‘Cell-cultivated’ meats making their debut

IT WAS JUST A COUPLE of years ago that plant-based “meats” were being touted as game-changers for the restaurant business. Products like The Impossible Burger, along with “chicken,” “sausage,” and even “shrimp” fabricated from plant proteins, were turning up on chain menus everywhere. After an early flurry of interest, however, consumers began responding to those innovations with a definite “ho-hum.”

“ethical” and good for the environment.

Now a second type of meat replacement is making its debut. Last month the Food and Drug Administration approved “cell-cultivated” meat for sale in the U.S.

Unlike their meat replacement predecessors, cell-cultivated meats are true animal protein, not plant-based substitutes. The meat is “grown” in factory settings with no animal-raising or slaughtering involved, and those promoting the process hail it as both

Two companies currently have a cell-cultivated chicken product ready for market, and celebrity chefs on both coasts have committed to serving the lab-grown chicken in their respective restaurants.

As is the case with any newly-introduced (and extensively hyped) food innovation, cell-cultivated meat might face some problems in gaining widespread acceptance.

First, there’s what might be termed the “ick” factor, as consumers come to terms with eating meat that’s produced in a lab rather than having been raised on a farm. The product is also expected to be, for the foreseeable future at least, significantly more expensive than “natural” chicken.

Moreover, proponents of cell-cultivated meat like to promote it as being good for the environment. A number of skeptics, however, point out that the current lab production techniques require pharmaceutical-grade raw materials, the carbon footprint of which is considerably greater than that of traditional agriculture.

At least for now, cell-cultured meat products look to remain a curiosity rather than a restaurant-industry game changer.

Side Dishes

• Each year Technomic, a Chicago-based research company that specializes in the food service industry, compiles the “Technomic Top 500,” a listing of the 500 largest restaurant chains.

One of the many insights contained within the 2022 report on the Top 500 was the extent to which the restaurant industry is increasingly dominated by relatively few brands. Only ten chains accounted for fully one quarter times described as a pre-Revolutionary War antecedent of today’s sports drinks. of the total dining out sales the Top 500 generated.

The demonstrations are held in the Hall Tavern Kitchens; cost to attend is included in the admission charge for Historic Deerfield.

For more details, contact Historic Deerfield at 413-7745581.

• On Friday, starting at 3 p.m. the Three Rivers Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a Food Trucks, Farmers, and Artisans Market at Hryniewicz Park on Springfield Street.

In addition to a selection of food trucks, the evening will feature live music and 40 different vendors.

Ranked in order of their total sales, The “Top 10” for 2022 were McDonald’s, Starbucks, Chick-fil-A, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, Dunkin’, Burger King, Subway, Domino’s, and Chipotle Mexican Grill. Indicative of how chain-dominated the industry has become, the Top 500 as a group now accounts for nearly 60% of all restaurant sales.

• The July series of Open Hearth Cooking Demonstrations at Historic Deerfield in Deerfield is themed as “Sweet and Sour: Pickles, Preserves, and Refreshing Summer Drinks.”

Scheduled to be held on five Saturdays in July, the programs will focus on how 17th-century inhabitants of the Pioneer Valley preserved fresh summer produce for the winter months.

On those Saturdays when it’s particularly hot, the program will shift focus to three Colonial-era summer beverages - lemonade, shrub, and switchel. The latter is a traditional water-based drink made tart with vinegar, sweetened with either honey or maple syrup, and flavored with ginger. Switchel is some-

There will be a second Farmers & Artisans Market event later this summer on Aug. 11.

The Three Rivers Chamber of Commerce can be reached by email at threeriversMAchamber@gmail.com.

• On Saturday, Atkins Farm Country Market in Amherst will host another Tastings in The Loft event.

Held from 1 to 3 p.m., the tastings event, which is free to attend, offers samples of beers, wines, and ciders as well as complimentary light snacks. Those participating will be able to take advantage of special pricing on the beverage items being sampled.

Atkins Farm Country Market can be reached at 413-2539528.

• As part of its summer menu, Taco Bell has introduced four new items on a limited-time basis, with three of the selections formulated to turn up the heat.

A cheesy Lava Sauce spiked with jalapeno peppers is part of a Volcano Taco, which also contains seasoned beef, cheese, and shredded lettuce. The Lava Sauce is can also be added to other menu items for an additional charge.

A Double Beef Volcano Burrito gets its heat from

CONTINUES FROM PAGE specially seasoned beef; the flour-tortilla burrito is filled with rice, three-cheese blend, sour cream, and crunchy tortilla strips.

Fried chicken breaded with tortilla “crumbs” is the main ingredient in Crispy Chicken Tacos, which also include cheese, tomatoes, and a choice of avocado ranch or creamy chipotle sauce.

• On July 18, the South Hadley & Granby Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a July Nine and Dine at The Ledges Golf Club in South Hadley.

The event begins at 3 p.m. with registration for a ninehole shotgun-style tournament; that competition will be followed by dinner in the club’s Sunset Grille.

Golf and dinner are $75; tickets for dinner only are $40. Tickets can be purchased at the Chamber of Commerce website, shgchamber.com.

The South Hadley & Granby Chamber of Commerce answers at 413-532-6451.

• KFC is expanding its line of chicken sandwich items this month with a limited-time-only Ultimate BBQ Fried Chicken Sandwich. The menu item’s build, which

Movie

CONTINUES FROM PAGE E5 if there were more spooky sequences. Wilson stages one nicely claustrophobic scene inside an MRI machine, but his peekaboo shocks can be a little telegraphed. And while his placid, android handsomeness can hint at the uncanny, making him a magnetic horror actor, there are fewer standout performances than in previous installments of the series, which has been notable for turns by Rose Byrne and Lin Shaye (both of whom show up again, too briefly).

“The Red Door” loses energy when it focuses on Simpkins’ Dalton, a blandly is based on an extra-crispy breaded, deep-fried breast cutlet, includes garnishes of bacon, honey barbecue sauce, fried onions, cheese, and pickles all layered onto a brioche bun.

The chain is also promoting Blackberry Lemonade for the next several months.

Both these limited-time-only items will remain available while supplies last.

• The Present Company Restaurant in Simsbury, Conn., will be hosting a “Feast brooding artist type who cries while painting, and the grim doings in the Further, whose aesthetic evokes a homemade haunted house in the family garage. on the Farmington” on July 24, starting at 6 p.m. A farm-to-table wine dinner, the four-course event will focus on Connecticut farmed and raised products.

“Insidious” is essentially a ghost story, so ending it presents a typical challenge. Unlike with vampires and serial killers, it’s not clear how the apparition threatens to end the chase.

The abrupt resolution of this chapter is a letdown, but not as much of one as the return of the red-faced demon, who pops up, unobscured, center frame.

The result is not a jump scare so much as a bunny hop.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Tickets are $140 per person and can be ordered at presentcompanyct.com. A portion of the proceeds from the dinner will be donated to the Friends of Holcomb Farm in Granby, Conn.

The Present Company Restaurant answers at 860658-7980.

• The All American Bar, Grill & Patio on Dwight Street in downtown Springfield is hosting Margarita Mondays this summer. Every Monday, the establishment is serving $7 house margaritas and offering half-price Southwest Egg Rolls as a “go-with.”

The All American can be reached at 413-301-8337.

• Toast, a Boston-based company that specializes in web-based, point-of-sale software packages for restaurants, has stirred up a good bit of controversy with its plan to add a 99-cent “order processing fee” to online orders placed at restaurants using its software package.

Toast currently services more that 85,000 restaurants, all of which pay a fee for using Toast’s software.

Toast claims the new customer-targeted surcharge, which will apply to orders larger than $10, is “designed to keep restaurants’ costs down while also funding ongoing innovation in restaurant technology.” Neither customers nor restaurants using Toast’s software package can “opt out” of the fee.

Although Toast reported revenues of $2.7 billion in 2022, the company has yet to post a profit. Industry observers suggest the new fee may be more about Toast’s need to stem the flow of financial-statement red ink rather than to “fund innovation.”

In any case, many restaurant patrons will soon find a new “junk fee” tacked onto their online order.

Hugh Robert is a faculty member in Holyoke Community College’s hospitality and culinary arts program and has nearly 50 years of restaurant and educational experience. Robert can be reached online at OffTheMenuGuy@aol.com.

Nightclubs

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Tuesday

BOMBYX Center for Arts & Equity: Rodney Crowell with special guests Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley. 130 Pine St., Florence Doc’s Place: Karaoke. 1264 Granby Road, Chicopee

Uno Chicago Grill: Gary Jones & Natalie Jones. 820 West Columbus Ave., Springfield

The Republican is not responsible for unannounced schedule changes. Listings must be received two weeks before the date of the event. Items should be mailed to Entertainment Guide, The Republican, P.O. Box 1329, Springfield, MA 01102-1329, emailed to pmastriano@repub.com or submitted to masslive.com/myevent