Restaurants work to reinvent themselves

THE CHANGE-DRIVen world of the 21st century is unforgiving to those who fail to innovate. Standing still too often means being left behind.

So it is in the restaurant world, where successful independents and chains alike are regularly reinventing themselves, reworking their menus, refreshing their physical appearance, and updating their business model.

As necessary as change may be, it often comes at a cost, not only in dollars and cents terms, but in the viability of a restaurant concept itself. Dramatic change in the way a restaurant does business risks confusing and even alienating customers.

In a recently published study of business strategies in the food service industry, Rabobank, a Netherlands-based financial services company, concluded that successful innovation strategies for restaurant companies are incremental, building on an operation’s basic menu and way of doing business without resorting to massive, disruptive overhauls.

Unlike a wholesale rework of a menu and the way a restaurant operates, incremental change is less risky, Rabobank’s analysis suggested. Such an innovation strategy is safer since it puts less stress on a restaurant’s supply chain and operating personnel. Costs associated with such change are usually lower, with less required in the way of training and new equipment. Incremental change thus allows a restau- rant evolve to meet changing consumer tastes without having to raise prices or experiencing lower profits.

Unlike some of its competitors, burger giant McDonald’s Corp. has been successfully pursuing a strategy of low-key innovation for a number of years, most recently reflected in an announced plan to cautiously update its core product line. Over the next 12 months its burgers will begin to feature softer reformulated buns, “meltier” cheese, and a new cooking process.

Product innovation at McDonald’s is typically characterized by methodical test marketing, with new menu items often promoted as limited time only offerings as a way of gauging their acceptance before being considered for permanent menu status.

To that end on July 10, McDonald’s locations will be introducing the Cheesy Jalapeno Bacon Quarter Pounder as a limited-time menu addition. The sandwich, which is topped with American cheese, bacon, pickled jalapeno slices, and a cheddar cheese sauce, is seen as a tentative foray into more flavor-forward burger offerings by the brand.

The success (or failure) of this new sandwich may well indicate how McDonald’s innovates in the years ahead.

Side dishes

• The Still Bar & Grill in Agawam has brought back a popular summer menu itemLobster Buckets.

Available Wednesday evenings from 4 to 7 p.m., each bucket comes with a “chicken” lobster, a half-pound of steamers, and corn on the cob. The deal is priced at $29.

The Still Bar & Grill maintains a large number of craft beers on tap and serves a menu of bar snacks as well as entrée choices such as steak au poivre, chicken parmesan, and bourbon salmon.

The Still answers at 413304-2795.

• On Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Mineral Hills Winery in Northampton will be hosting live music by Tom Savoy.

The Primas Birrias Y Mas Food Truck will be on site, and Mineral Hills will be dispensing their own winery products. Springfield-based Primas Birrias Y Mas specializes in birrias tacos, stuffed while supplies last. empanadas, and more. Mineral Hills Winery can be reached at 413-586-2575.

• On Saturday, Quonqount Farm in South Deerfield will be holding a Blueberry Festival from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. In addition to offering pickyour-own blueberries, the Farm will be hosting several food trucks and a beer tasting by Progression Brewing Company of Northampton. Live music and tours of the Farm’s pick-your-own flower garden will also be part of the afternoon’s activities.

Quonqount Farm can be reached at 413-588-2028.

• The Outlook Barn and Eatery in Westhampton is holding its annual Summer Festival on Sunday, June 9, from noon to 5 p.m.

• Sonic Drive-In locations are featuring two new slush beverages with South Sea Island flavors this summer.

A fruity Polynesian Punch Slush is available, as is a Tropical Colada Slush. The latter is a blend of coconut, pineapple, and banana essences. The beverages are available at all participating Sonic locations, such as the one on Boston Road in Springfield,

The event’s program includes a pig roast and barbecue from noon to 3 p.m. and a tasting of Outlook Farm’s wines, ciders, and malt beverages until 5 p.m.

Live music will be part of the goings-on; those attending are encouraged to bring a lawn chair and be ready to enjoy. For more details, contact Outlook Farm at 413-5299388.

• The Dugout Cafe in Willimansett is hosting its annual Pig Roast on July 15, starting at 2 p.m.

The menu includes roast pork, rice and beans, coleslaw, almonds. Let me add this glass of Champagne was served at about 45 degrees and tasted perfect.

2015 Moet & Chandon

Extra Brut: The 2015 means this Champagne is made with grapes grown and harvested that year, making this Champagne a vintage Champagne. The “Extra Brut” means this Champagne is even drier than a Brut Champagne. Made with a blend of the same three grapes as the Imperial Brut (with a bit more pinot noir), its flavors are rounder, softer, more delicate. There are also subtle hints of toast, vanilla, almonds and wood smoke. An absolutely lovely, crisp, dry Champagne.

Perrier-Jouet

• 26 Avenue De Champagne, Epernay

Public tours available most days of the year

A short walk up Avenue De Champagne from Moet & Chandon, Perrier-Jouet feels like a different place from a different time. Specifically, you feel like you’re stepping back into France’s famed Belle Epoque (“golden age” in French) era, circa the early 1900s.

Perrier-Jouet was founded in 1811, but the Champagne house is now more associated with the Art Nouveau movement nearly a century later. A response to mass industrialization, Art Nouveau celebrated craftsmanship and nature’s curving, sinuous lines.

The owners of Perrier-Jouet adored Art Nouveau and the “movement’s exuberance and creative freedom” during the Belle Epoque era, according to the Champagne house’s website. You can see that influence today on every bottle of Perrier-Jouet, which features gold-trimmed white flowers first painted on four bottles in 1902.

But to truly dive headfirst into Art Nouveau, make sure you visit Maison Belle Epoque, the former Perrier-Jouet family home built in the late 1800s. The house feels like a museum, filled with art by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and

Auguste Rodin as well as room after room containing original Art Nouveau furniture. In fact, Maison Belle Epoque has the largest private collection of Art Nouveau art in Europe.

However, the two Perrier-Jouet employees guiding us through Maison Belle Epoque insist that the house is not a museum. Instead, they hope visitors think of the house as a home where people still come to gather and celebrate and enjoy life.

Downstairs in Perrier-Jouet’s rambling cellars, there’s more art as well, including a stunning piece called “Lost Time.”

Several strands of beads hang from the ceiling above a pool of water. The beads look like stalactites and perfectly capture the way time seems to move at a glacial pace down here in this dark, mysterious world.

Back upstairs, we taste several Champagnes in a charming, intimate private bar in Maison Belle Epoque. We’re surrounded by glass artwork hanging from the ceiling, vintage Champagne glasses and many bottles of chilled Champagne. None of it seems real. It’s like I’ve somehow wandered into a beautiful Belle Epoque dream.

Tasting Notes

Perrier-Jouet Blanc De Blanc:

The first of three non-vintage Champagnes we try at Perrier-Jouet, this one is made entirely with chardonnay grapes and looks like a pale-yellow chardonnay. Taste wise, this refreshing Champagne has bright, floral-like aromas and flavors with hints of sea salt, citrus, peach, apricot and lemon. Distinct and delightful.

Perrier-Jouet Grand Brut: This non-vintage Brut Champagne will appeal to traditional Champagne fans. Here, you can practically taste the chalky, limestone walls in this crisp, toasty Champagne with hints of roasted almonds, melted butter and an unexpected dash of apricot.

Perrier-Jouet Rose: This non-vintage rose Champagne looks beautiful and tastes delicious. A delicate salmon-like color, this elegant rose Champagne actually tastes a bit like roses, along with hints of strawberry, raspberry, sea salt and peach. Absolutely superb.

2012 Perrier-Jouet Belle Epoque Cuvee Blanc De Blanc: The first of three vintage Champagnes we try at Perrier-Jouet, it’s difficult to move onto the other two after tasting this wonderful, complex Champagne. Like the other Blanc De Blanc, this vintage one is made entirely with Chardonnay grapes. However, the flavors here are bigger, brighter and yet somehow more subtle at the same time. In a way, this vintage Blanc De Blanc reminds me of Brut Champagne with its hints of toasted almond, roasted butter and a crisp, mineral-like finish. There are also surprising hints of pear and ginger.

2014 Perrier-Jouet Brut: Like the non-vintage Brut, this vintage one will definitely appeal to traditional Champagne fans. Its fresh, crisp, complex flavors are muted with a mineral-like finish along with dashes of toast, butter and sea salt. There’s a reason why certain foods or drinks become classics. Everyone loves their familiar, delicious flavors. This vintage Brut Champagne perfectly illustrates why.

2013 Perrier-Jouet Rose: The final vintage Perrier-Jouet Champagne we taste before catching our train back to Paris, this magnificent rose Champagne brings to mind a whole host of words that start with the letter S – subtle and soft, strawberry and sea salt, stunning and superb. There are also hints of raspberry and passion fruit. Drinking this wine with my wife, I’m reminded of the final scene of “Before Sunset,” one of my favorite movies, which also happens to be set in Paris. Not to give anything away, but one character says to the other, “You’re going to miss that plane.” Tasting these six Champagnes, I think it’s fair to say the last thing my wife and I care about is making our train. We do make it on time. But it’s not easy. We just want to stay. Who wouldn’t? Cheers!

Wine Press by Ken Ross appears on Masslive.com every Monday and in The Republican’s Weekend section every Thursday.