April 2016 - The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional

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Issue 4 Volume 16

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World Tea Expo 2016 Discover Tea-Menu Strategies

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Please drink responsibly. Belvedere Vodka 40% ALC./VOL. (80 PROOF) 100% neutral spirits distilled from rye grain. ©2016 Imported by Moët Hennessy USA, Inc., New York, NY.

April 2016

CONTENTS AND COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLISHER MIKE FRYER

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THANK YOU FOR JOINING THE SOCAL FOOD & BEVERAGE PROFESSIONAL IN ITS APRIL 2016 ISSUE. Your support in visiting our website and giving us valuable feedback is important to us in order to improve our contents and bring you the articles you are looking for as an F&B Professional. In keeping with the current affairs and the state of the industry, we strive to bring you upcoming events, shows and expos so that you may choose worthwhile events you can plan on attending. The World Tea Expo is one of them you won’t want to miss.

Cheers!

Mike Fryer SR. EDITOR/PUBLISHER

Cover

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WORLD TEA EXPO IS COMING BACK IN JUNE to where it all started, Las Vegas, which is not that bad for us Californians in Southern California. Look at it this way, we can take a few days off for the WTE conference and attend the exhibit hall, held at the Las Vegas Convention Center this year, and enjoy one of our favorite vacation destinations in a package deal. Better yet, you can forget the LA traffic to the LV Convention Center. Find out more on page 14.

JOHN ROCKWELL, ANOTHER NATIVE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIAN, is now writing for SoCal F&B Pro from his residence in Riverside on a number of interesting and informative items and this month’s column is one of the more interesting I’ve seen in quite a while. John, an avid homebrewer for more than 20 years, decided recently to try his skill at making homemade cheese and gives us a step by step description of his making of several types. I think you’ll find this as interesting as we have…Read on and we’ll have more to come in upcoming issues!

Page 4 Hot Off the Grill!

Page 10 What’s Brewing

Page 20 The Bottom Line Lessons on Branding from the

Page 5 Food for Thought Love the Taste of Spring at the Table

Page 6 West Eats East Soy Sauce, Black or White

Page 7 Marketing & Communicating the “Health” Message

Page 8 Nightclub & Bar Show 2016

Page 9 Chef Talk Spring Lamb

Page 12 Cheesemaking in Southern California

Founder of KIN White Whiskey

Page 21 Page 14 COVER FEATURE World Tea Expo

Product Review

Page 22 Page 16 Brett’s Vegas View

Product Spotlight Bob’s Beer Bits and Sips

Page 18 Book Review 200 Best Smoothie Bowl Recipes

Page 24

ACF Chefs of SoCal

Workplace Violence

Human Resources Insights Is Everyone’s Concern

Page 19 Polite Provisions You have a little booze in your James Beard

Page 26 Events Ad Index

14 www.socalfnbpro.com

April 2016 I The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional 3

The Socal Food & Beverage Professional 303 Broadway Ste. 104-40 Laguna Beach, CA 92651 www.socalfnbpro.com

HOT OFF THE GRILL!

April 2016 Mike Fryer

Sr. Editor/Publisher

The 6th Annual Universal Whiskey Experience at Encore Casino Resort on March 5 proved once again why it is the world’s most ultimate whiskey tasting event with table after table of high-end and rare selections representing every major distiller of Scotch, Bourbon, and Japanese whiskies, some of which were valued at more than $300 per glass. Here SoCalFNBPro Editorial Director Bob Barnes congratulates Universal Whiskey Experience Founder Mahesh Patel on yet another extremely successful event.

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

Juanita Fryer

Assistant To Sr. Editor ACF Chefs Liasion/Journalist juanita.fryer@socalfnbpro.com

Juanita Aiello

Bob Barnes

Editorial Director bob@socalfnbpro.com

The Nightclub & Bar Show was a total success this year, according to organizers, and we would agree. New products and services were abundant and a number of returning exhibitors rounded out the show. We were delighted to meet up with our friend Chazz Palminteri who was there to cut the opening ribbon for the entire show. Here Chazz got ahold of one of our past copies with him on the cover and we were able to get it into the photo.

Elaine & Scott Harris Editors at Large harris@socalfnbpro.com

Also at the Nightclub & Bar Show were our old friends and fellow USBG (United States Bartenders’ Guild) members working their booth and selling their very successful bartending recipe book. Livio Lauro and Armando Rosario have published The Twelve Cocktails, which as explained, are the twelve essential cocktails everyone needs to know that are the basis for all other cocktails. In The Twelve Cocktails, Livio and Armando give us the tools and foundation for making all cocktails.

Adam Rains

Creative Director juanita@socalfnbpro.com

Beverage Editor adam.rains@socalfnbpro.com

Advertising sales@socalfnbpro.com

Article Submissions/Suggestions articles@socalfnbpro.com

Calendar Submissions calendar@socalfnbpro.com

Website webmaster@socalfnbpro.com

Press Relase Submissions news@socalfnbpro.com

General Information info@socalfnbpro.com

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The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional

CONTRIBUTING STAFF

Legal Editorial Advisor Andrew Matney

Journalist Apryl Bruso

Accounting Manager Michelle San Juan

Journalist Brett’s Vegas View Jackie Brett

Journalist What’s Brewing David Mulvihill

Journalist Food for Thought Les Kincaid

Journalist Hungry for PR Jen Morris

Journalist John Rockwell

Pre-Press Technician Brandon Yan

Journalist Good for Spooning LeAnne Notabartolo

Journalist East Eats West K. Mike Masuyama Ph.D.

Photographer Audrey Dempsey

Journalist Chef Talk Allen Asch

Journalist Linda Duke

Journalist Heidi Rains

Journalist HR Insights Linda Bernstein

Journalist Green Restaurant Association Michael Oshman

Journalist Wine Talk Alice Swift

Journalist Lisa Matney

Journalist The Bottom Line Ben Brown

Photographer Bill Bokelmann

Photographer Joe Urcioli

Journalist Margie Mancino

Master Sommelier Joe Phillips

4 The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional I April 2016

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT Love the Taste of Spring at the Table

By Les Kincaid Les Kincaid is a food, wine, and golf expert and cookbook author. He hosts the nationally syndicated wine radio show Wines Du Jour each Thursday from 7 to 8 pm. You can enjoy his website or his broadcast at www.leskincaid.com les@leskincaid.com www.facebook.com/leskincaid www.twitter.com/leskincaid

Risotto with Spring Fresh Peas & Zucchini 2 cans (14.5 ounces each) chicken broth 3 tablespoons sweet butter 1 to 2 large garden fresh zucchini (1 pound), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes Kosher salt and ground black pepper

What inspires your kitchen as the seasons change? Do you relish the idea of welcoming in new dishes to your table after the long, cold winter? For the last several days, I’ve woken up to the sound of song birds… This is the first exciting sign of spring. Inevitably, with the awakening of the earth from its winter slumber, we typically crave fresh spring meals. My favorite part about spring is being able to shop at the farmers market and using those ingredients to make super simple, fresh recipes. Food that’s light, clean, crisp and colorful. Here the spring produce has started to arrive to our local markets, and farmers markets open up for the new growing season. With all these fresh peas, asparagus, artichokes, radishes, fennel and rhubarb it’s no wonder I like to pair wines with these dishes as well.

I love a rich and creamy risotto, which is Italian-style comfort food.

Because of its high starch content, imported Arborio rice makes the creamiest risotto, so look for the imported Arborio rice for best results.

Here is a favorite to get spring off to a great start.

1/2 cup finely chopped onion 1 1/2 cups imported Arborio rice 1/2 cup dry white wine 1 cup spring fresh peas, (frozen will work) 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Heat the broth and 2 1/2 cups water in a small saucepan over low heat; keep warm. Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add zucchini; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until zucchini is golden, 8 to 10 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove zucchini to a plate.

Reduce heat to medium-low. Add onion; cook until soft, 5 minutes.

Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Increase heat to medium. Add rice; cook, stirring, until translucent around edges, for about 3 minutes. Add the wine; cook until absorbed, about 2 minutes.

Continue to cook, adding 1 cup heated broth at a time (stir until almost all liquid is absorbed before adding more), until rice is tender, likely 25 to 30 minutes total.

Add zucchini and peas; cook until peas for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in remaining tablespoon butter and the Parmesan.

Serve, topped with more cheese.

For a choice wine try a Pinot Grigio and Albariño.

Yield: 6 servings

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April 2016 I The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional 5

By K. Mike Masuyama Ph.D.

West Eats East

Soy Sauce, Black or White Without soy sauce, no Japanese cuisine exists. Soy sauce is indispensable for sukiyaki, teriyaki, sushi, sashimi, cooked vegetables and many more.

Though, all soy sauces are not born equal. Its varieties or variations derive from ingredients, formula, processes, manufactures or localities. Today there are basically two kinds: dark/black and pale/white depending upon ratios of soybean and wheat as major ingredients. More soybeans results in darker color, while more wheat, a paler color; that is a general rule.

It is due to a natural reaction of browning with soybeans. In addition, savory taste comes from soybeans for black soy sauce, while it does from wheat for white soy sauce. Currently dark/black soy sauce is dominant in the market, while pale/white soy sauce (not milky white but like white wine) has been around in the shadow of black soy sauce as a fancy, exotic, secret flavoring used by creative chefs. Besides, you may add a category of flavored soy sauces with herbs, spices and other stuff like Tabasco soy sauce. Let’s see the origin and use of this liquid condiment.

All liquid condiments originated from the preservation of food, more specifically salting of edible stuffs. In salting food, liquid leaches out by osmotic pressure. The liquid leached tastes not only salty but also somewhat pleasant and tasty. Today’s science explains that peptides or amino acids or flavor compounds are formed through autolysis, fermentation and aging from protein and other constituents. In China, such a liquid was called as “Hishio” or “Ancient Sauce” more than 3,000 years ago, from grain-legumes, vegetables, fish, or game meat. Ancient Romans also used a fish Hishio as Garim or Quamemu. Brillant-Savarin, in his famous gastronomy publication of PHYSIOLOGIE DU GOUT in 1826, mentioned Garim and also Muria from tuna and Soye from India. Soy sauce was brought to Europe from Japan by a Jesuit missionary in 1603.

The Dutch, the only trade partner in the isolated Japan then, exported soy sauce, “Schzoya,” in a ceramic container to Europe. A record shows Louis XIV loved soy sauce for cooking his meals. An early Worcestershire sauce contained soy sauce brought via India. Soy sauce was not completely foreign but something very exotic in the old continent.

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 6 The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional I April 2016

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.

“Ask Doctor Sake” was his last series in this journal.

Into our land soy sauce was brought by Japanese migrant workers or immigrants about 150 years ago. The general public noticed the newcomers eating everything with this dark liquid and ridiculed it as bug juice. It came in a wooden keg tightened by bamboo hoops. I have seen an ad copy of Kikkoman in an old ethnic publication. Nothing happened outside the ethnic population until sukiyaki appeared in our eating in the early 1950s. You may know the rest of the story of soy sauce. A common scene at J-restaurants was pouring of soy sauce over rice if you are old enough to recall. I wonder if soy sauce itself or alone was really liked or a blend of soy sauce and sugar that is teriyaki flavor, was favored, or both.

Black soy sauce gave an overall pungent, pleasantly roasted and salty note well blended with sweet taste, which must be a major reason for soy sauce being liked here, I suppose. Though, black soy sauce alone might be too overwhelming or too much pressing in some dishes. Think about soy sauce in a tiny plate for dipping sushi. It may be too salty or too overpowering soy sauce flavor, which covers the delicate sushi taste. Despite this, black soy sauce is great to change the taste to exotic, palatable!

Never heard of white soy sauce? It is not milky white but pale in color like white wine. Wheat is used predominantly to brew it. Its flavor is pleasant, less pressing than black soy sauce due to broken down components of wheat rather than soybeans. It tastes subtle, mild and savory. Its salt content is almost the same as the black one. It has been minor but used for particular objectives, that is, mellow soy sauce flavor and no darkening color in seasoning or cooking, only being recognized by truly trained, professional culinary persons in Japan. Almost all other J-food people might be brainwashed with black soy sauce knowing not much about it, I diagnose. It is not a Usukuchi soy sauce which is made by diluting black soy sauce with water and salt, or Sirodashi (white stock source) by blending black soy sauce, water, salt and Japanese flavor stocks. White soy sauce appeared in our market not so long ago and was being sold only through deli-specialty food channels. I recall executive chefs at one of the Hard Rock Cafés and also Disney restaurants having loved it. An interest in it has been growing steadily but not drastically due to the unfamiliar nature and higher price than the black one. It is currently used by chefs in Hawaii, Arizona, Seattle, NY and Chicago on a regular or occasional basis. It must be a next generation liquid condiment to diversify our taste and presentation, not only of the Oriental but also fusing natural and harmonized cuisines.

Tasting is believing.

Email K. Mike Masuyama Ph.D. at mike@masuyamaglobalconnect.com for authentic white soy sauce info and a sample of “White Tamari.”

More next month. www.socalfnbpro.com

Marketing & Communicating the “Health” Message How and Why, Methods and Benefits

By Linda Duke Celebrating 25 Years in the Restaurant Industry, Duke Marketing has handled numerous crisis scenarios for restaurant chains and Linda Duke, CEO is an expert witness, crisis communicator and emergency legal liaison. duke@dukemarketing.com 415-492-4534

In 1989 when I was first starting my restaurant marketing business restaurateurs didn’t pay too much attention to marketing healthy menu items.

Back in the early 90s healthy brands were very one dimensional; literally, if a product had just one healthy attribute, such as low fat, it made the news.

photo courtesy Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill

Today, 21st century consumers are demanding. Menu items developed in partnership with a trusted third party such as the American Heart Association or endorsed by Weight Watchers grab today’s headlines.

A simple ingredient list isn’t enough today, and in fact, in California if you are a restaurant chain with more than 20 units, you must include nutritional information as well as calories, sodium, etc. in the restaurant and eventually on menu boards in-store.

With consumers more health conscious than ever, the time is NOW to develop your marketing and communications plans for getting your “healthy” messages heard.

A view of healthy Developing a “healthy” offering is a process.

The popular San Diego based fast casual restaurant chain, Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill offers guests a HealthMex Menu which they introduced back in the early 90s. Ahead of its time then and on target for today, Rubio’s HealthMex brand includes menu items low in calories, fat, lower in sodium and customized to give consumers a choice to stay healthy. Rubio’s is known for the fish taco. The original fish taco is beer battered and deep fried, but HealthMex offers health-conscious guests grilled Mahi Mahi in their fish taco and racks up only 150 calories.

HealthMex Grilled Mahi Mahi Serving calories sodium carbs sugars protein size

149 150 290 2 0 13

There are many athletes who eat Rubio’s HealthMex especially in sunny California where most are located. By partnering with running groups and sponsoring athletes’ events over the years, Rubio’s is a favorite among numerous teams and runners, and have seen sales increase of the HealthMex items.

Creating the Message— Eat Well. Live Well.

Health and wellness is where menu trends have been heading for years. Vegetarianism is on the rise. Simple messages, like identifying local ingredients on the menu or servers talking about reduced sodium, are likely to be noticed by consumers, who are increasingly aware.

Guests today are more sophisticated. They want www.socalfnbpro.com

inspired taste experiences and want to know where their food came from and to eat healthy without giving up taste. Restaurant operators are answering their cry by adding more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat or fat-free dairy and lean proteins to menus. They also are decreasing saturated fats, trans fats, sodium, sugar and excess calories. Now the need to communicate these changes to guests is key.

When creating your healthy messages focus on local and seasonal, where food and ingredients come from, how the food was produced and / or processed, what it does for the environment and what it is good for (eyesight, digestion, etc.) and understanding customers wants.

and are sized for correct portion control are increasingly offered as options.

5. Meet with product vendors and discuss new healthy offerings and ask for solutions and ideas.

6. Create a brand—does it make sense to create a separate healthy menu or heading/name for your health line of products?

7. Create a plan for sampling new healthy menu items. Invite health-related clubs, groups and media to taste the new healthy menu.

8. Adjust menu items from customer feedback.

9. Position whatever you’re doing in steps, as part of a process.

Give your Restaurant a Healthy-Makeover Follow this checklist to get started: 1. Determine which menu items could use a down-sized version or calorie reduction.

2. Try incorporating uber-healthy foods that will continue to sprout including: goji berries, yerba mate, acai and even blueberries, cranberries and soy.

3. Does certification on any menu items make sense: Kosher, fair-trade, organic, American Heart Association, Weight Watchers: such organizations are setting standards to identify healthy consumer offerings. In addition to the credibility they provide, the process of certification itself shines a light on all aspects of an operation.

4. Review ingredients and sizes: New products geared towards lactose intolerant, gluten free,

Menu for Change: communicating the message Communicating healthy menu messages can give your brand a marketing advantage and a higher value perception from your customers.

Think about this…instead of discounting a menu item, introduce a new menu item that offers a sustainable organic item like a pear salad, and by communicating the message of where the pears came from, how they were grown and processed, it creates a “reason” to pay more and it is perceived as delivering value and pro-health.

When communicating your health message, integrate all customer touch points by: packaging with health messages, website, social media, contest or event, sample healthy menu items, direct mail, signage, kick-off party with employees, employee incentives and guests feedback forms and surveys.

April 2016 I The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional 7

Nightclub & Bar Show 2016

By Bob Barnes

The Nightclub & Bar Show made its annual stop in Las Vegas and brought more than 39,000 nightclub, bar, beverage and hospitality professionals to the LVCC. One of the largest industry conventions in the world, and one of the larger shows in Las Vegas, more than 200,000 establishments were represented.

Quite a bit of the fun could be found at the Trade Show and I was on the lookout for some beverage related innovations that would pique my interest. I was not disappointed.

Being a lover of all things spicy, I was happily surprised to find a wine spiked with pepper. Made by Potter Wines in Boise, ID, not only is Jalapeno Wine useful as an ingredient for margaritas and dishes such as chipotle garlic with sautéed mushrooms, but tasting it by itself I found it to be a delightful unique tasting sensation that delivered plenty of heat. Also available is Jalapeno Wine Lemonade, which is a slightly toned down version of heat. www.jalapenowine.com We’re all familiar with aged whisky and bourbon, but aged rum is not on everyone’s radar. In addition, Angostura is well known for its ubiquitous bitters, but not as well for its rum. I was impressed with the smooth quality of the Angostura 1919 (a blend of award-winning rums) and Angostura 1824 (aged in charred American oak bourbon barrels for a minimum of 12 years and then hand blended and re-casked). www.angosturarum.com Lovers of fine whiskey and bourbon who don’t love to spend the big bucks to buy them should be interested in Whiskey Elements.

Manufactured in Portland, OR, this device when placed in whiskey for 24-72 hours develops a smoother fuller flavor.

Made of laser cut cured oak, its use removes toxins, accelerates aging and draw existing flavor characteristics and rich caramel color from natural sugars within the oak, which also bring subtle notes of maple and vanilla that occur naturally during the barrel-aging process. I tried the experiment myself and can attest I found noticeable results as advertised. www.timeandoak.com

If you like Irish Cream you’ll probably be interested in Almondaire. The first dairy-free almond crème liqueur, it’s vegan, 13.9% ABV, made with glutenfree corn based neutral grain spirits and has only 83 calories and 1.2 grams of fat per 1.5 oz serving. It is a blend of chocolate and vanilla flavors with a subtle nuttiness and hint of whiskey character in the finish and it happens to be delicious. www.almondaire.com The iconic Guinness Stout is one of the most recognizable brands on the planet, but I discovered some of its lesser known products. Guinness is now importing to the US some blasts from the distant past. Its West Indies Porter is a 6% porter with a toffee sweetness, inspired by “an 1801 diary entry for the first Guinness purposely brewed to maintain its freshness from one end of the world to another,” devised by Guinness brewers back in 1801; Dublin Porter was created from a recipe found “in a 1796 entry in Guinness brewers’ diaries” that is sweet and smooth, with malt and dark caramel notes; and Nitro IPA—a balanced Englishstyle IPA that unlike American IPAs is much lighter in the hops and a truer representative of how IPAs were made back in the 18th century.

It’s worth noting that Guinness has always made multiple beers, but in recent years has decided to share more of them with their US friends. www.guinness.com

D RIVE S ALES with Easy to Execute M ARKETING P ROGRAMS Recently published, Four Star Restaurant Marketing Cookbook — Recipes for RestaurateursTM, is a 300 page marketing resource for restaurant operators.

Creative marketing programs are written in an easy-to-use recipe format, with ingredients needed, directions to implement and tips, tools and tactics to drive sales. Over 250 real restaurant case studies and photos are included.

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www.marketing-cookbook.com 8 The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional I April 2016

“Recipes for Restaurateurs is an incredible resource for not only those looking to enter the restaurant business, but for those that have been running restaurants for years.”

www.socalfnbpro.com

By Chef Allen Asch

Chef Talk Spring Lamb

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.

Spring is such a great season for epicureans.

There is a bounty of fresh ingredients and with the change-over from heavy cooking like braising to the grill we see an influx of lighter dishes being brought to the table.

Besides produce we see items like the spring lamb coming to the table. In both the Jewish and Christian religions lamb is a traditional meal served during the spring holidays. In the Jewish religion the Torah states that there should be a sacrifice of a lamb the night before Passover and the meat should be eaten on the first day of the holiday. In Christianity the lamb is a traditional food served for an Easter feast which is a carryover from the Jewish tradition.

The reason that this food is equated to these holidays is the abundance of young sheep during the spring season.

Sheep live for at least 10 years, but when they are young they are called lamb. The meat that is eaten off of a sheep that is older than 1 year is called mutton. Sheep are a very important part of the worldwide market, producing wool and milk and meat. This meat is usually tougher than lamb and needs longer cooking times and moisture while cooking to help tenderize it. When the meat is less than a year it is much more tender and fits into the quicker cooking methods used in the warmer months.

The lowest quality meat comes from the New Zealand lamb. These breeds are used to produce wool but the quality and quantity of meat is much less than the other varieties. These breeds are also grass fed rather than grain fed which adds to the “gamey” taste you might experience.

This is a very common product used when cost is a bigger factor than quality. This is the youngest of the products brought to market, usually 6-7 months old.

Sheep came to America with Columbus and now there are 40 breeds, out of the 900 worldwide, producing milk, food and wool. An average sheep can produce 8 pounds of wool a year, in its one shearing per year. This amount of wool can make 80 miles of yarn.

Lamb consumption in the United States is on the decline, down to about a pound a year per person. This is a great contrast to Icelanders that consume 55 pounds per year. The Icelandic lamb is only available in the fall and usually in a higher end store. China has the largest amount of the 1 billion sheep in the world, but it is used for wool production more than for a food source.

The three major producers of lamb in the world are Australia, New Zealand and the United States, most notably Colorado. The domestic breeds are the largest of the varieties so if you like large muscles this is the best type to buy. This would be especially so for racks of lamb. Since most American lamb is grain fed this will also have the least gamey flavor.

New Zealand produces the smallest and the youngest of the breeds.

Australian lamb was traditionally grown for wool production so the meat was less desirable than other countries’ meat. In recent years they have worked hard to create a more desirable product for food and have bred their sheep with American breeds to create a more desirable product for eating. This lamb meat is cheaper than a domestic product. www.socalfnbpro.com

If you like the flavor of lamb but do not like the price of it, there are many cuts that you can buy that are cheaper and easy to use. The most tender cut, as with most animals, is the center cuts such as the ribs. These muscles work very little so they are tender. The young lamb, under one year, is tender but some muscles even though they are not used are still tough. The tender cuts are the rack and the loin chop, but a less expensive cut of lamb would be a shoulder chop or a rib. These cuts have excellent flavor but they cannot be cooked on the grill or other dry heat methods.

These cuts have great full flavor but should be braised to tenderize the tough cuts of meat.

April 2016 I The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional 9

By David Mulvihill

what’s

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.

Newcomer Unsung Brewing Company has opened in Tustin. Zoning restrictions currently disallow an onsite tasting room, so owner/brewer Michael Crea is in the process of building his tasting room in Anaheim, complete with a three barrel Premier Stainless pilot brewing system of its own. Locating in the soon to open “Make” building, next to Downtown Anaheim’s Packing House, Make’s concept is to house tenants that make things (beer, wine, crafts, etc.). Anchor occupants to the transformed building that used to be a marmalade factory (circa 1900) will also include a winery, possibly even a distillery.

Originally from Ohio, Crea came out west to pursue his dream of opening a brewery after first finding success in the insurance field. In preparation for his leap to professional brewer, Crea attended the Siebel Institute in Chicago, graduating from its Master Brewer Program.

The primary brewery is equipped with a 15-barrel Premier Stainless system. Core beers will be brewed in Tustin and pilot, one-off batches will be brewed in Anaheim. Given the local water makeup, Mike opted for a reverse osmosis system that supplies a 2,000-gallon reservoir tank. Water chemistry is then modified and adapted for each recipe brewed.

Early in this brewery’s development, the team is looking to improve during each stage of production and each successive batch brewed. In dialing in the new system and recipes Crea has not been afraid to dump a batch of beer.

If it doesn’t meet standards it doesn’t get sold. Formulae will be tweaked and reformulated until Mike and assistant brewer Ryan Hunt are completely satisfied with the result. “I think we can make these beers better. We’ve only been getting better and better,” Crea shared.

Unsung’s offerings began with four core beers: a 5.2% ABV cream ale, two IPAs with varied hop mixes (one citrus/pine forward and the other with tropical fruit notes), and Propeller-Head, Unsung’s 6.2% coffee amber, incorporating coffee from Hidden House Coffee in San Juan Capistrano.

Light on chocolate malts, most of its roast character comes from the coffee.

A new XPA (extra pale ale) will soon join the lineup.

Crea, an avid comic book fan growing up, has incorporated this theme in his brewery’s point of view and beer branding. Beer nerd meets comic book nerd as each beer takes the name of an unsung hero, complete with back

Del Frisco’s Beer Dinners

Pictured at the Del Frisco’s Grille beer dinner featuring Cismontane Brewing Company is Executive Chef Sara Daniels with attendee/ fans (from l - r) John Cunico, Fred Levine and Vincent DiMichele.

photos by David Mulvihill

Unsung Brewing Company

Unsung Brewing Company owner/brewer Michael Crea (l) with his assistant Ryan Hunt.

story. Each story is created around the ingredients that go into the beer, and the character’s alter ego or super power. Without any arch enemy, the aforementioned Propeller Head is a super-smart nerd whose vice is caffeine.

He travels the world in search of the best coffee. Given the seasonality of some of the Hidden House blends, look for a seasonal change in the coffee that will go into Propeller Head. Column space constraints prevent telling every story here, so look forward to learning the backstories for Buzzman Cream Ale, and the two female IPA’s, Sylvan and Anthia. Watch also for quarterly releases of 3-4 page comics telling these hero stories, with artwork by local artists; and a wall mural in the tasting room of Buzzman fighting the yard bees! Unsung’s tasting room is expected to be open in May.

Monthly beer dinners are back at Del Frisco’s Grille, Irvine Spectrum. Executive Chef Sarah Daniels teamed up with Cismontane Brewing Company for the first dinner of the season, preparing a four course dinner to pair with beer from Cismontane. Head Brewer Scott Holden was on hand to present and discuss the beer pairings. The first course was West Coast clam chowder paired with The Citizen, a lager brewed in the California Common tradition (lager yeast brewed at ale temp). The beer contrasted and cleansed the briny fresh clams and creaminess.

Coulter IPA enhanced juicy root beer braised pork rib sliders with cucumber slaw and also went nicely with the rye crusted halibut (with stewed tomato and celery confit).

Cismontane’s wine/beer, The Mesa, was the appointed pairing for this course. A blend

10 The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional I April 2016

of Riesling grapes and pilsner malts, and fermented with lactobacillus, the unique and melding wine-beer flavor provided an additional complementing dimension to the dish. Spiced carrot cake with ample pineapple cream cheese frosting was served with Black’s Dawn Imperial Stout. The coffee, brown sugar and oats in the beer’s makeup melded with the cakes ingredients to elevate the experience.

Check Del Frisco’s events calendar or connect on social media for upcoming beer dinners. Chef Daniels is the first female executive chef for the Del Frisco’s Grille group of restaurants. She joined General Manager Katie Pavkov’s team at the Irvine Spectrum location after first assisting with opening five Del Frisco’s Grilles across the country and seasoning her skills as sous chef for the Santa Monica store. www.socalfnbpro.com

By John Rockwell

Cheesemaking in Southern California

Mozzarella curds set up and ready to be “melted” in hot salt water. From there they are stretched and folded into the layered cheese we know and love.

Making cheese is a deceptively simple process.

Get some milk. Acidify the milk by adding a bacterial culture or an acid like citric acid or vinegar. Heat the milk. Add rennet to coagulate the milk solids. Separate the solids (curds) from the liquid (whey) with some sort of straining device, and the solid remnant is cheese. So why doesn’t every home cook make this staple food? From my homebrewing experience and my earlier failure, I suspected it had something to do with time, temperature, and access to the right supplies.

I wanted to solicit the help of a cheesemaking supply shop, because my local homebrew supply store did such a great job of setting me on the right path when I began that hobby.

However, from my home, I am equidistant from the only two cheesemaking supply shops that exist in the four counties around me--Curds and Wine in Kearny Mesa (San Diego), and The Home Wine Beer and Cheesemaking Shop in Woodland Hills. Both are around 100 miles away. I chose The Home Wine Beer and Cheese Shop in Woodland Hills and was helped by their cheese guru Nancy who set me up with some expert advice, a good recipe book, some lactose-eating cultures, some plastic cheese molds, citric acid, cheesecloth, rennet, wax, and because I was wanted to have some fun, some Penicillium Roqueforti mold. In the course of this conversation, I discovered that my first challenge would be securing the main ingredient: milk. I was assured that the milk at Whole Foods works, but the nearest store is deep in Orange County.

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.

At the end of December, I decided to make mozzarella cheese for some holiday get-togethers. I had been thinking about making cheese since my drought-induced hiatus from homebrewing as a way to assuage the guilt I felt each time I walked past my retired stainless steel brew kettles.

By chance, I found some Junket-brand rennet tablets at my local specialty grocery store, and that was all the motivation I needed. (Rennet is an enzyme that makes milk curdle.) I grabbed some extra milk and cheesecloth, and proceeded to follow the best instructions I could find on YouTube and some cheesemaking websites. I then failed at making my first batch of mozzarella cheese. It didn’t even set—from everything I read, I figured the rennet was bad. That may not have been the whole story.

According to the research I’ve done, there are two potential problems with grocery store milk: age and pasteurization temperature. As milk gets older, the rennet has less of an effect on it, and the same problem occurs if the milk is pasteurized at too high a temperature. Ultrapasteurized milk (even if it is organic) can never be used for cheese. And let’s clear up a couple

of misconceptions about milk. It does not need to be “raw”—in fact, for most styles it would have to be pasteurized. Second, it is okay if it is homogenized, though non-homogenized milk is preferred for certain cheese styles. This is good news, because raw milk and non-homogenized milk go for $10-15 a gallon everywhere I’ve seen them in Southern California.

Mozzarella in its final form—not very impressive, but also not bad for a first attempt.

After a “clean break,” the curds are cut into squares with a curd knife.

12 The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional I April 2016

www.socalfnbpro.com

I began a search for a local dairy that had fresh milk. Unfortunately, there are only two that I was able to find within reach of the Inland Empire. There is Broguiere’s Farm Fresh Dairy in Montebello, and DeJong’s Dairy in Wildomar. I chose DeJong’s because it is only 35 miles away and Montebello is nearly twice the drive. So I tried DeJong’s milk and using my citric acid and fresh rennet from Woodland Hills, made some excellent Mozzarella just in time for our family’s New Year’s Eve party. I had my milk source.

after a “clean break”—that moment after rennet has been added when the curds cleanly break apart and begin to separate from the whey solution. These setting periods can range from 30 minutes to nearly two hours. Of course, direct heat to the kettle creates a heat gradient in the milk, and can scald the milk or curds (which cannot be stirred during the set). A double-boiler/warm-water bath is a must, and essential in holding the milk at temperature during longer setting periods.

Armed with my new supplies, and my stainless steel brewing pots, I began the weekly ritual of acquiring milk and attempting different styles of cheese. I started with an English Derby, which is a lightly-aged pressed semi-hard cheese (about five weeks of aging), moved on to Gouda (six to eight weeks of aging), and then tried making some Camembert and Castle Blue—both mold-ripened “bloomy” cheeses.

Each new style has revealed a nuance that confounded the simplified process I described at the beginning of this article.

How curds are handled post-break is important too. In most semi-hard and hard cheese styles, the temperature of the curd is usually raised by ten to twenty degrees, depending on the style. If the temperature is raised too quickly, the curds expel whey too quickly and the final yield will be too dry. Sometimes—in the case of Gouda styles—the curd temperatures are raised slowly by removing a precise amount of whey and then adding a precise amount of heated water back to the vat. This is called a “washed curd” cheese, and for those familiar with the brewing process, is very similar to a decoction mash.

Cheesemaking is a complex and subtle process in which every variable seems to matter. Cultures, which I had simply lumped into two categories—mesophilic (medium temperature incubation) and thermophilic (higher temperature incubation) actually come in several blends, similar to the variations found in brewers yeast. Along with the lactoseeating cultures, which expel lactic acid and acidify the milk, certain styles of cheese require white or blue molds, which are also added during the cheesemaking process.

There are even variations and blends of these molds. All cheeses age comfortably at cellaring temperatures—from 50-58 degrees. A good temperature-controlled wine refrigerator will do the trick. To keep humidity high enough, simply place small cups of water in enclosed containers in the wine refrigerator, or just make cheeses that can be waxed or vacuum-sealed.

There are other subtleties that matter too, namely controlling the temperature during setting and curd separation. Cheesemakers are

And then wait. Like most culinary hobbies that involve making a living food, waiting time can be the most difficult part, because one must wait to sample the successes and the failures— and then try to figure out what went right and what went wrong. My first Derby I made, which I believed went horribly wrong, was just fine.

My second try, which seemed to come together better during the five-hour cheesemaking process, didn’t turn out as well, but that was most likely due to temperature fluctuations in my cheese cave. Some people keep detailed notes, but I have never been one to do that.

Instead, I pay close attention to the experience and make slight changes each time. Right now, enjoying the process of hobby and gaining new insights into a food I didn’t think much about before is reward enough.

Derby curds ready to be pressed into cheese!

This is a Derby wheel after pressing. Prior to waxing and aging, it must air dry for a couple of days.

The Home Wine, Beer and Cheesemaking Shop 22836 Ventura Blvd. #B Woodland Hills, CA 91364 818-884-8586

DeJong’s Cash and Carry Dairy 31910 Corydon Road Wildomar, CA 92595 951-674-2910

200 Easy Homemade Cheese Recipes: From Cheddar and Brie to Butter and Yogurt (second edition) Washed Gouda curds stacked into this mold for pressing. Gouda is then brined in salt water before aging.

www.socalfnbpro.com

By Debra Amrein-Boyes

My first Derby cheese about five weeks out. It was delicious—creamy and tart!

April 2016 I The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional 13

Attend World Tea Expo

June 15-17 in Las Vegas; Discover Tea-Menu Strategies, Innovative New Products

Photos courtesy World Tea Expo

By Aaron Kiel

Geared towards helping restaurants, chefs, foodservice, retailers and businesses of all kinds through its in-depth education program, World Tea Expo takes place June 15-17, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nev. at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

“World Tea Expo will attract thousands of professionals for an exciting platform of new tea products, education sessions, workshops and business-growing activities,” says Samantha Hammer Mitchell, the World Tea brand leader and an event director with Penton, organizer of World Tea Expo. “The event is the leading tradeshow focused on advancing the business of tea, and it’s ideal for restaurants, foodservice business and hotels that want to discover ways they can grow through tea.”

Profit with Tea

World Tea Expo’s curriculum covers a broad range of topics to help businesses boost sales through tea. Core Conference Sessions are designed to meet the specific needs of restaurants, foodservice businesses and others.

Numerous Focused Tea Tastings offer 90-minute organoleptic explorations of tea styles, tea regions and tea pairings. And the Skill Building Workshops hone important industry skills.

Some of the noteworthy World Tea Expo education sessions – for restaurant, foodservice, beverage and hotel professionals – include:

A Lively, Product-Filled Expo Floor

In addition to the education sessions, World Tea Expo’s bustling show floor features hundreds of the latest tea products and services, many of which cannot be found at any other trade show.

Additional event highlights include: the North American Tea Championship Winners Tasting Circle; a World Origin Tasting Tour; a Tea Business Boot Camp; the World Tea Awards; and World Tea Academy LIVE!

Tea Trends for Foodservice, Restaurants

Donna Fellman, a well-respected tea expert, educator and program director of World Tea Academy, part of Penton’s World Tea brand that includes World Tea Expo, World Tea News and the North American Tea Championship, offers insights on just a few of the trends happening with tea, which restaurants, hotels, foodservice and beverage professionals should follow.

• Evolution of Tea in the Foodservice Industry, from a Global Perspective

• State of the Tea Industry – Global Foodservice • Stop Losing Your Beverage Sales to Water!

• Creating Unique Blends • Matcha Goes Mainstream – Growing Trends in the Food Industry

• The Science of Intuitive Brewing • Taste & Tea Chemistry • The Fundamentals of Tea Beverage Creativity • The Tea Bar – a Blueprint for Success • The Quintessential Tea – China Green • Darjeeling in Depth: Tasting the Nectars of the Himalayas

• Tea Vessels = A Way to Steep Up Sales • And many more 14 The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional I April 2016

www.socalfnbpro.com

Join the Tea Community World Tea Expo invites restaurant, hotel, beverage and foodservice professionals to register for the event, June 15-17 in Las Vegas (with a pre-conference program June 13-14). See WorldTeaExpo.com.

Highlights include:

Tea Sommeliers – “One of the biggest things that keeps coming up in conversations with the tea community is tea sommeliers,” explains Fellman. “World Tea is certainly seeing a strong increase in people interested in becoming tea sommeliers as a full-time profession, or businesses looking at how they can highlight a tea sommelier in their operation – whether it’s a teahouse, restaurant, hotel café, foodservice business, spa or other enterprise where tea and a tea sommelier would be an ideal fit.”

According to Fellman, tea sommeliers are becoming so popular that she’s getting countless Google Alerts anytime there’s tea sommelier news or some related development. “The World Tea Academy tea sommelier course is one of the most highly rated and completed classes of the online program,” she says.

Fellman notes that this year’s World Tea Expo pre-conference program, World Tea Academy Live!, June 13-14, will present the first class in a new series, Tea Sommelier Protocols: S.1 Designing a Tea Menu. “Tea sommeliers are exciting for the industry because it’s another way we’re bringing tea and tea education to the forefront, just like wine and coffee,” explains Fellman.

Curated Tea Menus – Carefully crafted, highend tea lists are also becoming more mainstream.

“Essentially, a foodservice business or restaurant can hire a tea sommelier or tea expert to curate a menu, or create a special tea blend,” shares Fellman. “I think ‘tea curating’ is an up-andcoming buzzword or hot topic that’s slowly been developing over the last year or two, and I think it will continue to build as a valuable concept in 2016 and beyond.”

Fellman points to one example of a tea curator and curated list: the selected teas at the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum. Bruce Richardson, a leading tea expert, author and presenter at World Tea Expo 2016, was named the Tea Master for the Museum in 2011. He designed and curated the teas in Abigail’s Tea Room, which includes the museum’s signature tea, Abigail’s Blend.

Richardson used earthy Chinese black teas from the Yunnan Province of China, reminiscent of the Chinese black teas tossed overboard in 1773, along with contemporary black teas from India and Kenya to create this unique and historic blend.

Tea Blends – Of course, tea blends are going “off the rocker,” as Fellman states, and they’ll certainly be a part of World Tea Expo this June in Vegas. “While I’m personally more of a tea www.socalfnbpro.com

traditionalist,” says Fellman, “I still believe that tea blends are a great thing as they become more and more in demand.”

According to Fellman, 2015 saw many businesses creating their own tea blend, some even combined black and green tea. “I think businesses like having their own branded tea blend, and even customers like the notion of creating their own personal signature tea.”

Fellman believes blends are a great opportunity for restaurants and foodservice businesses that want to offer a distinctive tea experience to consumers. “It’s an excellent way for tea sommeliers and tea experts to offer their services to foodservice businesses, in terms of creating a curated tea list. It’s also ideal for restaurants, cafés, teahouses and hotels, or any other number of businesses, to create a branded, blended tea with its own story to share,” she says.

High-end Tea Houses – “Over the last few years, we’ve seen more and more teahouses popping up,” says Fellman. “And now we’re seeing more high-end teahouses emerge.” For example, the Hakkasan Group, based in London and Las Vegas, Nev., has Yauatcha, a Michelinstarred contemporary dim sum teahouse that first opened in London in 2004. They have two locations in London and three in India. But they are planning to expand to the United States, adding their teahouse brand to Honolulu, Hawaii and Houston, Texas.

“We expect to see more high-end tea houses in North America in 2016 and beyond,” says Fellman, “as tea continues to reach new audiences, and as demand for more tea knowledge, tea experiences, and specialty tea increases. Essentially, this trend is about crafting a high-quality, great tasting tea experience – something restaurants and foodservice business can emulate.”

Learn More at World Tea Expo

Overall, as tea and specialty tea continues its rise in popularity in North America, World Tea Expo is the ideal event for restaurants, chefs, foodservice and beverage professionals, hotels and other businesses to see how they can improve their menu with better tasting, better quality tea service, and increase sales.

Visit WorldTeaExpo.com to register. E-mail info@WorldTeaExpo.com with questions about attending, exhibiting or sponsoring. Twitter: @ worldteamedia (#WorldTeaExpo or #WTE16).

• Evolution of Tea in the Foodservice Industry, from a Global Perspective – As consumers become more educated and curious about the world of tea, the foodservice industry is adjusting its approach accordingly. This session takes a first-hand, behind the scenes look at global tea trends spanning Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the United States. From flavor profiles to service style, the session also focuses on what luxury hotels and restaurants now expect from the tea industry.

• State of the Tea Industry: Global Foodservice – Using the global reports and data from Euromonitor, this session focuses on some of the most interesting and relevant examples of the tea category entering, growing and shaping beverage sales in global foodservice. Attendees will learn how the concept of value through convenience, so prevalent in retail hot drinks, is being effectively applied to foodservice tea concepts, and how notions of consumer health are impacting beverage consumption inside and outside the home.

• Stop Losing Your Beverage Sales to Water! – As foodservice operators know, overall beverage sales are on a decline, losing more than two billion servings in the past five years.

The biggest segment hit is soft drinks with a loss of more than 13 percent.

Unfortunately, many consumers are switching to tap water with hundredsof-millions of glasses given away each year. Tap water is showing one of the largest growths year-over-year.

This is a significant loss in revenue to restaurateurs and foodservice professionals. Fortunately, there is a solution that has proven to switch these consumers to a more profitable beverage – tea. In this seminar, attendees will explore how to make a foodservice establishment more profitable with iced and hot tea.

• Creating Unique Blends – In this session, join David DeCandia, director of tea and master tea blender with The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, for a hands-on exploration of blending teas and herbal infusions. The threehour workshop will help attendees understand the art of blending teas and herbal infusions.

• Matcha Goes Mainstream: Growing Trends in the Food Industry – Matcha is a hot culinary trend. In this session, attendees will learn how to maximize sales with the revered ceremonial green tea that’s making its way into the American mainstream market.

Discover the expansive world of this growing tea trend, and how to integrate Matcha into a business through culinary diplomacy.

April 2016 I The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional 15

Brett’s

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. She is also an instructor covering Special Events at CSN- College of Southern Nevada.

Email: jackiebrett@cox.net

Entertainment Flashes

Terry Fator: The VOICE of Entertainment at The Mirage has a five-year extension through 2021 and a new cast member, the very suave Latin Fernando V. Francisco.

PH Showroom at Planet Hollywood is getting two new shows. Former Stratosphere headliner Frankie Moreno opens Under The Influence Wednesday, April 20. NBC’s America’s Got Talent Season 10 winner Paul Zerdin and his sharp-tongued puppet characters debut a headlining residency production Saturday, April 30.

John Fogerty will have an encore residency at The Venetian Theatre with his Fortunate Son in Concert Sept. 14-Oct. 1.

Steely Dan will tour this summer with special guest Steve Winwood and stop at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Sunday, June 19. Celine Dion will return in May for shows through June 4.

Rock band Boston will celebrate its “40th Anniversary Tour” at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center on Friday, July 15 with Styx founding member Dennis DeYoung.

Grammy-nominated Goo Goo Dolls, supported by Collective Soul and Tribe Society, will perform there on Friday, Sept. 16.

The third Route 91 Harvest will return with country heavyweights Luke Bryan, Toby Keith, Brad Paisley, Little Big Town, and Chris Young at the Las Vegas Village Sept.

30-Oct. 2.

Sister-act Heart will headline June 2-4 and Oct. 6-8 in House of Blues at Mandalay Bay. More dates are added later this year for Billy Idol’s first residency there.

Supporting music release “BLOW,” Louis Prima Jr. & The Witnesses will stop at the Palms Saturday, April 16.

Rockhouse Las Vegas at The Venetian added Bonkerz Comedy Club Wednesday through Saturday.

After a five year break, comedian David Cross is returning to touring with Making America Great Again! and stopping at The Joint at Hard Rock Saturday, May 7.

Punk Rock Bowling & Music Festival, a fiveday festival downtown, will run May 26-30.

Recording artist and DJ Kaskade has exclusive 2016 residency dates at Wynn’s Encore Beach Club and XS Nightclub April 9 through Sept. 4.

Local country DJ, Damian Kane is back at Stoney’s Rockin’ Country four nights a week.

Sunset Station is presenting rock band OTHERWISE with brothers Adrian and Ryan Patrick monthly; next dates April 16 and May 21.

Clint Holmes backed by 10-piece Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns headlines M Resort Saturday, April 23.

Dining Scoops

Former Border Grill dream team, Kent Harman and Chef Mike Minor will open new Latin-Mexican restaurant Bandito Latin Kitchen / Cantina.

Kahunaville at Treasure Island closed after 15 years.

The annual Las Vegas Epicurean Affair will be held May 26 at The Palazzo pools.

PT’s Entertainment Group opened its newest concept PT’s Brewing Company at 3101 N. Tenaya Way. Studio B Buffet at M Resort is offering a prime rib brunch on Fridays.

California-based Dog Haus Vegas opened its first Nevada location near the Hard Rock.

The Huntridge Shopping Center started Food Truck Fridays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Marriage Can Be Murder at the D started slaying audiences with a Mimosa and Murder Sunday Brunch.

Sprinkles Cupcakes at The LINQ, founded

by Food Network’s Cupcake Wars judge Candace Nelson, celebrated its two-year anniversary.

Grimaldi’s Pizzeria with five Las Vegas locations is the first family-owned, multilocation upscale pizzeria receiving The American Academy of Hospitality Sciences’ Five Star Diamond Award.

Family-owned Momenti Spirited Ice Creams is launching in Las Vegas the only plant to manufacture spirit-infused super-premium ice cream in the United States.

16 The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional I April 2016

Development Updates

Caesars Entertainment Corporation will upgrade around 4,800 hotel rooms this year at four Las Vegas resorts including Caesars Palace, Planet Hollywood, Paris and Harrah’s.

Wynn Las Vegas will develop luxury retail complex Wynn Plaza by fall of 2017.

The Park on the Strip opened serving as the official gateway to T-Mobile Arena with 16 color-changing shade structures lining the walkway.

Graceland Presents: Elvis the Exhibition at the Westgate closed last month.

Riviera Boulevard running from the Strip to the Westgate will be renamed Elvis Presley Way.

Dual-level nightlife destination JEWEL Nightclub at ARIA will open Thursday, May 19.

Minus5 Ice Bar at The Shoppes at Mandalay Place revealed its bigger frozen ice cave and expanded adjacent Ice Lounge with two private rooms.

The new IKEA store will open at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, May 18.

The portrait photography exhibit “Yousuf Karsh: Icons of the 20th Century” at Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art runs through Sept. 5.

The Mob Museum’s temporary display “El Chapo’s Great Escape” is on view for five months.

Essence Vegas’ second valley location is the first and only marijuana dispensary on the Strip.

REHAB Beach Club after renovations starts at Hard Rock April 23-24 with EDM artists, DJ residencies and returning Crystal Hefner and Pauly D. Kangamoo Indoor Playground opened at 1525 E. Sunset Road with play spaces for kids and adult attractions.

Planet Fitness opened its eighth and largest Southern Nevada location in Henderson. www.socalfnbpro.com

Book Review

200 Best Smoothie Bowl Recipes

By Bob Barnes

Fresh off the press with an April 2016 release is 200 Best Smoothie Bowl Recipes. Smoothie bowls are hugely popular right now and many home chefs and restaurateurs are finding them a perfect option for adding fresh fruits, superfoods and protein to their diet or menus. The 240-page book contains sections on Breakfast, Green Creations, Kid-Friendly, Coffee and Tea, Desserts and Toppings; 16 pages of color photography; and an introduction covering health benefits, tips on choosing a blender, key ingredients and smoothie troubleshooting.

The recipes are easy to follow, with easy to find ingredients and helpful tips. Each recipe features suggested topping options and variations for added color, texture and crunch, taking your dish to a whole new level. Recipes include interesting creations such as Frosty French Toast, Kiwi Kale Bowl, Pumpkin Ginger Bowl and Antioxidant Smoothie Bowl.

The author, Alison Lewis, is a renowned recipe developer and food and travel journalist and photographer who has also authored the 150 Best Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and 400 Best Sandwich Recipes. 200 Best Smoothie Bowl Recipes is published by Robert Rose Inc. For more info visit: www.robertrose.ca/press/200-best-smoothie-bowl-recipes-spring-2016.

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 18 The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional I April 2016

www.socalfnbpro.com

Polite Provisions

By Apryl Bruso Apryl Bruso is an opinionated salty old waitress from San Diego.

You have a little booze in your James Beard

Photos by Stephanie Meyer

Last month I ventured to the Addison because of their two James Beard nominations and this month, I visited another San Diego nominated venue, Polite Provisions.

Polite Provisions was so fun. Half styled as an apothecary, the other half greenhouse. It is a lovely little bar. The sun shines in through the glass ceiling while the bartender/mixologists make some truly delectable concoctions served in old-timey glassware. I thought the whole vibe of this bar was super fun. Kind of Prohibition speakeasy without the password at the door exclusivity. I really liked that it was just a nod to this type of bar instead of making itself overly kitchy and one-note. We had the bartender choose our cocktails, you know how much they just love hearing things like, “ummm, I don’t know what I want. Just make me something fun...”

But they didn’t visibly roll their eyes at our request, they simply got to it and produced some really delicious cocktails. They made me an Ocean Side, a fun and herbaceous gin cocktail finished with lime, mint and celery salt. My friend Steph received an Uncle Jalapeno—tequila, jalapeno, and pineapple soda—from the bartender, Elliot, whom she found very attractive. Yep, that’s what she said and since this was our first drink of the evening, I know it was not the booze talking. Although later, at the musical Rain, when she was insisting over and over again that, “It is 2016” and getting her knickers in a twist over the overt sexism even though I kept telling her that the play wasn’t written in 2016...that certainly was the booze talking—loudly. “It is 2016” has become our new catchphrase whenever anything even slightly ridiculous happens...but, it’s 2016. I love it. Anyhoo, back to Polite Provisions. The prices are more than fair, in fact it is surprisingly inexpensive. I was not expecting that at all; our cocktails were a mere $8 a piece!! This is definitely a place to visit and revisit and revisit, before and after an evening out.

So, I had a fun night out and Polite Provisions was the highlight...oh, and Steph talking at the other theatre-goers, filled with righteous indignation that a 100 years ago women were treated unfairly...”it is 2016” after all.

Polite Provisions is located at 30th and Adams and is open: Mon.-Thu. 3 p.m.-2 a.m.

Fri.-Sun. 11:30 a.m.-2 a.m.

Polite Provisions 4696 30th St. San Diego, CA 92116 619-677-3784 www.politeprovisions.com

www.socalfnbpro.com

April 2016 I The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional 19

The Bottom Line Lessons on Branding from the Founder of KIN White Whiskey

By Ben Brown Ben is an MBA candidate at USC’s Marshall School of Business, specializing in hospitality marketing and analytics. He has served as a food & beverage strategist with MGM Resorts, as well as reviewed more than 200 Las Vegas restaurants with CBS Local and Examiner. com. Contact him at Ben@lvfnb.com.

Bernard Lax is riding a big change in the spirits world. The founder of KIN White Whiskey, Lax revamped your typical ‘moonshine’ into a refined and adventurous product— helping reshape the category in the process. Claiming to be “interchangeable with vodka, gin and rum,” KIN packs all the punch of your standard 80-proof alcohol without the bite of its predecessors. KIN’s new-age taste and old-school rebellious culture is making its way across Southern California restaurants and retailers.

KIN also exemplifies the significant role that branding plays in the food & beverage world. While Lax has created a heck of a product, he doesn’t come from a distilling background.

He comes from a marketing background, and that’s exactly how he discovered the niche for KIN to establish itself as an industry leader.

I had the opportunity to speak with Lax about the past, present and future for KIN White Whiskey. His insights make for an excellent case study on how to crack into such a competitive market.

How did you develop the idea for KIN? It started with a friend based in Cartersville, Georgia, who used to bring in some ‘less than legal’ whiskey that came from down south. Most people had made [commercial moonshine] on more of a kitschy type of situation, and we thought there was a market to make a premium version of the product.

We’re taking a legacy element of the US and turning it into a premium product.

One of the issues with most white whiskeys is that they’re pretty harsh, so we made it more drinkable and easier to be mixed. It’s how it should taste. We fought for two years with the TTB* to call it white whiskey rather than moonshine. We’re definitely not the first moonshine, but as soon as we got white whiskey approved, a bunch of people jumped on the bandwagon.

Who is your target consumer?

Our demographic is the 21 to 40-year-old risk taker and innovator. Spanning across sexes, they live an alternative lifestyle...more of a Kurt Cobain type, someone who sees the world differently. Everyone pretends they’re a nonconformist until they walk up to a bar and order vodka. We’re after someone who likes to discover, someone who takes a chance. We want people to ‘discover’ [KIN]. We want the people who ‘get it,’ someone who wants to try something else.

What inspired KIN’s “proud to be immature” brand culture?

White whiskey was derived from people who don’t follow the rules. It’s the whole aspect of not following the rules, of being different.

Marketing a product that doesn’t easily fit into a category is what we’re all about.

Where can we find KIN right now?

We’ve targeted very specific locations in LA and San Diego. We’re preparing a sales performance outlook to present to distributors.

We started in California because we knew we needed to prove there was a market, and many core customers live here. Liquor stores are our weakness. They’re more ‘service by distributors,’ but those who carry [KIN] sell a lot of it. We’ll also be online soon.

possible. We want to be the product where [restaurants] go through a case every week.

We’re doing that in restaurants right now.

I don’t see our product as being on the shelf.

I see it as what people reach for when they’re making a martini. [KIN is] something fun to mix, shoot...more versatility than other product. The people we compete against, you can’t use their stuff in a mixed drink.

KIN is currently served at The Churchill, Hutchinson, Barrel & Ashes, Sonny’s Hideaway Highland Park, Standard Rooftop Bar, Porta Via, Justice Urban Tavern, Public School 213, Sixth Street Tavern, Kitchen24 and Cliff’s Edge. Retailers include Almor Wine and Spirits, Keg ‘N Bottle and MiniBar Delivery.

Where do you see KIN going from here?

We see ourselves with distributors in every state eventually. Our goal is to get a 6-pack case in as many places as we can so that we can build ourselves in as many markets as

20 The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional I April 2016

*The TTB is the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, which oversees labeling and classification [among other items]. www.socalfnbpro.com

Product Review

By Bob Barnes

Royal Brackla Single Malt Scotch Whiskey 12-Year Craigellachie Single Malt Scotch Whiskey-13 Year My attendance at the Universal Whiskey Experience at Encore Las Vegas last month gave me the opportunity to drink like a king. Case in point was the Royal Brackla Single Malt Scotch Whisky. Located in the Scottish Highlands and founded in 1812 by Captain William Fraser, the distillery’s nickname of ‘The King’s Own Whisky’ stems from its distinction as the first single malt to be granted a royal warrant, which was given

by King William IV in 1835. Its whisky was also a favorite of Queen Victoria, who when she ascended to the throne a few years later extended the warrant. Made from high-grade barley and water from the Cawdor Burn, it’s slow distilled and matured in first-fill oloroso sherry casks, which enriches it with notes of muscovado sweetness, dates and walnuts. I sampled the 40% ABV Single Malt 12-year, which had a pale gold hue and aroma of vanilla, spices and almond. The flavor brought burnt toffee, more almond and a delightful sweetness with a sherried finish.

Also available for sampling was the 46% ABV Craigellachie Single Malt-13 year, another product of Scotland with a rich history. Taking its name from the craggy rock upon which the village of its origin stands, Craigellachie sits above the confluence of two great rivers in the heart of Speyside, the cradle of much of Scotland’s single malt whisky. Designed by Charles Doig, the pre-eminent distillery architect of the 19th century, Craigellachie began production in 1891 and today is one of the few in Scotland to have retained ‘worm tubs’ to cool its spirit. This old fashioned whisky condensing method involves long copper tubes which snake back and forth through large tanks of water, gradually getting narrower, a process in which the spirit has less copper contact, resulting in a distinctive meaty character to rival whiskies twice its age. Upon pouring you’ll notice a pale straw color with a nose of bright and fresh sweetness resembling baked apples and pears. On the palate I found a chewy thickness and huge malt flavor, and also slight smokiness, nuttiness and lingering sweetness that delivered a very long aftertaste with notes of vanilla.

Both brands are owned by John Dewar & Sons, which is a subsidiary of Bacardi.

Laphroaig To say Laphroaig is steeped in tradition and history is an understatement.

The iconic Scottish distillery last year celebrated the 200th anniversary of its founding in 1815. The 10-Year is distilled and aged in American white oak first-fill bourbon barrels the same way today as when Ian Hunter pioneered it in the 1930s. Full disclosure, the first time I tried it I was put off by the overwhelming smoked and peaty flavor notes, but with each successive tasting it truly grew on me and I am now an unabashed fan of this distinctive single malt. The reason for its distinctiveness is the malted barley is dried over a peat fire and that peat is found only on the remote island of Islay in the Western Isles of Scotland, making it stand out from any other. Other flavor descriptors include full-bodied, a surprising sweetness, layers of peatiness and a lingering and complex spicy finish that I can still enjoy a full minute after swallowing. This is not a whisky meant to drink quickly, but one to savor over small sips.

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April 2016 I The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional 21

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT | The Ultimate Stock that allows you to just cook!

Major Chefs’ Elite Stock Base Pastes are made using only the finest of ingredients. Use to add authentic flavor direct to a sauce or dish. Simply mix in or dilute for perfect results every time.

Use as a base for soups, stews, casseroles, pie fillings, gravies and broths. Available in 1lb, 2.5lb and 10lb tubs, the Major Elite range comes in 29* flavor-packed stock base pastes including beef, vegetable, chicken, porcini mushroom, clam and garlic.

With a taste just like your own house-made stock, the Chefs’ Elite range is ideal whenever you require a rich flavor delivery offering consistency and saving & important preparation time.

It’s so simple to make a classic brown sauce using Major Chefs’ Elite Beef Stock Base Paste. Serve with your favorite cut of steak to create an incredible dish that will leave you wanting more. www.majorproducts.com *includes no msg and low sodium flavors

Bob’s Beer Bits and Sips

By Bob Barnes Feel the Burn!

Rogue Sriracha Hot Stout Beer No, this is not a political advertisement for Bernie Sanders, but you’ll feel the burn for sure in this 5.7% stout. The bright red bottle is sure to catch your eye and each sip will notify your throat that there is indeed hot sauce in this beer. Rogue is known for using non-traditional ingredients in its beers, such as maple doughnuts and yeast cultivated from their brewmaster’s beard, so this one might be one of its tamer creations. The special ingredient in this brew is Huy Fong original hot chili sauce, and this is the only beer sanctioned by the creators of the original Sriracha Hot Sauce. My experience with Sriracha had me expecting to find sweetness in this beer, but rather I found only a smooth drinking stout that left a burn in the back of my throat after each swallow.

Although a bit disappointed in the lack of other flavors, I can still recommend it to those who like myself crave heat and spice. Others like it as well, as this beer received a 92 point rating on Ratebeer.com and a gold medal at the 2015 World Beer Championships.

Embrace the Sour Lambickx Sour beer is rising rapidly in popularity. Made in extremely limited quantities, this 5.75% ABV rare proprietary traditional hand selected blend of lambics is bottled by Brouwerij Strubbe in Ichtegem, Belgium. The sour must be embraced and once you do, it’s not overwhelming, but a delicious and intriguing taste and aromatic experience. Be sure to take note of the label, which lists the brew year (2013), bottle year (2015), region (Zenne Valley), barrel type (600 liter French Oak) and number of bottles produced (5579). This is a beer worth trying year to year, for like a fine wine, each year’s brewing season is different, and each barrel imparts its own unique character that can never be replicated.

22 The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional I April 2016

As Usual, Dogfish Head Brings a Twist to Popular Beer Styles Beer To Drink Music To & Romantic Chemistry IPA Two new releases from Dogfish Head have catchy titles sure to get your attention and ingredients that are also sure to pique your interest. Beer To Drink Music To is a Belgian-style 9% ABV Tripel spiced with sweet orange peel, green cardamom, peppercorns and vanilla.

This blend of spices really comes through, especially the pepper, and especially as the beer warms; so do yourself a favor and allow it to warm as you sip, as the flavors will blossom and intensify. The brewery suggests it’s the perfect beer to drink music to and it happens to be the Official Beer of Record Store Day (yes, there’s a day for everything).

Nowadays we are overrun with IPAs, which currently are the number one selling craft beer style in the US. Like most all of Dogfish’s beers, the brewers add a twist to the 7.2% ABV Romantic Chemistry IPA by adding mango, apricots and ginger to bring forth a sweetness counterbalanced with the bitter citrus hop flavor that American IPAs are known for. Part of Dogfish Head’s Seasonal Art Series, you’ll like the whimsical label with a cartoon-like mango and apricot being hugged by a hop flower with hearts in its eyes.

Explosion of Richness Avery Brewing Company Uncle Jacob’s Stout Batch No. 5 Although winter has come and gone my taste for strong dark beer remains. Weighing in at a hefty 17.1% ABV you don’t get much more potent and robust than this Imperial Stout. Named for Jacob Spears, who built his distillery in Bourbon County, KT in 1790 and was the first distiller to label his whiskey bourbon, ageing the beer for six months in bourbon barrels adds to its complexity and silky smooth richness. All I can say is, if you want the ultimate in rich chocolaty goodness, and sticky sweetness (in a good way), splurge and buy this beer.

www.socalfnbpro.com

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

Workplace Violence

Is Everyone’s Concern

Below are a few signs to watch for.

Please keep in mind that not all signs must be present for concerns to be raised. Additionally, a single sign does not mean that someone is a risk for becoming violent.

However, those who exhibit sudden, unexplained or severe changes in mood or behavior could be a sign of a problem and it would be wise to have a trained professional investigate that situation/person.

Signs to watch for…

• Fascination with weapons – the individual talks about almost nothing else.

• Substance abuse – coupled with other concerns, this can add fuel to the fire.

• Severe stress – as a result of unexpected or unpleasant life changes, such as divorce, financial, job crisis/change, etc.

• Violent history – the person has a history of previous violent behaviors.

Our safety in our daily lives has become a bigger issue than was ever thought possible. Individuals are acting out in ways that are frightening and worrisome. It has become more important than ever that each and every one of us watch for signs and symptoms, and then report them when they spark a concern.

The scary fact about violence is that we may never be able to see it coming. Neighbors, friends, co-workers, customers and young/old alike, may suddenly and violently act out in ways that can have a devastating effect on the lives of those around them, with what seems like little or no notice or remorse.

I want to be clear here. We should not all become accusatory of our neighbor when we decide that a behavior is suspicious or uncommon.

However, repeated and ongoing aggressive actions toward others may be a sign of concern and a reason to contact the authorities. Never

take actions into your own hands, leave it to a professional.

With the various economic and life-changing pressures taking their toll on us and those around us, it is important that we consider the consequences of overlooking behaviors which we could have/should have seen. Caring about others includes keeping our hearts, minds and perspective open to the possibility that workplace violence is a current concern and lack of attention to the consequences can have devastating effects on those we love, work with and care about.

• Poor psychological function – unstable mental or emotional state of mind.

• Decreased or inconsistent productivity – work effort is good some days and poor others.

• Social isolation – loner, the person does not associate comfortably with others.

• Poor personal hygiene – ongoing and noticeable changes in hygiene or cleanliness.

• Drastic changes in personality – going from cheerful to always angry, short fuse, etc.

• Bullying – seems to be angry and gets into conflicts easily, acts aggressively toward others.

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.

24 The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional I April 2016

www.socalfnbpro.com

EVENTS

AD INDEX

We have several major food & beverage events coming up in the next few months and we just wanted to bring you an update so if planning to attend you can start booking now.

Belvedere Peach Nectar www.belvederevodka.com

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Deep Eddy Vodka www.deepeddyvodka.com 702-876-4500

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March 31-April 3 the 9th Annual Pebble Beach Food & Wine returns to the iconic strip of the California coastline and Pebble Beach Resorts, continuing its reign as one of the premier food and wine events in the world, with cooking demos from renowned chefs, wine seminars, and wine, beer and spirit tastings. www.pbfw.com April 14-16 the 42nd annual UNLVino, an event that raises money for UNLV college scholarships, will consist of three main events: Bubble-Licious, a celebration of Champagne and sparkling wine on April 14; Sake Fever, an event featuring myriad sakes, Japanese spirits and cocktails on April 15; and The Grand Tasting, highlighting a collection of premium beverages alongside cuisine from UNLV’s culinary students and celebrated Vegas restaurants on April 16. unlvino.com April 18-21 the 73rd annual WSWA (Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America) Convention and Exposition will convene at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. This is a gathering of beverage professionals with a showcase of products that anyone in the business will not want to miss. www.wswa.org/meetings May 21-24 the National Restaurant Association Show 2016 taking place in Chicago at McCormick Place is the largest food and beverage, restaurant equipment, supplies and services show in the world. If there is any one F&B show you do not want to miss, this is it. show.restaurant.org June 13-17 the World Tea Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center will bring everything from the world of tea, with previews of new products and newly launched innovations. www.worldteaexpo.com August 28-30 The 2016 Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo held yearly at the Los Angeles Convention Center is an excellent venue to visit to see local trends and developments in the industry. Hosted by the California Restaurant Association, you’ll have a chance to try local and national products about to hit the local markets. www.westernfoodexpo.com

26 The SoCal Food & Beverage Professional I April 2016

Designated Drivers www.designateddriversinc.com 877-456-7433

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JCCNV www.jccnevada.com 702-428-0555

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Major Foods www.majorproducts.com 702-838-4698

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Niigata Sake Festival http://sakenojin.jp/english 025-229-1218

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Recipes for Restaurateurs www.marketing-cookbook.com

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Rodney Strong www.rodneystrong.com 707-431-1533

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SKYY Infusions Vodkas www.skyy.com

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Uncle Steve’s www.unclestevesny.com 718-605-0416

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White Soy Sauce www.whitesoysaucefood.com World Tea Expo www.worldteaexpo.com

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To advertise email sales@socalfnbpro.com

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June 13-17 Las Vegas Convention Center

Register Now!

Advanced Rates End Friday, May 20th!

www.worldteaexpo.com