‘Sweet-heat’ flavors inspire restaurant menus

‘SWEET-HEAT,” the latest of restaurant menu trends, can be traced back to a New York City pizzeria and a young food entrepreneur, Mike Kurtz.

option with an “in-app” offer. Through Aug. 6, any smallsized hot or cold brew coffee can be enjoyed for just 99 cents when ordered using the Wendy’s App or order.wendys.com.

Kurtz had first tasted honey infused with chili peppers in Brazil while he was a studyaboard student there in 2003. He subsequently created his own version of a chili pepper-honey condiment, which he dubbed “Mike’s Hot Honey.”

Kurtz’s hot honey later made its food service debut at Paulie Gee’s pizzeria in Brooklyn, where it was featured in a “Hellboy” pie topped with hot soppressata and a drizzle of Mike’s Hot Honey.

Mostly a “pizza thing” until recently, hot honey has now become a mainstream flavor sensation. “Hot honey” and related “swicy” (sweet-spicy) flavors are currently predicted to be one of the fastest-growing menu influences over the next several years.

“Sweet and heat,” for example, is the theme of the recently-introduced “Sweet Heat Season” menu at Outback Steakhouse. A limited-time-only lineup, the menu has a number of “swicy” offerings including Hot Honey Fried Chicken and Hot Honey Fried Shrimp, both of which feature an Outback’s-recipe hot honey sauce. The chain is even offering a swicy cocktail, the Hot Honey ‘Rita.

Also embracing the sweetspicy trend, Pizza Hut is testing (in limited market areas) two Hot Honey menu items, a Hot Honey Pizza and Hot

Honey Wings. Like Outback, Pizza Hut is relying on its own hot honey formulation.

Expect to see “swicy” become the restaurant world’s next big flavor meme.

Side Dishes

• A recent email from Martha Salem-Leasca brought word of a new dinner series the Salem Cross Inn in West Brookfield will be promoting. Salem-Leasca, who is part of the family management team that runs the Salem Cross Inn, wrote to tell about the five “Community Brew Feasts” that the Inn will be holding over the next six weeks.

Each dinner will be presented in partnership with Lost Towns Brewing of Gilbertville, with Lost Towns creating beer tastings to go with each Feast’s menu. “Favorites of the season” and “fresh from the garden” will be the inspirations for these five events, the first of which, Lobster Night, will be presented on Aug. 11, starting at 6 p.m.

The menu for that inaugural feast will include clam fritters, steamers, a whole lobster, local corn on the cob, new potatoes, and a dessert of blueberry lemon trifle.

A “Barbecue Night” with brisket, baby back ribs, and grilled kielbasa is planned for Aug. 25.

Tickets for these feast are $75 all-inclusive, and can be purchased online at salemcrossinn.com or by calling 508-867-2345.

Information on all five Community Brew Feasts is also available at the Salem Cross website.

• The Dirty Truth Beer Hall in Northampton will be hosting another ones of its Summer Tasting Series events on Aug. 9, from 6 to 9 p.m. The featured purveyor for the evening will be Honest Weight Artisan Beer of Orange; for more details about the tasting contact the Dirty Truth at 413-585-5999.

Honest Weight Artisan Beer operates a tasting room in Orange at 131 West Main St. Their telephone number is 413-313-4412.

• Dublin, Ohio-based Wendy’s has introduced a new Frosty Cream Cold Brew to their beverage lineup. Made with cold brew coffee and a new signature Frosty creamer, the cold brew can be flavored with one of three syrups — vanilla, chocolate, or caramel. The Frosty Cream Cold Brew is available all day long at Wendy’s locations nationwide.

The only major hamburger chain to currently serve cold brew coffee, Wendy’s is promoting this new beverage

• Cold Stone Creamery locations are celebrating the release of the Warner Bros. motion picture “Barbie” with their Pink Cotton Candy ice cream. The ice cream, which is available in scoops and cones, is also being promoted in the “All that Glitter Pink Creation,” a sundae-style treat of pink cotton candy ice cream, graham cracker pie crust pieces, colored sprinkles, and whipped topping. There is a Cold Stone Creamery location at 1000 West Columbus Avenue in Springfield.

• The automation of restaurant kitchens took another step forward last month with the debut of the Autocado, an automated system for peeling, coring, and scooping avocados.

Produced by Vebu Labs of Los Angeles, the Autocado is being tested by Chipotle Mexican Grill, a chain that

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