// NEWS
ANNIVERSARIES
Legendary Cake Boss Set to Highlight PBAC’s 25th Anniversary Celebration At Upcoming IHMRS ’13 Show Event If you like cake – and even if you don’t – you most likely know Buddy Valastro, or The Cake Boss, the burly dark-haired celebrity pastry chef featured on The Discovery Channel. And if you’d like to meet him, come to the 2013 International Hotel, Motel + Restaurant Show (IHMRS) November 10th at 11 a.m. at the Javits Center in Manhattan.
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alastro will be part of “The Javits is Cookin’,” a new segment focusing on F&B trends that’s part of this year’s conference, sponsored by IHMRS and Posternak Bauer Aitkenhead and Cantamessa (PBAC). PBAC is celebrating its 25th and equipment maker Traulsen’s 75th anniversaries. Valastro began running his bakery, Carlo’s Bakery, after the death of his father, but it wasn’t until April 2009 when he became a household word. That’s when The Discovery Channel picked up the reality television show, “Cake Boss,” which follows the operation of Valastro’s business. Founded in 1988 by Michael R. Posternak and Steve Bauer. PBAC serves the food service, bakery, supermarket and convenience store industries in the New York/New Jersey and Fairfield County Connecticut areas. Posternak Bauer uses state-of-the art computerized paperless office systems to provide customer service, close factory liaison and direct mail capabilities to the food services industry. PBAC uses more than 200 dealer salesman who specify its products. “PBAC fully understands the com2 • November 2013 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com
PBAC fully understands the complexities of today's foodservice marketplace such as the role of buying groups, the impact of broadliners, private labeling, direct importing, as well as the benefits of select distribution.
plexities of today's foodservice marketplace such as the role of buying groups, the importance of consultants trade associations, as well as the benefits of select distribution,” said Posternak. PBAC’s lines include Imperial Brown, Elkay SSP, Hobart, Traulsen, Duke, Metro, Gaylord, Vulcan, and Hamilton Beach among many others.
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// NEWS
EXPANSION
The Institute Of Culinary Education Expands Its School Of Professional Development The Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) is excited to announce the expansion of its School of Professional Development.
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he program, led by ICE Chefs, Instructors and other industry experts, offers continuing education courses in advanced culinary, pastry, media and business topics to food professionals looking to further their skill set. “There are very few places in the nation, and nowhere else in New York City, where this depth and breadth of professional development classes are offered,” says ICE President Rick Smilow. “ICE’s new program seeks to address that void.” The school offers courses in seven different categories including; Advanced Culinary & Modernist Cuisine, Culinary Management & Business, Beverage & Wine, Food Media, Demonstrations & Lectures Pastry & Baking and “How to Open” a Culinary Business. Classes range from 90-minute demonstrations to intensive multi-day classes. A typical one-session class is priced in the $75 to $100 range. From The ABCs of Hydrocolloids and Modern Plating Workshop, to the One Day Restaurant School and an Introduction to Food Writing, the program provides a wide range of specialized courses, designed to provide working professionals with practical skills and high-level concepts they can use to enhance their own careers or business.
tion (ICE) is New York City’s awardwinning center for culinary education. Founded in 1975, the school offers highly regarded 8 to 13 month career training programs in Culinary Arts, Pastry & Baking Arts, Culinary Management and Hospitality Management. ICE also runs one of the largest Schools of Recreational Cooking in the nation. This year ICE won best cooking school from the International Association of Culinary Professionals, and is also an ACCSC School of Distinction honor. More information can be found at www.ice.edu . The 45,000 sq. ft. school is located at 50 W. 23rd St. in Manhattan.
There are very few places in the nation, and no where else in New York City, where this depth and breadth of professional development classes are offered. One of the School of Professional Development’s most prolific resources is ICE Creative Director Michael Laiskonis. Before joining the school in 2012, Laiskonis worked as Executive Pastry Chef at Le Bernardin. During his tenure at the restaurant, Laiskonis won the James Beard Foundation’s “Outstanding Pastry Chef in America” award. Today, Chef Laiskonis is committed to helping other professionals foster new levels of creativity and skill. “I enjoy the process of identifying that inner drive in cooks, extracting it, and then guiding them along the path toward finding their own voice.” Laiskonis’s class roster includes Ice Cream and Sorbet Technology, The Art of Petits Fours, and Composition and Structure: The Humble Complexity of Milk. The program also features celebrat-
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ed chefs from outside the ICE community, with past classes from such renowned chefs and entrepreneurs as Alain Ducasse, Thomas Keller, Marcus Samuelsson, ICE alumnus Marc Murphy, and Jean-Georges’ Corporate Pastry Chef, Joe Murphy. Recognizing that every culinary enterprise is also a business enterprise, ICE’s Professional Development lineup also includes a range of new business topics. This includes accounting, legal, HR, business planning and technology issues. Steve Zagor, Director of Management Programs at ICE notes that “for many chefs, a lack of knowledge on the business side is their Achilles heel; they know how to design and put out a great menu, but not how to design a good business plan.” The Institute of Culinary Educa-
Main Office: 282 Railroad Avenue Greenwich, CT 06830 Publishers: Leslie & Fred Klashman Advertising Director: Michael Scinto Creative Director: Ross Moody Contributing Writers Warren Bobrow Wyman Philbrook Noelle Ifshin Andrew Catalano Phone: 203.661.9090 Fax: 203.661.9325 Email: tfs@totalfood.com Web: www.totalfood.com
Total Food Service ISSN No. 1060-8966 is published monthly by IDA Publishing, Inc., 282 Railroad Avenue, Greenwich, CT 06830. Phone: 203.661.9090. This issue copyright 2013 by IDA Publishing Inc. Contents in full or part may not be reproduced without permission. Not responsible for advertisers claims or statements.Periodicals Postage paid at the post office, Greenwich, CT and additional mailing offices. Additional entry at the post office in Pittsburg, PA. Subscription rate in USA is $36 per year; single copy; $3.00. Postmaster: Send address changes to Total Food Service, P.O. Box 2507, Greenwich, CT 06836
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// NEWS
EVENTS
Warren Bobrow Headlines At Mix & Mock Pavilion at IHMRS Warren Bobrow is the Food and Drink Editor of Wild Table on Wild River Review located in Princeton, New Jersey. His monthly column in Total Food has become a must read.
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e was born and raised in Morristown, NJ on a Biodynamic farm. One of the nation's hottest names in reading the trends of Metro New York marketplace is Mixologist Warren Bobrow. In addition to a thriving consulting practice, the New Jersey based Bobrow is a monthly contributor to TFS. Warren has published over three hundred articles in fewer than three years since his reinvention from executive assistant in a private bank to
world published author. He is a unique writer/mixologist on everything from cocktail flavoring and wine writing to restaurant reviews. He also writes for Edible Jersey, Voda Magazine, Foodista and Tasting Panel Magazine. Warren is the "On Whiskey" columnist for OKRA Magazine in New Orleans part of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. Warren writes for Williams-Sonoma on their Blender Blog and also for Foodista. As you know the Mixologist has be-
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come the new food celebrity, joining chefs as the “rock stars” on food TV. While the mixologists are enjoying all the status, restaurant owners and operators are reaping the increased margins that come through custom cocktail programs. The IHMRS Mix & Mock pavilion will highlight the busi-
ness-to-consumer opportunities and introduce the budding trend of mixology and the allure of mocktails to the business-to-business sector. Bobrow will speak at the Mix And Mock Program on Sunday, November 10th at the upcoming IHMRS show at the Javits Show. His program includes: 1:00 pm-"Classic Punches"; 2:00 pm-"Hot Toddys" and at 3:00 pm"Reinventing Bourbon." On Monday, November 11th his seminars will include at 1:00 pm"Pink Gin" at 2:00 pm-"Using Honey to Distill" and at 3:00 pm-"Easy Scotch Cocktails." Bobrow will have Acieo's Blood Orange" juice ready for you!
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// NEWS
INNOVATION
Waste To Water Set to Revolutionize Disposal Technology at IHMRS Show For 98 years, the International Hotel Motel and Restaurant show has prided itself in bringing the very latest in innovation to the Metro New York food service operator.
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Once again in 2013, as the show takes center stage at the Javits Center, Waste to Water(WTW) is partnering with the M. Tucker company to bring state of the industry innovation to the annual show with the introduction of "BIO-EZ" . These MADE IN AMERICA processing units and its exclusive "BIOHELPER" microorganisms are the first self-contained food waste elimination system designed to fit seamlessly in
any commercial kitchen, supermarket, hotel, resort or food distribution application. Customers enjoy cost saving benefits, as well as improved work flow and a cleaner work area with no need to store food waste for traditional pick-up. The rising costs of food waste collection and food waste disposal make the use of the BIO EZ equipment a sound financial investment. WTW's BIO-EZ rapidly decomposes all food waste into a nutrient rich liq-
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uid suitable for discharge into public waste water disposal systems. Initial studies demonstrate that the recycled water discharged may have a positive application for use as a fertilizing agent. The system brings a logical alternative to composting. "Food waste has to be stored on site and hauled by diesel trucks to a facility licensed to accept food waste," noted WTW's Dennis Soriano. "The closest to NYC is currently Delaware, and these trucks create
green house gas emissions." Waste to Water's mission is to provide a safe, efficient, economical and ecologically friendly system of processing food waste at its source. "It's a huge cost savings in that we eliminate equipment rental, hauling and landfill charges, " Soriano added. "Keep in mind that In NYC traditional hauling charges can be as much as $85-$100 per ton. Our units can operate at around $58 per ton without accounting for the cost of the employee. Since the use of our unit is no different than the use of a garbage compactor, I think the labor cost is negligible. " WTW has partnered with the M. Tucker Company. to represent the firm in Metro New York. "Their team has established relationships with the
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// NEWS
INNOVATION
White’s New Manhattan Eatery Pays Homage To Midwest Roots There's something familiar about this New York City restaurant and its Green Bay Packer-sized chef. It could be the bratwurst sliders, or maybe the brandy cocktails and waitresses in frilly aprons that make it feel homey.
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The guy in charge is Michael White, who grew up in Beloit and has become one of New York's hottest chefs and most ambitious restaurateurs. White, 42, recently opened Butterfly, the retro cocktail bar and Wisco-style supper club in Lower Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood. Butterfly on the East Coast is named after the Butterfly Club in Beloit, where White, just out of high school, had his first restaurant job. The smaller New York version — just one room — is a chic nod to the original. It's the latest in White's lineup, but it's not typical of what he's known for, which is as one of the country's preeminent practitioners of Italian cooking. His success is proof that your name doesn't have to be, say, Mario Batali, to be a hailed as a prince of pasta. Just how big is White's empire? "I'm going to count the restaurants in front of you because I have to remember, OK?" he said, holding up his hands and quickly running out of fingers. There are six or seven restaurants in Manhattan, depending on whether you count Ristorante Morini, set to open this month on Manhattan's Upper East Side. And there are two in New Jersey. Don't forget Al Molo in Hong Kong and Chop Shop in London. There's also a restaurant scheduled
gether with financier Ahmass Fakahany, formerly of Merrill Lynch. Their first collaboration was Marea, which opened in 2009. But White has a soft spot for the Butterfly, where he says people from back
Michael White, who grew up in Beloit and has become one of New York's hottest chefs and most ambitious restaurateurs.
this month in Istanbul, as well as one on the docket for Los Angeles and a pair of places coming up in Washington, D.C. Two of his most acclaimed spots in Manhattan are Marea, with its highend Italian seafood, and Osteria Morini, which serves rustic fare from Italy's Emilia-Romagna region. They are all part of the Altamarea Group, put to-
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home "walk in, show me their licenses and say — 'Listen, I'm from Wisconsin.'" The fair-haired chef who stands 6 foot 4 inches and weighs 290 pounds and played football for Beloit Memorial High School traces much of his success to the Midwest. "Wisconsin is an extremely grounding place to grow up, a great place to grow up, with a great work ethic," he said. "And I have this very much Midwestern sensibility — just being nice, you know?" He remembers cutting lawns and helping in the backyard garden with his brother Scott — "we were doing organic far before it was trendy." White always enjoyed cooking and
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// NEWS
TECHNOLOGY
Meiko’s New Warewashing Technology Raises Bar For Metro New York Operators Washing dishes may not be the first thing hospitals worry about when budgeting. But energy and water consumption are two of the biggest expenses they and corporate feeders face. Meiko offers a new version of its flight type conveyor, the M-iQ to help food service operations save on both.
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dvanced engineering features take these advantages even further. A standard, integrated blower dryer works with the airflow management system and improves drying results. The M-Filter system actively and continuously removes food soil from the wash water to improve soil removal from the ware, and further reduce detergent consumption by up to 50%. Total Food sat down with Meiko’s David Ciampoli, Vice President of Sales and Marketing to discuss some of the M-iQ features in detail. How does this new machine compare in terms of features with Hobart and Champion? M-iQ was launched in late 2011 and has shipped more than 2000 units since the launch. Different manufacturers have different features and benefits, but I can say with the utmost of confidence, our M-iQ Flight Type Conveyor is the most efficient machine in its class on the planet. Period. At 10k dishes per hour and just 57 gallons of water, where will this bring operating costs for a large hospital or corporate feeder in Manhattan?
Manufacturer: Meiko Customer: Something Different Party Rental Location: Paterson, NJ Metro New York's party rental firms are constantly challenged by large volumes of dirty dishes and glasses. Seth Stern of Party of Something Different Party Rental remembers when his company had to do all that clean up with a 44-inch conveyor machine and a hooded machine. “And my entire operation used to sit dirty. Now it sits 100 percent clean.” He attributes this to Meiko’s M-iQ, a commercial warewasher he installed several years ago. “I could never in a mil-
As you know, utilities in New York are some of the highest in the country. No matter what other machine an institution has, or is thinking of getting, M-iQ will cost them less to own. For instance, compared to a leading model of similar size, M-iQ saves over 109,000 gallons per year in water. That’s roughly enough to fill seven averaged-sized
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lion years have envisioned using just one machine as my sole operating device,” he says. “It's transformative.” Stern says it’s hard to even estimate how many dishes he uses in his business. “It fluctuates,” he says. “But we've pushed the machine to its limit. If it could do 10,000 plates in an hour, we've lined up and pushed it up to that point.” Stern is particularly pleased about the warewasher’s energy efficiency. “Meiko really rethought every single component of what washing is all about. The fact that it uses its own energy allowed me to rethink my actual construction of my new facility.” The machine saves money, too. “It's so fast, and its end result is so good.”
swimming pools. In comparing the same two models in regards to energy, M-iQ saves over 116,000 kWh a year - or enough to power 129 average households for a month. When should a consultant specify a first generation MEIKO versus competitors that may have been in the
market? Though M-iQ represents the newest generation of our flight-type conveyor family, it is certainly not the first. MEIKO brings over 80 years of efficient design, manufacturing and quality to each and every machine we make, and M-iQ is no different. In regards to why a consultant should specify M-iQ; the answer is simple: Consultants are in a tricky situation when it comes to making their case for a warewasher. There is, of course, the upfront cost of the machine. But, more importantly, there’s total cost of ownership. Consultants that really know their stuff, and are truly worth their salt, are specifying M-iQ in their large-volume dishroom projects. And there are many reasons why. From LEED certifications for new green buildings, to environmentally conscious college and universities, -even to cash-strapped healthcare institutions looking to put money back in their bottom line; more and more consultants are actually crunching the numbers and doing the work. And when they do, the answer is obvious. It’s M-iQ. I know M-iQ won awards at NAFEM and NRA. But what was it that your customers told you that lead you to believe you had something special? The truth is the numbers. When our customers actually start running the machine, and can calculate their true savings, the results are self-evident. We’ve installed machines that were able to pay for themselves completely in as little as one year. Beyond the saved energy, water, and chemical costs, folks are spending much less on
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// NEWS
EVENTS
BCA Celebrates 20 Years of Cultural Diversity: Honoring Culinary and Foodservice Leaders BCA Global announces Keynote Speaker for 20th Anniversary Cultural Awareness Salute Gala, Dr. Robert Koenig.
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r. Koenig serves as the President for NYIT's Professional Convention Meeting Association Chapter; Chinese Business Student Association, the Indian Graduate Student Association and
the founder of the Department of Hospitality Studies award-winning club The Society of Hosteurs. Barbara Kane, EcoLab Vice President of Industry Relations will be Mistress of Ceremonies at this year's BCA 20th Anniversary Cultural Aware-
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ness Salute Gala. Honorees include: Sterling Smith, Corporate Executive Chef Supply Management of Sodexo, Jin Caldwell, Chocolatier and Owner of JinJu Chocolates, Jehangir Mehta, Executive Chef and Owner of Graffiti and Susan Stockton, Senior Vice
President of Culinary Production for Food Network. Dr. Robert Koenig, Director NYIT Global Center for Hospitality Management will be this year's Keynote Speaker for the Salute Gala. BCA Global will also honor student trailblazers who stand as role models in culinary education. The 20th Anniversary Cultural Awareness Salute Gala will be held Friday, November 8th, 2013 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Guastavino's Midtown in New York City. The Black Tie Gala event honors the achievements of diversity in the Hospitality & Culinary industry. This year's theme of "Global Immersion" will focus on providing a
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// Q&A Andrew Zimmern Chef & Host of Bizarre Foods America on the Travel Channel Andrew Zimmern has done it all. An American television personality, chef, food writer, and teacher, he is the co-creator, host and consulting producer of The Travel Channel series Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, Bizarre Foods America, and Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre World.
food environment, and a much different household.
Long Island, and I just wanted to be in restaurants the rest of my life.
So how do you define a precocious food brat?
So then you went to Vassar.
I was very into food, so by the time I was 14, and I saw all the other kids, wanting to work -- we had to get summer jobs – and they all wanted to work at the landscaping place and dig ditches and mow lawns all day. I wanted to be at the beach all day long and working restaurants at night. I thought it was the best possible combination you can have. I set foot in a restaurant, the Quiet Clam in East Hampton,
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ut don’t think his food is just bizarre. He was presented the James Beard Foundation Award in 2010. And if you think that’s not enough, he’s also now the host of Dining with Death, about foods that can kill you.
And then what? I'd been cooking summers while I was in college. I took a semester or two off and traveled abroad and was a stagiaire in Europe and other places to learn about food. And I came back to New York and I was obsessed with the stories of food, ever since that art history class, I became convinced that food was great, but food with a story was even greater.
What brought you into food service at the tender age of 14? Actually I was 4! At least in the sense that my parents and just about everyone knew that I was going to be in the food business. I had a lot of precocious comments about food. Food was very important to me. I wanted to help my parents cook. I wanted to go and eat at certain restaurants with my parents. I just loved food!
How did the restaurants you worked at early on affect your career choice? Who mentored you, and had an impact on you?
Were your parents a little embarrassed by you? You have to remember this was 1965, 1966, and I'm 5, 6 years old. There were not a lot of precocious food brats then, like you have them today. My son is a very precocious food brat, but he's growing up in a much different
You know, my father, and others, had instilled in me the idea that it would be good for me to learn how to read, write and think. I chose a major, history. I loved the story telling of it, the implications of it. So I majored in history and art history, and it was, in my art history class – I didn’t see it at the time, but looking back, it’s very evident to me. . . Well let me work it backwards for you. I firmly believe I can look at a bowl of soup and tell you the story of a people. That sort of became a turning point. I don't think I ever looked at food the same way when I got out of college.
Andrew Zimmern has done it all. An American television personality, chef, food writer, and teacher, he is the co-creator, host and consulting producer of The Travel Channel series Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, Bizarre Foods America, and Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre World.
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When I was in high school, one of my godparents got me a job working one night a week for Leslie Revson at a restaurant called 1/5 that was at 1/5 Avenue. I worked there one night a week but the lesson I learned there I've never ever forgotten. You have to remember this is 1977, ‘78, and I was doing desserts one night on the cold side and there was some ice cream,
a little piece of caramelized upside down cake, some sliced pieces of roasted pineapple on this little plated dessert, and I remember it was one of the few times I interacted with Leslie, who's now passed away, and I asked about the crab. Why wouldn’t they pour it over in the kitchen, wouldn’t it be easier to set it up that way? And, she said no, I want the diner to make a decision at the table. I want to engage them in making an act, it's like dipping a French fry in ketchup or putting a piece of meat or bread into fondue, you know. It's to engage the diner to make a decision at the table, how much sauce, where they're going to drizzle it, all that stuff. She says that is the stuff that creates relationships with restaurants. Between the eater and the food. I never forgot that, and it became my motto. I try to create food my whole life that engaged people that way. You can't do it with every dish, but it's one of those things that I never forgot. Then there was Arcadia, my first serious restaurant where I got to see the inner workings up close. The longest stint that I did was at Petaluma and Elios. Anne Isaac and Ellio Guatalini. I learned more from Ellio Guatalini, just hanging out and listening to him talk about how restaurants should be run than any other human being I've ever encountered.
What did you learn? The notion of simplicity. I mean, here was someone who believed in classic Italian cooking, which meant a respect for seasonality or respect for a limited number of ingredients in the plate, honesty and authenticity and showing that it wasn't going to be boring. It taught me that the most important person in the restaurant is not the chef, it’s the customer.
What came next? Then I worked for Steve Hanson for four or five years, actually, with him as well as for him. I was the first business hire for Steve and his partners, before
we created Coconut Grill. Did I know he was going to be such a success? I knew it the moment I spent my first day working with him. I learned things I will never, ever forget with him.
What was it you saw that stuck with you about him? He understood what goals were and how to work towards them. The first day I met him he said, I want to have 25 restaurants. He literally described, 20 years before he got there, where he was going to go and how he was going to get there. He taught me the value
in their stations, and then he would have them rotate and stand in those glass French doors, facing out onto Columbus, and he wanted people as they were driving uptown to see that there was a restaurant that was still open. He kept saying, we're going to be open, we're going to keep the lights on, and people will eventually stop by. And he was right. He basically created that segment of the business for us just with his ferocious tenacity and stubbornness.
So is ferocious tenacity and stubborn-
It taught me that the most important person in the restaurant is not the chef, it’s the customer. of over-preparation. Information to Steve is everything. The more information you have, the more good business decisions you can make. Who your diners are. What they're ordering, why they're ordering it, at what time, at what table, with what server? Here’s one of my favorite Steve Hanson stories. We bought the space that is now Isabella's up 79th and Columbus, and in those days nobody was doing late night dining on the Upper West Side. And Steve said, “We're going to stay open, we’re going to serve food until 1:00 in the morning. Or 2:00 in the morning.” Everyone thought he was crazy. So at 10:30 every night or 11:30 on Fridays and Saturdays, the last diners would leave the restaurant. And, Steve would have the waiters stay
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ness part of what you brought to your ventures? I admire that in people. I admire singleness of purpose. I admire dedication to a principle. I admire principled people above all other things. Some folks have problems with very strong personalities, and Steve was a very strong personality. I respond very well to that, and I would imagine that people would describe me as a very strong personality. I admire principled people who have a vision and stick with it.
So, do you think that’s all it takes to succeed? Of course there’s natural talent and ability in the mix, too. Some people ride that out. Some people ride out luck. Some people are born on third
base. There are lots of different ways people are successful.
You’ve battled some addictions in your life. Was it the stress of the industry? Now, the industry doesn't create alcoholics and drug addicts. Alcoholics and drug addicts create themselves. The restaurant industry is like a lot of other industries. It's an easy place to hide out if you have an addiction. But every day at the accounting firm, people turn out the lights and then enjoy themselves, too. In restaurants there is a camaraderie that revolves around drinking. We're pushing, pushing, pushing, and that the release needs to be celebrated at the end of the night. It's even more serious in the restaurant industry now than when I started in it. But it’s not all bad. It’s still a place where people with some problems like that can hang out. I was doing brunch at some middling restaurant and they should've fired me. I was late every single shift but they kept me around because I could put out 200 plates of eggs in an hour and a half.
What about the impact that Hazelden had on your career. Well, I learned a different way of living. I’ve stayed sober now for 21 years and along the way I've learned some very valuable principles that I think have allowed me to become a much better person, and to be more of a citizen of the world.
Let’s talk about the idea for Bizarre Foods. It's not about me eating weird stuff. It's about teaching people not to practice contempt prior to investigation, to be open-minded, to be patient, tolerant, and understanding of other cultures and other people. My goal with Bizarre Food is to let people know that we can have more conversations about the things we have in common, like our love of food, than the things
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// CHEFCETERA
UP CLOSE WITH METRO NEW YORK'S CHEFS
Chef Guy Reuge Born in Normandy, France and raised in the Loire Valley, Chef Guy Reuge is perhaps Long Island’s most celebrated cuisinier. He garnered La Toque’d; Argent (the Silver Toque), one of the culinary world’s prized accolades, along with being named; Chef of the Year; in 2006 by the Maitres Cuisiniers de France.
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ast recipients of this prestigious honor include Jacques Pepin, Daniel Boulud, Pierre Orsi, René Verdon, and André Solt-
ner. After a successful 25-year run in St. James, NY, Lessing’s Hospitality invited Reuge to bring the Mirabelle name to Three Village Inn in Stony Brook where he operates two restaurants – the four-star Mirabelle Restaurant and Mirabelle Tavern. He is the talent behind Mirabelle Private Events, the catering arm of Mirabelle Restaurant bringing Mirabelle cuisine, service and excellence to all of Long Island and beyond. Reuge is the author of the cookbook Le Petit Mirabelle and has contributed recipes to many others. In addition, he has been a guest on several shows on the Food Network and Fox Television and has been featured in Bon Appetit, Food Arts, New York magazine, Gourmet, The New York Times, Newsday, and The Daily News among others. Reuge is a dynamic promoter of French culinary arts. In 2001, he received the Chevalier du Merite Agricol, by the French government in recognition of his contribution to the French agriculture industry. He was inducted into the Maitre Cuisinier de France in 1990. He is a member of Le Commanderie Des Cordons Bleus, the
Academie Culinaire de France, and the James Beard Foundation.
What or who inspired you to become a chef? What landed you in New York and what took
you to Long Island? My mother inspired me to become a chef. As a child I would watch her make our Sunday lunch, the most important meal of the week, and as I grew older I
would help her. I came to New York in search of opportunity at the age of 21. I had been an apprentice/chef since I was 14, and had completed my apprenticeship training in France. I loved America. My hometown, Orleans, was the headquarters of NATO in the 1950s and 1960s and we had some American neighbors. I was fascinated by them and their American ways. I wanted to see for myself, and I arrived in this country in 1973. It was 10 years later, after I married, that I moved to Long Island. My wife's uncle and aunt lived there and persuaded us to move from NYC to St. James, LI, where we opened our first restaurant.
Who did you apprentice under and what impact did they have on your career? And do you look at that as an obligation to pass along what you’ve learned to the next generation of chefs?
My mother inspired me to become a chef. As a child I would watch her make our Sunday lunch, the most important meal of the week. I apprenticed under a chef named Honoré Lacombe in Strasbourg, France. Chef Lacombe taught me many things, including the art of charBorn in Normandy, France and raised in the Loire Valley, Chef Guy Reuge is perhaps Long Island’s most celebrated cuisinier being named Chef of the Year in 2006 by the Maitres Cuisiniers de France.
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continued on page 120
// FOOD SAFETY
WITH NOELLE IFSHIN
Seasonal Restaurants - Preparing for the Off Season, Part Two - Marketing In our last Blog: Seasonal Restaurants - Preparing for the Off Season, Part One, we looked at what businesses can do, focusing on their operations, to survive through their off season.
J
ust as seasonal businesses need a long-term plan for their year-round operations, so do they for their marketing. Beyond marketing to the local client base, as we discussed, the off-season is a valuable time to market to in-season customers as well. Whether you own a seasonal clam shack on the shores of New England or are the General Manager of a ski resort in Colorado, you have experienced the challenges of a seasonal business. The old adage “out of sight, out of mind” is the scourge of your year-round marketing: though you are out of sight you want to stay on their minds. Here are four things you should be doing to keep your business on people's minds year round:
Grow Customer Database A robust database of customer contact information is an important tool in marketing. Capture guests’ information in the height of the busy season, when you have the most foot traffic. Getting a strong list of past customers and people who've expressed interest in your business will enable you to maintain contact and stay top-of-mind during the off season, as well as convert new leads into customers during the next season. Further, Open Table or other cloudbased reservation systems are great tools to grow your database, while
Noelle Ifshin, President & CEO, 4Q Consulting New York, NY n o e l l e @ 4 Q C o n s u l t .c o m
driving foot traffic to your restaurant.
Call to Action Use calls-to-action (CTA’s) on your website and in your social media that reward customers for interacting with you. This serves two purposes: collection of customer data and creation of content. For example, offer a free glass of wine on their next visit to customers who subscribe to an email list or blog, or a free t-shirt to customers who write a review on a linked site. Even when you are closed for the season, new reviews are a way to get your seasonal guests thinking about you and elicit feelings of nostalgia for your restaurant during the offseason. This new content can easily be leveraged in your off-season email marketing, website, and social media updates, making customers eager to return.
Stay Social As mentioned above, out of sight is
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out of mind. You want your customers and tourists thinking about your restaurant even after they have left town, or to know about you before they arrive. Consider social media your virtual, year-round storefront. Even if your customers or potential customers aren't in your seaside town or visiting your website, you can reach them through social media. Posting consistently to all of your social media feeds such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest, is a great way to offer special discounts, gather and publish reviews and testimonials, share new content, run contests and polls, and generate hype for the next season.
// NEWS
GLUTEN-FREE
Golden Ladle Creates Line of Gluten-Free Soups & Chilis for the Metro New York Restaurateur They used to be words we never heard, or associated with people who ate only health foods. But "gluten" and "free" have become very important buzz words for a large segment of the population today: those suffering with celiac disease, and those without.
O
ne in 133 Americans has celiac disease, an autoimmune digestive disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from foods. Celiac disease is particularly disabling because it can lead to infertility, reduced bone density, neurological diseases and some cancers. The introduction of gluten-free products has allowed sufferers of this disease to pretty much eat like the rest of us, rather than the restricted diets they were formerly required to be on. In fact, gluten-free foods have become an important part of the American diet today: sales reached more than $2.6 billion by the end of 2010 and are now expected to exceed more than $5 billion by 2015, according to Packaged Facts, 2011. To meet the dietary needs of people with celiac disease, and people who just want to eat well, Golden LadleTM has added to their diverse product portfolio by creating a line of glutenfree soups and chilis. They are available in a variety of chef-inspired recipes, including chicken tortilla soup, zesty tomato basil soup, classic chili with
beans, frontier chicken chili and more. Preparation is easy with boil-in-bag convenience. Golden Ladle's gluten-free soups are relatively new to the market, as is the Golden Ladle brand. But the product itself has a history of quality. “At Kerry, we have a division that is focused on foodservice, and we purchased a soup product line that we renamed Golden Ladle," says Tim Shaw, Brand Manager. “The company acquired the soup line to broaden our exposure to foodservice with a quality, time-saving product; plus we saw that we had the opportunity to innovate. The gluten-free soups are a good example of how we’re taking the brand to the next level.” Because the soup looks home-made, and is scratch-like quality, the company has found favor with operators looking for high-end soups. To come up with soup flavors, the company, which does a lot of trend analysis, investigated niches looking for a high-level line of soups. "You have to have the staples, but also carry new and interesting varieties like a spicy
continued on page 150
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// PBAC’s SHOW PREVIEW
Michael Posternak, Founding Partner Posternak Bauer Aitkenhead Cantamessa Total Food Service sat down with Michael Posternak of PBAC before the IHMRS show to discuss a few emerging food trends and where he sees the Foodservice industry headed in the future.
What led to the launch of PBAC 25 years ago?
and running.
Steve Bauer and I launched PBAC from scratch in the Spring of 1988 at the NRA show. Choosing Steve as my partner was my first and very best decision. His product knowledge is incredible and he is the perfect compliment. By the time we left the NRA Show, we had 6 lines and were off
What did you learn at Traulsen that you brought to PBAC? Steve was regional sales manager and I was Vice President of Sales and Marketing. We worked with many of the very best reps in the business and were able to piece together a mosaic of best practices.
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How has the role of the rep evolved? We began during a time period when the role of the rep was being questioned by other industry partners. It became a personal goal to raise the bar of the rep profession for all. We also thought that we needed to come together as a voice nationally, so we got involved with MAFSI. We're here to service the needs of the dealer, and act as an intermediary between the dealer and the manufacturer, but you have to be fair and reasonable to both parties. Reps must also work with end users and, of course, consultants to stimulate the demand for the products that we sell. Given proper representation, manufacturer's reps can in fact be the dealer's best friend.
How did MAFSI help the rep accomplish the goal of branding the rep?
We began during a time period when the role of the rep was being questioned by other industry partners. It became a personal goal to raise the bar of the rep profession for all. I dove in and became actively involved with MAFSI, this included 11-years on the association's board of directors and serving as its president in 1999 and 2000. In '99 when I was president of our local chapter, we launched the original MAFSI
Business Barometer.
What impact has the MAFSI barometer had on the industry? I'm proud of the fact that it has become a signature of MAFSI that is constantly being cited in major financial and trade publications and serves as a benchmarking and forecasting tool. Before the barometer we'd start off our MAFSI meetings by asking all participants how their businesses were doing and you would get different non-additive answers from everyone. We rolled out
Choosing Steve as my partner was my first and very best decision. His product knowledge is incredible and he is the perfect complement.
the new tool at a board of directors meeting in 2000 and then on the national level in 2002. We continue to broaden it each year.
How has the rep's relationship with its manufacturer's evolved? Our manufacturers rely on our team to bring their products to market — swiftly, thoroughly and knowledgeably. As more manufacturers continue to merge and acquisitions ramp up, the rep's role has become even more relevant. Major manufacturers have achieved economies of scale in
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going to rep firms.
What are your goals locally? Working in sales for a national company is like mowing your lawn once a month as opposed to being able to manicure your property on a twiceweekly level. I love the fact that as a local rep, we can stay in touch, and more in tuned to our varied customers' needs. As you can well imagine, our dealer’s and consultant's clients span multiple segments, including
healthcare, schools, colleges and universities, hotels, independent restaurants, chains and B&I.
What are your goals in terms of the product mix that you are looking to build in your portfolio? Many rep firms tend to specialize in just heavy equipment or supplies. From the start in '88, we took a more balanced approach. Right from the beginning we wanted to be equip-
Many rep firms tend to specialize in just heavy equipment or supplies. From the start in '88, we took a more balanced approach.
ment and supply, with both front of the house and kitchen options. Today we rep 15 manufacturers which is considered a small group compared to other firms. We don't want to rep the most brands, only the best ones. In fact, the fewer the better because that means our relationships, concentration, and customer service is stronger. With 14 lines and 12 employees — that's almost a 1 to 1 ratio.
What have your keys to suc-
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PBAC's 25th Anniversary will kick-off with a guest appearance from "The Cake Boss" Buddy Valastro on Sunday, November 10th at the 2013 IHMRS Show at the Javits Center. The dynamic New Jersey legend will appear in PBAC's booth at 11am and sign autographs for show goers.
cess been? It’s the same as it was 25 years ago, you hit the pavement from dawn till dusk. One of the beauties of the New York market is that although it's huge in size in terms of purchasing power, it's very small in terms of geography. What we love about New York is that it is 75 miles wide and about 100 miles long, so it's easy for the team to travel from one end of the territory to the other in a day. We've also been very involved in all of the local trade associations including SFHM, AHF,
FCSI, that represent a wide range of customers from healthcare to corporate dining. We are also proud of our membership with the Partridge-Invitation Scholarship Foundation organization that raises money for culinary school scholarships throughout the East Coast, including Johnson & Wales, Cornell, and the Culinary Institute of America.
Talk about the team that you've built. I may be the quarterback, but I re-
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ally think if you can attract the best people to represent your company and surround yourself with great partners like Larry Cantamessa, David Aitkenhead, and of course Steve Bauer, that's how you really grow a business. My partners and associates are like family — we are all in this together, tooth and nail. Many of our core PBAC’s employees led by Lisa and Herb have spent 15 to 20 years with the firm and have been crucial to our success. Alex Grover, Damon Demercurio, Josh Erdheim, Keith
Fitzgerald, Irene Reiter, Paul Todor, Terry Flynn and Mike Snedeker are all professionals.
we use the latest technology, such as iPads, integrated sales software, video conferencing and other online communication tools.
What impact has technology had on the rep?
Crystal ball?
It takes many different forms. We have partnered with a local, large food broker to share a test kitchen facility, complete with a 36-seat amphitheater and state-of-the-art audio and visual aids, to conduct product demos and host dealer sales training meetings. In the field,
We have had back to back years of double digit growth in 2012 and 2013. New York City is a Wall Street driven market and has been a catalyst to solid growth. Hurricane Sandy brought about tremendous rebuilding. Our sense is that the market needs to catch its breath and that
growth will taper off in 2014 to 3 to 4%. Washington continues to be gridlocked and New York City's new mayor may bring about a new direction. Key upcoming projects include Meadowlands, The Regency Hotel, Tavern on the Green, Rainbow Room, Buffalo Stadium, Conde Nast, Jewish Home and Hospital and NYU Medical Center, just to name a few.
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// MEET THE NEWSMAKER
Michael Shuman,
ing partners. Bill Niman is a founding non-managing partner who has been instrumental for us within this landscape both in terms of purveyor relations and industry connectivity. The two other founding non-managing partners are Ed Winter, one of the foremost experts on marketing to young people in the US, and Woodson Merrill, a leading authority on wellness and nutrition.
Founding Partner of 4food
4
food is a socially networked and socially responsible quick service restaurant company based in Manhattan. 4food’s mission is to de-junk fast food™ by bringing fast, fresh, delicious, and nutritious food, made of sustainable products that are sourced locally and seasonally whenever and wherever able. The 4food menu offers almost infinitely customizable combinations that let customers build their own burgers any way they like. The 4food space offers a modern and innovative style with an emphasis on tech savvy clientele through dynamic menu boards, iPad ordering stations, and a 200 square foot interactive
Partners in 4food include the founders Adam Kidron and Michael Shuman (pictured), Bill Niman, Dr. Woodson Merrill, founder and Ed Winter.
media wall featuring user-generated content from social media. 4food’s signature product is the (w)holeburger™, a donut shaped patty balanced by one of the vegetable centric scoop centers, each with unique taste and nutritional attributes. Everything is made from scratch, including the bun that holds it all together, in the commissary kitchen located on the lower level of the space. Numerous vegan and gluten-free options are available. All products have their nutritional attributes displayed online and printed in-store on receipts. What’s your background in foodservice? How did you get into this industry? I'm an architect by training, a socially minded design entrepreneur. My work has always been mission driven within the public domain. My most relevant foodservice background is as a foodie and conscientious consumer, a customer who believes in ethical consumption, rewarding best practices, and demanding transparency of processes and information. 4food’s goal is to de-junk fast food? Explain the process behind this vision? 4food is the first socially responsible and socially networked quick serve restaurant company. Its mission is to de-junk fast food. We are living increasingly faster and more global lives. With fast food being an ever-growing sector, and ever grow-
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4food's signature product is the (W) holeburger™ a donut shaped patty balanced by one of our vegetable centric scoop centers, each with unique taste and nutritional attributes.
You’re committed to serving fresh and nutritious foods, do you offer healthy beverages? What do you offer the healthy eater who still wants a high-fructose soda… do you offer a healthier version or have a signature drink? Our beverage platform consists of natural sodas, iced teas, smoothies and hot tea/coffee as well as locally
ing problem, the culture of it must change. It can still be fast and accessible yet needs to look good, smell good, taste good, and actually be good for you. It can, and in fact should and must, promote and support the good treatment of our land and animals and farmers and employees. We set out to do exactly this with 4food, to create a paradigm shift in which the tenets of the slow food movement (local, seasonal, real, etc.) could be attained and celebrated within a quick serve / fast casual setting.
I am architect by training, a socially minded design entrepreneur. My work has always been mission driven within the public domain.
What is Adam Kidron and Niman Ranch founder, Bill Niman’s involvement with 4Food? Work with any other industry professionals? Adam Kidron is the co-founder of 4food and the brainchild behind our signature (w)holeburger. Together the two of us operate as the manag-
micro brewed draft beers and housemade sangrias for events. All of our menu items are produced in store daily (from beverage tonics to condiments to pickling our cucumbers to baking our buns) in our commissary kitchen and then every order is
cooked to order at the counter. We make small batches of fresh food (made from real ingredients by real people using real methods) on a daily basis where we try to match supply with demand. We do not believe in shelf life nor preserving anything. Nothing is deep fried, frozen, artificial, or genetically modified. We do not celebrate largeness as an expression of value and have put much deliberation into responsible portion sizing and the conveyance of honest information. We provide personalized nutrition facts, advice, and menu recommendations every day - instore, at www.4food.com, and printed on every receipt. Gluten-Free is such a hot trend. How does 4food incorporate Gluten-Free offerings? We actually have our gluten-free certification and consider it much more than a trend. We have a significant array of gluten-free offerings as well as those for vegans, vegetarians, and the avidly carnivorous. 4food can really be what you need and made the way you want. 4food is committed to being socially responsible. Talk about the restaurant's design and space. Using any LED lighting or energy-efficient equipment. Did you work with any designers or architects? We compost in-store and recycle. We build with natural construction materials that are abundant and regenerative. We employ sunscreen systems, LED lighting, energy efficient equipment, and purchase renewable energy credits from alternative energy generators. We are committed to increasing our use of sustainable power as we grow. The design is very
4food is the first socially responsible and socially networked quick serve restaurant company. Its mission is to de-junk fast food. natural and honest and innovative with respect to sustainable practices and the use of informational technologies to create a very interactive (and voyeuristic) and efficient experience. Does 4food have any on-site food waste composters? If so, talk a little about how important this is to being sustainable? We employ an Orca Green® self contained bio-reactor that decomposes
food and biodegradable waste into drainage water, which drastically reduces our waste and makes the restaurant nearly trash-free. We compost all of our food waste and a substantial amount of our packaging in this onpremise composter within our commissary kitchen. This is one of several important practices that help us to further reduce our environmental impact.
Talk about your good4all program, and involvement with City Harvest, GrowNYC, The New York Foundation for the Arts, and Team Red White and Blue. We believe in good4all. This means doing everything with a greater purpose, including the ability for our customers to do so as well. 4foodies have always been able to save, name, brand, and market their unique creations and earn sales royalties into their accounts for doing so. With the recent integration of our good4all initiative, we can now donate these 25¢ royalties to a good cause each time a customer tags their creation accordingly. Basically one builds their own (w)holeburger, gives it a name, and assigns it a purpose (a specific charitable organization within the domains of health, environment, community, humanity, and creativity). After that, each time someone else buys their (w)holeburger, we donate 25¢ to their selected good cause. Are there plans to open other NYC locations or move into CT and NJ? We will now be looking to raise capital to scale locally within the New York / Tri State / Northeastern market while we simultaneously engage internationally with territorial licenses (our first of which is underway in Japan). We are also in the process of building out our suite of technology platforms (profile and recommendation engines, inventory management portals, etc) with the intent on licensing these to other food service enterprises and beyond to any retail component involving customer purchasing and point of sale transactions.
4food's restaurant is built from abundant and regenerative materials. The packaging is all recyclable and 4food composts all of its food waste onsite.
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// THE WAITRESS CONFESSIONS
WITH THE WAITRESS
To Write or Not to Write? The Pros and Cons of Memorizing Orders Some servers have the amazing ability of listening to a table’s order and remembering every small detail without ever touching a paper and pen. Some can take orders of up to at least 10 people without even batting an eye. No matter how many exceptions, replacements, or changes the customers make these waiters will somehow manage to get the order rung up. Personally, that just boggles my mind. To contact The Waitress or to read her blog visit thewaitressconfessions.wordpress.com or follow her via Twitter: @WConfessions
A
s a server who’s afraid of forgetting the simplest little things, I am constantly writing everything down. My fear is that I’ll carelessly make a mistake and forget to order a glass of wine or order a steak well done instead of medium-well. So, with that fear deeprooted in my system I make it a point to write down all my orders even if it’s a person dining alone. Every waiter and waitress has their own system of taking down orders whether it is just doodling on your order sheet while memorizing every point or penning every single word the customer says. If you have a great memory and are just starting out as a waiter/waitress in training, you may want to consider the pros and cons of memorizing orders.
PRO The eye contact that you keep with a customer while taking their order is extremely important. Some waiters just stare at their order sheet the whole time while writing down orders which leaves the customers feeling short-changed on the “service with a smile.” Some are capable of writ-
ing without looking down too many times, which is an improvement at least, but memorizing your orders can give you complete control over your eye contact with your guests, creating a very friendly and open service for them.
CON If you’re planning on memorizing orders, keep in mind that you are more likely to make mistakes. The amount of times I’ve seen a server run up to the kitchen and say something around the lines of “My bad, guys. It was supposed to be the salmon, not the tuna” is staggering. It could end up happening more often than you’d probably like to admit and can develop a certain amount of hostility between you and your coworkers. Not to mention the managers will be wondering how all these mistakes are affecting their food costs.
PRO With no pen and paper glued to your hands at every moment of service, your free hands allow you to do other things while taking drink and dessert orders. You could be tidying up your tables of any clutter, picking up emp-
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ty beer glasses, or picking up menus. The ability to multitask in the restaurant business is a big bonus on your
side if you are able to do many things at once. Plus, the length of the service will diminish slightly by just having the free hands to clear the table and memorize coffee orders at the same time, making it easier to turn your tables and serve more customers.
CON Sometimes, as you’re leaving a table to enter the order into the computer system, someone may stop you along the way preventing you from getting to the computer while the order is still fresh in your mind. Maybe a customer will have a complaint and stop you for a whole 5 minutes before giving you a chance to ring up the order. What happens then? Your mind gets completely distracted by the com-
plaint that you stand at the computer holding your head thinking, “What did she order? What appetizer did he want? Did he want fries or rice with his steak?” Sometimes you’ll remember…sometimes you’ll just forget. Forgetting an order can be extremely embarrassing and will seem pretty unprofessional when you need to go up to the guests a second time to ask what they ordered.
make mistakes and I understand that more than anyone, but other guests may not be so forgiving. When customers see that you’re relying solely on your memory for taking orders, they have that knowledge to use against you when things go wrong and may even approach a manager about it, suggesting that you write everything down from that moment on.
PRO
When taking orders, servers know that it’s best to repeat orders back to the customers as they go along to avoid any mistakes or misunderstandings. When an order comes out wrong, your manager may ask you something around the lines of “Well, what did the customer order?” Your answer may be “She definitely said she wanted the mashed potatoes, but when the plate got there she said she asked for a baked potato.” The manager might then proceed to ask what you had written down on your order sheet in order to see if you either a) punched it in wrong or b) wrote it down wrong. When you’ve done everything by memory, the manager is then just taking your word for it and may jump to the conclusion that you’re the one who made the mistake. If you’re repeating the order back to the customer and writing it down properly, he may then assume that it’s just the customer creating a problem for nothing and will be more inclined to believe you when you say you got the order right. Remember… Everybody makes mistakes, even if you’re the type of server to write each order down on paper. The thing to keep in mind is that you’re only human, so do the best that you can no matter which ordertaking process you choose to use as a server. Think about what kind of waiter you want to be and go from there.
Memorizing your orders can save a lot of time when it comes to ringing up your order. Instead of constantly referring to your order sheet, you’re simply punching in your orders without missing a beat to glance down at what you’ve written. This can save time on your service and once again allows for a quicker service, which means your customers are receiving their orders sooner than others therefore satisfied with the fact that they aren’t waiting longer for their food to arrive. Every second or minute saved counts for a lot in the restaurant business.
CON Not writing down an order can and will make your customers nervous. One night I went out to eat at a restaurant. We were a table of 6 people and the waitress just took our order by memory. I asked for a few things on the side since it was my first experience at that particular establishment and wasn’t sure about the sauces offered with my plate. I felt worried that my order may be wrong, but decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. When it came time to the appetizers, I received a salad instead of the soup and my steak came and turned out medium-well instead of mediumrare. In my mind, if you aren’t going to write anything down then you’d better make sure that you’ve remembered everything 100%. Sure, people
CON
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// SCOOP
INSIDER NEWS FROM METRO NEW YORK’S FOODSERVICE SCENE
Saks’ Brings Back Glory Days Of In-Store Dining Scoop says there will be a new spot for ladies who lunch next summer when Saks Fifth Avenue opens Sophie’s at the department store’s flagship. The restaurant will be part of a multimillion-dollar renovation of the store’s eighth floor, with views of Rockefeller Center. We hear the eatery replacing Café SFA was inspired by Sophie Gimbel, the designer and notable New York hostess who ran Saks’ Salon Moderne starting in 1929, and married store owner Adam Gimbel. Andre Kikoski, who designed Guggenheim restaurant the Wright, is creating the space, while chef Alexandro Reyes oversees the menu. A Sophie’s location will open in January in Chicago before expanding to New York Sarasota and San Juan.
NYC Les Amis d’Escoffer Society Tabs New Board Scoop notes Les Amis d’Escoffier Society of New York, Inc., and Les Amis d’Escoffier Society Foundation, Inc., are proud to announce and introduce their newly elected officers and board members: Society Foundation Presidents Mark
The Gala will begin with a VIP and cocktail reception, followed by a multi-course dinner, Viennese reception and after party.
Arnao and Stephen G. Batta, Executive Chef General Manager The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park JW Marriott Essex House NY, First Vice President George Mcneill and Sean Cassidy Director of Food and Beverage Hotel Manager Marriott International The Westin New York at Times Square, Secretary Jay Jones Director of Event Operations JW Marriott Essex House NY JW Marriott Essex House NY, Treasurer Kurt Keller and Board Members include: James Dale, Marc Sarrazin, Peter Fernandez, Roger Simon, Matthew Mauro, James Staiano, Achilles Poliviou, Zachary Stein and Past Presidents Uwe Toedter, Philip DeMaiolo
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Society Foundation Presidents Mark Arnao and Steven G. Batta
and John P. DorMan. The 77th Annual Fall Dinner was held last month honoring Michael Stengel as Man of the Year.
Theater District De-Light Sells For About $7M Scoop hears that there’s a new restaurant opportunity in the Theater District. City Knickerbocker Lighting just sold 781 Eighth Ave. for $6.9 million.
The four-story commercial building has 9,000 square feet of leasable space. The seller had occupied the building for 50 years. “The building’s location makes it ideal for a restaurant or cafe on the ground floor with offices on top,” said Newmark Grubb Knight Frank Retail’s Jonathan Krivine, who with Dennis Karr, arranged the sale on behalf of the owner with Lewis A. Kerman, president of LK Allen Inc.
Manhattan Caterer Debuts New Book Scoop notes that the subtitle of Great Performances’ Liz Neumark’s exuberant new cookbook, Sylvia’s Table, promises “Fresh, Seasonal Recipes
a place where children can find “the joy in being with fresh food”; she also works to bring that joy to children in New York’s inner city. Neumark encourages a kind of easy cooking that’s built around the seasons. Springing up among the recipes are lots of short essays that inform, entertain and spark your imagination.
NYC Cronut Creator Inks Pact With Belgian Firm Scoop says chocolate-lovers are in for a treat. New York’s own Chef Dominique Ansel, creator of the famed cronut craze, has made a deal with Belgian chocolatier Neuhaus. In an inspired bite of marketing, Neuhaus has
from Our Farm to Your Family,” but there’s more to the concept. Neumark wants families not just to eat together, but also to cook together and gain a real appreciation of what good food is and where it comes from. It’s a book for grownups who can share the hundreds of recipes that come from Neumark’s personal collection, from her hugely successful New York City catering company, from professional colleagues and from friends with their own kids and grandkids. Seven years ago, Neumark created Katchkie Farm in the Hudson Valley, where she runs the Sylvia Center,
Scoop says chocolatelovers are in for a treat. New York’s own Chef Dominique Ansel, creator of the famed cronut craze, has made a deal with Belgian chocolatier Neuhaus.
CONNECTICUT NEW YORK
NEW JERSEY
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• • • • • • • • • • • • • •
181 Marsh Hill Road 91 Brainard Road 566 Hamilton Avenue 15-06 132nd Street 1966 Broadhollow Road 720 Stewart Avenue 43-40 57th Avenue 1335 Lakeland Avenue 650 S. Columbus Avenue 305 S. Regent St. 777 Secaucus Road 45 East Wesley Street 140 South Avenue 1135 Springfield Road
tapped nine internationally known patissiers to create unique flavors for its new “Haute Patisserie” limited collection. Ansel, who is French but based in New York, where locals and tourists line up outside his Dominique Ansel Bakery on Spring Street for a taste of the famed cronut, represents the American patissier in the collection and, luckily for Belgian-based Neuhaus, the deal was made before the cronut craze hit. “It is a fun collaboration,” Ansel said. “I tried to create a flavor, a memory from childhood.” Ansel’s creation is ganache with roasted peanuts on a layer of caramel a l’ancienne.’ It is inspired by the peanut butter taste he remembers from childhood and rediscovered in New York, where he was head pastry chef for Daniel Boulud before striking out on his own. “I remember tasting peanut butter for the very first time when I was very little. It was a really exciting flavor. I never tried it again until I moved to the States,” Ansel said. Ansel describes peanut butter as a truly American flavor. “I’ve always loved it, and I wanted to do something fun with it,” Ansel said. “New York inspires me. People are very open-minded here. They travel a lot and they love food,” he added. Other patissiers in the mix include Christophe Adam from Paris, Martin Chiffers from London, and
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Orange, CT 06477 Hartford, CT 06114 Brooklyn, NY 11232 College Point, NY 11356 Farmingdale, NY 11735 Garden City, NY 11530 Maspeth, NY 11378 Bohemia, NY 11716 Mt. Vernon, NY 10550 Port Chester, NY 10573 Secaucus, NJ 07094 S. Hackensack, NJ 07606 S. Plainfield, NJ 07080 Union, NJ 07083
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Louie Ye from Shanghai.
Le Cirque’s Suric Reigns At ‘21’ Club
Takes
Scoop hears staffers and well-heeled patrons of the ‘21’ Club are licking their lips over the appointment of Teddy Suric as general manager of the iconic eatery. Suric cut his spurs as a senior waiter at the fabled Le Cirque. Well-coiffed broadcaster and restaurant regular Bill O’Shaughnessy said, “Teddy knows how to handle high rollers and high-profile patrons, as well as sensitive egos.”
“Teddy knows how to handle high rollers and high-profile patrons, as well as sensitive egos.”
Brooks Brothers Sets Sights On Midtown Eatery Scoop notes when Brooks Brothers launches its planned Makers and Merchants steakhouse next year, it will be taking a daring plunge into prime-
203-795-9900 860-549-4000 718-768-0555 718-762-1000 631-752-3900 516-794-9200 718-707-9330 631-218-1818 914-665-6868 914-935-0220 201-601-4755 201-996-1991 908-791-2740 908-964-5544 continued on next page
beef territory. The famed American apparel chain aims to open a 15,000 square-foot eatery next summer at 11 E. 44th Street, around the corner from its 346 Madison Ave. flagship. Brooks Brothers has never been in the restaurant business. But the currently vacant venue, which the company previously uses for its women’s line, is to be the prototype for what sources said would be a nationwide rollout of Makers and Merchants eateries. The audacious opening will come smack amidst Manhattan’s most dense concentration of high-priced beef palaces. The East 40s are already home to Morton’s, Benjamin Steak, Sparks, Michael Jordan’s, the original Palm and Palm Too, the original Smith & Wollensky and Capital Grille. Plus, Strip House is one block west and STK only slightly further away. But far from
The audacious opening will come smack amidst Manhattan’s most dense concentration of highpriced beef palaces.
Brothers took over from J. Press in 2008.
Inboxyourmeal.com, a new lunch-delivery service started by two French, New York-based moms who feel the average American school lunch (think peanut butter and Jelly) is inferior, is creating buzz.
FCI Grads Team to Re-Invent NYC Lunch Delivery Scoop says put this under the heading: You want to come back in your next life as your kids. Inboxyourmeal.com, a new lunch-delivery service started by two French, New York-based moms who feel the average American school lunch (think peanut butter and Jelly) is inferior, is creating buzz. Stepha-
being too competitive, the East 44h Street location might be ideal for the clothing giant’s culinary debut. The blocks around Grand Central Terminal teem with high-spending executives craving classic American food. Plus proximity to Brooks Brothers’ history-steeped flagship thematically links the restaurant to its smartly woven, conservatively tailored men’s suits, shirts and ties. The beefery, named for the company’s slogan, “Makers and Merchants Since 1818”, will occupy three levels, which Brooks 52 • November 2013 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com
nie Rubin and Ingrid Calvo, who have five kids between them, launched a service delivering daily to apartments and schools across Manhattan for $10, including delivery. But these meals are by French Culinary Institute-trained chefs, so quiche or a smoked salmon bagel, salad, chocolate mousse and fruit skewers are on the menu. There are also gluten-free boxes. Rubin previously worked in corporate finance; Calvo was in marketing at L’Oreal. The duo tested the market in the summer, providing lunches to camps, and have delivered 2,000 boxes to date. The plan is to expand to Brooklyn and other boroughs, and ultimately to Boston, Los Angeles and Miami.
National Chain Perkins Sets Sights On Manhattan Expansion Scoop notes The Perkins Restaurant and Bakery has chosen Harlem for its first Manhattan location. The Manhattan franchisee for the casual dining chain signed a lease for 5,500 square feet in the new development at 200 E. 125th St., giving it more than 100 feet of frontage that wraps around Third Avenue. Perkins is the operator and franchiser of three restaurants in Staten Island
Meiko's new Segment Specialist for the northeast market, Susan Prusack
and another 440 scattered across 34 states and five Canadian provinces. This is the first phase of a $700 million complex being developed by the Richman Group, Monadnock Construction, Hope Community and El Bario’s Operation Fightback. The developers were chosen by the city to create the East Harlem MediaEntertainment/Cultural Center on three parcels that will include 30,000 square feet of community/cultural space, more than 600 affordable housing units, a public plaza, new office and retail space and a hotel. Nearby on Third Avenue and East 120th Street, Hunter College’s Silberman School of Social Work is also luring hungry students to the area.
MEIKO Hires Customer-Focused Segment Specialist To Support Tri-State Customers Scoop notes that MEIKO USA Inc., a world-leader in integrated cleaning and disinfection solutions, recently announced the addition of Susan Prusack as Segment Specialist for the northeast market. Prusack brings over 30 years of consultative and marketfocused foodservice equipment sales to the MEIKO team. As the demand for energy and cost-efficient foodser-
vice equipment continues to swell, MEIKO has worked to develop products and solutions that reduce costs, improve efficiencies, and maximize overall operational effectiveness. With an emphasis on specific market segments, Prusack will be responsible for: Listening. By hearing and identifying the needs of MEIKO’s current and potential customers, Prusack will meet with department heads and operators to pinpoint key areas of necessary improvement; Finding solutions. From water usage audits, to a complete dishroom redesign, Prusack will deliver solutions to improve workflow and reduce labor costs, minimize water, electric and chemical usage, and reduce an organization’s overall carbon footprint; Partnering. With a keen understanding of issues directly affecting foodservice operations, Prusack will work alongside operators, consultants, facilities managers and others to ensure a positive customer experience. From design to delivery, and to post-sale performance, she will manage all relevant touch points throughout the MEIKO buying process.
Famed French Toque Ducasse Visits Ice Scoop sees that late last month famed Chef Alain Ducasse brought his talents to Manhattan's Institute of Culinary Education. Attendees were treated to the master chef demonstrating the different functions of his new Tablet app, including an extensive recipe, ingredient and technique database. His longtime collaborator and celebrated Chef Sylvain Portay, Cor-
Leading Long Island Rep CLV Makes Key Addition To Team Scoop notes that John O'Halloran has joined the CLVMarketing team. He is a recent graduate of Fordham U School of Business Admin. He is based in Yonkers and will be focused on end-user customers. "We are very excited to have John aboard," noted the firm's co-founder Chip Little. The Farmingdale, NY based firm represents leading manufacturers of food service supplies and equipment. For over a quarter of a century they have been serving the needs of distributors and end-users in the greater New York/New Jersey area.
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porate Chef of Alain Ducasse Enterprise, demonstrated recipes from the app in real time, showing the many ways it can be utilized in a working kitchen. He also displayed his classic Shrimp Cocktail with a Horseradish Royale and Tangy Tomato Syrup and Half-Salted Cod "a la Meunière" with Country Puree of Haricot Beans. Ducasse began his illustrious career at the age of sixteen apprenticing at Pavillon Landais in the South West of
France. He moved up the kitchen brigade, working for other world-class chefs including Alain Chapel and Michel Guérard. It was while at Moulin de Mougins under legendary Chef Roger Vergé that he learned Provençal cuisine, which would later become an essential element in his own kitchens. The legendary chef was in New York to celebrate the opening of his new Pinch Restaurant concept at Empire City Casino in Yonkers
// NEWS
GREEN ENERGY
BlueRock Energy A Premier Provider Of Electricity In Natural Gas Products And Services Foodservice operations looking to save money are now investigating ways to curb energy costs while at the same time doing the environment a favor, too.
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lueRock Energy, formed in 2003, offers electricity and natural gas supplies to foodservice outlets either with guaranteed savings or fixed prices. In addition, they provide customers options to choose 25%, 50%, or 100% of their annual consumption in clean renewable energy that comes from 100% New York State generated sources. Sources include wind, biomass, and hydro. According to Phil Van Horne, president and CEO of BlueRock, “We can customize an energy supply solution to meet the unique needs of restaurants, offering more flexibility and choice than is available with the regulated utility.” Some customers are primarily focused on reducing costs, while others “may be looking for budget certainty,” Van Horne says, “and some may want some combination of the two. We have the ability to offer the customer whatever they need.” “We are a small family owned restaurant,” says Luanne Theodorakakos, of Spiros, a restaurant in Rochester, known for its gyros, burgers, and meatloaf. “And typically, our bills for gas and electric were $2000 a month, which, I'm sorry that's ridiculous.” Theodorakakos notes that a BlueRock Energy sales consultant came to see her, “and he said, “I can save you money.” I said, “We've been told that before, and
We can customize an energy supply for any restaurant in a way that fits what it needs, not what some regulated utility says. We know better than you what you want and here's what you're going to have.
he said, let me show you, and he did, and I'll tell you what, we signed. Our bill has never gone over $1200, in the heat of summer or the cold of winter. And that’s a real savings for any restaurant.” Theodorakakos says the restaurant saw real savings in electricity. “We use more electric than gas here, for some reason. We’re an old building. But we’re now saving $1,000 a month.” Theodorakakos notes that in the summer, the cost of air conditioning is higher than people realize. “Combine that with refrigeration, freezers and the gas use - which is more obvious because you see the grills on - and behind the scenes is a lot of electricity use,” she says. As for utilities, BlueRock Energy works with them to provide electricity and gas
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to Spiro’s. “The host utility continues to provide the delivery service. They own the gas pipes and they own the electric wires, so they have the physical service part of the business,” says Van Horne. “What we do is supply the energy, in this case, the electricity.” Van Horne explains that small business customers, who use a lot of energy, like many restaurants, come to his company to see how they can use it more efficiently. “We look into the business of each restaurant operator or the food service operator to find out what is it that makes them unique and different and what makes their energy needs different?” As anyone in the food industry knows, the restaurant business is a very competitive one. “There are many restau-
rants in Luanne’s area that would like to increase the traffic in their dining room. As we help restaurants like Spiro’s cut their costs, it allows Luanne and other business owners to provide a better experience, better food, and better service to their customers as they are able to spend their valuable dollars somewhere else, other than for a traditional utility, which may or may not offer what she individually wants,” says Van Horne. Van Horne says the company’s programs for gas parallel what it does in electricity. “We have a variety of products for those who want gas and some of those are designed with guaranteed savings. In writing. Many of our competitors won't do that but we do.” Another specialty BlueRock offers is providing fixed prices to customers who want to manage their budgets going forward. Some customers use both offerings. Van Horne says the company is continually working with its sales reps, who he calls consultants, to stay up-to-date with the latest market conditions and the latest technology. “We do whatever it takes for our consultants to be able to provide the best possible service to our customers.” BlueRock is particularly proud of the green energy it offers. “We believe very strongly in a ‘buy local’ philosophy, and so one of the things we do for our customers who are looking for a green energy supply is supply 100% of our renewable energy from New York State. Contrast that with our competitors who are primarily buying wind-generated power from the Midwest.” Theodorakakos points out that any increase in food costs alone can push her budget through the roof. “We're in an area where we can't jack our prices up, we have to keep them relatively low. Keeping our expenses as low as we can is the goal, and if we can do that with energy, we’re ahead of the game.”
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// EVENTS
IHMRS 2013
Noted Baking Expert Ellinger & Pastry Guild Set to Anchor IHMRS Baking Event At Javits From, November 10-12th at New York’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, a fresh new approach will debut at the 98th annual International Hotel Motel + Restaurant Show.
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e are committed to headlining the flavor and taste of Metro New York to the Show with our new “Javits is Cooking” programming," noted Show Director Phil Robinson. To accomplish that goal, IHM+RS and its management firm Hospitality Media Group (HMG) have teamed with TFS-TOTAL FOOD SERVICE to identify six key themes that will enable restaurateurs and food service operators to come away from the show with answers that they can put to work immediately to make their operation more profitable. "At the top of that list is baking," Robinson continued. "We found in talking to our attendees that there is a debate on whether a restaurant or food service operator should dedicate the space and manpower to producing their own made from scratch product or to buy from one of the many sources of high quality product that are in a market the size of the Tri-State area." To help resolve the debate, IHM+RS and its programming partner TFS, identified one of the Metro area's and nation's most talked about pastry experts: Chef Robert Ellinger, CMB, CEPC. One of Ellinger’s personal endeavors that he has achieved was the founding
Born in Jericho, New York, Robert Ellinger had an early interest in pastry and food science, and graduated from Highbury Technical College in Portsmouth, England with degrees in both.
of The Guild of Baking and Pastry Arts, which he is also the president of. The Guild is one of the most progressive pastry organizations in the country today. In 2011 Ellinger taught a course at the World Pastry Forum with his friend Chef Biagio Settepani called “Bakery Boot camp”; a crash-course on how to run a bakery. This was taught again in
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// NEWS
SUPPORT
Governor Cuomo Announces that Dozens of NY Chefs & Restaurants Take the Pride of New York Pledge Governor Andrew M. Cuomo recently announced that dozens of New York State chefs and restaurants have taken the Pride of New York Pledge to support New York State’s excellent wines, beers, spirits, agricultural products and local foods.
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ogether with the New York State Restaurant Association, the Governor reached out to restaurants, restaurant groups and chefs throughout the state to support the Pride of New York Pledge and increase their use of New York State products by 10 percent or more. The Pride of New York Pledge is an important new component of the Governor’s Taste NY program and is designed to encourage the state’s culinary industry to take advantage of the abundant food and beverage products the state has to offer. “Many chefs and restaurants have already discovered that New York State
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo recently announced that dozens of New York State chefs and restaurants have taken the Pride of New York Pledge.
offers some of the best locally produced foods, agricultural and dairy products, beers, wines and spirits in the entire country,” Governor Cuomo said. “Taste NY is not just about promoting the outstanding food and beverages made in New York, it’s about opening up critical markets for agricultural producers all across our great state. We are very proud that dozens of New York’s top restaurateurs have pledged to increase their use of these products to help generate greater awareness of our local foods and beverages and in turn, help local New York businesses succeed.“ Restaurant Groups and Chefs that have joined the Pride of NY Pledge include: Benchmarc, Chef Marc Murphy: Landmarc, Time Warner and Tribeca; Ditchplains, West Village and Upper West Side; Kingside Union Square Hospitality Group, Dan Soloway: Gramercy Tavern, Union Square Café, Blue Smoke, Jazz Standard, North End Grill, Maialino, Shake Shack (11 locations), The Modern, Café 2 & Terrace 5, Altamarea Group, Chef & co-owner Michael White: Marea, Ai Fiori, Osteria Morini, Nicoletta, Costata, The Butterfly – Manhattan, Fatty Crab & Fatty Cue: Rick Camac, Managing Partner,
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// EVENTS
IHMRS
2013 IHMRS Show Schedule Sunday November 10 - 1pm Getting More Value From Your Hotel Restaurant Room: 1E09 Moderator: Sean Downey, Editor-inChief, Lodging Panelists: Jeff Burns, Vice President, Hotel Investments, Behringer Harvard Jerome F. Cataldo, President & CEO, Hostmark Hospitality Group The value that a well-implemented restaurant brings to a hotel extends beyond dollars and cents. A restaurant that's in touch with the latest trends and offers great food, stylish décor, and a fun, open atmosphere can serve as a promotional tool for the hotel, driving catering programs and room service. New restaurant designs also are invading lobbies as they follow the latest eating and drinking habits - food is more social, guests are noshing, having a drink with a couple of small plates. Even cocktail menus now offer bar food. The panel will discuss how to make a smart restaurant strategy pay off for a hotel.
Sunday, November 10 - 2pm Sustainable F&B: Best Practices in NYC Booth 2670 This discussion will focus on green purchasing, waste minimization, energy and water efficiency, and corporate responsibility as it relates to restaurant and event operations. Learn about the InterContinental New York Barclay’s organic wine and spirits menu and its 15th floor bee colonies, as well as the LEED Gold Crosby Street Hotel’s chicken coop and terrace gar-
den. Christine Black will discuss her nonprofit that helps restaurants in the five boroughs of New York City reduce their utility bills, food waste, and overall impact on the environment. Moderator: Glenn Hasek, Publisher & Editor, Green Lodging News Panelists: Christine Black, Founder and Executive Director of The Sustainable Restaurant Corps, Danny Cooper, Assistant Director of F&B at InterContinental New York, Barclay Anthony Paris, Head Chef, Crosby Street Hotel
Monday, November 11 - 10:30 AM Keynote: Top Female Restaurant Leaders Dish on Their Success Room: 1E08 Moderator: John Mariani, Esquire Magazine Food + Travel Correspondence and Bloomberg Wine Columnist Panelists: Lisa Ingram, president & coo, White Castle Systems, Inc. Graceanne Jordan, Director of Operations, Craft Restaurants Inc. Come meet some of the top female leaders in a segment that closely aligns and intersects with the lodging business, the competitive world of restaurants. Although there are many similarities, there are significant differences from which lodging professionals can learn. Our all-star panel of executives will discuss their unique management styles, crucial strategic steps that made all of the difference, and how they stay on top of their game in an ubër competitive industry.
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// EYE
METRO NEW YORK'S FOODSERVICE EVENT COVERAGE
Tri-State Food Expo Teams with NJRA for Inaugural Show The Tri-State Food Expo, a new trade show for the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut tri-state food service and retail food industry, debuted at the Meadowlands Convention Center in Secaucus, New Jersey October 1 – 2.
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xhibitors, new product introductions, special events, special appearances, and education sessions, including labor issues as discussed by Howard K. Miller, Jr. Chief, Office of Customized & Literary
(L to R) The United Refrigeration duo of Lou Boero and Paul Young
Crescent Duck’s Doug Corwin brought menu solutions to the show floor
Training, New Jersey Department of Labor & Workforce Development, were all part of the conference, to help attendees learn something new to increase their bottom line. “Employers know that to be success-
Goldman Designs’ Jennifer Geddes and Total Food's own Michael Scinto
NJRA Chief Marilou Halverson welcomed many guests
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ful in business, you need to have a firm understanding of the labor issues involved in your state,” said Bob Callahan, show director. “This session offered Expo participants the chance to ask representatives from the New Jersey De-
Jessica Taft demonstrated the firm’s solutions
ItalCrust was among a number of firms that brought new menu options to the inaugural event
partment of Labor important local labor questions about such topics as hourly employees, hiring minors, overtime and more.” “The Tri-State Food Expo was the first of its kind to exclusively serve the growing food service and retail food and beverage markets across New Jersey, western Connecticut and the New York region including New York City, Long Island and those counties bordering northern New Jersey,” said Bob Callahan, show director. “The response from exhibitors, buyers, and the region’s trade associations exceeded our expectations.”
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(L to R) Riviera Produce’s Paula Viana and Ben Friedman
Veteran food broker Sabin Meyer (R) led a large contingent of food vendors to the show
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FOODSERVICE
METRO NEW YORK 2013-14 FOODSERVICE SOLUTION YEARBOOK
Pecinka Ferri Set To Reinvent Trade Show Experience With New Innovation Station At Javits Joe Ferri and Ed Pecinka say that one of the best things about their company is that everyone takes the “screwdriver approach.” The principals of Pecinka Ferri, a manufacturer’s agent to the foodservice industry, Ferri says, “We all carry tools. Our chef was out picking up a fryer to help out a fledgling chain customer yesterday."
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e’re not afraid to offload trucks, get down in the trenches, whatever it takes. We’ve got your back.” They lead a team of food service professionals that specializes in working with equipment dealers and their sales representatives (DSRs) and the professional food service consultant. “We look to them as our investment partners,” Ferri says. “Those guys are motivated by the urgency more than anything else. There’s always an impending sense of doom and urgency and we respond to that – I know this for a fact, we respond to those urgencies. Or try to, ” added Pecinka. It’s very similar on the consultant side of the business, he adds. “It’s a self-imposed urgency. You can say, urgency without the emergency, but it’s still deadlines and commit-
ments, and that changes the relationship. You have to be the eyes and ears of the factory to what the dealer needs, rather than shop to make a fit.” Ferri likes to talk about one of the biggest ways to do business in the past – the trade show – and how that’s changed. “Trade shows are an old English tradition of the marketplace, a seasonal market where you can meet and greet vendors and they can feel the merchandise. That was their primary goal. Everything else is window dressing and imposed on the event.” Asked what he means by “everything else,” Ferri says, “The networking components, the factory obsession with counting leads
There’s a tremendous value in this event because of its history, and the value to us was the confluence of all our industry partners under one roof in a very short period of time.
Pecinka Ferri is set to reinvent the trade show experience with a new Innovation Center Pavilion at Javits
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as a metric for trade show success, the obsession with new product. Yes, that all goes hand-in-hand with why we’re there, but the core values, the
benefits, of a trade show have been neglected or perhaps need rediscovery today.” So Pecinka Ferri decided to reinvent its strategy at this month's 98th annual International, Hotel, Motel and Restaurant Show slated for the Javits Center in New York City. “We recognized the decline of trade shows in general and the massive investment for all parties, and our decision became, to go big or don’t go at all," Pecinka continued. "There’s a tremendous value with the IHMRS event because of its history, and the value to us was the confluence of all our industry partners under one roof in a very short period of time. We decided how best
many of our rank-and-file industry partners have we educated?” Ferri says the idea is to ask them to focus on one particular item, highlight any product changes, since product changes are incremental, and easy to miss, and give those in the industry who may have missed a trade show – or chosen no longer to attend – the opportunity to see a product in an easier, more convenient way. “The population not present are enough grist for the mill,” he says. Who can
come? “Design and build folks, reps, everyone.” Ferri explains. As for the future, Pecinka says that the industry overall has leveled off to “rather healthy growth. It’s still a little choppy, and divided among product categories, but as go the sentiments of the public, go the sentiments of the business of the suppliers.” Ferri added that, while growth continues, it’s in the single digits right now and it’s not easy to see where that next trend is coming from. “We’re not all going
to go out and sell cronuts.” Even a recent chefs’ survey found no discernible trend right now, though Ferri does see one. “We’ve been fed the line that smoked foods -- cured products, pickles, from a foodie standpoint, fermented products, smoked products, all the traditional methods of preservation prior to refrigeration -- are one macro trend in food now.”
We recognized the decline of trade shows in general and the massive investment for all parties, and our decision became, to go big or don’t go at all.
to leverage that was to highlight only those items important to that core constituency." Pecinka Ferri's new look pavilion will take center stage from Sunday, November 10th through the 12th is yet another visionary step for the Little Falls, NJ based firm. The company will go live at their Innovation Station, cooking on and serving from the latest in commercial kitchen equipment. “We asked our factory partners to pare back their presence and expectations – how much equipment sold as a direct result, how many leads generated, etc.," Ferri explained. And our new metric became, how 67 • November 2013 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com
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COLLEGE & UNIVERSITY
METRO NEW YORK 2013-14 FOODSERVICE SOLUTION YEARBOOK
Clevenger Frable LaVallee Brings Dynamic Design To New Manhattan College Dining Facility Used to be, college cafeterias served dried-out meat, wilted lettuce for salads, and macaroni and cheese loaded with what looked (and tasted like) Cheese Whiz. If you were lucky, maybe some fruit for dessert.
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ut today college kids’ palates have changed, and so have their demands for good, healthy, nutritious food. Manhattan College is meeting this new trend with its brand-new food court/cafeteria, the Raymond W. Kelly ’63 Student Commons. The building is named for Ray Kelly, the New York City Police Commissioner and graduate of Manhattan College. Five floors and almost 70,000 square feet, the new food court will offer stations where made-to-order meals and snacks can be obtained, along with assembled-to-order food choices. A full pizza shop will provide students with fresh, just-baked pies with a variety of toppings, a wok will steam fresh noodles, and a Starbucks will serve frappucinos and everything else coffee around the clock. Cook-to-order or assemble-to-order stations will be sprinkled throughout the area. The food court will also feature typical college fare such as sandwiches, Italian
subs, wraps, etc. A production pantry will make the fresh pizza dough. “It’s not your typical college cafeteria,” says Billings, project manager at Clevenger Frable LaVallee. Billings, is a New York City consulting and design firm. “Kids’ palates have become more sophisticated. A traditional cafeteria doesn’t do it anymore. We wanted to make as much as possible made-to-
Billings goal was to improve the circulation path so that the culinary team could easily navigate the perimeter
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“It’s not your typical college cafeteria,” says Billings, project manager at Clevenger Frable LaVallee. Billings, is a New York City consulting and design firm.
order or assemble-to-order.” Billings notes that the new building will not just be a food court. “It’s a place to hang out, to meet for events and clubs, to see and be seen. It pro-
vides a sense of community,” he says. “It’s going to feel like a New York City style place.” Billings says the building started off with “a design where everything didn’t quite fit the way it was supposed to. So we revised it, improving the circulation path, where you can work your way around the perimeter. In the center is a column, and we worked around it to make it feel kind of like a grocery store, a produce section. We tried to create a path of circulation where you come in one end and circulate counter-clockwise to the counters. Everything’s built in but segmented and if you need to pop a piece out, it can come apart and be reassembled. The college wanted future flexibility.” A few floors up is a full kitchen that, in addition to producing food for the food court, will also be used for banquets and other special events, while also supporting the lower cafeteria servery. The kitchen features an American range, and the refrigeration is by True, while a convection oven will be used for its speed and simplicity in preparing meals. “The Starbucks will be particularly popular,” Billings says, and may also be an option for nearby commuters at the train station in the neighborhood, who will come by in the morning for a cup of coffee, then maybe swing by at night to bring a pizza home.
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HEALTHCARE
METRO NEW YORK 2013-14 FOODSERVICE SOLUTION YEARBOOK
Westchester Consultant Puts Finishing Touches on Post Sandy Upgrade at NYU's Langone Medical Center Opening the kitchen back up was probably one of the last things NYU Langone Medical Center thought about as it tried to recover from Hurricane Sandy last October.
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he New York City hospital near the East River evacuated hundreds of patients after losing power during the storm. And clearly, it was the patients who were top of mind for hospital staff. But workers – both rescue and hospital employees – along with the patients, who remained, had to be fed. So that’s where Clevenger Frable LaVallee, a consulting and design firm came in. “Sizing the kitchen for the necessary demand wasn't really an issue. The footprint of the kitchen didn't change. It was simply a matter of restoring or rehabilitating the kitchen just as it was,” said Jim LaVallee, principal, Clevenger Frable LaVallee. The company was brought in by the hospital and teamed with another consulting firm, Kaizen. “They were already engaged with the hospital on another project at the time that Sandy hit. But this was a project that required local presence, because of the urgency and we worked with Kaizen to get this out of
bed as quickly as we could,” said Gary Bensky, also principal. Bensky notes that the project didn’t require the company’s usual vision and strategic thinking. “It was simply replacement in-kind and get it done as quickly as we could, because the hospital was having to rely on temporary meal services to support the limited number of patients that were in the hospital.” The hospital’s main kitchen, at the basement level, was devastated by the storm. So the hospital set up two mobile kitchens on the roof of the building to support their limited patient meal service needs. The company missed all the mud and muck as they got there several days after the flooding but “there were no lights, the power was shut off. It was a little disconcerting,” said Bensky. One positive was that all the existing equipment remained in place. But that still didn’t solve anything. “It was a matter of determining what, if any of the existing equipment items were capable,” Bensky said. “Could any of
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The hospital’s main kitchen, at the basement level, was devastated by the storm. So the hospital set up two mobile kitchens on the roof of the building to support their limited patient meal service needs.
the wiring or controls below the water line be salvaged? Re-used? Then it became a matter of preparing drawings and specifications for the replacement of existing items in-kind.” The hospital wanted to replace the walk-in refrigerators and freezers, all its equipment, with the same manufacturers. Probably one of the most difficult aspects of the project, Bensky recalled, was that not only all of the equipment had to be removed
from the site, but, given the age of the space and the infrastructure supporting the space – including drainage, water, gas – the decision was to strip away everything to essentially wind up with a shell of a space. That’s when the work really began. “Everything needed to be redesigned with all new infrastructure to support the replacement equipment. The other challenge was that all the existing equipment that wasn't disposed of had to be moved to offsite storage.” A number of visits were required to that off-site storage to confirm the availability of the existing units, “and to make sure that we could count on those items - moveable stock racks, dollies, tray line, equipment, tables, counters, etcetera - were available when they needed to be available in order to satisfy the short-fuse schedule,” said Bensky. “There was very little, if anything, left that had any type of mechanical/electrical service that could be re-used. That was all disposed of. The majority of the equipment was actually removed from the site before we had an opportunity to inventory it completely.” Bensky said he’s learned a lot from this project. “When building a flood plan, you should try and design food service facilities, and the infrastructure supporting those facilities, in a way that keeps those facilities out of harm's way. In other words, higher elevations in the building.”
// PASTRY CHEF OF THE MONTH
PRESENTED BY
Chef Jennifer Brennan, Cafe Manager/Pastry Chef at Flik International Jennifer Brennan started out as a journalist but a temporary side trip to a catering facility, a beautiful turn-of-the-century mansion, where she worked in the office but hung out mostly in the kitchen, turned her career – and life – around, over 10 years ago. She became a wellknown pastry chef and continues to this day turning out delicate, exquisite confections at Flik International, a corporate dining services company, to tempt the palate, and the heart.
H
ow did you start out? I graduated from Suffolk University with a degree in journalism, then moved with my boyfriend at the time, now my husband, to Seattle and got a job working at this amazing mansion that operated as a catering facility that could be rented for weddings, corporate events, etc. The mansion had a chef and souschef so all the catering was done inhouse in this beautiful kitchen. I hung out in the kitchen a lot, that inspired me, and in the busy season I was allowed to peel shrimp. I must have done a hundred of them! I did stuff like that; I just wanted to be there. My mom’s a great cook so I’ve always grown up around good cooks. That’s what inspired me. Journalism didn’t. So how did you make the switch? Well, I decided to make a career of it, so I went to a baking school at South Seattle Community College for an 18-month pastry course. It was dirt cheap, and I swear I got a great education. Right out of school I got a job at the Four Seasons in Seattle. I worked in the pastry shop there, working the second
ar. I got to watch, got to work with that. I didn’t do any of the sculptures, but just being around it was awe-inspiring. What happened next? I moved back to Boston and went to work for the Four Seasons there, for four years. I worked under Tom Pontichelli, who thought outside the box. I did some fun stuff with him. Here again, I worked the second shift, plated desserts for Aujourd’hui, their fine-dining restaurant. I worked the line, soufflés, crème brulees, that kind of thing. Chef Jennifer Brennan, Pastry Chef at Flik International
shift. I did the plated desserts for its fine-dining restaurant and eventually I moved into making croissant dough, Danish dough, all the breakfast pastries, making them from scratch. The Four Seasons at that time was one of the few hotels left (it’s no longer there) which did everything from scratch. It was an incredible extension of my education. I worked under a chef, a traditional pastry chef, the only one I ever worked with who could do blown sug-
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How did Boston compare to Seattle? Boston is more progressive than Seattle. Remember, Seattle was just coming out of that whole grunge thing. Boston is more sophisticated, and people are willing to spend a lot more, too. Did you continue working for Four Seasons? Well, about that time my life changed. I had my daughter and I couldn’t work the hours anymore. I left and went to work for a bakery in Danvers, Mass., called Cake for Occasions. I was there 10 years as the wedding cake decorator, then moved up to manager ---
what gave me the opportunity to work Monday to Friday, weekends delivering wedding cakes, with all-handson-deck. I left when I had my second child because I needed to take it down a notch. How does Flik fit in? I was looking for a job with more reasonable hours and Flik gave that to me. I supervise the café here. The executive chef also gave me the opportunity to do some baking. He was doing it, but he’s not a trained pastry chef, and he was happy to hand it over to me. It’s great, it gives me the opportunity to have my hands in, and bake for a few hours every morning. He gives me creative license. How are you liking it? It’s been a journey to figure out what this crowd likes. Last week I made a clafoutie, and it did not sell, and I realized people probably didn’t know what it was. So I put up a sign, saying that it was a traditional French dessert. People said, “Oh, that’s what it is,” and then started buying it. It can’t all be blondie bars and chocolate chip cookies. I do like to educate. So are they now enjoying your creativity – and teaching? I really do like to be creative, I think it’s fun if they can learn something about what I do. It takes people a while to realize I’m doing the desserts. They say, “They look really good. Did you do them. Do you do a lot of baking at home?” They look so surprised when I tell them I’m actually a trained pastry chef. How do you approach the sweet and savory side of things?
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RESTAURANTS
METRO NEW YORK 2013-14 FOODSERVICE SOLUTION YEARBOOK
Jacobs Doland Beer Teams with Tavern on the Green to Recreate Iconic Manhattan Landmark For decades it was known as the place to go for special occasions – weddings, showers, anniversaries. Formal and historic, The Tavern on the Green was the coveted destination for celebrating milestones in the lives of New Yorkers and just about anyone else.
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he famed restaurant closed for several years but now it’s back, as a casual restaurant and café, with Katy Sparks as the executive chef, according to Gary Jacobs, Partner at Jacobs Doland Beer, who worked on the rebuilding of the landmark restaurant in Central Park. Sparks was quoted in grubstreet.com as saying that diners should expect a “whole new approach” to food at the reopened Tavern. “We wanted to create a first-tier restaurant for both locals and visitors,” says Jacobs. “Our goal was to make it a destination-worthy restaurant. Katy has high standards and we wanted to work with her to create an open kitchen to showcase this.” Jim Caiola and David Salama of the Philadelphia-based Emerald Green Group are the new operators of the restaurant, and Jacobs works with them. Though the space is smaller than the original restaurant, it will still seat 700 guests, according to Jacobs. The original building was gutted and the new kitchen will be situated in a glass-enclosed space. “It was a blank
slate when we started out,” says Jacobs. “The restaurant will have an open display kitchen, and the chef will be facing the guests --actually grilling toward the guests. Two large hearth ovens will be part of the show.” Bringing the kitchen and guests together is part of the new restaurant’s focus, says Jacobs. “We want to celebrate the type of cooking the chef is doing. We want guests to see the cooking surface, the grilling, see the people preparing the food, so it’s a shared experience.” There will be some banqueting, according to Jacobs, but anything on a large scale, like 1,000 guests, will not be part of the new restaurant. In terms of what was used to build the kitchen, “The equipment was really based on Katy’s menu,” says Jacobs, “which is intended to allow for high output, high throughput. We helped them put some preliminary equipment in the proposal stage, like char broilers, a lot of plancha cooking. We have a total of eight warmers spread across four areas.” Jacobs says they had hoped to have more space on the outparcels when
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building began. “But we didn’t get it. So we had to make the most of the cubic foot.” “We didn’t have enough room for a flight conveyor so we put in two conveyors – mirror image conveyors – with access to the room through a walk-in under the glass rack. We needed a lot of flexibility.” The selection of the right equipment dealer salesperson was crucial to the project. Arthur Fisher of Sam Tell and Son was brought in to bring his unique skillset. “This was going to be a job that required someone highly organized, who could make his presence known on the job site when appropriate. There were so many people on the project who were well-intentioned but they were all fighting for their space, their opportunity. We needed somebody who would get in there and represent the needs of the foodservice program, who walks and feels the part,” says Jacobs. The team faced many challenges. “Hoods and ventilation problems were the single biggest test because of the nature of the building and the landmarks, the higher requirements for all this grill-
ing, we needed,” says Jacobs. "We had to have very careful coordination on the mechanical and structural side, and even the last-minute adjustments. It was not an easy building. It’s great when you go in there, we were able to figure out exactly how we were going to line up with the structure. But then you get in and it’s so difficult when you’re making it off raw brick. You don’t know where you’re going to end up.” Another challenge was setting up for beer and wine. “We have a dedicated keg box on the mezzanine but our biggest challenge was getting the draft wines up to the outdoor bar,” says Jacobs. “We were not able to run as deep as we would have hoped – I think we were only allowed to go 3” down, which meant we had to split into several feeds. We had to have them hand-wrapped. Everybody who owed me a favor in this industry got a call,” Jacobs says with a smile. He also turned to Pecinka Ferri for product knowledge. “I’m not too proud to say I know a lot of very smart people in the industry. If you know people like this and don’t ask for their input, you’re not being responsive to your client,” Jacobs points out. A final challenge was the refrigeration system. “We designed it as a walk-in but we had a limited footprint because we’d be entering through landmarks and the Central Park Conservancy – in not so many terms – told us we had this much square footage and this height. Period.” Everyone is shooting for a Dec. 31 opening, Jacobs says. Though not everything is done and installed yet, “It’s all well on schedule.”
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// NEWS
EVENTS
Best Of BCA Set To Cross Manhattan For IHMRS 2013 Javits For Culinary Diversity Celebration A pair of the Metro New York food service industry's top events are set to celebrate their annual events this month. The BCA will host its 20th Annual Anniversary Cultural Awareness Salute Gala on Friday, November 8th at Gustavinos on the East Side.
O
n Sunday, November 10th, the ribbon will be cut to celebrate the opening of the 98th annual International Hotel, Motel and Restaurant show at the Javits Center on the West Side. or the very first time, the BCA and IHMRS will celebrate BCA's mission is to create exposure and provide educational and professional opportunities for culinary and hospitality professionals of color. On Monday, November 11th, some of the BCA's top chefs will bring their culinary talents to the IHMRS show for Culinary Celebration of Diversity. The BCA chefs led by Chef Kavon William Langley will bring the excitement of their pre-show gala to the Javits. "We are thrilled to bring some of the top culinary talent in Metro New York to the show," noted the show's general manager Phil Robinson. "With our new theme of Javits is Cooking, the BCA's talent will showcase the breadth of talent that is uniquely New York.” Team leader Chef Kavon William Langley grew up with the abundance of fresh produce and seafood along the eastern seaboard gave Chef Kavon Langley an introduction to the world of culinary arts at the early age of thirteen. Maybe by fate or simply destiny, Kavon was given the opportunity to work and train under
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// NEWS
HOSPITALITY
Jonathan Eisenberg’s Travels In Hospitality Consulting & Investing Started Out Very Simply Then Spark Hospitality Was Born While obtaining an engineering and economics degree in Atlanta, Eisenberg was introduced to the owners of The Chili Pepper, at that time the largest nightclub in the city.
"T
hey were struggling because they built the club for the Olympics and during the Olympics, they were doing great. But after the Olympics, it was hard to draw the big crowds required for the venue, so they hired me as their operations and marketing director. I set programs at the local colleges. I was literally busing kids in at night from Emory and Georgia Tech.” Eisenberg recalls how he “packed the place out,” ran it for two years, and then helped the owners sell the club right about the time he was graduating, then went back to New York, worked as a consultant and “moonlighted as a promoter and DJ”. That was when he began thinking about clubs – whether operating them, owning them or investing in them – might be his next move. “My friends with whom I started my promoting and DJ days even before college were starting their hospitality empires. They were looking for big spenders who would buy tables and bottles.. I was one of their brokers and I got friends to buy big tables at places such as Tenjune and Pink Elephant. I acted as kind of a VIP promoter for them and brought them
Though Spark did start out as a part-time business 7 years ago, Eisenberg’s quick to note he’s CEO and now doing Spark 100%. Spark has grown from my bedroom to a small nimble team in an office with a lot of partners and advisors.
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the big spenders.” That was when Eisenberg moved into private equity real estate. “I worked for two high net-worth families. I worked with very substantial funds in the real estate market. Worked for the Skolnick family, who built, owned and sold Solgar Vitamins. I worked for Steve Rosenberg of Greystone & Co., Inc. I still kept doing my promoting, strategically putting people together.” Eisenberg said he was then approached by a real estate developer with whom he had done business in Atlanta. “He was one of the top contenders for the new Loews hotel concept, and Jonathan Tisch, chairman of the chain, had told him, ‘You're only getting my new hotel brand if you can give me a hot, sexy restaurant in Atlanta next to my hotel.’ So he called me and I said, "Look, you want hot and sexy, and you want something that'll work in Atlanta, you want STK.” STK is a trendy New-Yorkbased steakhouse franchise. Eisenberg said he had to tread carefully. “Down south, it's meat and potatoes. They like it sexy, but it can't be too crazy like a Spice Market where they don't quite understand what it is. We closed the deal to bring STK down to Atlanta. In the interim, I started to slowly pull away from real estate, and got more into hospitality consulting, more focused on deal structuring and capital advisory for the hospitality world.” Eisenberg’s first step was to begin giving operators the opportunity to structure their deals in a more businesslike way. “Many restaurant hospitality deals are done on the back of an envelope which, when things work out great, everyone's happy. If they don't work out great, then it's your
fault. No, it's my fault.” Eisenberg’s background in structuring real estate private equity deals allowed him to take that knowledge and “put it into a business I love, the hospitality business. I've always loved the energy, the environment, but I'm a deal and numbers guy. I'm not a chef. I'm not an operations guy. So when I figured out that I can use my skill set in something that I am greatly passionate about, that's when Spark Hospitality was born.” It took off from there. “We most recently were instrumental in the turn-around of Dylan Prime. We shut it down a month ago. We're in complete renovation mode. And I’m actually in the process of chef-tastings so we can pick out our new chef for our relaunch in November. We hired J Public Relations to publicize the re-launched of this downtown restaurant and help to create an iconic brand,” Eisenberg said. “My role was to structure the deal. Moving forward, Spark’s role will be to help in the brand development at Dylan Prime and get it from one current TriBeCa location to a number of venues across the country, and possibly internationally.” Though Spark did start out as a part-time business 7 years ago, when he was working for Greystone, Eisenberg’s quick to note he’s CEO and now “doing Spark 100%. Spark has grown from my bedroom to a small nimble team in an office with a lot of partners and advisors. Spark itself is doing a capital raise now to be able to grow even more with all the opportunities we have on our table.” Another example of what he’s doing right now, Eisenberg said, is with a client who has 12 locations, most of which are located in Manhattan.
“They were approached by a large private equity firm to take them across the country. However, when the private equity shop went in and looked at their operations, they said, ‘Look, you guys just don't have it together. You don't have a COO, you don't have policies and procedures. Every store is run a little bit differently.’ So they came to us in connection with a million dollar capital raise that will be used to create professional systems and controls – foundations for future rounds of growth and expansion. What we helped structure, Eisenberg pointed out, was an innovative convertible instrument that would work in the restaurant industry. Eisenberg works on established brands as well as new disruptive concepts as well. He is currently very excited about a new concept to finally pair quality with quantity in the mixology space with Mixologist Orson Salicetti and Nicole Stillings. Eisenberg said Spark’s real skill set is creative financing options, and deal structuring. “My general counsel spent nine years structuring financing deals on Wall Street. He knows what he's doing. We do it in a way that protects the parties yet makes business sense." Eisenberg noted that Spark was instrumental in a $6.5 million raise for Monarch, a new 15,000 Sq Ft restaurant in New York City. “We were key partners in connection with their significant capital raise”, he said. Sometimes Spark works with chefs. “We're working now with a chef who's worked for many years under Jean-Georges and he's never had his own place. He has this amazing concept in his head, but doesn't know
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// EYE
METRO NEW YORK'S FOODSERVICE EVENT COVERAGE
The Society for Foodservice Management National Convention The Society for Foodservice Management (SFM), which, in October, became the Society for Hospitality and Foodservice Management (SHFM), has released two reports on trends in corporate foodservice and workplace hospitality.
"T
his is an important year for our Society, and this successful conference positioned us well for a lot of growth in our 35th year,” said Sabrina Capannola, incoming SHFM president. “It is a pleasure to help build the momentum that carries our industry forward.” The first report focuses on the combined complexity of hospitality services such as wellness programs, conference and audio visual services, sustainable commitment, office vending, coffee services and the many ancillary services managed by the members of SHFM. The second of the two studies reflects the direction of SFM’s new brand enhancement as it expands to become
Audrey Ceuppens, B2B Account Manager, Nespresso USA, Inc and Anthony Kaszuba, President, RMA-Hospitality Management during the Opening Reception
SHFM. SHFM serves the needs and interests of executives in the onsite foodservice and hospitality industry. The new reports, the fourth in a series of studies, uses new data sorts for population and geographic regions of the United States and reflects trends after the economic decline of 2008 and 2009, according to the association. While the 2008 study relied on data from 2007, prior to the decline, the 2010 study reflected 2009 data, the lowest part of the economic decline. The 2013 data reflects trends today, when the economy is on the mend. It also points out the changes that dining services operators have made for continuous improvement. SHFM said that there are no known comprehensive data sources for gath-
SHFM guest celebrity chefs Rick Moonen and Chef Michelle Bernstein with Chris Ivens-Brown at the Taste of the Tropics Floribbean BBQ
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ering or understanding new trends in the hospitality industry, and that as an association, it addresses this need through defining, activating and gathering data in a common, historical and measurable fashion. The renaming of the association, led by immediate past president Mark Freeman, was held at the association’s national conference last month in Bonita Springs, near Naples, Florida. The evolution of the organization addresses the evolving responsibilities of client liaisons and self-operators
in corporate foodservice, according to SHFM, growing to include such hospitality-related functions as vending, conference and events support, fitness centers, health and wellness and childcare—areas more broadly covered under the Workplace Hospitality segment. “Today marks a historic moment for our society,” said SHFM Executive Director Tony Butler. “This was the critical moment to shift with the growing needs of our industry. SHFM will
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Mark Freeman, Senior Services Manager at Microsoft passes the gavel to incoming SHFM President Sabrina Capannola
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// EVENTS
IN METRO NEW YORK
NJRA 34th Annual Awards Gala The New Jersey Restaurant Association is pleased to invite you to our 34th Annual Awards Gala – the premier event for the people of the Garden State’s restaurant and hospitality industry.
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his year, we’re pleased to recognize the extraordinary contributions of the following awardees: Restaurateur of the Year – Sneh Mehtani of The Mehtani Restaurant Group, Gold Plate Award Winners – Diane Carr & Harold Imperatore of The Bernards Inn, Gold Plate Award Winner – Anthony Calandra of The Calandra Mediterranean Grill. What to Expect Attendees will enjoy a lively cocktail hour preceding the Awards & Dinner Reception prepared by the chefs of Mayfair Farms, West Orange, NJ. The soiree will continue with the “Sweets & Treats After-Party” celebrating their
Gold Plate Award Winner Anthony Calandra of The Calandra Mediterranean Grill.
Gold Plate Award Winners Diane Carr & Harold Imperatore of The Bernards Inn
2013 Honoree. They’re pleased to announce that the Super Allied Liquor Distribution Companies are preparing a menu of vibrant and delectable desserts and cocktails. You won’t want to miss it! SAVE THE DATE: DECEMBER 2, 2013 Join this “Celebration of Colors” to honor excellence and innovation in our restaurant and food service community. We promise that an extraordinary experience awaits you on December 2nd, 2013 at Mayfair Farms, West Orange, NJ! Call Lucie at (609)599-3316 or email LucieD@njra. org.
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// EYE
METRO NEW YORK'S FOODSERVICE EVENT COVERAGE
The 2013 Greenwich Wine+Food Festival Wraps With Highest Attendance To Date And An Even Larger Donation To The Hole In The Wall Gang Camp Charity The 2013 Greenwich Wine+Food Festival, presented by Serendipity, a three-day event that benefited Paul Newman’s The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, wrapped up its third annual festival.
"L
ast month's 2013 Annual Greenwich Wine+Food Festival presented by Serendipity, was a huge success," says Suni Unger, publisher of Serendipity magazine, and founder of the third annual fundraiser. "Every year we connect
people from Westchester and Fairfield counties, Manhattan and beyond with celebrity and local chefs, restaurants, wine and beer vendors, musicians and more at the beautiful Roger Sherman Baldwin Park in downtown Greenwich, Connecticut." "We're especially proud of our ongoing relationship with Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall Gang Camp," continued Unger, who adds that 100% of the festival's net proceeds go to the charity. "With the incredible support we received from the Town of Greenwich and the area's strong and vibrant culinary community, we were able to contribute more than $50,000 to the non-
The Southern Bash tent offered barbecue, burgers and craft beer to attendees of the Greenwich 2013 Wine+Food Festival
Suni Unger, founder of Serendipity magazine, serves up bananas foster along with Duff Goldman, the acclaimed chef behind Charm City Cakes and star of Ace of Cakes, in the Clarke Kitchens Demo Tent
Graham Elliot with Merlin Verrier in the Clarke Kitchens Demo Tent. Verrier, who served as Director of Operations for Elliot in Chicago, is moving east to work as Executive Chef at Elliot’s newest venture, Primary Food & Drink, opening this winter in Greenwich, CT
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profit organization." “We at Camp are tremendously grateful to Serendipity for hosting such an extraordinary event and helping us share our mission with more than 4,000 guests,” says Ray Shedd, the Camp’s Director of Corporate Relations. "We will use the $50,000 the festival raised to provide a ‘different kind of healing’ to more than 20,000 seriously ill children and their family members this year." The event’s 2nd annual Burger Battle, hosted by Joe Bastianich and judged by the festival’s celebrity chefs including Graham Elliot, Richard Blais, Ray “Dr. BBQ” Lampe and Duff Goldman named Stamford’s Plan B Burger Bar’s Trio of Mini Cheeseburgers served with American cheese and parmesan fries as the winner. “This competition was so much fun
Dispatch performs live at the Greenwich 2013 Wine+Food Festival
and such a great opportunity to come together with other restaurants and people who love food,” said Rich Boudreau, general manager of Plan B Burger Bar in Stamford. “This festival is such an important part of the restaurant scene because it provides an opportunity for everyone to get together and share their creativity. We were honored to be a part of it.” The winner of the first Foodies Choice Award, selected by online voters prior to the festival, was Chef Johnson's Johnson Food Truck. An estimated 450 people attended the Grand Tasting Gala on Friday evening, and more than 3,500 guests attended Saturday’s Culinary Village between 12 pm and 10 pm. 100% of the festival’s net proceeds benefit The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, an organization dedicated to providing healing to children and their families coping with cancer, sickle cell anemia and other serious illnesses. Serendipity is a glossy lifestyle magazine covering the latest trends in food and wine, fashion and beauty, travel and leisure, home and garden, health and fitness and is the ultimate guide for living well in Fairfield and Westchester counties. All Photos Courtesy of Serendipity Magazine/Kyle Norton
Sara Moulton, of Sara’s Weeknight Meals, demonstrates “Five-Ingredient Weeknight Meals” in the Clarke Kitchens Demo Tent
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// NEWS
FINANCING
GE Capital Expanding Inventory Financing In Foodservice Equipment Industry It’s not a name you think of in the same sentence as food. But GE Capital’s Commercial Distribution Finance (CDF) business announced this month that it plans to expand its inventory financing capabilities in the commercial foodservice and refrigeration industries across the U.S. and Canada.
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he company has served these industries since 1995, though it’s been in the inventory financing business for over 60 years, according to Linda Fiore, CDF’s managing director of new relationship development. “We work with manufacturers who sell their products through dealers and distributors,” said Fiore. “By providing manufacturers with inventory financing solutions, we enable them to put more product out in the market.” CDF also provides market intelligence that helps companies throughout the supply chain to manage their businesses more effectively. In addition, dealers who choose to finance through CDF obtain instant access to online tools, including customized inventory management reports, comprehensive industry data and insightful benchmarking data. “Many foodservice equipment manufacturers use their own, valuable working capital to fund dealer purchases,” Fiore said. “We have a dedicated team of industry specialists who work with these manufacturers to optimize dealer financing programs to fit their specific needs and make the best use of this working capital. For ex-
ample, offering equipment dealers the ability to make larger purchases with extended repayment terms can really help companies in this major segment of the food industry grow their sales.” When asked for an example of a company that’s consolidating its factories, Fiore gives the following: “They might have gone from a dealer network of ‘x’ to a smaller network of ‘y’, but regardless they need to find what are the best ways to support getting their products out into the industry. Through inventory financing, we are providing their dealers with payment terms so they do not have to immediately pay for what they buy from manufacturers. All parties can take their working capital and put it to use in other areas such as research and development or acquisitions. And then we come in and work with the manufacturer and that dealer to help them use these facilities most efficiently.” Businesses that take advantage of CDF’s offerings get a predictable payment stream, from a reliable, strong financial source. This is attractive to dealers, too, Fiore noted. “They’re obviously going to look to stock more of the manufacturer's products, when this type of product or arrangement is
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Businesses that take advantage of CDF’s offerings get a predictable payment stream, from a reliable, strong financial source. This is attractive to dealers, too, Fiore noted. available to them.” CDF works with a variety of channels through which a manufacturer might sell its products, including buying groups, distributors or dealers. “We simply want to understand what's important to the manufacturer and what's important to that buyer, then try and customize a solution that works to support both objectives,” Fiore said. The whole process is straightforward. Said Fiore, “We work jointly with
the manufacturer and their dealer network so when the manufacturer ships product to dealers, we pay the manufacturer. When the dealer then sells to his end user, that's when our financing is repaid.” She explained that the manufacturer gets its money up-front, and the dealer, some valuable financing during the time when they hold that product in inventory. Fiore said the process doesn’t change according to the size of the dealerships manufacturers work with. “Some of our manufacturers have hundreds of dealers, others have less than 100 or even less than 50. It comes down to how does that manufacturer go to market and how does it sell through their distribution channel? Once CDF has created a program that meets a manufacturer’s objectives, it works with their dealer network to educate them about the details. “We have a team of salespeople who are reaching out, calling the dealers or visiting them face-to-face to talk about what we offer and the benefits,” said Fiore. “We’re really collaborating with the manufacturer. We jointly believe this is value we're bringing to their distribution chain.” Fiore pointed out that CDF provides commercial resources on both the sales and the marketing side, “And all that is really based on making sure that working with the manufacturer we can customize and build the right solution for them,” said Fiore. For more information, manufacturers are invited to contact Rosanne Giovenco at Rosanne.Giovenco@ge.com, or visit the CDF web site: http://www. gecdf.com/home.
// NEWS
COOKING
Bunge Offers Comprehensive Base Of Menu Solutions For Metro New York Service Operators Replacing trans fat may be an old story today, but the need for good oils for cooking and baking is very much alive in the restaurant world as it searches for the very best to please its high-end and demanding customers who want quality in everything they eat.
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nd that’s where Bunge North America comes in. The company sources grains and oilseeds grown by farmers and turns them into food ingredients used by the most trusted names in the food industry. “We transform commodity oil all the way from the high-end, high-oleic products, like canola, to a blend of mid-range oils,” says Bill Lovell, regional sales manager, North Central Division, of Bunge. “We also sell margarine, hand sprays, butter-flavored oils and other alternatives.” Adds Joe Hansen, director of food service, packaged oils, “Our line of salad and frying oils go from a commodity oil to a variety of premium oils that allow for a longer fry life.” Hansen notes that a special function Bunge offers is the ability to provide consultation with restaurants on what the best oil choices are for their operation. “We evaluate what they’re doing and we suggest what might work for them. If you have a hamburger chain that is doing a lot of frying, with French fries, etc., you need one kind of oil. And then, if you're more in a white tablecloth type of environment, you would have another need. We have different ways
of matching up the proper oil to that customer.” Hansen notes that this helps the distributors, too. “It’s a great line of communication with the end user. An expert to interface with the customer. So, if they're working with us, we’re gaining business on their behalf.” Though for many years Bunge sold directly to distributors, Lovell says the company is now selling more to the customer “with the idea that they'll be pulled through that way.” It’s an interesting proposition, Lovell says, “because the restaurant guy is more apt to look at the price tag whereas the business and institutions on the healthcare end will look a little more at the benefit of using a higherend, little healthier oil in their operation. And there are that 20% of restaurants that realize paying a little more means getting a little better product, a little more lifetime.” There are always the chefs to consider, of course. “Chefs who like to cook with high heat need a certain profile product that they’ve got to be working with in order to execute that menu. It's his reputation, his food going out,” says Lovell. “They want the best.” Back when trans fat wasn’t such a dirty word, “probably 90% of restau-
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rants were using a trans fat oil. But now that the focus is more on the quality of the food going out, you’re looking at a switch to higher-quality oils,” he adds. Lovell says the company has developed some bakery shortening using EIE, or enzymatic Interesterification, which rearranges fatty acids to adjust the melting properties of the oil. “We take the palm out of the equation, because palm is very high in saturates, and with EIE, the oil will still act the same way as a palm product, but zero trans fat. It's just an alternative to reduce the saturates.” In 2011 Bunge bought a butter alternative plant from C.F. Sauer. “We bought some margarine expertise and we bought an established business,” says Hansen. “It gave us an entree into a lot of food service private label. We're now able to offer liquid margarine in a variety of pack sizes. Also, whipped margarine, which is a special process, which we wouldn't have had the capabilities for. So it gives the end-user customer and the distributor customer a full line of products where before, our margarine capabilities were limited to just some solids and cubes.” Why get into margarine when selling such a premium line of products?
“Margarine is 80% soybean oil. And since we're a soybean and canola processor, it uses our base product, soybean oil,” says Hansen.” Lovell says that, while the company’s known for its wide variety of oils, from very high-end to very lowend, service is also a key selling point. “Our customer service reps know exactly what our restaurants want and make sure we get it to them.” Hansen says the company typically adapts its sales presentations to each customer, based on its knowledge of what they're doing with oil. Hansen acknowledges that there are many brands of oil out there. But what sets his company apart is its quality. “We make it fresh each day,” says Hansen. “It’s not sitting in a container and on a ship for a few weeks. The chain of custody is wellmonitored. The temperature is maintained. With temperature shock, the product won’t come out right. That brings consistency to your bakery, or your restaurant, and that's a really big selling point.” Bunge also offers some pan release products. “That rounds out the line in the oils. If you're going to be in the oil business, you have got to have these items,” says Hansen. “We can deliver the right product at the right price, and get customers the results they need.” What’s ahead for the company? “We’re experimenting with some extra virgin soy and canola oil,” says Hansen. “What makes us different is that there's an on-going listening process between us and our customer base. And then an ongoing execution process between us and our R and D people to create products that answer what end-users want. Innovation’s a big part of the process, and so is adding value for our customers.”
// NEWS
INNOVATION
SCA/Tork's Innovative New Design Enables Tri-State Operators to Turn Over New Leaf SCA, the maker of the Tork® brand of paper products used outside the home in North America, now offers a hand towel, the High End Hand Towel, that not only dries hands with a soft hand feel, but stands up to the pressure of being pulled out of a dispenser, all through its softer, stronger new fashionable design.
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he company’s dispensers, which allow users to pull out only one paper towel at a time, can reduce an establishment’s waste by 25%, according to John Drengler, Vice President of Product & Marketing at SCA AfH Professional Hygiene-North America. Best of all, the hand towels are fashionably designed, with an embossed leaf pattern, for fine dining restaurants, and other top-end establishments. “The leaf design represents quality you can see and feel – and people will notice the quality of these towels,” said Joe Russo, SCA vice president sales & marketing, Away from Home Professional Hygiene North America. “We know that for our customers, every impression counts, which is why we used a leaf to reinforce their highend image and provide a luxurious experience, even in the restroom.” Drengler said the company sees this new towel in restrooms where comfort and style are important, primarily in office buildings, but also in casinos, convention centers, and lodging establishments. But fine dining is one area SCA also
Whether it's high-end C-fold towels or folded towels in general, there's a lot of potential waste. The customer could come in and basically take a clump or a stack of product.
plans to zero in on. “Within fine dining establishments, we see an awful lot of products in baskets,” he said. “Whether it's high-end C-fold towels or folded towels in general, there's a lot of potential waste. The customer could come in and basically take a clump or a stack of product. And there's a lot of waste associated with that, because they just wind up on the floor, over-filling the wastebasket. Not to mention all over the counter!
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“So when we looked at fine dining restaurants, we saw primarily the need for replacing the types of folded towels, paper towels, that are usually found in baskets in restrooms, as well as the stacks of disposable cloth-like types of product that are typically folded in half that guests use, like a guest towel,” Drengler added. Another drawback of lower-end paper towels is that they’re usually not used all the way, Drengler said. “It's
just the bottom and the top sheets that are used. And typically, the rest is thrown out. So what these products are intended to do is to be part of a one-at-a-time dispensing unit, whether it's through a fixed cabinet that's recessed in the wall in the restroom or our new H2 express counter top dispensing system that is designed to fit on the counter, in places where space is limited.” The dispenser itself is a very chic, fashionable high-end dispenser, Drengler added. “Users get only one towel at a time, and thus reduce the waste immensely.” The products will be manufactured in an environmentally sensitive way, and meet Forest Stewardship Council sustainability standards. Drengler said the challenge with these products is that they have to be manufactured and designed to perform, at a high level, but also to look and feel like a luxury brand. They may be priced higher, Drengler admits, “but it's all about cost and use, waste reduction, consumption reduction. It cuts down on the amount of product that's being dispensed. The hand towels are also presented in a much more user-friendly fashion, with the dispensers. So users grab what they need and only use what they need.” Drengler said he certainly doesn’t mean to play down the high-end quality of the hand towels. “Just the visual appearance, hand feel, softness that you can see, with a leaf-embossed pattern, really signals to the market that high-end image that the Tork brand is known for.” To help businesses see what exactly
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BOOTH
#1933
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BOOTH
#1639
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// MIXOLOGY
WITH WARREN BOBROW
Metro New York Mixology Usually by the middle to end of October there has been at least a flake or two from the sky, just to make things fun.
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his year not a flake, yet, just 1000 shades of the most beautiful fall we have had in recent memory. The ground is still soft and there is still mint in the garden to flavor my bourbon cocktails. It’s the perfect afternoon to taste some Bourbon. But what is it about Bourbon that makes it so desirable in all weather? In summer and fall, I love bourbon with ice and mint- in the winter straight up in a glass. If you want it cold, put your glass outside for a bit- I'm sure your drink will be plenty cold in a short while! If it's warm outside, may I suggest using this unique product called Whiskey Disks? Made of soapstone, shaped like a disk- they hold the cold necessary to keep your glass of brown perfectly cool. No matter, warm, cold- I like it all. In the winter I like my whiskey straight, or in a hot punch with raw honey, fresh thyme and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Citrus fruits round out the bowl and you might find yourself enjoying this a bit too much. Sitting in front of me are five bottles of American Whiskey. I don't recommend mixing them with anything more complicated than a splash of water or maybe some distilled water ice cubes. Of course whatever you chose to put in your Whiskey is your
bacco. Sure there is some more heat, some vanilla, some smoke and a bit of leather. It's quite refreshing really and with a splash of branch water over the top- this mouthful really takes getting used to. Once you do get used to it. Watch out! The finish goes on and on. Jagged on the tongue it's perfect to fend off the cold and raw of a San Francisco morning. Leave the coffee on the side and sip!
Kinnickinnic
Warren Bobrow Warren Bobrow is the cocktail writer for Williams-Sonoma, Foodista, Voda Magazine and the 501c3 not for profit Wild River Review/Wild Table, where he also serves as an editor. www.cocktailwhisperer.com
business! Tasting notes as follows: Starting from Alameda, California. Breaking and Entering Bourbon Whiskey- St. George Spirits might be best known for their vodka or their sublime Absinthe. If you can find their Bourbon you're in for a rare treat. This handsome bottle, designed like something you'd see resting beside a stream of cool water is a wake-up call to the senses. The burn of 86 proof spirits immediately makes itself known. My lips began to burn slightly- in a good way. Next entering the room of my mind's eye- dark stone fruits and to-
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What do you mean you've never heard of Kinnickinnic? Well if you live in the Milwaukee you'd be very familiar with it. The Great Lakes Distillery handcrafts each sip with care and passion for the art of distillation. On first sip I tasted something I'd never tasted prior. It’s the alchemy of Scotland meeting the dark sheds that age Kentucky whiskey. There is smoke in the glass that is reminiscent of the Highlands style of Scotch Whiskey. Coming into view I taste dark plums cooked in maple syrup and toasted rye bread. Leather plays in to the mouth feel and there is the scent of wildflower honey and candied yams. Little pops of cane sugar bounce off my tongue. Brown butter, smoke and more leather finish each sip. This is darned good stuff from a distillery that no one on the East Coast has ever heard of... YET!
Buffalo Trace A friend of mine who is a Bourbon fan says that Buffalo Trace is her favorite. Now I see why. The first thing you get when wetting your lips is that sweet flavor of white tobacco flowers- then little bursts of cigar smoke and citrus on the top of my mouth. Leather, malt sugar and finally maple syrup come quickly into view. This Bourbon is thick in the mouth and finishes with a chocolate mouth feel. It tastes marvel-
ous. The casks are charred or so they taste with vanilla and honey making these marvelous loop-the-loops around on the back of my tongue. It's good stuff folks. I'm honored to have a bottle on my shelf. It's easier to drink straight, so far... Ah Pappy. The veritable Holy Grail of Whiskey. I've seen it on restaurant drink lists in NYC for the high double digits- for a GLASS. Now by the goodness of their PR agency I have not only the venerable 15-year (107 proof) but the magnificent 20 year version. (90.4 proof) My dear friend Forrest Coakley told me once that Noah's Mill is his favorite- I have a bit left in the bottle of Noah's Mill and I will agree with you Forrest, particularly on the price- but that is another bottle for another tasting.
Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve 15 year. In life, as I've learned over a very short period of drinking Bourbon
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BOOTH
#1331
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// NEWS
EVENTS
CT Restaurant Association Set To Fete 2013 Award Winners At Mohegan Sun Event The Connecticut Restaurant Association (CRA) has announced plans to celebrate the restaurant and food service industry with a gala awards ceremony next month. On December 3rd, the CRN will fete some of the best and brightest stars at the Mohegan Sun Casino.
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he CRA Annual Salute to Excellence Awards Dinner will honor its Vendor of the Year: Siegel, O’Connor, O’Donnell & Beck, P.C. Friend of the Industry honors will go to The Honorable Bob Duff, State Senator, Connecticut General Assembly. The Association will also induct The Marchetti Family of Restaurants and the Union League Café as its latest members into its CT Hospitality Hall of Fame. Restaurateur of the Year will go to Jimmy Cosgrove of Salute in West Hartford. What began as a small family business has now grown to include three very successful restaurants in the Fairfield County area. The Marchetti - Tarantino family, who hail from Gravina in Puglia in Southern Italy, started with their first restaurant, Maria's Trattoria in Norwalk, in 1983. The dynasty continued with the much acclaimed Columbus Park Trattoria in Stamford in 1985, and Osteria Applausi in Old Greenwich and Tarantino Restaurant in Westport in 1994. The award wining Cosgrove teamed with partners Andy Rizzo, and Dave Caudill’s to Salute to Downtown Hartford. The contemporary eatery décor welcomes all old friends and newcomers to this energetic, upscale casual res-
The Association will also induct The Marchetti Family of Restaurants and the Union League Café as its latest members into its CT Hospitality Hall of Fame.
Jean Pierre Vuillermet, Founder/Owner and Executive Chef at Union League Café, New Haven, CT
taurant. With handcrafted woodwork, gorgeous Tuscan colors and hand painted murals, its dining room is the perfect environment for a romantic dinner, a fun night out with friends or co-workers, or to celebrate a special occasion.
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Located directly across from Yale University in the heart of New Haven’s historic theater and entertainment district, Union League Cafe is a Frenchinspired brasserie designed to offer a lively but unpressured atmosphere. Combining Old World charm and cos-
mopolitan ambiance, it is sought out not only for its superb cuisine and acclaimed wine list, but for its service and professional staff as well. Chef Jean Pierre Vuillermet's menu combines the best of French classical traditions with a more contemporary approach to flavors, textures, and native fresh ingredients. Local and organic produce, fish, meats, and artisanal cheeses are the foundation of our award-winning cuisine. The varied and accessible wine list features personally selected wines, many from small producers exclusive to Union League Cafe. Voting is open and continues through Friday, November 8th in the following categories: Chef of the Year, Caterer of the Year, Casual Restaurant of the Year, Upscale Restaurant of the Year, and Mixologist of the Year. Those Awards recipients will be announced at the CRA Salute to Excellence Awards Dinner at the Mohegan Sun Ballroom. The Connecticut Restaurant Association has been a vital part of the state's hospitality industry since 1973. Founded as the "Associated Restaurants of Connecticut," the AROC as it was called, served its members through educational and training programs, as well as its ongoing legislative efforts. Today, the Connecticut Restaurant Association provides a unified voice for an industry that employs over 145,000 people in Connecticut. We truly are the voice of hospitality in Connecticut. The real value of a CRA membership far exceeds the cost of dues, even if members only consider the cost of the representation we provide at the State Capitol. A CRA membership is one of the best investments you can make. From credit card and payroll processing to music licensing, legal consultation and property-casualty insurance, your membership dues entitle you to exclusive benefits and discounts from our endorsed vendors and industry partners.
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// MEET THE NEWSMAKER
Geno Auriemma,
Head Women's Basketball Coach at University of Connecticut/US Olympic Team & Co-Proprietor of Geno’s Grille in Storrs, CT
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ell me a little about the history and background of the restaurant. We make Italian food the old-fashioned way. We even use my 83-year-old mother’s recipe for marinara, which we also sell at the restaurant. Our kitchen, led by chef, Nicola Maggioni, prepares an Italian-American menu of pizza, pasta, steaks, seafood and burgers. When you come in, we place a sweet
Those kids who want to go out on a date and go to a nice place, we’re here for them. And obviously, when their parents are in town. So our idea was to build it accordingly and price it accordingly. We wanted it to be a place that was popular even when school wasn't in session, like during the summer months. The community has really embraced it. There are great restaurants in this area, West Hartford and Max’s, and they're worth the
We created Geno’s Grille for the people who live within a halfhour or 40 minutes from Storrs and want a good meal out.
The restaurant features world class fare including Chef Maggioni's chicken parmigiana and gnocchi
Geno Auriemma, Head Women's Basketball Coach at the University of Connecticut and US Olympic Team
pea and Parmesan mash on every table, served with olive oil and bread. You can order anything from a pizza margherita, with a thin crust, drizzled with pesto, to a cream-based seafood bisque full of scallops, shrimp, squid and sweet corn, topped with green herbs and wafers of Parmesan, to pasta all’amatriciana, pan-roasted bits of smoked bacon mixed with tomatoes, thick slices of onion and pecorino, with long tubular pasta shaped like church tapers, called candeles.
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Where did the idea for ’s Grille originate? Well, being so close to the university, we wanted a place that would appeal to moms and dads. There’s a tremendous need for fine dining in the community. We didn’t necessarily want to make this a college hang-out. There are already enough of those! We created Geno’s Grille for the people who live within a half-hour or 40 minutes from Storrs and want a good meal out. It’s not that we don’t want the college students.
drive. But I also thought that east of the river, where we live, why can't we have a place like that, too? Where did you get your staff? I'm a basketball coach first and foremost but my second passion is, I love to eat, I love great wine, and we heard about this chef and went to some tastings and that was it! When you're dealing with chefs, it's like dealing with a superstar player -- they could either be really high-maintenance, or they could be great and still be team players. And he's great and he understands the team. When you're in the
place where people could go in, grab something and then get back to the entertainment that the casino provides. Geno’s Grille in Storrs gives us an opportunity to be a little more creative, a place where you could come, enjoy yourself, relax, be with friends. I’m not naive enough to think that we could take a four-star restaurant from New York and say hey, we got the exact same thing up in Storrs. That’s not what we're striving for. But we wanted to give it a feel of; you're not in New York. But guess what, you're not in Storrs any more, either, when you walk in here. Auriemma's commitment to recruiting the very highest quality talent to put on the court has been brought by the coach and his restaurant team to the gifted chef Nicola Maggioni being handed the reigns of the Storrs eatery
kitchen, you can feel it. You can see the way Nicola runs the kitchen and the way he talks to the staff. It's tight quarters, it's not a big kitchen. So he's got to be able to get along with everybody, and you could tell right away that he does. How did it come about that you decided to locate near the university? As you know, we already have a restaurant at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut but I always wanted to have a place near campus because I thought there was a great need. Then, when the development of this Storrs center became a reality, they approached us and said, hey, we've got a space that we think will be great for you guys, come take a look at it. And then it was, let's put this thing together. Let's get an architect. Let's get an interior designer, let's get everybody together. And it was a great collaboration and I think we ended up in the perfect spot. How does Geno’s Grille differ from your restaurant at the casino? It’s two totally different audiences. At the casino we wanted to make a
How did you decide on the details – how big to make the bar, how much television to put in there? How ‘sports bar’ did you want it be? It just evolved over time. Some, trial and error. But in the beginning, it was certainly, ‘this is not going to be a sports bar.’ So then, what kind of space are we dealing with? And the space told us how big the bar was going to be. You know, do we want to make it a bar? Or do we want to make it a restaurant? I wanted it to be a restaurant with a really nice bar, as opposed to a great bar that serves food. How do you satisfy your passion for wine? One of the first things I do when I go into a restaurant is to say, okay, what's the wine list trying to tell me? Hey, we really enjoy serving you wine and we want to make it so that you'll order a bunch of it? Or look, we know how much money we can make on wine and we're going to try to do that. And it's a fine line between having a really affordable, really, really good wine list that's pretty balanced and diverse and appeals to a lot of tastes, yet isn’t going to gouge our customers. My thinking was, every couple or every group or every person who comes in here should want to have a glass or a bottle of wine with friends and when they look at the wine list and the prices, they shouldn't be intimidated by it.
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Do you have your own wine label? Yes. We have four wines that we import from Italy – a Prosecco; a Pinot Grigio, a white wine that everyone seems to enjoy, and then we have a Rosso from Puglia, which has gotten rave, rave reviews. Finally, we've got a Cabernet/Merlot blend. We also have Champagne, for before- and afterdinner drinks and celebrations. Do you think you’ll have more Geno’s Grilles? We're already sending checks back to our investors, so it's a concept that works, that could work in a variety of places. And if we could find the right places, it's something that we want to try to duplicate, branching out to different parts of the state. That’s ulti-
mately what we hope to accomplish. But no matter where you live, good food at a good price in a really good atmosphere can be successful anywhere. I want people to feel, when they’re done, hey, I just had a great meal. I paid what I should have paid, and I feel really good about it. What is it you hope to accomplish most with this restaurant? You want to be real, you want to be authentic. You want to have the kind of food that makes people say, hey this is truly Italian food made by a real Italian chef. And yet at the same time, you want to be able to add a little touch, your own signature. That’s what we believe we’ve done here.
Publisher's Note For the past 23 years, TFS has limited its editorial to the news segment of our industry. We typically have not dealt with the review of restaurants. As sports fans, we have followed a number of athletes and coaches who have ventured into the restaurant industry. Given the extraordinary success of Coach Geno Auriemma's basketball teams, we have followed his entry into foodservice with great interest dating back to his initial foray at the Mohegan Sun Casino. Here is a quick summary of our thoughts: We were struck by the restraint that Coach Auriemma and his partner Paul Ghorzi took in not overdoing a "sports bar" atmosphere. The design team has struck a perfect blend of comfortable dining with spectacular windows and just the right mix of a hip open kitchen and sports memorabilia. The attention to table top detail is impeccable. This includes the thought that went into a logo'ed Schott Zwiesel wine glass. We were impressed by the attentiveness of the service from the moment we entered. Service at the table showed just the right mix of attentiveness and menu and wine list knowledge without being pretentious. Auriemma's recruiting ability has followed him from the hardwood to his restaurant
venture. Chef Nicola Maggioni, clearly has a skill set that can match those of the very finest Manhattan toques. The challenge for Maggioni was to create a signature menu and at the same time offer a full ItalianAmerican menu of pizza, pasta, steaks, seafood and burgers that will drive multiple weekly visits from the local community at a competitive price point. He has accomplished that goal with a unique sweet pea and Parmesan mash, served with olive oil and bread. We then enjoyed a world class veal parmigiana with home made gnocchi. In addition to the quality of the veal and its savory sauce, the portion size was more than generous. After such a large portion, we enjoyed a velvety smooth dessert of panna cotta, served with poached pears. We also caught a glimpse of what will certainly become a highlight of many Huskie celebrations: the chocolate mountain cake; a giant portion advertised on the menu as serving two to four people. Clearly the challenge will be can a restaurant walk a fine line of producing a high quality menu with an average entree price below $20 and still generate the volume necessary when Mom and Dad are not visiting the campus.
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// RESTAURANT MARKETING
WITH OLA AYENI
5 Quick Service Restaurants That Are Doing Facebook Right
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It’s easy to include Facebook in your marketing plan. The hard part is making it work for your business. You want your Facebook page to be engaging, informative and entertaining. You want your customers to be talking to and about your page. So who’s doing it right? We looked at many quick service Facebook pages to come up with our list of five quick service restaurants that are using Facebook right.
Subway Subway really has their act together. Currently, Subway's Facebook page has over 16 million fans. While most businesses indefinitely put up a cover photo and leave it there, without change, for months at a time, our favorite part Subway's Facebook page is that the cover photo is always changing to reflect their current promotions and specials. Subway is smart to use every part of their page to sell and promote. The current Subway cover photo (at the time of this posting) shows their $6 footlong special, the Tuscan Chicken Melt. It's accompanied by the tagline that they use in offline and online advertising, “Get Your Flavor On.” By doing this, Subway is doing a great job of integrating their Facebook page into their overall marketing strategy.
Taco Bell Everyone loves a fun contest and promoting a contest on your Facebook
Ola Ayeni,
Founder of Dining Dialog & myeateria.com ola@myeateria.com
your page and interact with your followers (see our article “Free Facebook App Icons to Supercharge Your Bar or Restaurant”). Not only does Pizza Hut use Facebook's default apps such as photos, events and videos but Pizza Hut also uses several custom apps that appeal to a wide variety of participants. There is a World Hunger Relief app that allows fans to participate in helping to end child hunger. Want to sign up to receive Pizza Hut email deals? There’s an app for that! Need a job? There’s an app for that too! Check out the Pizza Hut Facebook page and explore these apps and more.
McDonald’s page is a great way to build your fan following and engage your customers. Taco Bell's current photo contest, Live Más To Win Más, engages fans and builds sales by asking fans to submit pictures of themselves with Taco Bell’s Dorito Locos Tacos. With the availability of picture taking with smartphones, it's easy to entice a brand's fans to engage with a contest, especially with amazing prizes. Taco Bell uses an application that requires all contestants to like their Facebook page. Today, there are already 7,000 that have used Taco Bell's Live Más To Win Más application.
Wendy’s We give the Wendy’s Facebook page an A for engagement! Almost every post is something useful and/or fun to click on, whether it’s a quick poll asking fans their favorite frosty flavor or a link to a video explaining what makes a Wendy’s cheeseburger so great. If a post doesn't have a link, at a minimum it has a photo - either taken by
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the restaurant or submitted by a fan (we like the six month old baby holding a Wendy’s cup). We also like the nutrition app available for download which allows customers to tap into nutritional information, build and save meals and find locations. Judging by the number of likes and comments on Wendy's Facebook posts, we know Wendy's is doing something right.
Pizza Hut One of the best features of Pizza Hut's Facebook page is its applications. Apps are a great way to customize
With over 23 million Facebook fans, McDonald's emerges as the quick serve leader. When the iconic fast food restaurant posted a Happy 40th Birthday to the Egg McMuffin picture, 53,000 people liked it. Offering a multitude of engaging posts such as promotions (Monopoly game is back!), product information (ingredients, food info), engagement posts (quick polls, free game codes), fan pictures and food photos sprinkled in between, McDonald's Facebook page offers a great balance to its fans. Ola Ayeni is the Chief Idea Officer at Dining Dialog and myeateria.com, through eateria restaurant, food and hospitality business owners can manage their email marketing, Facebook, twitter, and text messages all in one place saving time and money while also using its unique coupon and gift certificate validation system which prevents reprints of offers. Sign up for a free trial account at myeateria.com/pricing . For restaurant marketing tips, visit our eateria™blog at eateria.org/blog/.
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// MEET THE NEWSMAKER Rabbi Yaakov Spivak, United Kosher Supervision
We interviewed Rabbinic Administrator Rabbi Yaakov Spivak of United Kosher Supervision (UKS) to find out how his organization helps consumers worldwide know that the food they buy as kosher is exactly that, and how kosher restaurants are different from those that serve non-kosher food.
W
hat is the difference between what is commonly known as “kosher style” and
“kosher”? “Kosher style” usually refers to food
that is not kosher, but is the type of food that appears to be that which is served at a kosher meal. When the words “kosher style” appear concerning specific food products one must assume that those particular foods
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are not kosher. Almost always, when a restaurant calls itself “kosher style,” the food is not actually kosher. “Kosher” refers to food products that meet religious dietary requirements, and are certified by rabbis. It is estimated that 2 million Jews and 5 million non-Jews consume kosher food in the U.S. What's the history of "rabbinical supervision" in food service? The need for kosher supervision in the United States dates back to Colonial times. By 1918, kosher products started finding their way into the American market. These foods were certified kosher by either kosher-certifying organizations or by specially trained Rabbis.
In 1915 the New York State Legislature enacted the nation’s first Kosher Food Law, which was to serve as a model for all subsequent kosher food legislation. It prohibited passing off nonkosher food as kosher. Rabbinical supervision ensures that preparation of all food that is meant to be kosher is exactly that. Walk through the basics of kashrut law for our food service readers? Kashrut refers to the set of Jewish dietary laws. Among other things, these laws prohibit the consumption of unclean animals (such as pork, shellfish) insects, and mixtures of meat and milk. These laws also require the
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// INSURANCE
FIORITO ON INSURANCE
Risky Business: Identifying the Common & Emerging Restaurant Industry Risks The hospitality industry can become a risky business if the potential liability exposures are not properly identified and addressed, prior to a claim being made. Insurers are aware of the high costs involved with restaurant/food service related claims and keep this in mind when evaluating a potential policy. Owners are getting hit with claims, facing insurance increases, and starting to pay attention to what could have been done to prevent this situation in the first place. was involved and where, why and how it happened. Learning the details of an incident is useful for detecting trends and it can be used to put measures into place to prevent recurrences.
Bob Fiorito, Vice President of Business Development at Hub International Robert.Fiorito@ hubinternational.com
R
isk Management can help you run your business more profitably and effectively by identifying and minimizing risks. An effective risk management strategy enables you to proactively prepare for potential losses, provide a safe environment for your employees and customers, and even secure better pricing on your insurance. Businesses and the professional advisors that guide them have to be diligent and ask the routine and creative “what ifs”, and “will we be ready?” When it comes to your business, a risk can be classified as any occurrence that could have a negative impact. The first step is to identify each risk and then assess the likelihood of it occurring along with its potential consequences. Some risks are prevalent in most organizations, such as workplace safety. Other risks
If an accident does occur in spite of your best efforts, an immediate response is necessary. Document exactly what occurred, including who was involved and where, why and how it happened. will be unique to this industry, such as liquor liability. Slips & Falls Maintaining a safe environment for employees, contractors, and other visitors to your restaurant is an essential element of risk management. Slips, trips and falls are among the most common and costly workplace accidents across all industries, accounting for 35% of incidents and 65% of lost work days. In fact, slips, trips and falls represent the most
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common causes of workplace injury after motor vehicle accidents. The good news is that the majority of slips, trips and falls in the workplace are preventable. All of these hazards can be addressed and mitigated through the implementation of slip, trip and fall prevention best practices that you should discuss with your insurance broker. If an accident does occur in spite of your best efforts, an immediate response is necessary. Document exactly what occurred, including who
Wage & Hour According to industry reports, wage and hour lawsuits have become a major cause of concern for businesses. Wage and hour claims occur when an employee accuses his or her employer of failing to pay overtime wages. Data from the Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report shows that wage and hour lawsuits have surpassed every other form of workplace class actions in recent years. It's essential for every business, particularly small or mid-sized businesses that may not have an inhouse legal team, to make sure they are covered in the case of a wage and hour lawsuit. Employment practices liability insurance can greatly reduce your exposure if you get the right coverage. Check with your insurance broker to confirm your coverage and receive help in finding a policy that
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Reuge, from page 30 cuterie. He was the most influential person on my career as a chef. He also taught me the value of hard work. My goal today is to teach young cooks a love of cooking. I mentor many people who come to apprentice with me. I have hired many of these apprentices after working with them.
Walk us through a typical day at work and what are some of the challenges you face each day? I leave for work at about 10AM. I do some shopping, especially at local farmers markets where I will pick up ingredients I may not get from my vendors. I arrive at work at about 11:30 and begin preparing the menus for the day. There is much prep work for our menus. Challenges are many including scheduling my staff, receiving the proper food deliveries, planning menus for future events etc. Anything
has to constantly change, improve, and do the best you can.
Anything can throw a wrench into the day such as a dishwasher or cook calling in sick and there is no one to replace them. I am not usually home until about 9:30-10PM. can throw a wrench into the day such as a dishwasher or cook calling in sick and there is no one to replace them. I am not usually home until about 9:3010PM.
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The restaurant business can be fierce on Long Island, especially during the summer season. How do you compete? Competition is tough anywhere. One
How do the dynamics of a suburban restaurant differ from those of a Manhattan restaurant? Suburban restaurants are generally much busier on the weekends than mid-week. Manhattan restaurants have a steadier stream of customers. Suburban restaurants are affected much more by weather factors or even something like back to school time.
What roles does the vendor community on both the equipment and food supply side play? And in your opinion, is today’s salesperson providing the level of service you need to succeed? The vendor community is very important to our everyday life in the restaurant business. If you cannot depend on them to deliver good product, or
what you ordered, or repair broken equipment in a timely fashion you will have problems. I have some very good salespeople who I enjoy working with.
There’s always talks of healthier eating, are your customers looking for that at your locations, and if so, how do you cater to the growing demand? We are always updating our menus trying to make them healthier. Our cuisine is much lighter today than it was even 10 years ago, less butter and cream and more vegetarian dishes. We always accommodate vegans and those who eat gluten-free.
The Zagat, Yelp, and other consumer review sights keep us on our toes. We have to be aware of them, not ignore the criticism, and respond when necessary. That said, we cannot change our concept because someone doesn’t like something. We are what we are.
abundance of fresh products and many artisanal food sources. When I first came to the States many products were canned and the fresh produce, meats, fish were limited. That has changed significantly. I have always used artisanal sources but wanted to commit more to this with my new menu. I decided to have a menu format that allows me more freedom to change things everyday, instead of being committed to a set menu.
What’s the scoop on the new “Fresh meets French” menu you’re offering guests?
Hardest part of your job and the best part of your job?
In today’s marketplace there is an
Hardest part of my job: Lack of time
Do you feel that the restaurant industry suffers too much from Zagat, Yelp, and other consumer review sights? Are consumers depending too much on review?
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for myself and my family. Best part of my job: discovering new challenges everyday, like how to cook an ingredient in a different way.
Whether good, bad or a mix of both, what are some of the biggest changes you’ve seen in our industry over the years? Biggest change in our industry: the availability of high quality ingredients found in this country as opposed to 30 years ago.
// NEWS
FINANCE
NYC Firm’s Innovative Merchant Cash Advance Program Spurs Growth For Tri-State Eateries What do you do if you’re a business that has to accept a lot of credit card payments for meals? You might turn to AmeriMerchant, a company in its 12th year of business, which has loaned millions of dollars to restaurants to help finance their businesses.
"M
ost small businesses don’t have hard collateral to pledge as assets,” says David Goldin, president and CEO of AmeriMerchant. “We offer a program called the ‘Merchant Cash Advance’ which provides businesses with $5,000 -$500,000 in working capital by leveraging their future credit card sales. It's very popular among restaurants, hospitality owners that tend to accept a lot of credit cards as a method of payment at their business.” AmeriMerchant saw its moment when almost all businesses hit the skids during the recession. “Today, in good times or bad times it's very challenging for small businesses, to get access to working capital, to unlock hidden assets they never really thought they had, which is their future credit card sales from their customers,” says Goldin. “Banks tend to either issue credit cards to tie to a personal credit score. Or someone with home equity value, which can be challenging due to the real estate market and maxed out home equity lines.” Goldin says the company saw that void so it came up with a way to allow
Goldin says the company saw that void so it came up with a way to allow restaurants to stay in business based on their future successes. restaurants to stay in business based on their future successes. Restaurants in New York have had a particularly bad time, according to Goldin, because many banks’ underwriters may be somewhere in the South. “They're a different state. And they say, well, you don't own your building. And the building the restaurant could be in is in Soho worth $150,000,000. So I don't think they're coming for a $30,000 line of credit when they own a $150,000,000 piece of property. So the needs we've seen
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are really tied to business owner confidence, it's about opening up new locations, expanding staff, that kind of thing.” Other lending programs exist that are similar but AmeriMerchant feels its offerings are different. “In this space in the past, you've had people like Transmedia and Restaurant Network, Rewards Network, etc. They're advancing against future dining. One of the downsides with those programs is they would walk into a restaurant owner and say; we're going to bring
you new customers. And they were selling the marketing credits. What a lot of these restaurant owners found was all they were really doing was taking back money on their existing customers and having to offer discounts to their existing customer base. “We're buying a percentage of future sales at a discount and the benefit of our program is it works with the restaurants or the business owner's cash flow. So, unlike a bank loan, there's no fixed monthly payment. With our program, if sales are down 30% in one month, the amount they pay us back is down 30%,” says Goldin. “We like to say, we only get paid when you get paid.” Also with the Merchant Cash Advance, there’s no fixed time period to pay it back. “There's no balloon payment. There's no personal guarantee with the product. It’s unsecured lending. We allow restaurants to receive working capital by selling us a percentage of their future anticipated credit card and debit card sales from their customers,” says Goldin. “In some cases, where banks aren’t able to close for 30 to 40 days, and restaurants need money right away, for example, because of an opportunity to take over additional space, they’re required to put down a sizable security deposit, maybe five figures. We move a lot faster than traditional financing sources, and AmeriMerchant can get owners the money in five days or less.” The company also has customers who might want to upgrade or renovate their restaurant. “It's very challenging when the bank says there's no real assets to secure there,” notes Goldin. Selling this solution to the foodservice industry, however, can be challenging. “You can make an appoint-
“There’s something critical restaurants must do,” says Goldin. “Understand their margins. And understand the bottom line of their business. Because, too many times, we see restaurateurs who sometimes forget it's a business.
ment at 11:00 on a Monday, and they don't show up until 3:00,” says Goldin. “We found, over time it's not efficient to actually go face-to-face. Because of their busy lifestyle, our customers prefer to call us when they're available, or email us, so we have a 15-plus-person in-house account executive team where the whole transaction can be done over the phone. Especially with technology now, it's becoming more and more paperless, so we work with the restaurant owners, we respect their time. Sometimes they're more than happy to come to our office, or we'll go see them. It does happen from time to time, but for the most part, it's an over the telephone transaction.” Goldin is bullish on the future of the foodservice industry. “Two years ago, business owner confidence, I would say, was actually in the toilet, but it seems to be creeping up. All the reports and surveys out there seem to say that. It’s definitely not completely there, where they want to open up five other restaurants. But it seems to be upticking a little bit.” He notes with a smile, “There are
places on a Monday night where there's a two-hour wait to get a $52 New York sirloin.” But before a restaurant goes to a bank or a service like AmeriMerchant, “There’s something critical restaurants must do,” says Goldin. “Understand their margins. And understand the bottom line of their business. Because, too many times, we see restaurateurs who sometimes forget it's a business. Sometimes it's more of a passion. And they'll spend an unbelievable amount of money on decorating, say, a bar, not realizing the amount of business they need to do just to break even on that.” The steps to get involved with Amerimerchant’s lending programs are simple. Restaurants must supply their last four months' worth of credit card processing statements and they’ll receive a same-day quote. “Our pricing is based on their credit profile, their years in business and essentially, the amount of money they have in their bank account. We can fund a business in as little as five days or less, and approval within 24 hours,” says Goldin.
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// FOOD SAFETY
WITH WYMAN PHILBROOK
How Knowledge, Training & Control Can Protect Both Your Customers And Business. In the foodservice industry and our personal lives we constantly hear about food recalls that affect a product that is in the market. I subscribe to alerts from the USDA and the FDA so that I am abreast of the most current information on foodborne illness and recalls.
E
.coli and salmonella always get big headlines in the news media but surprisingly the number one reason for recalls is allergens. Two major reasons for these recalls that can potentially cause serious harm and even death to a customer who is unknowingly consuming an allergen are:
Undeclared Allergens A food manufacturer or processor put an allergen in to a product intentionally and just did not include it on the label according to Federal Labeling Law requirements.
Cross-Contact An unsafe process that caused ingredients or products to come in to contact with an allergen i.e. a food manufacturing line that handles multiple products some with allergens some without and there are residues that contaminate the non-allergen product because of improper cleaning/sanitizing or scheduling. What is an allergen? An allergen can be many things in our environment but as the term applies to food it is a protein that causes a specific reaction of varying degrees of sever-
Wyman Philbrook
Owner of Philbrook Food & Beverage Consulting And Training philbrook_fandb@comcast.net
ity in a part of the human population. Basically the body’s immune system responds to the protein with certain symptom/reactions such as a rash, itching, redness, swelling, difficulty breathing/swallowing and in severe cases, anaphylactic shock. There are estimates that range from 50% to over 80% of the population have some form & level of allergic reaction to certain foods. I personally remember in my youth that it was relatively uncommon and whether the population’s immune systems have changed or the science has dramatically improved to identify allergens as the cause of reactions is still a debatable point. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were common in school cafeterias and in lunch boxes 30+ years ago but are non-existent in today’s educational facilities.
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In your operation you need to be aware and address what is commonly known as the 8 Major Allergens. These food categories have been found to have the largest impact in both the percentage of the population that is affected by them and also the severity of the reactions. These 8 Major Allergens and some of their terms/by-products are: Peanuts - ground nuts, mixed nuts, peanut oil, imported hydrolyzed plant or vegetable protein, candy brittle or bark, granola & energy bars. Many Asian prepared sauces contain ground peanuts Tree Nuts - walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, cashews, macadamia nuts, gingko nuts, nut spreads, nut liqueurs, pine nuts (pignoli), granola, energy bars, pesto Eggs -egg white powder, egg solids,
albumin, egg substitutes, lecithin, protein powder Fish - cod, salmon, grouper, haddock, catfish, tuna, trout, sardines, mahi-mahi, kosher gelatin, surimi, anchovies, Caesar salad dressing, Asian fish sauce, bonito flakes, dashi powder, oil that fish is fried in Shellfish - crustaceans i.e. shrimp, lobster, crab, crawfish and/or mollusks i.e. oysters, clams, mussels, octopus, scallops, squid, abalone, snails, surimi Milk - dried milk powder, milk solids, cream, cheese, ice cream, whey, casein, lactose (an allergy is different from lactose-intolerant which means you are not able to digest the milk sugar- lactose) Wheat - all forms of flour, semolina, durum, soy sauce, beer, wheat bran wheat berries, seitan, malt powder, wheat starch, bread, bread crumbs, panko, tempura, batter & cake mixes, baked goods, crackers, gravy mixes, pie fillings, tabbouleh, most pastas & noodles, falafel, breaded foods, puddings, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, natural flavoring (an allergy is different from Celiac disease which is an autoimmune disorder that cannot digest wheat or other grains containing gluten) Soy - soy sauce, shoyu, soya, tamari, bean sprouts, bean curd, tofu, edaname, tempeh, miso, Asian bean sauces, Reviewing the list you can see that many products are affected by just these 8 allergens. Some common products like deli meats & hot dogs may also contain wheat or milk products in their recipes. Going back just a couple years ago we realized the extent of products that contained peanuts when there was a massive recall. In your operation, management, kitchen personnel and servers must first understand these 8 major al-
lergens and their responsibilities in handling and informing your customer about their presence in the facility and on your menu. Several years ago Massachusetts became the first state to pass legislation that retail food establishments must be aware of the 8 major allergens, train staff and put allergen notifications on menus, menu boards and at points of sale. Since this landmark shift in the legal responsibility of foodservice operations to have allergen programs in place, several states are considering similar legislation. At a minimum your employees need to understand: 1. Which of the 8 major allergens are in your facility? 2. What menu items contain 1 or more of the 8 major allergens? 3. Understand how they should respond to questions about allergens from your customers (I recommend a written allergen policy that is reviewed with employees, so that specific instructions and procedures are in place to handle common situations) 4. How to communicate with management and the kitchen when a customer has been identified as having a food allergy. 5. Understand what cross contact is. (kitchens should use separate areas, separate deep fat fryers, cutting boards, gloves and utensils to prepare items to insure no contact with allergen residues) Employees also need to understand that an open container of a food product that contains an allergen should be separated or have a barrier to prevent cross contact with other items. The best programs have well-rounded training for all of the staff and a culture of understanding and empathy for customers who identify themselves or members of their party as
having a food allergy. Having menu items that can be easily offered as allergen-free selections or an accommodating kitchen that can modify an existing menu item for a guest creates an opportunity for repeat customers. Recipes should identify the allergen in the menu item and all employees training regarding their presence should be documented. Daily lineups should review allergens in specials and by using guest scenarios to quiz your staff’s allergen knowledge; you as the manager keep the focus on your program. Your operation has a responsibility to protect your customer and by meeting that with a focused allergen awareness program you are proactively instituting a preventive liability system. This article primarily addresses food items but with the emergence of craft cocktails, I also want to mention that the issues should also be considered for ingredients and cross contact behind the bar. Shrimp as a garnish on a Bloody Mary, nuts and nut liqueurs, cream and flavored soy milk have all shown up in drinks and have potential issues that should be included in an allergen program. In next month’s column we will look at constructing a well-planned and organized Training & Development Program as it applies to all of the facets of Food Safety in your facility.
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// HERMANNS ON LINEN
Cutting the Right Corners It used to be a very simple matter to get the table linen you needed for your restaurant. It was easy for you because it was easy for your linen guy. It was easy for your linen guy because he had a manufacturer on speed dial.
O
h how times have changed. You might not have felt the impact of this change yet, but odds are you will. It is more important than ever to ask your linen guy the right questions so that you are in a position to make sensible linen choices for your restaurant. In April of 2013, the Rana Plaza in Bangladesh collapsed, in the worst garment factory disaster in history. If you are like a lot of people, it was the first time you gave any thought to where your clothes were being made, and in what conditions. You might have finally realized why your shirt costs $50 instead of $200. The list of retailers affected by the collapse of one building read like the directory of your local mall, so you might even have felt a little guilt, and vowed to shop more conscientiously. And once the shock wore off, you may have finally understood why everyone seems to dress alike these days. The world of textile manufacturing, both retail and commercial, has moved overseas for the most part, where labor is cheap, regulation is scarce, and the infrastructure is haphazard. And on top of that, the more of one item a manufacturer in Cambodia or China or Bangladesh can produce, the more cheaply he can produce it, a necessity given how Western retail-
Christopher Hermanns, President of WH Linen chermanns@whlinen.com
The world of textile manufacturing, both retail and commercial, has moved overseas for the most part, where labor is cheap, regulation is scarce, and the infrastructure is haphazard. ers have so aggressively driven down prices. Globalization has kept prices low by exploiting Third World labor, and by homogenizing us. So what does this mean for a restaurant looking for a tablecloth? Absolutely nothing if what you want is a white polyester square. These are inexpensive commodity items, and they are stocked in abundance by al-
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most all distributors — in the standard sizes, that is. Most linen guys these days are not being served by manufacturers, people who could make virtually anything on short notice. Most are now served by distributors who buy and sell finished goods, often from whatever manufacturer has the best deal on the table at any given time. And these distributors have to make
careful projections so they can determine what will almost certainly sell, so they know what to buy. Trying to warehouse everything that anyone might ever want has driven well-intentioned companies out of business. So the manufacturers make generic products because they will sell, and the distributors stock generic items because they will sell. As soon as a restaurateur realizes that he doesn’t want to dress his restaurant like all the other places on the block, he becomes the sabot in the very finely tuned, very generic, machinery of the supply chain. Maybe he has had custom tables made in odd sizes or shapes, or maybe he just wants an unusual color. What distributor is going to stock something that is by definition different? That’s not to say that these interesting looks cannot be made. Of course they can. But where? Well, mostly back in Cambodia, China, or Bangladesh, or the like. Back to the manufacturers who work in huge runs in faraway places. So you can have what you want, but are you willing to wait 4 to 6 months to get it? Are you willing to accept the minimums and buy substantially more than you need? Is your linen guy? And if so, can you reasonably expect to pay the same price for a tablecloth that you paid 5 years ago? Or will you go back to buying off the rack? Yes, it looks bleak. And it represents a startling change for the linen industry, and consequently for the restaurant business. There are some glimmers of hope though. There are still ways to satisfy your desire for uniqueness. The most obvious is to use a linen guy who buys product made closer to home. There are a couple of mills that still produce the necessary fabric here in the U.S. One that still turns that fab-
ric into finished goods, and one that sells that fabric to cut-and-sew facilities in this hemisphere. In the case of the latter, as long as the cut-and-sew facility can find the fabric you need, he can make whatever you require, and do it in a matter of weeks rather than a matter of months. In the case of the former, a matter of days. These are still manufacturing facilities, so it’s likely that minimums will still apply. Oh yes, and Made in the USA fabric? Substantially more expensive than what is imported from Asia. Not to mention American labor. There is a steep price to be paid for uniqueness, but it can be done if you talk to the right people. So now we’re back to a point I’ve made in these pages before: you have to determine what is appropriate for the restaurant you have created, appropriate for your diners and for
your check average. And you have to acknowledge that you get what you pay for. The mass-produced commodities are inexpensive, plentiful, easy, generic, and inconsistent, of questionable provenance — and did I mention inexpensive? The domestically produced commercial products are not plentiful, but with planning and patience they can be gotten, and they aren’t inexpensive, but relative to what you probably paid for the decorating touches in your home, maybe you should see them that way. And the quality is almost always superior. And the fine linens woven to order out of combed Egyptian cotton by a familyowned mill in Milan? Well, that’s a different matter entirely.
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// NEWS
PROMOTIONS
Dynamic Industry Exec Kramer Takes Reigns At Rotisol Rotisserie Cooking has not only stood the test of time, but its unique ability to produce tastier and healthier foods is the basis of today’s surge in global demand.
I
ts popularity among food service culinary professionals, restaurateurs and retail mass merchant foodservice operations is increasing daily. Rotisol‐France is now celebrating its 60th year in operation and is globally recognized as the industry leader in rotisserie oven manufacturing. Rotisol‐ France has significantly influenced the wide‐scale appeal of rotisserie cooking across the globe. Rotisol’s innovative rotisserie ovens are available in both batch‐cooking and continuous‐cooking gas and electric models, in a variety of sizes, from 2 spits, upwards to 8 spits, with 12 stock color options and multiple metal trim and accents. The Rotisol brand is synonymous with high quality and exceptional performance, as proven by Rotisol’s unmatched diversity in food preparation, energy efficiency, high productivity with minimal labor, and overall reliability. When it comes to roasting whole chickens, turkey, beef, lamb, pork, ribs, ham, sausages, kabobs, suckling pig, fish or vegetables, there is only one name for dependable, con-
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Veteran Foodservice leader Jack Kramer has been appointed to the President's post at Rotisol
sistent perfection incooking – ROTISOL. For further information on Rotisol brands, call 800‐651‐5969 to speak with a Rotisol professional or call our local New York City sales representatives, Tri‐State Marketing, 914-9411717, or visit us at the International Hotel, Motel + Restaurant Show, November 9‐12, NYC, Booth 1333.
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BOOTH
#2423
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Q&A, from page 29 that divide us, like skin color, religion, politics, sexuality, and all that other nonsense. And that’s from becoming a sober person.
Was Hazelden the reason you ended up in the Twin Cities? I did an intervention the early evening of January 28th, 1992, and got a oneway ticket out here, and haven't left.
But can a New Yorker find happiness in a diner? Absolutely! They have good Chinese food out here. That's all I need.
You had a great run at Un Deux Trois in the Twin Cities. What did you take away from your experience there? The restaurant opened two weeks before I started working there. I was living in a halfway house in St. Paul. I was washing dishes at a coffee shop, and I had no idea the restaurant had opened, but I knew the French partners from my days in New York, George and Girard. They had a house in Sag Harbor and I had bumped into them out there. So I knew who these guys were. And I thought to myself, well I can go there. My plan was to wash dishes there for a couple months and then go back to New York. I showed up two weeks into their opening. The place was insanely busy, beyond busy. No one had ever opened a restaurant like that in the Twin Cities before. It was the same menu they did in New York City. And it was a huge monster hit.
Did you really work there as a busboy? Well, I applied for a job as a busboy and a dishwasher. I got the job. Nobody knew who I was there, in terms of being a pretty serious accomplished food professional from New York. I guess I'd been there about four days, and one of the line cooks didn't show up for lunch, and I had watched as a busboy and a dishwasher, you get to see the cooks putting out the foods,
and his station wasn't that tough, and I knew that I could do it. So I told them you know, I volunteered, and it's a great story. One of the favorites of my life. And I put out the guy's station at the end of the shift. The managing partner then called me into his office and asked me how it was that this busboy and part-time dishwasher just put out such an incredible meal, that looked better than what his chef was putting out, and I wasn't going to lie to him. I just wasn't going to offer information. And, he interrogated me successfully. And within, 3 weeks, 4 weeks, I was the new chef in the restaurant. Within a couple of months I had replaced the old chef's staff and we recreated the restaurant. The French partners from Un Deux Trois in New York City decided they didn't want to have anything to do with running a restaurant in Minneapolis. So financial arrangements were made and I was made an offer to sort of run the place with one of the managers. And over the next five years, we changed the menu, we created more of our own signature French restaurant there, but we had the first raw bar in the Twin Cities. Wednesday night we did French Vietnamese food because I wanted to do something interesting in the middle of the week, again incorporating travel and food with a story. We did holiday meals there, everything from Christmas lunches to second night Seders. It was an amazing restaurant and in its time was considered one of the best restaurants in the Twin Cities. I left there because I was ambitious. I wanted to do more. And I thought that the media swimming pool would be one that I could jump into, but after a while they were going to whistle kids out of the pool and I'd better get in there in a hurry.
What gave you your break in TV? How did you rebuild -- or create – your brand?
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I went to a TV station; a radio station and a magazine and I offered to work for free. I figured eventually one of them would offer me a job and all three did! So I started doing TV on the local Fox News affiliate. And when regional or national TV shows came in, like an HGTV, years ago they would ask me to guest on it, or, oh, could you cook the food for this segment of the show or that cable show, and I said, sure. And I built a reel, and then I went around and sold myself, and it really was as simple as having a good idea. The production company that partnered with me went to The Travel Channel in New York City and sold them the idea of doing the show. They commissioned a pilot, some specials, and some stuff that never saw the light of day, because, they wanted to test and measure different styles of how we might do this show. And, 10 years
ago, they bought the show.
Then what happened? We started making it, and 8 ½ years ago, the first one of the specials aired, and they tested and measured those and ended up commissioning more shows, and thanks to the viewers it's a successful program.
Would you say that in many ways there's been this enormous growth in terms of food TV and that’s your niche? I was lucky. I found a place that my skill set was perfectly suited for.
With so many people now watching food television, has the bar been raised in terms of what a restaurant needs to do in performance on a night-to-night continued on next page
BOOTH
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Q&A, from previous page
basis? It's not just because of food TV, but food media has created a more foodaware customer than ever before. I mean, there's people who have never tasted certain types of wine who could tell you what it goes with because they watch a lot of television and listen to smart people talking about it. There are people who've only eaten five or six different types of mushrooms in the world, but they can talk about 25 of them because they've seen it on TV. They've read it in magazines. I mean, we’re inundated with so much food information it's unbelievable how much smarter and food-savvier people are today. Sure, that puts a lot of pressure on restaurants. And I think there are more good restaurants now because of that. I think they feed on each other. Consumer demand and restaurants delivering a high-quality product have never been so intertwined. They drive each other.
What about the pressure this puts on the CIAs and the Johnson and Wales of the world to produce a high-quality, productive, creative chef? Those schools have never done a bet-
ter job. It’s amazing how fully realized the education is for young people going to culinary schools today, especially the good ones. They're putting out more graduates than there are jobs! But I don't think that's a bad thing. After all, not everyone who graduates from these schools is able to become the next Grant Achatz. Many of them will make hotel food better. Many of them will go to work for Fortune 500 food companies and make commercial food better. Many of them will become entrepreneurs and come up with the next cool potato chip. These schools are putting out smart culinarians into the food world. And, it's not just restaurants, like in the old days, where people would go to hotels and restaurants for great food. Now they're going into all kinds of different places. Some will start the next great winery or beer hall.
What’s ahead? I'm going to be making more television and I'm dying to get involved in a couple of new projects. I'm going to keep making Bizarre Foods as long as the viewers want it. We just came off one of our best rating seasons ever. So I'm very excited about the growth of the show. And I'm very excited about some new things that I can do because
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of that. And, I'm always writing. The next thing I'm going to do is a cookbook. I just started a sausage company with Pat LaFrieda. That's very exciting to me. You know, project after project, restau-
rant after restaurant, those of us in the food industry are successful because they understand what their consumer wants, and they have the patience and understanding to make their businesses last.
BCA, from page 26 space for networking and dialogue on the advancement of global diversity. It will also offer culinary students from around the country the opportunity to hone their skills in a real life environment. The Gala will begin with a cocktail reception, followed by a multi-course dinner, and Viennese reception executed by chefs and students. The Gala dinner will give a taste of what the future holds for the foodservice industry and will be supported by our educational partners and students from: Johnson & Wales University, South Bronx Job Corps Academy, New York Tech, the Culinary Program at Brooklyn Job Corps Academy, Foodservice Training Academy, Career Academy of NY and LI, Fed Cap Academy, New York Institute of Technology, Star
Academy of NY, Edison Job Corps, Westinghouse and the Culinary Institute of America. "Students from different schools and different backgrounds come together in the same kitchen and cook in a noncompetitive environment," states Howard Stanford, Board Chair. "Those of us who attend are honored to witness the future
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leaders and work together towards a more diverse industry," Alex Askew, President of BCA Global. The BCA is a nationwide non-profit, educational and networking organization of hospitality and food service professionals. Incorporated as a 501(c)(3) in 1998, their mission is to create exposure and provide educa-
tional and professional opportunities for culinary and hospitality professionals of color. We accomplish this objective by providing quality educational and employment resources, job coaching, mentoring and assistance with placement, and networking support.
// THE WINE COACH
WITH LAURIE FORSTER
Robert Parker Banks on Entrepreneurial Focus & Determination I never thought I could go from Cold Duck to Confucius in a matter of minutes, but all it took was a visit with the venerable Robert M. Parker, Jr. to do just that. Meeting the founder of The Wine Advocate—the most renowned wine critic on the planet—was an encounter of selfdiscovery, entrepreneurship and drive that comes only from someone doing what he loves.
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Maryland native, Robert liked wine, having joined a wine group in college at the University of Maryland (and after pursuing a romantic interest in France in 1967), but his passion hadn’t yet taken over. He became a lawyer, but really didn’t like it. “Wine, at the same time, was fascinating … how it was made, how certain wines, you know, lived … almost 20 [to] 30 years in the bottle and improving and others didn’t,” Robert says. So, in 1975 he made the leap and started The Wine Advocate as a newsletter. “I stopped practicing [law] in favor of pursuing the grape and couldn’t be happier,” he says. But don’t think it’s been a simple ride with a glass of wine in one hand and a baguette in the other. It has been work, work and more work performed by a motivated and passionate individual whose efforts paid off after considerable time, dedication and debt. It’s a frame of mind anyone can harness, granted they’re willing to work for it. Remember, he wasn’t always a wine
“I think as a wine critic, you want to give people choices,” he says. He encourages individuals to know their palates and make up their own minds about what they like. Laurie Forster, The Wine Coach, is a certified sommelier, award-winning author and media personality. Laurie's specialty is creating engaging wine edu-tainment for corporate, fundraising and hospitality events. Forster is the host of her radio show The Sipping Point and her mobile application “The Wine Coach” was listed as one of the Top 8 Wine Apps in Wine Enthusiast. To find out more visit: www.TheWineCoachSpeaks.com You can connect with Laurie on Twitter @thewinecoach or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ winecoach
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critic. In fact, his first wine experience was not unlike the typical unfortunate youth wine encounter. “It was when my high school sweetheart, who is actually now my wife of 43 years, had a birthday party and they served Cold Duck, and her parents made the mistake of letting this—you know, the 16 year olds— have a glass or two,” he says. “I never listened [or] liked rules too much, so I had more than a few glasses.” The experience may have soured
him on Cold Duck, but not on a business that’s become his life for nearly 40 years. “I really encourage people that if you love something just passionately, pursue it and … try and make a career out of it.” A wine critic, yes, but he looks at his job from a perspective that might surprise some. “I think as a wine critic, you want to give people choices,” he says. He encourages individuals to know their palates and make up their own minds about what they like. “If I were standing next to you and there was a wine that I had given 100 points … and you say ‘I just don’t care for it,’ I would have no problem with that whatsoever,” Robert says. It’s an independent “lone wolf sort of way of going about the business” that has served him well. Creating his business—or any selfdriven endeavor—he insists takes patience above all else. “Your time will come but you’ve got to put the time in,” Robert says.” It took him four or five years of consistent, hard work before he ever made a penny in the business. “A lot of people give up long before that—or would have—and I didn’t, he says. “I just was going to keep doing it … because it was the only thing I thought I would love doing the rest of my life.” So, for the world’s foremost wine critic, it boils down to what is often attributed as the Confucian view of, “Choose a job you love, and you will never work a day in your life.” It's something I strive for everyday at The Wine Coach, and I can't think of a better inspiration than how Mr. Parker has put this into practice. To listen to Laurie's audio interview with Robert M.Parker, Jr. visit The Sipping Point podcast at iTunes.com
Spivak, from page 113 slaughter of permitted mammals and birds according to a process known as shechitah. They also prohibit the consumption of dairy for several hours after eating meat. What are some of the common characteristics that you see with kosher restaurants that are successful? The certified food served at a kosher restaurant must comply with Jewish dietary laws. The oven and utensils in which the food is prepared and served must be kosher. The restaurant must be able to meet the many requirements of keeping food kosher while making sure it is delicious and well priced. Many readers may be surprised to find that pizza is a popular food served at kosher restaurants. How is that possible given the dairy restrictions? It is, and it can be. Restaurants must make sure the pizza is made only from kosher ingredients and baked in an oven that is not used for nonkosher foods, or for meat. While Jews who keep kosher cannot eat meat and dairy together, a whole new line of products is available today made
from soy that mimic the taste of sausage and pepperoni, for pizza toppings. Some brands are even certified. Kosher fleishig (meat) establishments often serve meat dishes popular within Middle Eastern cuisine, such as Shawarma, along with common American fast food staples like hot dogs and hamburgers. Can fish also be served at fleishig restaurants? Yes, a fish that is kosher may be served, but cannot be cooked on anything used to cook meat. The utensils used must be strictly for fish. Talk about the phenomenon that is the Kosher Chinese restaurant? Kosher Chinese restaurants are also common. These are mostly either fleishig or vegetarian. The kosher consumer is always looking to enjoy new and different food that complies with kosher dietary laws. This is only a very brief overview of kosher laws. Those wishing to find out more details can call United Kosher Supervision at 845-352-1010.
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// MEET THE NEWSMAKER
Bill Taibe,
Chef/Owner of LeFarm & The Welk in Wesport, CT By the age of 33, Chef Bill Taibe had received three “Excellent” ratings from the New York Times. He is among the leaders of the new generation of chefs sourcing from and supporting local farms and distributors.
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hef Taibe’s love for food began early on while working after school at the local butcher shop. As a young chef, both at Two Moons in Port Chester, NY and Wildfire in Greenwich, CT, he quickly advanced from Sous Chef to Executive Chef. In 2001, Chef Taibe became the Executive Chef at G/R/A/N/D in Stamford, CT where he helped to develop and design the concept and menu for this upscale lounge, earning much recognition as well as “3 Stars” from Connecticut Magazine. Three years later, Chef Taibe ventured out on his own and created Relish Food & Wine, located in South Norwalk, CT, a 55-seat restaurant and 12-seat wine bar. Chef Taibe received many accolades at Relish, including his second “Excellent”, “4 Stars” from Connecticut Magazine, “Best New Restaurant” and “Best Overall Restaurant” by Fairfield County Weekly. After much success with Relish, Chef Taibe left to help develop Napa & Co., in downtown Stamford, CT. Consisting of 90 seats, a gourmet market and boutique retail wine shop, Chef Taibe, again, received an “Excel-
lent” from the New York Times, “Four Stars” in CT magazine, “Best New Restaurant”, by Connecticut Magazine, and “Best New Restaurant” by Moffly Publications. In the summer of 2009, Chef Taibe left Napa & Co. to open LeFarm. This small, cozy, 34-seat restaurant located in Westport, CT, opened to universal praise and unprecedented success. It is now home to Chef Taibe’s everchanging menu that reflects the season’s freshest produce, fish and meat.
LeFarm’s accolades include a 27 rating in the most current Zagat guide, “Best Overall Restaurant and Best Chef” of the year in the Fairfield County Weekly, Connecticut Magazine’s “Best American Restaurant”, Statewide winner. “Best Creative Menu”, Statewide winner, Moffley Media 2012, 2013. In 2011, 2012 and 2013 Chef Taibe was named a semi-finalist for “Best Chef: Northeast” by the James Beard House. He has also received press for a series of underground dining events he calls “Souterrain”. In 2012, Chef Taibe joined with Massimo Tullio to open his latest concept, The Whelk. Located in Westport, Connecticut, The Whelk is a 45-seat Oyster Bar and Seafood Restaurant. The Whelk follows the same rules and guidelines established at LeFarm, allowing the product to speak for itself by utilizing the freshest ingredients from local purveyors. The Whelk quickly received many accolades such as, “Don’t Miss”, New York Times, “Superior-Extraordinary”, Connecticut Magazine. “Best New Restaurant-2013”, “Best Seafood-2013”, Connecticut Magazine. Chef Taibe’s success has led to three
appearances on The Martha Stewart Show, and an appearance on The Today Show. He is featured in Harvest to Heat Cookbook, which highlights the relationship between the top chefs of our country and the farmers with which they work. A true trailblazer, he has spearheaded the “Farm-to-Table” movement in Fairfield County. When not in the kitchen, Chef Taibe can often be found coaching both his sons' baseball teams. What or who inspired you to become a chef, where did you study? I formally studied at the Baltimore International Culinary College. However, most of my education has been hands-on in the kitchen. Cooking is just something that has always come naturally to me. It gives me a creative outlet. Have any mentors? What have you learned from them? My father is my mentor. Growing up, I always admired his strong work ethic and I have tried to emulate that in my career. Having been an executive chef since a young age, I didn’t really have the opportunity to be mentored by a seasoned chef. What are a few of your favorite ingredients to cook with? I am fickle when it comes to ingredients. My favorites are ever changing, like a fair weather fan. I become passionate about what I like in the moment.
Dave Sasuga and daughter, Kelly of Fresh Origins in San Diego
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Are you using sustainable sources for all your dishes? This has really become the catchphrase of the times. I will say we are very aware of where all of our products come from and my goal is to source the cleanest, purest products available.
What advice would you give to young chefs just getting started? I would tell them to go to business school, start a hedge fund and come and eat at my restaurants. If that didn’t work, I would tell them to do it the right way. Do it with passion and humility. Take care of your employees and your patrons. Lastly, buy the best products you can get your hand on; it makes it so much easier.
Are consumers depending too much on review? I believe it has both a positive and negative effect on the industry. There is truth in every review and I feel the customer deserves a voice. It has also created an excitement in our industry and allowed everyone to be part of the experience. On the flipside, the freedom of the “anonymous” post can be detrimental, in that it is not regulated in anyway. I am not sure people un-
What’s the process in developing new menu entrées, a lot of trial and error? Our menu is based on availability and understanding the products we have to work with. If you understand the product, it lessens the error during the trial. Basically, we create what sounds good to us with ingredients we have to work with at the moment. On the equipment side, what do you look for when purchasing foodservice equipment for the kitchen? Strength and durability. Cooks tend to take out their frustrations on their equipment. The restaurant industry has a very broad range of foods…what’s your buying approach? Do you go out to bid on a regular basis or do you look for loyalty from vendors? We have created strong relationships with our farms and vendors. We trust we are getting the best prices they can give. Very rarely would we haggle on a price, because we know the labor and cost it takes to create their products. There’s always talks of healthier eating, are your customers looking for that, and if so, how do you cater to the growing demand? We cook clean, unprocessed food, but we are not cooking to decrease calories. Do you feel that the restaurant industry suffers too much from Zagat, Yelp, and other consumer review sights? 141 • November 2013 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com
derstand the damage they can really do to a small, family-owned operation. Sometimes it is better just not to go back. Whether good, bad or a mix of both, what are some of the biggest changes you’ve seen in our industry service since your career started? Positively…chefs are taking the responsibility to create relationships between themselves and suppliers. They
are figuring out how to utilize the local farmers and their environments. The stronger these relationships become the better for everyone. Negatively… television has kind of glorified the life of a chef. Many younger chefs have a false reality of what this business is all about. They see the fame and they want that, but they lack the passion.
NJRA, from page 64
Meiko, from page 20
“This show was unique and more affordable than most trade events, as we provided booth furnishings for exhibitors, saving them the expense and inconvenience of bringing them,” said Mr. Callahan. “Holding the event in the Meadowlands Exposition Center also gave us the flexibility to keep visitor and exhibitor costs down. In addition to the turnkey booth package, the facility offered easy access, inexpensive hotel accommodations and ample parking.” The Expo, open to qualified retail and foodservice trade buyers affiliated with food service establishments, institutional dining, retailers or retail food service, included booths by food and equipment manufacturers, manufacturing agents and suppliers, food and equipment distributors, dealers, brokers and traders. Established in 1942, the NJRA represents the Garden State's 25,000 eating and drinking establishments - the State's largest private sector employers, generating $14 billion in annual sales and employing over 311,000 people. Keynote speaker was John Moore, branding expert from Starbucks and Whole Foods, who discussed “the bigness of smallness.” The offerings also included celebrity chef David Burke, who coined the motto “Never eat ordinary. Eat extraordinary,” who presented a culinary demonstration; National Restaurant Association President Dawn Sweeney, who hosted experts on what’s next for health care reform and what do restaurants need to know in terms of their business and employees. Two-time New Jersey Mixologist of the Year Michael Deeg DiGioacchino shared the art and skill of preparing award-winning cocktails, while Wheelicious blogger and author Catherine McCord provided a variety of solutions to help chefs and menu developers think outside the box, introduced foods that engage all five senses (think shapes, colors and texture) and addressed noteworthy strategies to appeal to picky eaters and those with food allergies.
labor since the machine is so easy to operate and requires minimal manual cleanup. In regards to performance, some of our customers leave their dishes sitting for up to three days before washing them, and yet maintain a re-run rate of less than five percent. Talk about the special wave feature at the load end of the machine? How did your R&D team arrive at that as being a key? This area of the machine is particularly difficult to clean, as the operator has to reach under the belt to access it. By flushing food soils periodically with the “Tsunami Wave”, the operator will less frequently need to clean it. And not to let anything go to waste, this is a great way to repurpose a portion of the waste water. How does the active filtrations feature flush out soil in high pressure cycles? In traditional systems, food soils and particulate are merely collected in screens, trays, traps, etc. They’re not actually being eliminated from the machine until the operator manually removes and empties them. With M-iQ’s patented active filtration technology, food particulate is actively flushed and pumped from the tanks in incremental stages throughout the day. What can consultants and their endusers expect in terms of making cleanup easier? M-iQ is equipped with several unique features making cleanup easier. First, all daily manual cleanup areas are intuitively marked in blue – letting operators know exactly what parts need to be accessed, cleaned and replaced quickly. M-iQ even features an automated cycle that can be pre-programmed to run at the end of every shift. This cycle ensures remaining soils are pumped through the M-iQ filter, significantly reducing the
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amount of the manual labor required to clean the machine. How will this new technology reduce detergent consumption? There are combinations of technologies working together to significantly reduce the amount of detergent and rinse aid required to operate M-iQ. • M-iQ employs a high-pressure wash for both improved soil removal and reduced water consumption. Water flow has been modeled using computational fluid dynamics hitting the ware more effectively, and thus reducing the amount of detergent required. • The cleaner the water is, the less detergent required. Our filter technology is found in each tank and features a multiple state filtration process that can reduce detergent consumption by up to 50%. • The machine features a bypass located near the power rinse that goes directly to the prewash area, where detergent is not needed. Chemical is only added to the portions of the machine that require it. For instance, though the machine uses less than 60 gallons of water an hour, only 60% of that water goes into the wash tank, which requires chemicals. We are not adding chemical to water that doesn’t require it. Cleaning is a huge concern with labor cost. How does this new design impact cleaning? Since the machine is continuously cleaning itself via the filter technology, coupled with the self-cleaning feature at the end of the shift, the amount of manual labor is reduced significantly. When manual labor is required, the parts requiring daily cleaning are clearly marked in blue. This feature makes recognition fast, and straightforward, and makes the very best use of an employee’s time. Also, it would be remiss to talk about labor and not talk about turnover. Since M-iQ is insulated, and reuses a great portion of
the heat it generates, the exterior of the machine is cool to the touch. The amount of energy released into the dishroom is minimal, making for a much more pleasant environment. In other words, when employees like their jobs – they tend to keep them. The M-iQ offers a full range of energy savings features. Walk us through how the Waste Air Heat Recovery system functions and leads to savings? Heat recovery works by reclaiming energy created during the wash to heat the incoming water. Many machines offer some form of a heat recovery system, but M-iQ’s is significantly more advanced. For starters, our Waste Air Heat Recovery (WAHR) is located over the load section of the machine. Though this may seem counterintuitive, the machine is pulling the clean air back from the unload section of the machine. This prevents contamination of the ware, improves heating efficiency, and reduces exhaust emissions. Also, M-iQ’s WAHR system works in concert with other energy-saving technologies, dynamically adjusting to changes in heating distribution. For instance, our modulating booster works directly with the WAHR to achieve optimum water temperature. If the machine is cold, the booster heater will operate continuously until the WAHR is able to recapture enough energy to begin heating water. Once the system has reclaimed enough energy, it allows the booster heater to maintain temperature, as opposed to cycling, saving a great deal of energy. To learn more about the M-iQ call (800) 55-MEIKO or visit www.meiko. us. You can also visit Meiko at the International, Hotel, Motel + Restaurant Show in booth #1320 on November 9-12,2013.
Ellinger, from page 59
WTW, from page 14
the summer of 2012. "We are thrilled to bring the very best of our Pastry Guild knowledge to the show floor," noted Ellinger. Born in Jericho, New York, Ellinger had an early interest in pastry and food science, and graduated from Highbury Technical College in Portsmouth, England with degrees in both. He then went on to graduate with a B.S. degree in hotel and restaurant management from the Florida International University in Miami. After deciding on a career in pastry, Ellinger continued to serve as the Executive Pastry Chef at the Metropolitan Opera, The United Nations, The Water
Pastry Art & Design’s Ten Best Pastry Chefs in America 2002 and 2009. In the summer of 2010 Ellinger was given the honor of being named the Head Judge of the World Pastry Championships (the first American-born to be given this esteemed position) held in Phoenix, Arizona and of the National Pastry Championships. He received this honor again for the competition held in Las Vegas in July 2012. In 2011 Ellinger received the American Culinary Federation’s gold medal for the best warm plated dessert. In addition to running his bakery and judging and competing in various competitions, Ellinger also has a bi-monthly
Club and the Garden City Hotel in New York. In 1986, Ellinger opened his own business, Baked to Perfection, a retail and wholesale bakery operation in Port Washington, New York of which he is celebrating the 27th anniversary. Ellinger has been teaching Adult Education since 1986 in the Port Washington School District. In 1997 Ellinger earned both the Certified Master Baker and the Certified Executive Pastry Chef titles making him one of a small group to hold both certifications. Throughout his career, Ellinger has won numerous awards, including the Medal of the French Government in 2009, New York Guild of Chefs’ Pastry Chef of the Year Award in 2009 and
column called In My View featured in Dessert Professional Magazine. In January of 2012 Ellinger received a medallion of recognition given to him by the president of the American Culinary Federation. This medallion was only the eleventh to be presented and Ellinger was featured as one of the world’s master pastry chefs in the publication The Baking Apprentice. Ellinger was selected as the manager for the 2012 American team (one of 10 participating countries) competing in Rimini, Italy for the first ever Pastry Queen Competition where his team came in third place after a tough battle. Ellinger's passion for teaching had led to the recent opening of the Ellinger
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Baking Institute in Port Washington so that he can continue to share the knowledge that he has received in his 35 years in the industry. The IHMRS will bring passion of that program to the floor of the 2013 event. The Baking sessions are slated for "Show-Sunday" November 10th from 11 am to 4 pm. Ellinger and his faculty will demonstrate a wide range of baking including Cake decorating to Fruit pies and Secrets to Sorbet and French Macaroons. The International Hotel, Motel + Restaurant Show is sponsored by the American Hotel & Lodging Association, the Hotel Association of New York City, Inc., and the New York State Hospitality & Tourism Association; and is managed by HMG. Now in its 98th year, the annual event showcases more than 700 hospitality industry suppliers and attracts more than 18,000 attendees. For more information or to register for the 2013 show, please visit www.ihmrs.com.
people we're trying to reach. . That trust factor between buyer and seller is crucial in representing a new product. The company has its headquarters in Connecticut with operations based in Brooklyn, NY. With tremendous experience in waste removal and recycling, the members of WTW have developed the system to address the growing need for an alternative to landfill for food waste. The company is designed for direct sales and sales through agents across the US and Canada. All units are manufactured and assembled in the State of Connecticut. The company is dedicated to the use of American labor, technology and manufacturing capabilities to provide the best quality equipment available.
Spark, from page 87 how to put it on paper. He doesn't know how to structure a deal or how to raise capital. So we're working with him in a totally different capacity to take him through the process and literally build a brand around him,” said Eisenberg. The company also works with hotel owners or operators who are looking for strategy help; “I'm putting up a new hotel in this location. What should my mix of food and beverage be? Should I do a roof top bar? Should I do a beer garden? Who should be my operator? We help with all of that.” When someone is looking for a location, Spark comes in then, too. “We work with the top brokers and when someone comes to us and says, look here is my concept, here is the square footage, here is the area I want to be in, we'll work with one of those brokers first to do a site selection and we'll advise the client,” Eisenberg said. Eisenberg said most of the structure of Spark is in strategic partnerships. “There's no reason for me to learn about kitchen design build-outand inventory of 200,000 square feet of equipment. No reason for me to keep on top of the real estate market when I have partners to whom I can say, here's what I need.” One of the things Eisenberg particularly enjoys is branding. He feels it’s very important for a business’ identity. “To me, STK is a brand. There are eight of them now. There could be 12 of them soon,” he said. In the same way, Eisenberg believes that Dylan Prime is a brand, “one that can be cultivated and expanded. STK is a brand that is already there,” he said. “There are a lot of restaurants in New York City that are amazing, but don't work beyond the one location, either because it's not truly a brand, it's not commercial, or it relies so much on the chef. You can't clone these guys, you can't take them that far outside. Maybe you can do one
One of the things Eisenberg particularly enjoys is branding. He feels it’s very important for a business’ identity. “To me, STK is a brand. There are eight of them now. There could be 12 of them soon,” he said.
other location in Vegas or L.A., but you can't put 15 of them across the country,” he said. “And that's why the Dylan Prime and STK brand in steakhouses are so attractive, maybe because they're not chef-driven brands. They're customer-driven.” At the end of the day, though, Eisenberg said, he fits mostly on the investor side. “So for me, it's not about the really amazing 15-seat restaurant in Brooklyn that has remarkable reviews, that the foodies love. That's great, but it can't pay their rent. I'm in the business of making my investors money by helping the operators build their brand.” Eisenberg said he sees vast differences between restaurants, nightclubs and hotels in terms of investing. “You have nightclubs and then you have what I would call bars and lounges. Nightclubs tend to have a much smaller lifetime. So you either need to develop them, brand them, launch them on a continual basis, or they die. You know, there's very few nightclubs that have been around for a while. Nightclubs can be a good investment – they can generate a significantly higher profit, given the
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margin on alcohol versus food. But the controls in place in nightclubs are a lot less, and there are greater incidents of theft. So, the nightclub industry, in our opinion, is a lot harder to underwrite in terms of our investors because they see the fact of that shorter life period. And higher potential liability.” Restaurants, on the other hand, especially the ones he deals with, Eisenberg said, tend to be the ones that are commercially viable. “There are huge controls in place. They have long life spans, if done properly. And they may not make our investors their money back in a year, like some of these nightclubs you hear about, but they have a higher chance of success and a longer tail in terms of the investment return” A third category Eisenberg finds investors for are bars and lounges,
“which are able to market more as a restaurant than as a night club, because there are the controls in place. Most of the bars and lounges we're involved with are either in hotels, or high-end condos or rental buildings where there's not only a higher level of control and longevity, but there's a built-in base of initial customers.” As for the future, Eisenberg said he is very confident. “We put together a great team. We've got three very skilled operators. One has been everything from a chef to a mixologist. We have a director of ops, and then two managers of operations, which all have great track records and resumes. We've brought in two experts in the hospitality marketing space, as well as a manager of digital marketing. I believe we have it all.”
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Brennan, from page 74 I love rustic things. I can do the fancy cakes, the layer cakes, but desserts bring people back to what their mom made, homey style things. People get a lot of comfort from pastry. Yes, I did make the clafoutie, but it’s got to look yummy and tasty for people to want to buy it. Do you need a special supplier for what you do? Usually we’re able to get most of what I need through Sysco, though sometimes I might have to go out and purchase things and get reimbursed, things, like when I made tapioca parfait with macerated berries, layered. Believe it or not, I don’t believe they sell tapioca here! I also did a margarita cake with tequila, Do I bake in the savory category? I see it as kind of a vehicle to add something to or have with something, like ciabatta bread. At the Four Seasons we had a lavache bread rolled out really really thin, we put sesame seeds, poppy seeds, on it and it was a seasoned cracker for the fine dining restaurant. What kind of equipment do you use? Did you have to go out and buy anything? The 20-quart mixer I use every day, the one that’s made by Hobart. It’s like my right hand. Since I’m not producing a huge amount of desserts, I don’t need the 64. We don’t really have anything else here; they got me a turntable for making cakes. They knew my experience. But there’s also stuff here I’d never used before, like the blast chiller. That’s been a cool thing because I’m making desserts every day and they have to be done -- I get in at 8 and they have to be done, out on the floor at 11 – and the blast has helped to speed up cooling stuff down. I used to stick my hot things in the freezer but that can damage the coils, but with the blast, it’s great to use when making lemon squares or just about anything you can’t cut when it’s hot.
I also use a convection oven. It’s quicker, and browns things faster, but I’ve also learned to rotate the pans more, keep an eye on them more, so I could probably do without it. Still, it shortens baking time so that’s a good thing. I did have to adjust to what I do here. Do you need to make healthy desserts, too? Dessert is still dessert. But the people who worked in Boston did ask for that stuff a lot more, maybe because they’re younger. A more urban population eats there. But here it’s working moms and dads and they all have families. They’re not so much into the healthy stuff. We did do a low-fat yogurt mousse, but it wasn’t a huge seller. Pumpkin pie bars, blondies sell more. We just don’t have a huge demand for the healthier stuff. Why do you love making pastry so much? I don’t strive to make a signature. I’m just about creating a pleasing ending to a customer’s meal, a little treat that will just make them happy, add a sweet ending. That’s why I like dessert. It’s the grand finale of a meal.
Cuomo, from page 61 Salumeria Rosi and Il Ristorante Rosi: Chef/Owner Cesare Casella, Tribeca Grill: Martin Shapiro, Managing Partner, Mission Chinese Food: Chef/ Owner Danny Bowen, Bistro La Promenade & Azure by Allegretti: Chef Alain Allegretti, Jimmy’s No. 43: Chef/Owner Jimmy Carbone, Bogota Latin Bistro: Owner Farid Ali Lancheros, Sylvia’s: Jason Wallace, General Manager, The Den: Owner Brice Jones, Café Tallulah: Chef Matt Voffman, The Cleaver Company, Owner Mary Cleaver (3 locations): The Green Table, Black Shack & 67 Burger: Ed Tretter, Partner, The Calhoun School: Executive Chef and director of Food Services, Chef Babbo, Spike Hill: Trezia Jean-Charles, General Manager, and Sardi’s Restaurant:
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Sean Ricketts, General Manager. By participating in the Pride of New York Pledge, each chef has committed to: Increase sourcing of New York State grown and made products and ingredients including products from New York’s food and beverage producers for their restaurant(s) by 10% or more; Feature, highlight and increase wines, beers, spirits, ciders and other locally produced beverages on their drink menus by 10%; Utilize their team’s expertise and talents to introduce new New York themed dishes demonstrating that locally sourced and seasonal products are delicious; Consistently communicate with their commitment with suppliers, peers and the public so others will support New York State food and beverages; and Educate and maintain staff knowledge of New York State’s locally grown and made products. The Pride of New York Pledge was announced in conjunction with Taste NY’s first participation in the prestigious Food Network New York City Wine & Food Festival presented by FOOD & WINE and held October 1720, 2013. New York State foods and beverages were sampled at the Grand Tasting Tent as well as at a special brunch held later last month. The pledge was developed in consultation with leading chefs, restaurateurs, agricultural leaders, and the Cornell Cooperative Extension. All proceeds of the Festival and Brunch benefit the Food Bank of New York and Share our Strength charities. Governor Cuomo and the NY Restaurant Association will continue to encourage chefs and restaurants to join the Pride of New York Pledge. One of the first chefs to join the Pledge, Marc Murphy, is co-owner and Chef for the prestigious Benchmarc Restaurants including Landmarc, Ditchplains and Kingside restaurants. "As a New York City chef and restaurant owner I’m proud to support our great state and all of its amazing offerings, from the best farms, butchers, brewers, distilleries and wineries,” said
Chef Murphy. “I’m committed to supporting local products and offer a variety of local items at my restaurants Landmarc, Kingside and Ditch Plains. This pledge is a fantastic way for our industry to come together and continue to support and showcase the best from the Empire State." David J. Skorton, President, Cornell University said, "As I've had the pleasure of saying many times before, Governor Cuomo understands the great assets we have here in New York, and he shows great leadership in bringing them together. These restaurateurs are making a pledge that will benefit Upstate producers and restaurant patrons alike. And importantly, we believe this new initiative will serve as a model for an agricultural economic development strategy for the nation. I'm particularly proud of Cornell's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the extensive Cornell Cooperative Extension network in New York City and Upstate, who have been matching Upstate growers with downstate chefs and using 'Market Maker' food hubs to bring fresh produce to the City's neighborhoods for years. They helped create this model of mutual cooperation and benefits in New York State, and it's a thrill to see Governor Cuomo lead it in another giant leap forward." The Governor’s Taste NY program is a joint marketing initiative of the Empire State Development Corporation and Department of Agriculture and Markets that focuses on branding and expanding New York's food and beverage industry by making the wide variety of foods and beverages made and grown in the state readily available and recognizable to New Yorkers as well as to the hospitality industry and public nationwide. Part of Governor Cuomo’s efforts to promote agribusiness across the state, Taste NY is being marketed through a range of promotional efforts including Taste NY tents at important events, Taste NY stores in transportation hubs and a dedicated website, www.taste.ny.gov.
White, from page 16 would watch cooking shows on TV with his mother, Mary Ann, who died in 2012. His father, Gerry, is a retired banker and still lives in Beloit. "I knew I wanted to take a shot at cooking and I knew if I worked at a place like the Butterfly that I could learn about taking apart a grinder and making au gratin potatoes and fish fries — all that sort of stuff," White said. After Butterfly Club he made the leap to Chicago, where in 1991 he began working at Spiaggia under another Wisconsinite, Paul Bartolotta, whom White calls "a very big inspiration to me." Paul is the brother of Milwaukee restaurateur Joe Bartolotta. And even though White's family roots are Norwegian, he knew he wanted to cook Italian. As he recalls: "When I was growing up, Italian was the ethnic food of choice, really. Go to any Midwestern city and we had fantastic Cantonese and Italian restaurants. So when I decided I wanted to be a chef, French wasn't even in my thought process." His yeoman work ethic was already evident when he first met Bartolotta. "I had to be there at 3 and I got there at noon so I wouldn't be late. It was one of those kinds of things. I started helping with salads that night," White said. After two years at Spiaggia during which time he took a nine-month course at Kendall College he headed to Italy, where he would spend, on and off, the better part of eight years, much of it working at a Michelin-starred restaurant, San Domenico, in the town of Imola in Emilia-Romagna. "Putting the time in allows you to have credibility," he explained. "I've done my doctorate in Italy, if you will." It was in Italy that he met his future wife, Giovanna Cornachione, with whom he has a daughter. And along the way, he became fluent in Italian. "We speak only Italian at home," he said. He returned to Spiaggia in 1999 and then ventured to New York, where he got gigs at some well-known places, including now-closed Fiamma; he wrote a cookbook by that name,
published in 2006. His trajectory got on the fast track when he joined forces with Fakahany. "It's an amazing ride. I don't like to talk about it, but it's amazing," White said. Initially, his family was skeptical about his career choice. "When I told my father I was going to be a chef, he was like, 'Wow, OK, but how do you expect to make a living?'" And as his father recently joked: "Michael always liked cars. I thought he was on the way to becoming a wrecker — that's the way I thought things were going."
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It turns out making a living was not a problem. By the end of this year, this chef from the heartland expects there will be more than 1,000 employees — "a fantastic talent pool" — at the various Altamarea Group restaurants. But he's adamant that he will continue to cook, no matter the number of kitchens to his credit. "I can't be tossing every pasta but I will never allow myself to not be in the kitchen, to not cook," he said. "I just cooked five days straight in London with my team, with the young people — it was fabulous." And he showed a
pinch of pique: "A lot of times the people and the press want chefs to just be in the kitchen, but the economics of that just don't work. And I don't want to be scolded for being a businessperson." High energy is an understatement. As he says, "I don't sleep — I'm thinking about all the things I can do. Do I work 12 hours a day? Oh, much, much more. But I haven't 'worked' a day in 23 years because I love what I do."
BOOTH
#1501
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Bobrow, from page 102 Whiskey (about 35 years now) there is good, better and best. I won't go so far as to say that Pappy is the best, but what I will say is that it's pretty darned good. This 107 proof slurp is making getting out of my chair very difficult this morning. I want to delve in and dissect it, flavor by flavor as it reveals itself over my tongue. Dark Pacific Northwest cherries are in there- packed with brown sugar and charred cornbread- made in a cast iron pan! Leather from western saddles (foam from the panting steed included) is making a firm statement on my tongue- it wraps around my mouth in a volcano of activity. This
Bourbon is not for everyone. I've just completed some notes "On Whiskey" for OKRA Magazine in New Orleans regarding Pappy. I want to go on record saying there are many Bourbon brands out there, but Pappy is unique. I want it to be unique!
Pappy 20 Pappy 20 year old is to me in flavor like the combination of a wet Labrador hunting dog, wool clothes soaked from a successful duck hunt and a wood stove fire. All these scents come into view on my tongue. I cannot imagine what slogging through pluff mud in the swamp would be like, but
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knowing that a bottle of Pappy 20 was waiting for me on my return, makes it all worthwhile. There is smoke in every sip. Do they blow the family cigar smoke into the barrels? I'm not sure. What I do know is that the roundness in the mouth is exceptional. You can taste the heat- of course- I'd be a fool to say otherwise. Is it worth the expense? I think so- having always wanted a bottle of my own to taste with a multitude of foods like pastrami and chopped chicken liver sandwiches on Pechter’s Rye or bacon, lettuce and tomato on white toast with mayo. They say Pappy is made in a Wheated style. That means instead of the more cinnamon tinged Rye they use Wheat. I agree. This adds to the creamy mouth feel. The finish goes on and on. The 20-year-old version is most inviting in
a cut crystal glass- but please, as with all these bottles of Bourbon, please leave the ice on the side and the water out of the picture. You can sprinkle some branch water over the top, but that’s it. Taste them, as you like. I can only try to influence you in my own way!
Golden, from page 32 bean and rice soup. Those are the types of products that consumers are looking for," says Shaw. Golden Ladle is researching three new soups to launch in the first quarter of 2014. The company uses broadline and specialty distributors to get its soups out to the public. "When we took on the product line, we were very interested in gluten-free soups and we wanted a good-tasting
product that falls into that category," says Shaw. Shaw says Golden Ladle soups fit the more high-end restaurant, though their prices are competitive. "Consumers know they get what they pay for. You want quality, you pay for quality. But our product is convenient for operators – it’s in a bag, not in a can, and ready to serve. We’re excited about this- it’s on trend, it’s good for operators and patrons, and it just tastes great."
Call Vic Rose: 732-864-2220
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// INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE
WITH FRED SAMPSON
A Closer Look at the QSR Strikes How successful have the QSR strikes been? It depends on your viewpoint. My research found two outlooks that I think are both objective and on point. Due to time and space limitations we can only present excerpts from each.
A
ccording to Derek Thompson, writing in The Atlantic Monthly: “It is no wonder that thousands of fast-food workers have gone on strike to protest their measly wages and non-benefit existent benefits, demanding a $15 per hour minimum wage which would more than double some of their hourly income. These aren’t teenagers, after all. A quarter of fast-food workers are raising a child. Forty percent are older than 25. But sympathy and optimism are two separate things. And when it comes to fast-food workers’ strikes and dramatically raising wages for food service employees, I’m only feeling the former.” His comments are accompanied by a chart, which shows that since 1990, jobs in manufacturing have dropped by 50 percent. Retail, which absorbed a lot of the slack from the manufacturing slowdown in the 1970s and 1980s, has flatlined. Food services have shot up by 25 percent. He continues: “The chart doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about why low wages in food service are here to stay. But it does suggest that the collapse of middle-income stalwarts like manufacturing has left a glut of young, low-skilled workers who are rushing in to fill local service-sector needs at bigbox stores and fast-food chains.” And that, to me, suggests another thing: There are more people willing to do these jobs than there are people willing to strike.
Fred G. Sampson,
President of Sampson Consulting, Inc. fredgsampson@juno.com
Retail, which absorbed a lot of the slack from the manufacturing slowdown in the 1970s and 1980s, has flatlined. Food services have shot up by 25 percent. His final observation is that without some intervention, such as tripling the earned income tax credit or doubling the minimum wage, it is hard for him to see how the higher wage movement can succeed on the streets. My next source was an interview with David E. Johnson, CEO of public relations and branding agency, Strategic Vision, LLC. The following appeared on the QSR website.
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QSRweb: Since the strikes don’t appear to be going away, how should brands respond? DJ: First they can point to the quality careers that are offered in the industry, to refocus and reshape public opinion. They can point out and discuss that meeting these demands would impact business and the consumers by forcing them to raise prices of their offerings, and that many of the restaurants are owned by small business owners who are just making ends meet. They need to address head-on why they are refusing to meet the striker’s demands. They need to speak up about the community outreach that they do, be it a franchise or a corporate store. Their social media needs to reflect and echo what the brands are saying in the traditional media. QSRweb: Should brands respond to their social media dissenters as they would a general complaint? DJ: The brands should just restate their position on social media and not allow a debate to ensue. The more the brands engage the strikers, the greater the media will play
up the story and it becomes a longer media story. By issuing a statement and not engaging the strikers, it means the media cannot keep playing up the stories between the strikers and the brands. Consumers already have made their choices and will be unlikely to change [their opinions] due to the statements issued by the brand. QSRweb: What resolution, if any, do you predict from this? DJ: Any resolution depends upon media coverage and if consumers react in a way that affects the brand. In a 24/7 news cycle and social media world, this story will fade away in time. Consumers will be unlikely to stop frequenting the brands. I predict that the strike will fizzle over time. Both of these viewpoints came to the same conclusion: That for various reasons, the strikers are in a difficult position. It is my sense that the stakes for the brands are very high; a successful effort by the unions would unquestionably be a “game changer.” Its impact on the industry’s value-marketing environment would have to be altered, if not abandoned. While I do not believe $15 an hour is realistic, a $10 minimum in an election year climate could happen, and that would pose marketing issues for the brands. Remember, irrespective of what supporters say when you raise the minimum wage, which is the floor, it does have a ripple effect and establishes new norms throughout the staff. What would the impact be? I leave you with this thought. When the price of a meal away from home becomes too expensive—no matter at what level—the consumer has a choice. It will mean a return of lunch boxes, brown bags, and, last but not least, Café Microwave. These could become the new “value meals”!
BCA, from page 79 European chefs at various restaurants while spending summers in the resort city of Virginia Beach. Though much of his training and philosophy was developed in New York City, Kavon credits his desires to strive in excellence in Haute Cuisine to his training under renowned Chef Fred Tiess, a Culinary Institute of America alumnus and former Executive Chef at the World Famous Greenbrier Resort and Conference Center. It was Tiess, and former Walt Disney World Executive Chef Fred Renaud, who gave him motivation and guidance to reach his full potential. This eventually led to his entrance to Johnson & Wales University as an advance culinary student. “It was great attending Johnson & Wales, because at the time I was the only student working in a five-star hotel, restaurant, and training under award winning chefs.” After completing culinary school, Kavon became the Executive Chef for the Omni Hotel, and then became a chef at the Five-star Jefferson Hotel in which he developed a fondness for game meats and charcuterie. Chef Kavon later became the Consulting chef for the holiday Inn Richmond, before going on to New York as the chef at the King’s Carriage house. Upon his arrival in New York City, he worked at many of the city’s elite restaurants such as the Park Avenue Café, Hudson River Club, Spice Market, Daniel, Coco Pazzo Café and Mirezki with Anita Lo. He has also served as the chef instructor at the Art Institute of New York City, Culinary Training Center, Urban Horizons, and currently as an instructor for Westchester County Parks and Recreation. Chef Kavon consults for various restaurants and runs catered events using groups of culinary students to enable them to learn about real world experiences in
"I struggled as a student until I discovered school in the culinary field, " said Crespo. It gave me a purpose and I bloomed into the chef I am today. As with many young chefs, mentoring played a key role in his growth and development.
the food service industry. A three time culinary award winner, Chef Kavon participates regularly in culinary competitions throughout the year and operates catering events at such acclaimed establishments as the Landmark Manhattan Center, and the Inn On Fifth Avenue. Currently Chef Langley operates a Restaurant and Hotel Consulting Company as well as serving as the Executive Chef at Bourbon Street Bar and Grill in New York City. Highlighting the BCA lineup of chefs will be Chef Paul Simeon. After attending the French Culinary Institute and Peter Kump’s School of Culinary Arts, Chef Paul Simeon has spent more than 20 years in the New York restaurant scene using technique and experience along with fresh produce and exotic spices from around the globe to come up with a unique cooking style. From France to Asia, Mexico to the Caribbean, he has created a unique ability to fuse style. After interning at Le Cote Basque and the China Grille, he went on to work as Executive Chef at Madiba--New York’s first South African restaurant.
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He then went on to be the head chef at Teqa, a successful Mexican restaurant in Manhattan’s Murray Hill while also consulting and designing menus for various other restaurants. Paul comes from four generations of butchers. He is currently running a catering and restaurant food designing company in New York City. The IHMRS will also welcome acclaimed toque Christopher Smith, the executive chef of the Crowne Plaza Times Square. His choice of a culinary career path was a classic case of serendipity prompted by the discovery that studying accounting at college was boring and born of a parttime job as a dishwasher at a nursing home. As he washed, he watched. The chef, who asked Smith if he would like to try his hand at cooking, noticed his curious scrutiny of the kitchen. Smith took on third cook duties, such as making mashed potatoes and decided working on the line in a professional kitchen was anything but boring. He was hooked. Four years later he was running the nursing home kitchen, while his boss concentrated on the food service for the affiliated
hospital. Having completed his journeyman education, Smith decided it was time to expand his gastronomic horizons and enrolled in the New York Restaurant School. The year was 1995; he was 25, a husband and a father. So while his fellow students set their sights on working at trendy independent restaurants, Smith astutely recognized the high failure rate of such establishments made them too risky for him. He needed a more stable environment, like that of a major hotel. Fortunately, New York City’s Marriott Financial Center was in need of a banquet sous chef when Smith graduated. It was even more fortunate for Smith that the hotel had struck a deal with Roy Yamaguchi, Hawaii’s contribution to the celebrity chef constellation, to open an outpost of his highly acclaimed Roy’s restaurants. Roy’s opened the year Smith joined the Marriott organization and by 2002 he had been promoted to assistant sous chef of the hotel, which translated to playing the sous chef role at Roy’s. “I had the best of both worlds, the stability and resources of a big hotel along with the exciting, creative experience of a celebrated restaurant.” Working at Roy’s also lent a new element - Hawaiian fusion cuisine - to Smith’s developing culinary style, which already had a Caribbean bent. “My grandmother was from Barbados and a great cook. We went to her house every weekend, where we ate all the traditional dishes. Eventually I started helping her, so I learned about the ingredients and techniques involved.” In 2005, he was recruited by the Crowne Plaza Times Square to become executive sous chef. After a massive renovation of the hotel, Smith was given the reigns of its new restaurant, Brasserie 1605. He developed what he describes as an elevated comfort food fusion menu. “I’ve tweaked popular feel good dishes
SHFM, from page 88 with traces of Caribbean or Hawaiian infusions. Even a hint of Latin and a bit of Southern influences, being careful not to force a fusion that will be unwieldy to the eye or on the palate.” Indeed two of the aspects Smith loves about being a chef are presentation and pleasing people. “I get such a kick out of the expression on peoples’ faces when they realize they’ve just bitten into something they love. That’s an ‘oh, my god’ moment.” The other aspect that fuels his passion for his job is the adrenaline rush a busy kitchen induces. And at a 770room hotel with a 111-seat restaurant, a 125-seat bar / lounge, room service, a concierge lounge and more than 23,000 sq. ft. of function space, Smith’s kitchen at the Crowne Plaza Times Square is a constant hotbed of activity. Long Island catering chef Kartlton Harris will make his IHMRS Show debut at the 2013 event. "My outlook on the hospitality industry is to blend creativity, respect and appreciation of the classics, " noted Harris. Harris brings a portfolio of success at major private clubs including the University Club, Harvard Club and the Society of Illustrators. He then moved on to a stint at B. Smith Restaurant in Manhattan. The French Culinary Institute graduate also has a specialty in ice carving that he developed through study at the CIA and NYC Technical College. Chef Harris was the co-owner and creative force behind Cornbread and Caviar Restaurant on Long Island. “My love for the culinary arts originated as a child and was influenced by my father and grandmother. While working with them in the kitchen at home, I was moved by the love and passion that they put into preparing food. Chef Harris is now operating the much talked about Baldwin, Long Island based upscale take-out and Gourmet Catering business.
BCA at Javits is Cooking, will highlight the talents of ICE-Institute of Culinary Education Graduate Austin Crespo. The 24-year old Ecuadorian currently works at Bourbon Street Bar and Grille in Manhattan as the sous chef along side of BCA team leader Chef Kavon Langley. He is also working on developing a much anticipated catering business: Above All Clouds. "I struggled as a student until I discovered school in the culinary field, " said Crespo. It gave me a purpose and I bloomed into the chef I am today. As with many young chefs, mentoring played a key role in his growth and development. "My high school teacher David Espinosa believed in me as he did with every student that was serious about this career. In addition, he introduced me to C-CCAP to help students that want to make a career out of culinary arts. As a result of that organization, I was able to earn a scholarship to ICE and then win a C-CAP competition that got me an extra $8,500 in school funding. As it has done with so many students, ICE's externship program enabled Expinosa to work with noted toque Marcus Samuelsson. That led to a program at the Brooklyn job core academy, which gave the young chef introductions to both employment and entrepreneurial opportunities. The BCA is a nationwide non-profit, educational and networking organization of hospitality and food service professionals. Incorporated as a 501(c)(3) in 1998, their mission is to create exposure and provide educational and professional opportunities for culinary and hospitality professionals of color. Providing quality educational and employment resources, job coaching, mentoring and assistance with placement, and networking support accomplish this.
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honor the legacy of SFM while reflecting the importance of being flexible and responsive, the key ingredients of growth.” “Our new brand is fresh, relevant and responsive to our current members, prospective members and the industry at large,” added Freeman. “Our influence is expanding into new markets and members segments. It’s an exciting new era of growth for the society.” Also during the conference, the association announced the following 2013 SHFM award recipients: Community Service Dick Hynes, Director of Consultant Services, Hobart- Traulsen Spirit Genevieve Stona, Director of Joint Ventures, Thompson Hospitality Leadership Barbara Kane, Vice President of Industry Relations, Ecolab, Inc. Richard Ysmael Distinguished Service Award Kathy Sanders, Vice President of Corporate Properties and Strategic Sourcing, Wells Fargo Lifetime Ron Ehrhardt, FMP, Vice President of Operational Safety, Compass Group, Robert Pacifico Barbara Kane, Vice President of Industry Relations, Ecolab, Inc. President’s Award Steve Follett, President and CEO, Follett Corporation SHFM also announced its 2013-14 board of directors at the conference: President - Sabrina Capannola, Senior Project Manager, General Services Department – Support Services World Bank Group; President-Elect - Anthony Kaszuba, RMA-Hospitality Management President Treasurer - Bernadette Ventura,
Health Care Service Corporation, a Mutual Legal Reserve Co Manager, Food Services, Corporate Real Estate SHFM Foundation Chair - Matthew Merson, ZICO Beverages LLC Director Of National Accounts Senior Associate - Steve Follett, Follett Corporation President and CEO Immediate Past President - Mark FreemanMicrosoft Senior Services Manager Director Bill Adams Coca Cola - Vice President Director - Michiel Bakker, Google Global Food Services Director - Mark Bickford, Sodexo, Inc. President, Corporate Service Solutions Director - Meg Clark, The Boeing Company Food Service Administrator Director - Jay S. Leyden, ARAMARK Business Dining EVP - Growth Director - Damian Monticello, FMP, CM, P Florida Blue Corporate Foodservice Liaison Director - Rick Postiglione, Compass Group, North America President & CEO, Contracted Foodservice Director - John Strickland, Bose Director, Corporate Operations Director - Victoria E. Vega, Unidine Corporation Vice President, Operations, Business Dining Director - Holly Von Seggern, Whitsons Culinary Group Vice President of Marketing and Brand Management The 35th anniversary conference will be held from November 4 to 6, 2014 at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut.
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METRO NEW YORK'S FOODSERVICE EVENT COVERAGE
StarChefs Host 8th Annual Congress At New Site For StarChefs organizers Antoinette Bruno and Will Blunt, this year's annual International Chefs Congress (ICC) - the 8th gave new meaning to the definition of a moveable feast.
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ith the renovation of the Park Avenue Armory that had served as the event’s home for the past 7 years, ICC settled into new digs at SuperPier at Hudson River Park in New York City September 29 to October 1. Events included chef-studded panels, including Danny Bowien, Bryan Voltaggio and April Bloomfield, as well as tasting events and plenty of latenight activities. “Our mission is to help chefs and other people in the restaurant industry succeed,” said Will Blunt, managing editor of StarChefs, an industry publication. “We wanted the meeting to be
M. Tucker’s Silena Mejia and Morgan Tucker anchored the firm’s booth
a reliable place where chefs could get a shot in the arm and go back to their kitchen and have the latest ideas and tools to succeed.” A three-day culinary symposium, more than 140 of the world's most innovative chefs, pastry chefs, mixologists, and sommeliers presented the latest techniques and culinary concepts to over 3,000 of their peers in the food, wine, spirits and restaurantequipment industry. But this year was a little different. This time, organizers opened the festivities to the non-industry with their first “public” event ever (up until this point tickets were only sold to restaurant works and media).
Fresh Origin's Julie Sagusa and Kate Grehl brought the firm's micro herb and green solutions to StarChefs 2013
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From barbecue to brisket, teams traveled from all over the world to compete in events like the first-ever barbecue competition, Smoke@ICC, where 10 teams went to New York’s Pier 57 from Texas, Vermont, New Jersey and New Orleans to try their hands at New World, Regional American, Asian and People’s Choice. In one round, teams were required to use Korean red chile and fermented bean paste (gochujang), supplied by the event’s sponsor, Chung Jung One. The mandatory use of this product forced the chefs to combine traditional barbecue with Asian flavors. Five barbecue greats manned the judging table at this first-year event:
Dave Anderson of the Famous Dave’s restaurant chain; Kenny Callaghan of Blue Smoke in NYC; Andy Husbands of Tremont 647 and South Sorel in Boston; Brad Orrison of The Shed in Ocean Springs, Mississippi; and author and TV chef Steven Raichlen of the PBS series, The Primal Grill. The prizes? A $12,000 Southern Pride Smoker, a trip to Korea for the entire team, and the chance to compete in the World Food Championships in Las Vegas. “Not only is barbecue one of the most exciting and rapidly growing segments of the restaurant industry,” said StarChefs.com Editor-in-Chief Bruno, “but chefs across the country are embracing smoking and barbecue techniques like never before, elevating the flavors, taste, and even plating.” “I am doing barbecue refined,” winner Josh Watkins said. “Barbecue is rustic in technique and I want it to remain rustic; raw preparation, but not in garnish. Sweet, sour, spice, fat – I made a full flavor profile with garnishes. Completing the profile.” Also offered to ICC participants were "Main Stage Demonstrations," "Hands-on Savory," and pastry and
StarChef Co-Chief Antoinette Bruno (2nd R) welcomed the culinary community
mixology workshops, along with winetasting seminars and business panels on current industry topics, all gathered under the umbrella of this year's ICC theme, "Guts and Glory: Leaving It All on the Line." Adam Fleischman, owner of Umami Burger restaurants in Los Angeles and New York, explained how to make a duck burger and revealed the ingredients for his lamb burger, while Phil Speer, director of operations for the
Anne Salamone, Danni Kaplan, Amanda Stockey, and SarahTakayma displayed the firm’s latest apparel solutions
Austin, Texas-based Uchi Restaurant Group, talked about the ingredients used at his pastry pop-up restaurant. Janice Wong, pastry chef at Singapore's 2am:dessertbar, showed off her colored chocolate cylinders, part of a food-as-art exhibit at the event. Especially well-liked were the glossy abstract paintings she created with bubble-gum-flavored marshmallow cream while onlookers tasted pieces of them. Wong said she blindfolded herself for three days about two years ago to help her brainstorm new approaches to dessert. “No one said a cake has to be round or square,” she said in an interview. “By shutting my senses off, it helped me to push the imagination.” Bowien, who made Food & Wine magazine's 2013 list of Best New Chefs, told the story of how he launched his restaurant, Mission Chinese, in San Francisco, charming the audience when he mentioned he didn't know how to cook Chinese food before embarking on the venture. “We wanted to
create a place for chefs to eat on their day off,” said Bowien. “We didn’t know how to make Chinese food.” Master mixologist Dale DeGroff and Audrey Saunders, owner of the Pegu Club, spoke about cocktail trends and recipes, with DeGroff noting that customers should expect more fresh herbs in cocktails as bartenders take cues from chefs. Crenn, the first woman chef in the U.S. to run a two-Michelin-star restaurant, Atelier Crenn, in San Francisco, and the restaurant's pastry chef, Contreras, showed their unique approach to desserts. “Dominique doesn’t start with ingredients. She starts from a place and time,” said Bruno. “She likes to transport her guests.” Chef Michael Toscano of Perla‘s showed the audience how he roasted veal head, taking a large raw veal head and steaming, roasting, brining and searing it, using all of its parts (brains, cheeks, and tongue) to create a soulful, delicious dish. Cvap-ing (using a controlled vapor technology oven) for 11 hours, and letting all the parts of the head cook in their own robust juices, Toscano took the tongue that had been brined for a week, and Cvap-ed, then seared
Lehr McKeown's Kim Lehr hosted notables including Trump Pastry chef Patrick Famy
the caramelized cheeks in canola oil, cracked open the jaw, picked clean and combined all the flesh of the head to make a patty, which he then seared in olive oil. The brains were pureed with mascarpone, champagne vinegar, lots of olive oil, and salt, and finally, Toscano served it all up with a sweet, thick carrot and tomato-based vegetable stew called ribollita. Chef Speer of Uchi had a pop-up pastry tasting for a select group of guests. Uchi is a Japanese-inspired fine dining restaurant. Speer started with an aerated foie gras dessert, went on to his peanut butter and curry dessert, then his “Black & White Thailand,” with
Lex Poulos, Rich Doherty and Serge Lessio led the Jade team to the 2013 event
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sweet-savory flavors of tomato, coriander, coconut and finished off with bonbons filled with white chocolate kale ganache with blueberry center bonbon and candied quinoa. Presenters on the Main Stage included François Payard; from Peru, Gastón Acurio ( Astrid y Gastón ); from NYC via Spain, Dani García (Manzanilla), and from Singapore, Wong ( 2am:dessertbar ). Also on hand on the Main Stage were NYC's Bloomfield (Spotted Pig Group) and Danny Bowien (Mission Chinese). Flying in from the West Coast to the Main Stage were Aki Kamozawa and Alex Talbot (Ideas in Food). Savory workshops were offered by Elias Cairo (Olympic Provisions), Marc Forgione, Vivian Howard (Chef & the Farmer), Evan and Sarah Rich (Rich Table), Michael and Patrick Sheerin (Trenchermen), Joe Carroll and Fred Dexheimer (Fette Sau), and Toscano (Perla). Sweetside workshops were hosted by Zachary Golper (Bien Cuit), Sam Mason (OddFellows), and pastry chef Sherry Yard (Helms Bakery). Shaking it up at MIX@ICC were Ryan Liloia (Clover Club), Brian Miller (Mother’s Ruin), and Juan Coronado (barmini by josé andrés). On the business panels were Justin Bazdarich (Speedy Romeo), Spike Medelsohn (Good Stuff Eatery), and Matt and Ted Lee (The Lee Bros.), discussing “Do It Your Damn Self Without Do$$ar Bills Y‘all”, “Get Crowd Funded”, “The Living Wage Line Cook”, “Cookbook Boot Camp”, and “A Guide to Hydroponics”. Bloomfield, Daniel Holzman (The Meatball Shop), and Rocco DiSpirito (“Rocco Gets Real”) judged the Vitamix Challenge, “one of the most exciting events at the Congress,” said Blunt. All ICC contest kitchens were supplied and designed by M.Tucker. Artisans from North Carolina to Oregon showcased their wares from food carts at EAT@ICC, eliminating the need to travel the globe or drive cross-country to taste the work of star chefs, from up-and-comers to legends, all at SuperPier at Hudson River Park.
Hub, from page 118 provides the coverage you need. Make it a priority to educate your staff about proper regulations and reporting methods. If employees have been briefed on policies regarding wages and hours, it will result in less confusion and fewer opportunities for claims. Finally, encourage your employee to take their questions and concerns regarding wage and hour issues to a member of your senior management team. It's better to have an open dialogue with employees before their concerns turn into formal grievances and litigation. Not only will this cut down on possible legal costs, but it will result in a better working environment. Liquor Liability There is an ever increasing risk in selling alcohol to guests in a restaurant setting. Dram shop laws are enacted to hold establishments that serve alcohol responsible for damages that were causes by their patron onto others. The dram shop cases have gone beyond just bars/pubs and nightclubs but also into other establishments such as stadiums/ arenas and restaurants. In many states across the United States that have this law enacted, an establishment may be held liable for damages resulting from the actions of a “visibly intoxicated patron”. Some of the cases have resulted in settlements into the tens of millions of dollars. Restaurant owners must be vigilant in serving alcohol by training their staff in recognized programs such as TIPS® and the National Restaurant Education Foundation’s ServSafe Alcohol™, encouraging and incentivizing staff to identify potentially intoxicated patrons to management and establish relationships with local law enforcement to understand the laws in your state because they vary greatly from state to state. Privacy/Data Breaches
Almost every restaurant or food service business has some kind of network, database, or online presence that puts it at risk for litigation. Technological advances have made it easier to manage a wide range of information about customers, vendors, and employees. Virtually all businesses that use computer systems are to some extent vulnerable to costly exposures associated with system breaches. In fact, businesses in the hospitality industry may have higher levels of exposure because they collect vast amounts of private data from customers as a part of their day-to-day operations through credit card transactions, online reservations, and rewards programs. Private data may be both personal (names, physical addresses, email addresses, social security numbers) and financial (credit card and banking). Businesses need to dictate how sensitive information can be accessed by employees. Important data should only be accessed by essential parties, which will limit the risk of security breaches and make it easier to track who is privy to sensitive information. Businesses must also ensure that their networks are secure by implementing data encryption, strengthening passwords and protecting access from unauthorized individuals. Most importantly, obtaining proper cyber/privacy liability insurance coverage, which would alleviate the impact of a heavy financial burden associated with a breach. Most cyber insurance policies cover the costs of data breach investigation, notification that must be provided to customers, crisis management and public relations firms along with credit monitoring costs and remediation to correct the breach event. Speak with a broker to determine what kind of insurance solutions can protect your business from financial losses resulting from privacy breaches and security threats.
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Food Allergies Food allergies and food borne illness are clearly a public health concern and should continue to be a focus for the restaurant industry. It is becoming increasingly common for restaurant staff to ask their customers whether they have any allergies to food. Could this new awareness be a result of increasing lawsuits by patrons? Having your wait staff address any food allergies is a step that goes beyond the written warnings commonly seen on menus. The server can respond effectively if their customer says “yes” by inquiring specifically about their allergy and in turn, communicate to the kitchen staff. Ingredients used to make certain dishes sometimes change, so informing customers about specific items that are known allergens may reduce the risk of an incident. Used as a standard practice, it may help restaurant owners be more proactive than simply having written warnings on the bottom of a menu. As we have illustrated, the risks associated with the restaurant or food service business are not always as
obvious as one may imagine. Not only does a business need to establish a safe working environment, but it must be prepared for the unforeseeable accidents, damages or disasters that might impact the business and its property. Risk management is a way of thinking that must permeate the whole organization - from management to frontline employees. Making it a part of all decision-making processes is important to creating a culture that values risk management. Speak to your broker and explore your options when it comes to managing risks for your business. Robert Fiorito, serves as Vice President, HUB International Northeast., where he specializes in providing insurance brokerage services to the restaurant industry. As a 20-year veteran and former restaurateur himself, Bob has worked with a wide array of restaurant and food service businesses, ranging from fast-food chains to upscale, “white tablecloth" dining establishments. For more information, please visit www.hubfiorito.com
SCA, from page 96 these hand towels can do for them, Drengler said trials will be offered. Customers can also learn more at torkusa.com/feelfree, to be able to experience this product firsthand. “The idea is to get it into those environments where it’s going to please the tenants or customers, to make sure they get that good tenant feedback,” Drengler said. Drengler said the company did a lot of research into just how much waste is involved when paper towels are set out in baskets. “We've noticed that through the one-at-a-time dispensing systems, we actually have a guarantee of a 25% reduction in paper waste. No high-end establishment wants to see clumps of towels coming out, overflowing in the wastebasket or on the floor or on the counter. And when they're on the counter they get wet. It’s just not a very good image or ap-
pearance. This complements the other aesthetics establishments use for those customers who expect nothing but the best.” The appearance of the towels can’t be under-estimated, Drengler said. “It’s key and critical. And the main attraction here is the leaf. This leaf is either embossed in our premium extra-soft and premium soft range of quality tiers. And within our advanced soft, which is more like an affordable luxury tier, it’s a printed leaf. Either way you’re getting far more than just a paper towel to dry your hands on. Of course, the towels also have to perform. “When you wash your hands, the paper towels have to absorb and wick up the water, very fast and very effectively. Even more important, when it's being dispensed, it needs to be strong enough as well, so when you have that softness, strength
BOOTH
#1329
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is typically compromised. These sheets withstand any of that pull force required, especially when the user's hands are wet. So it won't break or shred. What we have here is the best of both worlds.” Free demos are being arranged by SCA sales reps, who will have the ability to demonstrate the product first-
hand, Drengler said. “We're in the process of going out to our distributor partners, building their capabilities around and equipping them with the tools and knowledge, and ultimately the resources within the sales organization, to go out and make those calls in tandem to the end customer.”
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