also, if you keep a large amount of starter in your jar, over time it will acidify and become unpleasantly astringent. It might also occur to you that if your starter works for bread, it should work for any other “rising dough” recipe. It does. The most common “starter discard” recipes I see are for English Muffins and croissants. Laminated croissant dough takes a long time to learn (I have not yet tried, but will someday), and English Muffins are actually pretty simple (they are both grilled and baked), but difficult to get fluffy and light. Cinnamon rolls, however, do not require expert-level finesse to get right, and with a little bit of starter and basic ingredients, you’ll be baking these crowd-pleasers in no time. They’re a hit at family breakfast gatherings, especially around the holidays. When doing rolls, I let sourdough teach me some lessons in patience— naturally leavened bread works on its own mysterious timetable. There are two logistical possibilities for morning cinnamon rolls—make the dough night before and retard in the fridge overnight, or make them all in one shot, which can make for a pretty early and long morning (about 5-6 hours total). 18 The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional I January 2018
I follow the standard recipe for the dough, but leave out the baker’s yeast and substitute 1-2 cups of freshly activated starter: 2 cups all-purpose flour 2 cups bread flour ½ cup sugar 1 cup milk 1-2 eggs 1/3 cup margarine 1 tsp salt 1-2 cups active sourdough starter The goal is to create a pliable dough that you can work with. Don’t be too strict on ingredient amounts. After mixing these ingredients (you may want to slightly melt the margarine into the milk), I let the mixed dough sit for 30 minutes for—you guessed it—autolyse. The most important lesson in patience I learned from breadmaking was this step. Allowing the dough to hydrate properly makes it workable, and tells you a lot about what it’s going to feel like several hours down the road. The dough should not be firm, but it should be shapeable and pliable for kneading. My kneading process for rolls is in-bowl, just enough turns to get a few glutens going www.socalfnbpro.com
without too much stretchiness. You’re not looking for a dough with sourdough-strength gluten strands, but you do want a dough that is able to catch some air. After kneading, I dust the bowl with flour and let the dough mass rise for a few hours—at least 2-3 hours, depending upon room temperatures and starter activity. Just watch the dough; it will tell you when it’s ready. The next step is to roll out the dough and add your cinnamon sugar mixture. About 1½ cups of brown sugar tightly packed, 1/3 cup of melted margarine, and between 2-3 tablespoons of cinnamon will do the trick with the filling. I mix it with a fork or a pastry blender so it is crumbly and open. I recommend margarine for the filling instead of butter because butter will liquefy your cinnamon mixture, run out of the rolls, and burn at baking temps. The margarine creates more of a syrup, which is what you want. The rolled dough should come out to a 15 inch by
9-10 inch rectangle. Keep your surface floured to keep the dough from sticking when you roll it out and don’t be afraid to pull the corners square with your hands. You do not want the dough to be too thin—thin rolls keep the dough from puffing outward and that loose unraveling in the final bake is what makes cinnamon rolls great eats. Spread the cinnamon over the rolled dough, leaving the upper lip without cinnamon sugar (about ½-1 inch). Roll it up uniformly, but not too tightly. When you cut the rolls, I begin by cutting the length in half and then each half in half again. Each quarter should yield three rolls, to total 12. Cut smoothly with a sawing motion so the rolls don’t smash down. Move them to a greased pan—I prefer a steel pan—and leave plenty of space between them. If you are making them the same day, let them proof for another hour like this while you preheat your oven. If you are
making these the night before, cover the pan and stick it in the fridge. In the morning, pull them out about an hour before you begin baking so they come back to around room temperature.
The cinnamon mix is crumbly, the dough is doubled and ready to roll and the mat generously floured.
It’s important to keep the dough square as you roll it out, otherwise you will lose rolls! Keep it as uniform as possible!
Dump the crumbly cinnamon mix on the dough when it’s rolled. Don’t roll it too thin, though! You want the dough to puff for you.
Leaving a lip at the top (I roll upward) will give you space to “pinch” the lip closed before or after you cut the roll.
The first cut down the middle should reveal a uniform dough width and clear cinnamon sugar layers.
Cut each half in half and then each one in thirds, yielding 12 rolls. Be sure to saw gently with the knife—don’t squash!
Spread those out in the pan—you want to give them space to grow for the next hour or so. Or stick in fridge overnight.
Simple buttercream frosting has never changed, has it? Add ½ cake of cream cheese for a nice little kick if you want.
The baked rolls should now touch, and if you’re lucky, some may pop upward. I haven’t mastered this upward-popping yet.
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Baking is simple: 25 minutes in a preheated 425-degree oven. What little space there was should now disappear entirely during the baking process. The frosting can be a simple butter frosting, about a stick of butter or margarine to 1½ cups powdered sugar, about half a cake of cream cheese, a squirt or two of vanilla extract and a pinch or two of salt. Of course, if these are frosted when hot or warm, the frosting melts, which is pretty special. They will be devoured, and probably nobody will notice the slightly sour flavor in the dough. Once you’ve had these with natural yeast, chances are you’ll toss those old packets of baker’s yeast.
January 2018 I The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional 19
what’s
By David Mulvihill
photos by David Mulvihill.
BREWING
David Mulvihill strives to experience and write about the ever-evolving face of SoCal craft beer. He also covers Orange County for Celebrator Beer News as well as Southern California for Southwest Brewing News. Contact him at dbrewhill@gmail.com.
Novo Brazil Brewer Mike Fuson.
Novo Brazil There is a brewery in San Diego County that has grown quietly in its first couple of years in business. It has made great strides in producing world-class quality and tasteful beer. Bordering on San Diego proper, the City of Chula Vista is home to Novo Brazil Brewing. In tasting through the beers on tap, most will be impressed by the clean and vibrant flavors evident in each beer. Too many breweries exist today where this isn’t the case. Marcio Vareja, a member of Novo Brazil’s ownership team, took time to show me around the brewery and to share a bit about Novo Brazil. “The goal here is drinkability, not losing flavors, not losing the West Coast itself, but we try to translate West Coast beer and add a tropical flair,” Marcio shared. Novo’s brewer, Mike Fuson, had just added hops to one brew
in the boiling process while also mashing out a sequential batch as we approached the brew deck of the beautiful Brazilian-made multivessel brewhouse. Just like its owners, almost all of the equipment in the brewery came from Brazil. Novo Brazil’s Master Brewer Eduardo Pentagna was formerly a partner in a Brazilian craft brewery (Cervejaria Wäls) founded by his uncle Miguel Carneiro and Miguel’s two sons. Proceeds from the sale of that concern assisted Miguel and partners in building and opening the Chula Vista brewery in April, 2015. Eduardo’s current active role with Novo Brazil began in 2016. Since that time, the product has witnessed positive advancement, along with impressive recognition. A bronze medal at the 2016 World Beer Cup was awarded in the British-Style Imperial Stout category for Corvo
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Negro Russian Imperial Stout. And, along with a number of other awards, the title of World’s Best Strong Dark Beer was awarded at the 2016 World Beer Awards in London for Novo’s bourbon barrel-aged Cookie Muncher, a 12% dark strong ale. This beer again received the title at this past December’s World Beer Awards, along with accolades as the World’s Best Dark Beer and 2017 overall taste winner. Clean spirits are present in the aroma, accompanied by hints of cognac. The alcohol was not overpowering upon tasting. Instead, refined flavors and essences of chocolate and vanilla sweetness were present, finishing with alcohol warmth. Hearty at 12% ABV, this beer is a sipper worth enjoying with a few friends, and would make a fine accompaniment with dessert or a fine cigar. Other beers on the board during this visit included Chula Pils, a 5% dry hopped hoppy www.socalfnbpro.com
lager, Rio Pale Ale (5.5%), Belo Blonde (formulated with Citra hops, lemon and basil), and Novo’s take on a Berliner Weisse. Well-appointed IPAs included Otay IPA (Amarillo, Cascade, Simcoe, Centennial, and Citra hops), Mango IPA (Novo’s best seller), Ipanema Double IPA and Bossa Haze Double IPA, which possessed the extra degree of balance lacking in many haze-craze creations. On the barrel-aged side, the aforementioned award-winning brews were also joined by a Chardonnay barrel-aged version of Belo Blonde.
Brew Ho Ho 2017 This year’s traditionally cool and wintery (weather-wise) OC Brew Ho Ho at Anaheim’s Phoenix Club was very atypical, at least in temperature. Record-breaking warm temps capped in the upper 80s during the early December event. Some of the winter warmers and holiday creations included Chapman Crafted’s C is for Cookie, an 8% ABV cookie stout collaboratively brewed with Brewery Rex, with flavors of chocolate, toffee and hints of vanilla. The Bruery’s 10 Lords-A Leaping, a dark imperial wit packed with holiday spices and dried fruit, danced on one’s palate with a competition of flavors. Stereo Brewing Co was dispensing its Tijuana Brass, a Mexican Hot Chocolate-flavored stout. It was part of the brewery’s Winter Tour 2017 series. Unsung Brewing Co holiday-ed its Propeller Head amber ale with peppermint and cacao nibs.
(l-r) TAPS Fish House & Brewery’s Maxwell Jones and Jonathan Chiusano with Cameron Collins (Brew Ha Ha Productions) at December’s Brew Ho Ho.
Musical entertainment has stepped up over the past few years, since Cameron Collins and Brew Ha Ha Productions has teamed with Synergy Global Entertainment on many other concert-beer festivals. The English Beat headlined this year and played for the final hour. The Ho Ho’s attendee mix of young and older craft beer enthusiasts made for an enjoyable synergy as 80s Ska met 2017’s Ho Ho and today’s English Beat fans combined with those of yesterday.
Telegraph’s Epic Sale Big news out of Santa Barbara includes much more than the devastating fires that have affected so many. In early December, Denver and Salt Lake City-based Epic Brewing Company announced its purchase of Telegraph Brewing Company. Investment plans disclosed in the press release call for expansion of Telegraph’s brewing operations and broadening of the brewery’s market as an additional brand in the Epic family. Epic’s commitment appears to focus on Telegraph continuing to brew its beer, but on a larger scale. Increasing production capacity will also involve moving seven of Epic’s foeders from its Denver brewery to Santa Barbara. New packaging options at Telegraph will include several new 12-ounce Telegraph-branded cans. In addition to continuing production of award-winning sours, expansion of Telegraph’s IPA line will incorporate a new series of “modern IPAs.”
The English Beat performed at December’s Brew Ho Ho.
In speaking with Brian about the sale, he shared that the team is very excited about this move. Over the past two years, given changes in the industry that make it increasingly difficult for small breweries to stay competitive, relevant and viable, Brian had been looking to partner with a growing brewery that was navigating the climate successfully, believed in what Telegraph was doing and was interested in continuing and growing that brand. “Epic ticked all of those boxes and we are very excited by it,” Thompson added. He will continue with the brewery for some time as they work through the integration and transition with the Epic family. Brian’s original (and current) intent is to eventually exit within the next two years and embark on a new chapter in his life.” www.socalfnbpro.com
photo courtesy of Epic Brewing Co.
Telegraph Brewing was founded in 2006 by Brian Thompson. His commitment to quality brewing and the dedication he and his team have had to the resulting product have allowed Thompson to accomplish a great deal in the 12 years Telegraph has been in business. In addition to the brewery’s numerous fans, confirmation has come via the many awards received, including six medals from the Great American Beer Festival and two from World Beer Cup.
The Telegraph Brewing team (Brian Thompson, Chris Thompson, Peter Baer, Patrick Ceriale and Joshua Shervinski) celebrates becoming part of Epic Brewing.
January 2018 I The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional 21
By Linda Westcott-Bernstein
Human Resources Insights
Linda Westcott-Bernstein has provided sound human resources advice and guidance to Fortune 500 companies and others for over 25 years. Linda has recently re-published her self-help book entitled It All Comes Down to WE! This book offers guidelines for building a solid and enduring personal work ethic. You can find her book on Amazon or Google Books. Phone: 702-326-4040 Email: Vegaslinda89129@yahoo.com
The New Year! A Time for Renewal & Positivity
I truly believe in the value of making and striving for goals in my life and I hope that you do too! If we don’t try to better ourselves periodically, then what is the purpose in life? Like the old adage…“we keep doing the same thing, but expecting a different outcome.” That strikes me as funny. How can I repeat the same behaviors—maybe even mistakes—and expect that things or people will change? No…change has to start with me! So, once again, at the end of the year I am outlining my 2018 goals. However, it is important to know that I don’t actually do this just one time per year. My faith is very strong and with that faith comes the need and desire to improve myself, be a better parent and make better decisions. I feel strongly that each of us should periodically take an honest look at ourselves and strive to do better and be better. This process is what I consider my opportunity for renewal. It is also a way for me to let go of the negative things in my world and focus more on the positive and the blessings that I have. First, I start with my family. The single most important focus in my life is the wellbeing, health and happiness of my husband and my children. In these challenging and frequently negative times, I want my family to know that I am there for them, both emotionally and physically. I will be there to counsel, enlighten, listen and just support them. I believe strongly, due to the influences of my mother, that that is the role of a wife and mother! We are truly the glue that brings and holds the family together. Then I focus on my career and work. I want to always be improving my leadership style and career by making sure that I never lose sight of what my role is, as well as where I came from. Those concepts mean to me that I need to always have compassion and caring for others, and to not spend time judging them. In reality, you never know what someone is
going through, dealing with, or if they’ve reached their limit. I also want to objectively evaluate—how do I come across to my peers and co-workers? Do I offer advice without judgment and pitch in when/if needed? Do I try to look at things from their perspective? Do I show compassion? In today’s topsy turvy world, I believe that there are three (3) key ingredients or values that we all need to have and hold onto. Those three characteristics are… 1. Compassion and love for others. 2. Integrity and honesty in all that we do. 3. A strong work ethic. It truly can be difficult at times when all around you, especially these days, you see and hear situations or stories about anger, hatred, low/no values, and unethical & immoral behaviors. It can be very disheartening. But…have faith! We are truly being guided and aided by a higher power and help is on the way. In the meantime, we need to focus on family and keep them close in our hearts and minds. It wouldn’t hurt to also write down a few goals for next year and refer to them from time to time when things seem bleak. I will never falter from my belief in the good of mankind and our ability to persevere over adversity. It is my goal for 2018 to have renewed faith, focus on the positive, and strive to be a better person every day! Won’t you join me?! And by the way…have a Happy and Healthy and Prosperous New Year! My wishes to you and yours!
HR Question of the month:
Please send your HR questions and concerns, or share your thoughts on your human resources challenges via email to the following address. Send input to vegaslinda89129@yahoo.com. Your comments, questions or concerns will help determine the direction for my next month’s column and earn you a copy of my book. Include your mailing address when sending your responses.
22 The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional I January 2018
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SUSHI ROKU PASADENA
Much More than Sushi By Bob Barnes | Photos courtesy Sushi Roku
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(but the Sushi Is Awesome Too)
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Old Town Pasadena has an assortment of high quality restaurants tucked away within some cool pedestrian-only alleys, which brings to mind the atmosphere of an old European village. One such locale is the Sushi Roku situated within Miller Alley, just a block from E. Union St. Described as upscale Japanese in a chic setting, the portrayal certainly fits, as the décor features elements of gray/slate-toned walls and ceiling, Stonehenge-like stone pillars in the dining room, wood beam ceiling, lantern hanging lights, live bamboo shoots and bonsai plants, driftwood panels lining one wall and an outside patio. All work together to lend an elegant yet relaxed vibe. Speaking of a relaxed ambience, your meal begins with a warm wet towel. I suggest after refreshing yourself you begin with avocado “hanabi” with soy truffle, crispy rice, and parmesan reggiano, mixed vegetable tempura with daikon and ginger, or melt-in-your mouth miso eggplant dengaku with sweet miso. And, you can’t go wrong with the sushi-matsu: an 8-piece assortment selected by the sushi chef that includes an incredible selection of blue fin tuna with wasabi soy truffle sauce, sea bream with yuzu jelly, yellowtail adorned with ponzu and jalapeno, albacore with red chili oil and garlic aioli, Japanese uni topped with black truffle, king crab with champagne butter, sock eye salmon with shallot and tomato and tuna tora topped with osetra caviar. One might wrongly assume from the restaurant’s name that it’s all about sushi and while there is a wide range of sushi and rolls such as the signature senshi roll with yellowtail, cucumber, avocado and spicy aioli, the menu encompasses much more. Entrees, cooked over Japanese bincho charcoal, include ji-dori free range chicken: white meat glazed with teriyaki served with grilled asparagus; and filet mignon with an incredible sauce of ginger teriyaki served with equally delectable sautéed garlic beans. As might be expected, there is a large sake list, with the likes of Fukuju Eternal Happiness Junmai Ginjo. To help you experience more variety you can indulge in sake flights, such as the Premium Sampler offering Dassai 23 Junmai Daiginjo, Ken Daiginjo and Kubota hekiju Junmai Daiginjo. Lovers of malted spirits will appreciate the Japanese whisky selection that includes Nika Coffe, Yamazaki 12 and Hibiki 18. www.socalfnbpro.com
Some Asian restaurants get a bad rap for not offering much of a range in desserts or only those typically found in Asian settings, but such is certainly not the case here. On the dessert menu you’ll find banana bread pudding with pecans, vanilla gelato and vanilla sauce; zen s’mores with green tea, chocolate truffles, marshmallow cream and crushed graham crackers; and chocolate volcano: a lava cake served with vanilla gelato. Service is equal to the superior quality of the cuisine, especially in the case of the extremely pleasant and friendly Lance Lee, who has been at this Sushi Roku location for more than 15 years, nearly since its opening. Speaking of his reason for longevity in his position Lance said, “I like the environment, the people and the Japanese culture and level of respect. I have a lot of good friends here and our customers are family—some of which over the years I’ve watched their kids grow up.” Parking is at a premium in this area, so it’s important to note that a parking structure can be found just a block away on the southeast side of Union St. and Fair Oaks called “One Colorado Parking” and with validation at the restaurant your first three hours are free; or valet parking is available on Colorado Street in front of Armani Exchange or on Union Street in front of Forever 21 at a cost of $8 with validation and $10 without. Outstanding deals can be had in the bar during the daily happy hour, with a selection of beer, sake, well drinks and cocktails for $5 and $2 off wine by the glass; and select sushi rolls for $5, several bites for $3-10 such as miso eggplant dengaku and albacore sashimi and desserts for $5-7. Happy Hour is 5-9 p.m. on Sunday-Monday (excluding holidays and special events) and Tuesday-Saturday 5-7 p.m. Sushi Roku Pasadena is open for lunch Monday-Friday from 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. and Saturday-Sunday from 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m.; and dinner is MondayThursday from 5-9:30 p.m., Friday-Saturday till 10 p.m. and Sunday from 4 p.m.-9 p.m. Sushi Roku 33 Miller Alley Pasadena, CA 626-683-3000 www.innovativedining.com/restaurants/sushiroku/locations January 2018 I The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional 25
EVENTS
AD INDEX
There are several major food & beverage events coming up in the next few months. Here is a sampling of some of the events we highly recommend, so if planning to attend you can start booking now.
Audrey Dempsey Infinity Photo 702-837-1128 www.invinity-photo.com
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Keep Memory Alive Event Center 702-263-9797 kmaeventcenterlasvegas.com
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January 21-23 the 43rd Annual Winter Fancy Food Show at the Moscone Center in San Francisco will offer more than 80,000 specialty foods and beverages, thousands of new products and more than 1,400 exhibitors from around the globe and sessions featuring innovative thinkers in specialty food, sustainability, commerce, and food technology. www.specialtyfood.com
Bivi Sicilian Vodka 631-464-4050 www.bivivodka.com
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Roca Patron rocapatron.com
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Deep Eddy Vodka www.deepeddyvodka.com
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Rodney Strong Estate Vinyards www.rodneystrong.com
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February 18-21 Catersource Show will be held earlier this year at the Las Vegas Convention Center and feature everything to do with the business of catering. If you or your company is involved in catering, or even if it isn’t, you’ll want to attend this show, even if it means just to visit the show floor and the exhibitors. https://conference.catersource.com
Jay’s Sharpening Service www.jayssharpening.com 702-645-0049
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White Soy Sauce www.whitesoysaucefood.com
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February 10-13 IFA-International Franchise Association Convention will be held at the Phoenix Convention Center and include educational seminars and a trade show on everything franchise. Food & Beverage franchised businesses dominate over 25% of the franchised businesses represented at the trade show and include support services and products. www.franchise.org/convention March 19-22 the International Pizza Expo returns to the Las Vegas Convention Center with the world’s largest pizza, ingredients, products, and service expo, including demos and contests plus samplings all day long! www.pizzaexpo.com March 26-28 the Nightclub & Bar Show comes to the Las Vegas Convention Center for the largest beverage and bar show in the world, with unlimited tastes and treats! Don’t miss it. www.ncbshow.com
American Culinary Federation Chefs of SoCal
The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional is proud to be associated with these fine organizations: ACF-American Culinary Federation Chef de Cuisine Association of California Chapter Culinarians of San Diego Chapter Chefs de Cuisine Association of San Diego Chapter 26 The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional I January 2018
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