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// NEWS
FOOD SHOWS
Spotlight On The 2014 “Throwdowns” At The International Hotel, Motel & Restaurant Show (IHMRS) Foodservice professionals intrigued by the variety of “throwdowns” now on TV will get their chance to beat top chefs themselves at the 99th annual conference of the International Hotel Motel + Restaurant Show (IHMRS) November 8th through 11th at the Jacob K. Javits Center in Manhattan.
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ollowing a full day of conference and networking activities on Saturday, Nov. 8, IHMRS will feature three full days of exhibits from Sunday, Nov. 9, through Tuesday, Nov. 11. The market will present 650 exhibitors and attract more than 16,000 industry professionals. But the highlight will be two “throwdowns” one for culinary experts and the other for college students. The “throwdown” for professionals will be held, Monday, November 10th. Culinary school students will get their chance at the “College Bowl” Tuesday, November 11th. Sponsored by BCA Global, a national non-profit organization providing culinary, foodservice, hospital-
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// NEWS
GREEN DINING
New Jersey Based WH Linen Becomes First In Nation Green Certified Linen Co "Using an item many times before discarding it is a better choice than using an item once before discarding it. Reusables tend to be a better environmental choice than disposables. But, after a restaurant makes the choice to use reusable plates, utensils, and linens, it becomes an important decision of how to wash those items."
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or plates, cups, and utensils, it is vital to have a spray valve that is less than 1.28 gallons per minute. It is also important to have a very energy and water efficient dishwasher that utilizes the greenest of dish chemicals. With the green cleaning and reusables, you have a recipe for sustainability," Oshman continued. But, what about that nice reusable napkin? Or that elegant tablecloth? Where do those get cleaned? Usually, a restaurant rents the linens and has them cleaned by a company that cleans them… and returns fresh and clean laundered towels, napkins, and tablecloths. What about all the energy, water, and chemicals used in such a process? As of 2012, the Green Restaurant Association developed an environmental standard that would address the importance of choosing a green linen company. The standard is rigorous and achievable: • Company must be certified in TRSA's Clean Green Program, where the company meets the 60 points of tier one BMP's, and an additional 70 points from tier one or tier two BMPs.
As of 2012, the Green Restaurant Association developed an environmental standard that would address the importance of choosing a green linen company.
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Company must be audited by TRSA and pass the audit • Company must furnish the TRSA audit to the GRA "We are proud that one company has emerged as the first Green Restaurant Association Endorsed Green Linen Company: W.H. Linen Rental,” Oshman added. They are part of a $5.4 billion per year busi-
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ness servicing linens for the U.S. restaurant industry, but they are the only company that is GRA-Endorsed… and the only company that can earn a restaurant 6.25 GreenPoints™ towards becoming a Certified Green Restaurant®. By using W.H. Linen Rental, restaurants can earn GreenPoints™ in energy, water, and waste. The WH. Linen story reads like one
of the great movie scripts. Willy Hermanns Sr. (the W.H. in W.H. Linen), started his laundry by making deliveries to bakeries and butcher shops in his Model T truck. As Willy's business outgrew its locations, it moved from West New York to Lyndhurst and then to Paterson into an old silk factory. From the time that he was young, Willy's son Bill Hermanns worked at his father's linen company. After graduating from Northwestern University in 1967, Bill began working full time at WH, and then took over the business in 1971. In 2008, Bill's son Christopher took the reigns of the company. The visionary leader has become a nationally known expert in predicting and sourcing linen trends for many of the Tri-State and nation's leading food service operators. As restaurant, food service, and medical accounts were added (plus a few acquisitions), a second building was added in 1987 to handle the growth. Twelve years later these two buildings couldn't keep up with the growth and WH Linen had to move again. The firm built a brand new 50,000 square foot state-of-the-art plant in Clifton, NJ. When restaurateurs think of environmental sustainability, they tend to think of recycling, sustainable food, and energy efficiency. “It’s now time that the restaurant industry think about how they are cleaning their most important items. With the Green Restaurant Association’s new endorsement standard… and W.H. Linen Rental being the first company to meet it, restaurants in the eastern seaboard now have an option to have a green linen company service their restaurants,” Oshman concluded.
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// NEWS
EVENTS
First-Ever Blount Culinary Summit A Success Blount Fine Foods, a leading manufacturer of handcrafted artisan soups, sauces and side dishes for retail and foodservice, hosted its first-ever Blount Culinary Summit in Newport, R.I. on July 23rd & 24th.
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he event was attended by about 50 retail and foodservice buyers, industry thought leaders and editors from several of the industry’s top trade media outlets. Billed as an assembly of industry leaders brought together to exchange viewpoints and perspectives on culinary trends, product development and packaged goods, the discussion agenda was built around six key subject areas: 1. Trends in the Perishables Category 2. Marketing to Millennials 3. Sustainability in Seafood 4. Changes in Consumer Packaged Goods 5. Trends + Innovations in Flavors/ Spices 6. Healthy Restaurant Trends The morning session kicked off with Blount President, Todd Blount, welcoming attendees and panelists. In his opening remarks, he told attendees "as a powerful, privately-held company, we answer only to our customers and ourselves, without conflict. We are not only empowered to keep the customer first, we are expected to." The Culinary Summit’s "host" was Blount's EVP of sales & marketing Bob Sewall, who offered some perspective
To get the 2014 Blount Culinary Summit underway, Todd Blount welcomed attendees and panelists
on just how honored Blount was to be able to host a discussion that includes the industry’s leading “brands, thinkers and media.” On the heels of Sewall’s remarks, Blount VP of research & development William Bigelow and corporate executive chef Jeff Wirtz introduced their team of chefs and food scientists before over viewing Blount's two-pronged approach to R&D. The first expert of the day was Joan Driggs, editorial director at Progressive Grocer magazine, whose session on "Trends in the Marketplace" not only seemed to engage the room, but also set the tone for the rest of the day. She presented attendees with a bounty of thought-provoking facts and statistics. Some of Driggs' more room-moving
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numbers included: • Restaurants remain a threat to grocers as the gap between grocery and restaurant expenditures continues to shrink (it used to be $50 billion, today it is as little as $15 billion). • After generations of growth in the size of U.S. households, we are seeing that trend not only slow, but reverse. Today, 57% of U.S. households have only one or two people living in it. • Grocers are capitalizing on the opportunities presented by smaller households, where cooking for two can seem like an unnecessarily daunting task, especially for the "millennial generation" that has fully embraced well-made, wholesome prepared foods. Driggs then shared two statistics that make it clear that opportunities in prepared foods do not automatically represent low hanging fruit: • 27% of consumers report that they have gone to their grocery store specifically to purchase a prepared meal for their household; but • 73% of consumers report they have purchased prepared foods once inside their regular grocery store. The implication in these two statistics is that well-made, well-presented and provocatively merchandised prepared
foods can draw in consumers as they pass. From trends in consumer behavior, Driggs turned her comments to trends in consumer preference, where opportunities like gluten-free, clean labels, organic and even daypart were discussed by the group. Consensus in the room seemed to be that as boomers age and become more predictable in their buying behavior, Millennials are becoming the important force driving trends today. Dissenters were quick to point out that while millennials have abundant of clout in the marketplace, a large subset of the segment still lacks corresponding purchasing power. The “Trends” discussion closed with a challenge to attendees, which many in the audience have already begun to address in their stores: 1. Deliver against need 2. Simplify lives 3. Differentiate... but keep it recognizable 4. Nourish the spirit, as well as the body Doing these things for shoppers, Driggs implored, is the basis for forming connections that are simple, but powerful. Next up was Blount partner and celebrated seafood restaurant brand Legal Sea Foods' executive chef and executive vice president Richard Vellante, whose discussion on "sustainability" was a fascinating discussion of how one very well-respected, high-end restaurant brand balances between what their restaurant guests are demanding, and the constantly moving demands of various and often competing "experts" who influence public discourse. Because, argued Vellante, information (and misinformation) are so read-
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// NEWS
FOOD SHOWS
Ace Endico's Annual Food Show G ive some of our newer readers a brief history of how the Ace Endico annual food show
began? We initially started having food shows to educate our existing customers on our ever-growing product line. We felt it was a great way for our vendors to showcase the products, food trends and food applications of all the products Ace Endico stocks. What is the mission of this event? The Mission of our Food Show is to increase sales and product lines to our existing customer base and introduce our company to prospective clients.
Why are you continuing to hold the Ace Endico event at Yankee Stadium? Do you really need to ask? …. LOL! Yankee Stadium is quite the venue. Our client base looks forward to our show at the stadium year after year. As you will see from our Food show events, we utilize all of The Stadium’s areas - ex: Monument Park, Dug out Tours and the show itself (all the vendors) are spread across the concourse from first base line to Third base line.
Laura Endico-Verzello (R), Marketing Manager at Ace Endico discusses with Total Food Service Magazine the many happenings at this year's Ace Endico show at Yankee Stadium
What other things are you doing differently at this year's event? We have added more vendors and more cooking demonstrations from personalities. What are some of the ongoing events that have stayed the same from year to year and why are they successful? In Legends club we have continued to present Legends chefs cooking demonstrations. The Dug Out Tours and Monument Park Tours are back by
Your exhibitor participation has grown by double digits from last year's exhibition. What do you attribute to this growth? Ace Endico is an ever-growing company. We have acquired new business as well as companies: Ex: Farmers Pride as our newest company acquisition.
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customer demand. How will foodservice operators benefit by attending Ace Endico? The vendors have a captive audience (Ace Endico customers and prospective customers) ready to buy! What are your expectations in terms of attendance this year? Do you expect it to be up significantly? If so, why? We are definitely expecting a huge turnout. Our customers have been calling our Customer support staff and Account Executives, asking for additional food show tickets. Customers who have attended in years past can't wait for the next show. And the customers, who were unable to come last year, make sure they make it this year! It is a great event! What is the easiest way for attendees
to pre-register for the Ace Endico annual food show event? Anyone who attends our show, must have an Ace Endico Food Show ticket. The only way to get a ticket is to be an Ace Endico Customer or to be a qualified prospective customer. To become a customer, visit: http://www.aceendico.com/become-a-customer.asp or simply call us at 914-347-3131 or 212517-3035
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 Laurie Forster Mitchell Segal Staff Writers Deborah Hirsch Marcy Bruch Intern Alexis Robinson 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 2014 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
FOODSERVICE EDUCATION
Introducing ICC's Advanced Chef Training Thinking of opening a restaurant or food business? The International Culinary Center (ICC) in Manhattan has a course that can help you do just that.
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ulinary Entrepreneurship (formerly Restaurant Management) is a 90-hour course featuring entrepreneurs and hospitality leaders who share their
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expertise, successes, setbacks and secrets. Their insights will help attendees to consider the possibilities and give them solid tools to achieve their goals, while also aiding them to see potential pitfalls that could cost money, time and frustration. Students will learn from the pros. The course will be held in two sessions, once from January 21 to May 29, 2015 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., and again, January 24 to May 30, 2015 from 9 a.m. To 4 p.m. Teachers include key players from Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group (which includes Union Square Café and Gramercy Tavern), International Culinary Center's own
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// NEWS
NOISE SOLUTIONS
North Carolina Firm Creates Restaurant Design Solution To Maximize Guest Experience The restaurant is perfect. The food is wonderful; the location – beside a babbling stream – is breathtaking. But the noise. Many customers will never return.
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ut Beaufurn has come up with a way to allow those customers to have their intimate conversations, even beside the babbling brook, with its Beaufurn Accusta Panels, according to president Bill Bongaerts. The company's name comes from the combination of the words “beautiful furniture,” originating when Beaufurn originally started out selling French bistro chairs. “We started in 1998, with one person, myself, specializing in hospitality seating,” Bongaerts says. “Now we have 36 people, 90,000 square feet in North Carolina and 32 sales reps.” Bongaerts says he happened to be in Paris and noticed the attractive rattan woven chairs at outdoor cafes. “We thought it would be a great idea to bring to the U.S. market,” he says. Originally made in France, the company had import arrangements with exclusive distribution for the U.S. Now it sells its products through its inhouse sales teams. “From then on, we grew up organically by adding more outdoor seating then went into indoor seating,” says the company president. “Today we've expanded to made-in-the-USA finishing and assembly here in North
We’ve been selling to the architecture and design community and restaurants across the country and we've been extremely successful in sales,” says Bongaerts.
Carolina.” We’ve been selling to the architecture and design community and restaurants across the country and we've been extremely successful in sales,” says Bongaerts. So the company decided to branch out to solve a problem that foodservice operators have had for years, with
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very few solutions to bring to it. Noise. “Today's design of open space in a lot of restaurants – with kitchens out in the open and lots of people in wide open spaces – creates unpleasant conditions in many restaurants. It's also an issue in cafeterias, offices, hotels, hospitals – anywhere you have people and an open area. Having a lot of people in a restaurant or an open space, you have a lot of noise. Acoustic sound panels can be quite useful. Noise ruins the ambiance the restaurant is trying to create.” Beaufurn Accusta Panels stand out because they can be configured in several different ways, are attractive additions to restaurants and other places where people eat, and, best of all, they can be installed in a matter of minutes, Bongaerts says. They already come assembled, with strips of frame in which nails are inserted into pre-drilled holes. “With other panels, it's much more complicated to put together,” he says. “We cut the costs of labor quite a bit.” In addition, panels can also be customized with a restaurant's own fabric. “We have a broad market. We focus on commercial dining areas, restaurants, cafeterias, universities, hospitals, airports, private lounges of air-
ports, anywhere there's a lot of people and a lot of noise,” he says. The panels have a high noise reduction co-efficient (NRC), which refers to a surface's ability to reduce noise by absorbing sound. A higher score is better. A ceiling with an NRC of 1.00 absorbs all sound. “Ours has an NRC 0.85,” Bongaerts points out. The company ships the panels all over the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and has even taken orders from Japan, Shanghai, and Saudi Arabia, to name a few. “Some of our U.S. customers are expanding into other countries and they require our products,” he says. Beaufurn is looking into creating panels in different shapes, such as pyramids, and others. “Our panels blend into the design of a location. They give a very intimate
“We have a broad market. We focus on commercial dining areas, restaurants, cafeterias, universities, hospitals, airports, private lounges of airports, anywhere there's a lot of people and a lot of noise,” he says.
atmosphere to customers, and they're a better use of space,” he says. “They turn dining from a noisy, uncomfortable experience into one you want to come back to.”
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// NEWS
EVENTS
2014 Gold Key Award Finalists Announced Winners and finalists in 19 categories to be recognized at the 34th Gold Key Awards Gala, Monday, Nov. 10, at the Mandarin Oriental New York.
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he finalists for the 34th Gold Key Award for Excellence in Hospitality Design, the industry’s most prestigious honor, have been announced by the International Hotel, Motel + Restaurant Show® (IHMRS). A panel of nine prominent judges considered more than 280 entries for these coveted awards, which recognize outstanding design worldwide for hospitality projects that were completed or renovated from March 1, 2013 through March 1, 2014. “The record number of entries and the quality, creativity and functionality of the submissions all reflect the dynamism of this industry,” said Mary Scoviak, executive editor of Boutique Design magazine, which co-sponsors the Gold Key Awards alongside HOTELS magazine. “This year’s finalists redefined what outstanding design is all about.” The 2014 Gold Key judges echoed that sentiment. “Just looking at some of the photos, I thought, ‘This is design at its best. I want to live in one of these projects,’” said judge Dana Kalczak, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts’ vice president of design. According to John McMullen, Highgate Hotels’ senior vice president of construction, “What these projects
“This year’s finalists show that designers are writing and rewriting concepts until they say something new, and saying it with integrity. And, they’re telling their stories in ways that will still be relevant in years to come.”
proved again and again is that the right design, the right detail makes a project unforgettable.” Judge Ron Kollar, Tishman Hotel Corp.’s chief design officer, added, “This year’s finalists show that designers are writing and rewriting concepts until they say something new, and saying it with integrity. And, they’re telling their stories in ways that will still be relevant in years to come.” Finalists will be recognized and winners will be revealed in each of this year’s 19 categories at the Gold Key Awards Gala, now a cocktail reception
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and dinner, from 6:30pm – 10:00pm on Monday, Nov. 10, at the Mandarin Oriental New York. Presented by Boutique Design magazine and HOTELS magazine, the ceremony will culminate with the naming of Designer of the Year. The 34th Gold Key Award finalists are: Best Eco or Socially Conscious Hotel COMMUNE (Los Angeles): American Trade Hotel & Hall, Casco Viejo, Panama Natalie Sheedy Interiors (Chicago); DelaRosa Studio (Chicago); Legat Ar-
chitects (Chicago): Hyatt Place Chicago-South/University Medical Center, Chicago Best Guest Room Luxury HDC Interior Architecture + Design (Los Angeles): St. Regis New York, New York Richmond International (London): The Langham, Chicago Best Guest Room Midscale/Budget/ Focused Service Bill Rooney Studio, Inc. (New York): Residence Inn by Marriott Manhattan/Central Park, New York EoA, Inc. (Coral Gables, Fla.): Lord Balfour Hotel, Miami Beach Daroff Design (Philadelphia): Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort, Orlando, Fla. Best Guest Room Upscale HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates (Singapore): Grand Hyatt Shenyang, Liaoning, China CBT Architects (Boston): Hotel George, Washington, D.C. Best Hotel Budget/Focused Service Ester Bruzkus Architekten [Berlin] with DesignAgency [Toronto] and WAF Architects [Berlin]: Generator Berlin Mitte DesignAgency (Toronto): Generator Venice Best Hotel Luxury HOK (New York): Rosewood Abu Dhabi HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates (Atlanta): The St. Regis Abu Dhabi Metex Design Group (Istanbul): Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem Best Hotel Midscale
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// NEWS
FOODSERVICE PROMOTION
The Gourmet Pizza Brew Pub Arrives by Marc Cosentino, Co-Owner of The New York Brick Oven Company & Co-Founder of Three Time World Champion Goodfella’s Brick Oven Having recently visited the extremely well executed Radius Brew Pub in Emporia Kansas featuring wood fired brick oven pizza from a revolving brick oven that is part of a wonderful open kitchen design, I realize a new player/category is emerging -The Gourmet Pizza Brew Pub.
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o begin, select craft beers such as Watermelon Wheat and Milk Stout are being brewed for customers in one
of the nation’s first completely visible and walk around electric micro-breweries as the Chess Masters Blues tunes set rhythm to the mood. A unique sampling of six delightful
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ales and stouts arrives at the table in a signature hand-made split level server (which takes up less room while making for a wonderful display) is brought to the table with
Marc Cosentino visiting Radius Brew Pub in Emporia Kansas
each of its individual glasses glistening with cold condensation to start. Details, details, details, a pleasant
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// EYE
METRO NEW YORK'S FOODSERVICE EVENT COVERAGE
Beard House Benefits With Annual Hamptons Event Chefs & Champagne Honoring Bobby Flay On a beautiful summer day the James Beard Foundation toasted James Beard Award–winning chef, restaurateur, cookbook author, and celebrity TV personality Bobby Flay at Chefs & Champagne.
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lay, accompanied by his wife actress Stephanie March, was fêted by more than 40 chefs at the Foundation’s annual tasting party and fundraiser at the Wölffer
Estate in Sagaponack, N.Y. Over 1,200 guests attended the sold-out benefit, which featured flowing Champagne Taittinger, wines and cider from Wölffer Estate Vineyard, beer from Stella Artois®, and culinary offerings
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from a select group of chefs, many from JBF Award–winning restaurants. The James Beard Foundation’s Chefs & Champagne is considered the East End’s premiere culinary summertime event. A silent auction
Honoree Chef Bobby Flay speaks at the James Beard Foundation's Chefs & Champagne event at the Wolffer Estate, on Saturday, July 26, 2014 in Sagaponack, N.Y. (Photo by Mark VonHolden/Invision for James Beard Foundation/AP Images)
consisting of fine dining experiences, wines and spirits, cookware, and culinary travel packages raised over
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// NEWS
COOKING SHOWS
The New York Cooking Show KicksOff on Pier 36 September 19-21 Event will feature more than 150 vendors, cooking demos, food tastings, themed pavilions and more.
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he New York Cooking Show is debuting at Pier 36 in New York City September 19-21 where foodservice professionals as well as consumers can discover all that is new in food trends. Frank Mamley, founder of the event, says the show was created in part because of the public’s demand for eating and cooking food that is nutritious, delicious as well as fast and easy to prepare. It is also an ideal venue for foodservice operators to meet and do business with more than 150 vendors. “Since the advent of the Food Network, there are segments of the population that only eat vegan and gluten-free food. There’s also more people interested in food trends like craft beers farm-to-table dining and tweaking traditional ethnic recipes. The New York Cooking Show brings together vendors that are on the cutting edge of all these food trends,” states Mamley. The first day of the show—September 19—is open to the foodservice trade only. “This day gives foodservice professionals an opportunity to meet highly-qualified vendors from every segment of the foodservice industry. The event is a cost effective way for them to learn more about companies that can po-
tentially help differentiate their food operation with trending products,” says Mamley. The show even has a pavilion on food trucks—which is a growing foodservice segment in the industry. Vendor booths will be exhibiting in several pavilions at the show. Pavilions include: Nutritional Products, Hot Sauce, Baking, Catering, BBQ, Food Truck, Wine & Spirits, Beer Garden, Farm-To- Table and Snack Foods. From September 20-21, the New York Cooking Show opens to the public where they will be able to experience food demonstrations and tastings throughout all the pavilions. “We have some interesting vendors,” notes Mamely. And we will have tastings and demos throughout all the pavilions.” For example, in the Beer Pavilion there’s a Peruvian beer company offering tastings, Chef Johnson will demonstrate how to make crawfish pies. In addition, chef proprietors and co-authors Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby will be doing book signings of their popular vegan cookbook Vedge as well as doing cooking demonstrations. In the Wines & Spirits Pavilion, renowned New York City mixologist, Warren Bobrow will unveil a new cocktail. The New York Cooking Show will be co-located with the New York
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Party Show that offers products to caterers, corporate meeting planners, wedding planners, event sites, banquet facilities and golf/country clubs. “The two shows running concurrently side-by- side makes it easy
for foodservice operators to partake in both events at once," points out Mamley. “The New York Cooking Show brings foodservice operators a full range of highly qualified buyers from every segment of the cooking industry,” Mamley concludes. “If you want to cost-effectively do business with the trade marketplace with the broadest range of buyers from across all industry segments, The New York Cooking Show is a fantastic opportunity.” For more information on how to exhibit or attend the New York Cooking Show, go to the website, www.newyorkcookingshow.com
// NEWS
FOOD SHOW
StarChefs International Chefs Congress Set For Inaugural Brooklyn Event StarChefs.com is set to celebrate its 9th Annual StarChefs.com International Chefs Congress in a new venue. After eight years in Manhattan, the event is slated for October 26– 28, 2014 in Brooklyn at the Brooklyn Expo Center.
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ttendees will experience this one of a kind culinary symposium that gathers more than 100 of the world's most innovative chefs, pastry chefs, mixologists, and sommeliers to present the latest techniques and culinary concepts to their peers—all under the umbrella of this year's theme, Cooking Honest: The Power of Authenticity in the Kitchen. For three days, culinary professionals will have the opportunity to attend Main Stage Demonstrations, Hands-on Savory, Pastry, and Mixology workshops, Wine Tasting Seminars, and Business Panels. Organizers Will Blunt and Antoinette Bruno have once again created a line-up of presenters that reads like a who's who of the culinary world. The Main Stage will feature Grant Achatz (Alinea), Christophe Adam (L'Éclair de Génie), Dan Barber (Blue Hill at Stone Barns), Steve Jones and Jonathan Bethony (The Bread Lab), Jamie Bissonnette (Toro), Gunnar Gislason (Dill), Will Goldfarb (Ku De Ta), George Mendes (Aldea),
Experience this one of a kind culinary symposium that gathers more than 100 of the world's most innovative chefs, pastry chefs, mixologists, and sommeliers
Masaharu Morimoto ( Japonais), Diego Muñoz (Astrid y Gastón), Jaime Pesaque (Mayta), Yoshihiro Narisawa (Narisawa), Enrique Olvera (Cosme), Joan Roca (El Celler de Can Roca), Michael White, Gordon Finn and Jared Gadbaw (Altamarea Group). The Savory presentations will highlight Sean Baker (Verbena), Katie Button (Cúrate), César Saldaña (Regulating Council DO Sherry), Joe Cicala (Le Virtù), Alon Shaya (Domenica) Thomas McNaughton (flour + water), Nick Elmi (Laurel), Shaun Hergatt ( Juni), Mike Lata (The Or-
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dinary), Paul Liebrandt (The Elm), Fred Sabo (The Metropolitan Museum of Art), Levon Wallace (Proof on Main). Noah Bernamoff and Dianna Daoheung (Black Seed Bagel), Matt Tinder (The Restaurant at Meadowood), William Werner (Craftsman & Wolves) will anchor the ICC's annual tribute to the pastry arts. The ever evolving cocktail scene will take center stage with presentations from Scott Baird and Josh Harris (Trick Dog), Jeff Bell (PDT), Robert Bohr, Ryan Hardy, and Grant Reynolds (Charlie Bird), Maxwell Britten (Maison Premiere), Doug Frost (DougFrost.com), Max McCalman (Maxvol, Inc.), and Rajat Parr (Mina Group). With a number of new conferences debuting this year including the much talked about Welcome Conference in June, StarChefs has moved to bolster its business curriculum. This year's event will feature presentations from Kevin Boehm (Boka Restaurant Group), Mike Isabella (Graffiato), Mark Stone (MM Management), Antoinette Bruno
(StarChefs.com), Michael Chernow (The Meatball Shop), James Mark (north), Marcus Samuelsson (Red Rooster Harlem), Will Blunt (StarChefs.com), Amanda Cohen (Dirt Candy), Michael Lynn (Cornell University), Bryan Dillon (Station Casinos), David Morgan (Omni Hotels), Brad Nelson (Marriott International), Daniel Krieger (Daniel Krieger Photography), David LeFevre (MB Post) and. Spike Gjerde (Woodberry Kitchen). The always popular Eat@ICC will feature pop-up restaurants and more than 20 food carts from the country's most exciting restaurants. Alvin Cailan (Eggslut), Brian Dunsmoor (Ladies' Gunboat Society), Robert Phalen (One Eared Stag), Nicole Rucker (Gjelina Take Away), Damian Sansonetti (Blue Rooster Food Co.), Dan Sauer (7a Foods), Kevin Sbraga (Fat Ham), Stuart Tracy (Butcher & Bee and Ernesto Uchimura (Plan Check Kitchen + Bar) will all share their latest menu innovations at Eat@ICC. According to Starchefs: Today’s tastemakers aren’t cultivating style, so much as looking within to find and live by the code of honest, personal cooking. They’re searching for authenticity in every corner of the food business—from farms, butcher shops, and chef counters to wine bars and nonprofit bars—in every corner of the world. Diners want surprise and satisfaction, and it takes a professional with vision to deliver it. From fine-dining ateliers to hotdog carts, the demand (and destination) is authenticity. And the journey there is personal, powerful, and, above all, honest.
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// Q&A
EXCLUSIVE FOODSERVICE INTERVIEWS
Sabrina Capannola
President, 2013-14 Society for Hospitality & Foodservice Management and Senior Project Manager at The World Bank Sabrina Capanola likes to tell this story. "If you find somebody who's 18 and knows what it is they want to do with their life, could you please have them call me?
B
ecause at 46 I'm still trying to figure it out!" But that's not true at all. Capannola is currently the outgoing president of the Society for Hospitality and Food Management (SHFM). During her career she has worked for IBM, Nation's Bank and has been director of food services for Merck and is now senior project manager, General Services Department – Support Services at World Bank Group, where she oversees conference services, foodservices, and office hoteling for World Bank Group’s 10,000 employees. But the greatest gift she believes she has given SHFM is the new "H" in the organization's name. When did you start your career? My first job in foodservice was when I was five years old and would stand on a milk crate at the end of the produce aisle in my grandfather’s grocery store, grinding Eight O’Clock coffee. I always made sure to inhale the fresh ground aroma before sealing the bag for a customer. I went to college at Niagara University first as a pre-law student. Then I switched over to the school for hotel and restaurant management at the university. But I didn't start my foodservice career until I got out of college. I went abroad and went to school in
Capannola is currently the president of the Society for Hospitality and Food Management (SHFM). During her career she has worked for IBM, Nation's Bank and has been director of food services for Merck
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Switzerland. How did you go from law to hospitality? I kept finding myself, during breaks, working in restaurants, and in hotels and thinking, I really like this, maybe I should be doing this. I joke that it wasn't a big stretch for me -- my gram and parents owned grocery stores and so I grew up around food. The joke is, I went from raw food to cooked food. It really wasn't too big a stretch for me to end up in this. When I got married, I moved to North Carolina. I was working for Marriott at the time. When I was looking through all the Marriott opportunities in Charlotte, I came across this one at IBM for a catering director. I said, hmm, now what in the world could that be? And here I am today. I really didn't know that side of the world existed, and I think some of that remains to this day. It's all so amazing. Here's what's happening in my building today. We've got a big event happening in our auditorium right now. At 3 o'clock we have the President of Uruguay coming in. And CNN and all the media. And then we're turning the room for Hilary Clinton to come at 5 o'clock. Boring? I don't think so! What do people think when they hear the words "foodservice"? The perception of our industry isn't that exciting. But it's not the people behind the cafeteria line with the hair net, as some think. We get to do great, exciting stuff. It's not what people might think it is. And you get to have a broader reach than when I was in hotels. Some parts of my life were as a room service manager, a restaurant manager, a banquet manager. The diversity of experience keeps you challenged. It keeps you sharp. So it's pretty fun. What's changed over the years since
you started your career? In this segment of the industry what's really great is there is now an appreciation for how valuable the services are that we offer to the employees in our environment, and not just with food but with the breadth of workplace hospitality, how that impacts the organization, how that impacts them culturally, how it increases productivity of employees and creates a desirable place that helps them attract and retain good people. Right now the big focus here where I work is around creating spaces, around collaboration and creating those informal places for meetings to take place, what's going on in the organization. My organization's going through a time of change. We're reorganizing, so how can we reflect that back and really speak to who the organization is. You can tell a lot about a company, not by just their financial situation, but how they think about their employees. When you walk through the buildings, you can feel it and, and we have a lot to do with that. Tell me how. Well, it's in how we treat our employees and it's not just something that you can say. You can have an employee handbook, this is our culture and all that good stuff, and a vision statement. But are you going to feel that when you come into an organization? For example, here at the World Bank, we're a multicultural organization. If I look down the corridor, the person next door to me is from Malaysia. Across the hall is someone from the Philippines, next door, Ghana. It's a big melting pot. And we can say that diversity is important and all that, but when you go into my cafeteria, you better see it. For example, it's Singapore Day here. And the authenticity with which we do these things and we celebrate the cultural heritage is all part of that. And my main cafeteria has, instead of like a traditional American one, where you're going to have your deli and grill, here I've got South Asian, and Pacific Rim, and Africa and Indian. And we get in big talks about northern Indian versus southern
Indian. We can say we're committed to diversity, but do we live it? We're a true mirror back on the organization. When you walk through the halls, you can see these things that they've celebrated, and it's important. So, from that perspective, do you want to create a vibrant space for people to have those interactions? Of course you do. And that's a big part of my job. Do you see differences in what people like to eat?
one of the best decisions I've ever made, both personally and professionally. It is a fabulous network of people. I am impressed when I go to SHFM events about the minds that are in those rooms. I've learned a lot from the events, and not just from the programming. Just interaction. And what is so great about our membership is it's a very nurturing group. They're a very helpful group. I'll have a challenge at work and I'll send an email out and say, you know what? I'm being asked to do x and I've never been asked to do
If I look down the corridor, the person next door to me is from Malaysia. Across the hall is someone from the Philippines, next door, Ghana. It's a big melting pot. And we can say that diversity is important and all that, but when you go into my cafeteria, you better see it. I'll use myself as an example. What are people 20 years younger than me looking for? And not just with food, but in space and from an employee culture. They don't look at work as 9 to 5, and sit in an office or a cubicle all day, and just do this. It's a much more free-flowing, interactive thing, and we have to be able to foster that, and let them be creative. And we're an important part of that, because how you create those spaces creates the opportunity for collaboration. Actually, I've been a member since the '90s. When I was at Bank of America, when I was with Nations Bank, we had someone there who actually encouraged me to join. And it's been
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x before. What the heck do I do? And I can send out an email to people and the responses I get and the phone calls help me figure it out. As you look at your agenda as president, tell me a little about what the highlights were. What imprint would you like to leave on the organization? I feel a special responsibility that I'm the first president of SHFM. And when I look at our 35-year history, we're still foodservice at our core. That's something we're never going to lose. My tagline has been, embrace the H. So that's been a critical focus for me. But let's not forget about the F word. Embrace the H because we have to. But don't
forget what the F stands for. What do you mean when you say, "embrace the H"? The depth and breadth of workplace hospitality. And reflect that in our programming, that it was a thoughtful choice to not only do critical issues around space and hospitality and how that feeds into the foodservice professionals sphere and the cafeteria environments and all that. A cafeteria isn't just a cafeteria. Especially in these times, everyone's trying to be smarter with their space. That's a heck of a lot of square feet to leave sitting there that you're only going to use for a couple of hours a day. So, what are the possibilities, and so that sort of thing is challenging. What could we be? How can we be? Giving our members the information they need so they can use their sphere of influence in their companies, and really look to the future. Hospitality means a lot of things, but here's what workplace hospitality is, the influence on an organization and telling our members how they can embrace that. From facilities to whatever, if we're just saying we're SFM, are we the best organization for members? Are we going to be able to give them the resources they need? And as SHFM, we better reflect back on who they are and what they need. What do you see as the value of SHFM? When I talk about the great community of SHFM, and the networking opportunities, and the outreach, that's a lot of the value of membership. Another goal I had was to do more of what we call our SHFM locals, not just have meetings be about critical issues in our national conference, but keep the conversation going, and create opportunities for more valuable connections with our members. We're going to have almost 10 locals this year. We're doing them in Charlotte, and Boston, and in Chicago and out in San Francisco, and Seattle. So again, we don't just want to
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// NEWS
MENU SOLUTIONS
Jersey Company Shops The World In Search Of Innovative Menu Solutions For Culinary Professionals It's a dog-eat-dog world out there. So how do you differentiate your foodservice import and distribution business from everyone else?
I
f you're Atalanta Corporation, you find specialty food products from all over the world before anyone else, educate your customers about them, then show them ways they can use these new products in multiple ways on their menus, all while keeping costs down. According to John Stephano, director of marketing and training, when the company started in 1945, it chose Atalanta, the goddess of speed and hunting, to represent its prowess in securing the most unique products from around the globe and its ability to get them to customers quickly and easily. “What our product managers do really well is source products,” he says. “We find unique products from throughout the globe and we get them to our foodservice customers in the highest quality and the most competitive price. We as an importing company go out to our suppliers and find the most innovative and trend setting specialty foods, the products that are going to add value to our operators and distributors in a very competitive marketplace .” Atalanta began importing Krakus Polish hams almost 70 years ago, he notes. “We were an importer of goods from Eastern European countries, behind the Iron Curtain, and political maneuvering was key. Atalanta needed to master the
Sweety Drop peppers from Atalanta Corporation are a chef favorite
uniqueness and process of importing really well.” “And our founders did that better than anyone else in the industry.” Stephano says the company, because of our rich history and commitment to their customers, believes no one else can source, import and then get product to its distributors faster than Atalanta can. “It could be Parmigiano Reggiano from Italy, Collier's Welsh Cheddar from Wales. It could be saffron from Spain, artichokes from Peru. Over the last 70 years, we've developed a logistics, importing and product awareness process that finds these unique foods, gets them to customers first and helps them beat
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their competition to the marketplace, allowing them to see clearly the value we add.” Today, with competition so intense – and margins so tight – to make yourself stand out is paramount, Stephano says. And the company, which serves every foodservice sector from chain restaurants to institutions, white tablecloth to quick-serve – does it through finding the right food products no one has or has ever heard of, then distributing quicker and more cost effective than anyone else. He likes to cite the Sweety Drop pepper from Peru as an example. “We now do a significant amount of market trend analysis, so we get a chance to see trends often before they hit the consumer. We see them on two levels – either from an increased category volume demand or from our specialty stores focused product selection. Right now, Peruvian and South American cuisine is super hot. Chefs all over the country are pressing for this pepper. White tablecloth restaurants want to garnish it on premium flat breads, or dress it on a specialty pizza, or even drop it into a trendy cocktail. We also are seeing an enormous volume increase in the Piquillo pepper. Several of our chain restaurants' customers are currently in menu development with many of these South American prod-
ucts feverishly trying to get them on their menus. Our Chefs are just begging for it. We can get it for them. We get to go to market quicker and faster than others,” he says. Stephano loves to tell the story of how Atalanta found the Sweety Drop pepper. “It's a lagrima, teardrop shaped, pepper and it was found in the Amazon rainforest. One of our outstanding suppliers in Peru discovered it a couple of years ago. He brought it back to Peru and started to cultivate it. Because of the strength of our relationship, he reached out to us immediately knowing we had the capability to get to customers' tables and ultimately the ever demanding public better than anyone else in the industry. Our excellent sales team took over from there they put feelers out into the US market and began to create a market. Our culinary team then brought it to the Research Chefs Association Show in Portland this past spring, and the Chefs could not stop tasting and gazing at it. The color is brilliant red. The crunchy texture sweet flavor profile with just a hint of heat is very sexy. Right there our customers started a trend. We are just glad to be a part of what is happening. “Every time they put it in their mouths, they came up with a new concept or recipe. One Chef says, pepper vodka cocktails. Another says a rustic Spanish flat bread with baby arugula and shaved Manchego cheese and throw these Sweety Drop peppers on top,” says Stephano. “A chef worked with me to develop a goat cheese stuffed Piquillo pepper recipe where we use ancient grain farro, crumbled Canadian goat cheese, olive oil, lemon juice and the Sweety Drop pepper and stuff it into a beautiful red Peruvian Piquillo pepper.” Stephano, a Chef himself, says their
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// SCOOP
INSIDER NEWS FROM METRO NEW YORK’S FOODSERVICE SCENE
Caribbean Chefs Bring The Heat To Fifth Avenue Scoop notes that OCEAN Style was excited to present the best of Caribbean cuisine to the Big Apple with culinary treats from acclaimed chefs of the Caribbean last month. The event took place at the Penthouse at 267 Fifth and benefits the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) Foundation and The American Friends of Jamaica Inc. Chefs of the Caribbean was a night of culinary excellence that featured acclaimed Caribbean chefs from some of the most highly regarded resorts and restaurants in the Caribbean and the New York area. This year’s chef lineup included: Chef Purmessur of Coconut Bay Resort in St. Lucia, Chef Brian Lumley of 689 by Brian Lumley in Kingston, Jamaica; Chef Sean John of Spur Tree Lounge in New York City; Chef Shorne Benjamin of ShorCulinaire in New York City; and Chef Tim Tibbitts of Flying Fish Modern Seafood Restaurant in Freeport, Bahamas. “We are excited about the chefs that participated,” says OCEAN Style Editor-in-Chief, Douglas Gordon. “Each chef prepared and served
The event took place at the Penthouse at 267 Fifth and benefits the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) Foundation and The American Friends of Jamaica Inc.
2-3 exquisite dishes and guests had the opportunity to interact directly with them. Our goal was to create an enjoyable, dynamic and engaging experience for the guests and chefs,” he states. Guests were also treated to an elegant evening of traditional and modern Caribbean cocktails, entertainment, and a silent auction. The auction included luxury Caribbean vacations, designer apparel, Brooklyn
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Nets memorabilia and much more. “For those with an appreciation for fine cuisine and Caribbean talent, we felt confident they left this event highly satisfied which produced a superb evening that was highly enjoyable, put a positive light on the Caribbean and its talented individuals and is effective in raising funds for these two important organizations,” Gordon concluded.
Christian Pratsch Has Been Appointed Executive Chef at Mandarin Oriental, New York Scoop sees that Chef Pratsch has over 18 years of experience in hospitality and the culinary arts. Most recently, he completed a two-year term as Executive Chef aboard The World – Residences at Sea overseeing its six food and beverage outlets. Prior to this position, he held executive posts at InterContinental Miami, InterContinental Mark Hopkins and Raffles Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Hamburg as well as ships including Sea Cloud II and MS Europa. Chef Pratsch began his career with an apprenticeship at InterContinental Hamburg and is a cer-
Chef Pratsch will oversee Mandarin Oriental, New York’s culinary program including signature restaurant Asiate, casual dining at Lobby Lounge and MObar and in-room dining to 244 rooms and suites as well as 64 Residences.
tified Master Chef. A native of North Germany, Chef Pratsch is fluent in English and German. In his new role, he will oversee Mandarin Oriental, New York’s culinary program including signature restaurant Asiate, casual dining at Lobby Lounge and MObar and in-room dining to 244 rooms and suites as well as 64 Residences.
Anthony Weiner Wants To Open New York City Restaurant Scoop says former congressman Anthony Weiner wants to open a restaurant in New York City. The place would be in the Rockaways, a coastal Queens neighborhood that is still recovering from Superstorm Sandy in 2012. It would be named The Rockaway Restoration Kitchen and offer locally sourced food. Weiner is listed on the restaurant's Idealist.org job listing page, and The Rockaway Times reports he's scouted locations. "Large swaths of the peninsula are
Scoop says former congressman Anthony Weiner wants to open a restaurant in New York City.
lacking in quality, sustainable, nutritious food. “It's also sadly true that many Rockaway residents need help developing skills to lift them out of unemployment," Weiner said. "This project is at the very earliest stages of trying to tackle these challenges." "AXED".
. . a LIVE Culinary Competition On Sunday, November 9th, 2014, at 11:00 a.m., IHMRS and Société Culinaire Philanthropique, will present “AXED” . . . . a LIVE culinary Competition. Twenty applicants will have already been reduced to the final four, hand selected candidates (and one (1) alternate in reserve), to compete LIVE ! The challenge begins with appetizers, titled: A Classic Revisited. Four, identical baskets of ingredients will be given to the contestants along with a twenty minute deadline. Once, the judges return, they will announce the name of the first Chef to be “AXED”. At 1:00 p.m., the three remaining Chefs will gather, and the entrée ingredients will be revealed. Category: a French Dish w/ four secret ingredients. Thirty-five minutes later, the judges again deliberate, and soon an-
CONNECTICUT NEW YORK
NEW JERSEY
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181 Marsh Hill Road 91 Brainard Road 566 Hamilton Avenue 22 Warehouse Row 100 Oakpoint Ave 100 Corporate Drive Ste 101 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 Route 66 21 US Highway 46
The challenge begins with appetizers, titled: A
Mobile-Payments Firms Set Sites On NYC Restaurants
Classic Revisited. Four, identical baskets of ingredients will be given to the contestants along with a twenty minute deadline. nounce the name of the second Chef to be “AXED”. At 3:00 p.m., the final two Chefs get
their dessert ingredients. Category: A Seasonal Dessert w/ fruit. Forty minutes later, the final candidate interviews will take place, as the judging
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Orange, CT 06477 Hartford, CT 06114 Brooklyn, NY 11232 Colonie, NY 12205 Bronx, NY 10474 Blauvelt, NY 10913 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 Neptune, NJ 07753 Pinebrook, NJ 07058
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panel deliberates, before it announces the final Chef to be AXED. Leaving only the 2014 Salon Winner standing!
Scoop says shoppers in stores have so far shown little interest in smartphone apps to pay for purchases. So some technology companies now are focusing on restaurants. Here’s the logic: Swiping a credit card in a store is as easy, or easier, than opening a “mobile-wallet” app. Paying by credit card in a restaurant, however, often requires two trips – one for the server to bring the check, a second to return the card and receipt. “For merchants and for consumers, there really hasn’t been a compelling reason yet to adopt mobile payments,” said Denee Carrington, a Forrester Research FORR analyst. “With dining there’s a real possibility of speeding up the process for both diners and the restaurant with just your smartphone.” Restaurants are attracting the likes of eBay PayPal, Priceline Group, Groupon GRPN and a host of startups. Priceline’s OpenTable unit, which it bought this year for $2.6 billion, is set
203-795-9900 860-549-4000 718-768-0555 518-458-1630 718-665-3910 845-358-0410 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 732-643-9393 732-643-9393
to announce it will expand a restaurant-focused payment app nationwide, from a test in about 20 restaurants in San Francisco. “The promise here is avoiding the hassle of leaving a restaurant at the end of a meal,” said Matt Roberts, CEO of OpenTable. “With this product you can leave when you want, no more flagging down the waiter, no more filing out the check. You just leave.” The offerings vary, but all rely on consumers entering credit-card information into an app before they arrive at the restaurant. When the meal is over, diners can pay the tab and tip directly from the app. The market is getting crowded with apps from PayPal and startups like Cover, Dash and TabbedOut, which aspire to be the Uber of dining. Amazon.com has been working on a tablet-based checkout and cardreading system that could be used in restaurants. Jon Whitehead, owner of Radius restaurant in San Francisco,
“The promise here is avoiding the hassle of leaving a restaurant at the end of a meal,” said Matt Roberts, CEO of OpenTable.
says he was getting up to several calls a week from tech vendors earlier this year. Radius was among the first to offer OpenTable’s payments app, and Whitehead says a couple of diners use it a night, on average. But Whitehead says he’d prefer an app that could connect with other restaurant operations, “from ordering to cooking the food to even monitoring inventory.” OpenTable will announce 45 New York restaurants accepting mobile payments and expects to expand to 20 more U.S. cities including Seattle, Atlanta and Philadelphia this year, Roberts said. He said OpenTable isn’t turning a profit on the payments app, though he hopes to eventually. Cover makes money by negotiating discounts with credit-card processors. It charges restaurants roughly the same fees they would pay processors. The app works at about 100 San Francisco and New York area restaurants. “PayPal’s Pay At Table mobile offering is available at several hundred restaurants worldwide,” says Brad Brodigan, a vice president who oversees the program. Brodigan says he expects to add functions like the ability to split the check among several diners, or ordering ahead, so that a meal can be ready soon after a group is seated. Some restaurants, like Brinker International EAT Chili’s and Buffalo Wild Wings, are deploying tableside tablets for diners to order food and pay the bill. Chili’s has installed Ziosk tablets, from Tabletop Media, in more than 800 restaurants; Buffalo Wild Wings is using NTN Buzztime’s tablets in more than 150 locations. PayPal and payments company Square also offer mobile apps for quick checkout and ordering ahead, primarily at fast-food restaurants, giving consumers the ability to skip the line at their coffee shop and simply grab their drink and go.
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He said OpenTable isn’t turning a profit on the payments app, though he hopes to eventually. Cover makes money by negotiating discounts with credit-card processors.
NORTH Food Festival Returns To New York With New Events Scoop is glad to hear that The Nordic Food Festival NORTH is returning to New York for the week of September 12 to 20, bringing exclusive Nordic dinners and cooking classes to the
city. Following last year’s success, the Nordic Food Festival NORTH is returning to New York for the week of September 12 to 20, bringing exclusive Nordic dinners and cooking classes to the city. Arranged by the online culinary magazine Honest Cooking, the festival will be even bigger than before, with over 25 participating chefs and new events, including a nightly changing pop-up restaurant and a Nordic Street Food Festival. The prestigious list of chefs who will be showcasing the best of Nordic cuisine include Frida Ronge of vRÅ in Gothenburg, Sweden and Sasu Laukkonen of Chef & Sommelier in Helsinki, Finland, as well as New York based Fredrik Berselius of Aska and Mads Refslund of ACME. Like last year, participants of the festival will be able to choose from a wide selection of cooking classes and dinners, for which
tickets are sold separately. Held at the International Culinary Center, cooking classes include anything from “Nordic Grandma Cooking” with chef Sasu Laukkonen, learning Maria Östberg of FIKA’s secrets to making perfect Swedish cinnamon buns, to more unusual themes, like learning how to use your own foraged vegetables and herbs in chef Sami Tällberg’s “Wild Finnish Cuisine” class.
The festival is the vineyard’s largest charitable event of the year with 100% of the proceeds going to the Foodshed Alliance.
Foodshed Alliance Wine and Food Fest Set For Sept. 2728 In Jersey Scoop notes sponsored by Alba Vineyard in Finesville and Wegmans to benefit the Foodshed Alliance, the Garden State’s best wineries will join forces with the state’s premium wine wholesalers to pour their finest estate wines at the first annual Foodshed Alliance Wine and Food Festival at Alba Vineyard on Sept. 27 and 28. The festival is the vineyard’s largest charitable event of the year with 100% of the proceeds going to the Foodshed Alliance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening
Arranged by the online culinary magazine Honest Cooking, the festival will be even bigger than before, with over 25 participating chefs and new events, including a nightly changing pop-up restaurant and a Nordic Street Food Festival.
local food systems that nourish people, sustain farmers, respect lands, and build a resilient food economy. In staying true to the Foodshed Alliance’s mission, the festival will feature an impressive line-up of New Jersey’s most reputable chefs who will present cooking demonstrations, lectures and samples. Local celebrity cookbook authors as well as farmers will also share tips and strategies on how to best prepare, preserve and enjoy food locally produced in New Jersey. Chef Jess Jones, chef to the stars; Maureen Petrosky, lifestyle expert; Tony Verdoni, author of “21 Wines;” Chef George Mandakas, Blue Olive Market in NYC; Chef John Sauchelli, Maritime Parc; Chocolatier Diane Pinder, Shop Donna Chocolates; Jonathan and Nina White, Bobolink Dairy; James Matar, Hummus Boss; and Roman Osadca, farmer and garlic expert, will all be on hand throughout the weekend providing demos, lectures, tastings and more. Tours of the vineyard will be hourly starting at 1, last one at 4 p.m. The festival invites the best commercial wineries in the state who produce wine from grapes grown in the Garden State, as well as some of the most storied wineries in the world today. This year’s all-star line-up includes Alba Vineyard, Cape May Winery, Hopewell Valley Vine-
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yard, Unionville Vineyard and Valenzano Vineyard. World-renowned featured wineries include; Robert Mondavi Napa Valley, Jadot, Masi and St Francis. “This will be an event like no other. We are seeking to combine the area’s best agricultural offerings with premier wine, chefs and food,” said Kendrya Close, executive direc-
tor of the Foodshed Alliance. “We are most grateful to Alba Vineyards for most generously agreeing to work with us on this as a benefit to support our work in promoting sustainable agriculture and local food in New Jersey.”
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// CHEFCETERA
UP CLOSE WITH METRO NEW YORK'S CHEFS
Kenneth Conn,
for the boats chef. Learning at this level is a real advantage beyond any school or cookbook. Real southern and Cajun cooking comes from the heart and not any other place. I'll bet you a sack of Crawfish on that one!
Host of Cajun in the City Kenneth Conn, affectionately known to his friends as Cajun Ken, was born and raised in the deep South, spending most of his formative years in the port cities of Mississippi and Louisiana.
W
hile having a strong love for the South and appreciation for his Southern roots, he also has had a lifelong fascination with New York City. Ken found his love for cooking at age twenty while working aboard an offshore tugboat. There he learned hands-on from the boat’s cook and developed a passion for the Cajun style and food experimentation. Ken is mostly self-taught and thinks that not having been professionally trained as a chef is an advantage. It gives him credibility when he tells people who say they can’t boil water that he’ll have them cooking a true Southern down home meal in no time. Fulfilling his dream, Ken moved to New York City from Biloxi Mississippi in 2004. Changing cities didn’t change his passion for food. What began as an informal instruction for friends developed into a series of cooking classes taught and organized by Cajun Ken. Looking to reach more people, Ken began to develop and produce a network cooking show. Cajun in the City now airs to over 1 million New Yorkers each week and is slated to air in Brooklyn, Queens and The Bronx in Fall 2014. Total Food Service had a chance to
Ken found his love for cooking at age twenty while working aboard an offshore tugboat. There he learned hands-on from the boat’s cook and developed a passion for the Cajun style and food experimentation.
catch up with Chef Ken in this month’s Meet the Newsmaker. You’re a self -taught chef with no formal training. Why do you feel that gives you an advantage? And do you have any mentors that led you to where you are today? Being able to go culinary school is an awesome opportunity, don't get me wrong. I started grilling at age seven
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because I was hungry, and not for any other reason. Cooking a T-bone and not being able to see over the grill has its challenges I guarantee. I come from a long line of southern family cooks so working in the kitchen was a part of life and not playtime for me. I learned True Cajun cooking down in Port Foushon Louisiana on a offshore tugboat. I was a young deckhand and helped cook and catch fresh seafood
What’s the goal of your new show Cajun in the City and what does it offer its viewers? And what can a chef take away from the show to put to use in their menu strategies? New York City one of the best places in the world for food but one thing they don't have is our way of cooking. Being able to share my style of cooking with the masses on TV is a dream come true and they love it. I really mean it when I say, "I'm bringing the bayou to the big apple." My goal is to get you in the kitchen and start cooking, If I have inspired you to cook southern food, then
New York City one of the best places in the world for food but one thing they don't have is our way of cooking.
I have done my job. I meet great chefs all the time and most of them love southern, Cajun style food but not being from the deep south or trained in it, they shy away. I say don't let that stop you. Great southern Cajun food is allot about experimenting with ingredients and good recipes until you get it right. That's what I did. Any chef who wants to add a traditional Cajun dish
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// NEWS
ARTISAN SOLUTIONS
Award Winning NJ Cheesemaker Provides Artisan Solutions For Tri-State Operators Guiseppe (Sal) Salzarulo left Lioni at the age of 18 for the U.S. and started working in his brother’s local pork store in Brooklyn. Even though the mozzarella business had been in his family for five generations, he didn’t come with the intention of making fresh mozzarella and selling it.
B
ut that all changed when he went to sell imported pasta to retailers in the New York City area and tasted what passed for mozzarella in this country. “I said, 'People call this mozzarella?' I knew I could make it better,” says the owner and president of Li-
oni Latticini Inc. So Salzarulo started his own cheesemaking company in Brooklyn in 1981 with his nephew and partner Salvatore. It grew from his garage making about 100 pounds of mozzarella per week to a business that now produces 60,000
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pounds of mozzarella every week (or about 15 million pounds a year) in a 100,000 square foot facility in Union, N.J. The company also has a 2,000 square foot wholesale warehouse in Brooklyn. “I used to make it at dinnertime, small
(L to R) Salvatore Salzarulo, Teresa Salzarulo Conforte, Giovanni Salzarulo, Andrea Salzarulo Sears, Salvatore Salzarulo, Giuseppe (Sal) Salzarulo
portions, to make the people taste,” he says. “It was completely different from anyone else's.” That's because the company pays such attention to detail in every step of
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Kenneth, from page 44 to their menu go right ahead as long as you have three main ingredients, Love, Passion and Time. Also let me swing by and do a taste test. Today, most restaurants serve dishes that consist of a blend of Cajun and Creole styles, which Chef Paul Prudhomme dubbed "Louisiana cooking." However, there are fewer people cooking the classic Cajun dishes. Why Cajun over Creole for you and is the difference the ingredients or the people behind these famous cuisines? I met Chef Paul Prudhomme down in Biloxi MS and he leans more to Creole but he is right about them both being Louisiana. Creole cooking was once more French and used expensive ingredients. Cajuns "Acadians" from Canada moved down south and settled in the Bayous and swamps of Louisiana where they were forced to live off the land. They merged their style of French cooking with whatever
they caught. Being big on seasonings it was easy to make alligator taste like chicken and rabbit taste like steak. I grew up cooking with a more Cajun influence and I love Creole just the same. For the most part Cajun and Creole cooking has merged over the years and people confuse them for the same. There is some subtle differences but not much anymore. Most chefs think classic Cajun is pepper hot and it's not. Cajun food is supposed to be one thing, flavorful and delicious. If you order a Cajun dish and it's so hot you can't enjoy it, what is that good for. Allot of people think adding a half bottle of hot sauce makes it Cajun. I call it wasting good hot sauce. Talk about Famous Justin Wilson Brand and their involvement with the show. And does the show offer sponsorship or product placement opportunities? I grew up watching him on TV like
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the rest of America in the 80s-90s. If it wasn't for him, Cajun in the City probably wouldn't exist. He is the pioneer Cajun chef and I feel like I owe it to him to keep his cooking style and memory alive. I think he would be pleased with what we are doing. Cajun in the City is the only cooking show in America with the permission to use him in our show. He is a part of Cajun in the City and we’re very proud of that. Cajun in the City is a self-funded public network TV show. We currently have a few great sponsors that help fund the production and have many sponsor levels available. We are the only Cajun, southern cooking show airing in NYC so the unique TV exposure is huge for businesses. We offer product placements for sponsors as well. We are even in talks with a German cookware line and a national seasonings company. Things are looking good. Behind the scenes and before tapings,
explain the process of developing Cajun dishes and material for each episode. The crew starts at 5 AM getting the set, food and five cameras ready. It's a little crazy with 14 people running around in all directions. We just shot 13 full episodes and most of the recipes were created and designed by me. I like to cook each dish 2-3 days prior so there are no surprises on set during filming. Each dish is fully cooked on camera and it's about as real as it gets. Misshapes do happen like the time when we had a delay and my grease got too hot waiting. When we went to shooting I dropped in my Cajun puppies on camera they burned instantly. We had to stop and reshoot the scene. I won't go into what happened during our Crawfish boil episode, I'm still not over that one. For the entire interview, visit www.totalfood.com
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URBO Kitchen, Times Square, New York, NY The Architect
Kitchen Design Consultant
Equipment & Supply Dealer
The Operator
Saveily Arkhipenko, Architect Urbo Kitchen Manhattan, NY
Eric McConnell, VP & Senior Project Manager, Next Step Design New York, NY
Donovan Espeut, Project Manager, H. Weiss Armonk, NY
Brian Young, Culinary Director Urbo Kitchen New York, NY
Saveily Arkhipenko Approach
The author and the zealot of the idea and the concept is Eugene Kadomskiy, he monitored all processes and all major stages of the project. Eugene’s
business partner/co-owner is Michael Tevelev and Vlad Lipkin, URBO CEO, the head of the project, is its engine, its energy and the best guarantee of its
success. Eugene and the ownership team made it very clear the priority was entire logistics and functionality (stairs, el-
I can't say enough about the vision of the ownership and management teams.
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evators, open kitchens) first, and then think of design, which will fit functionality. I knew that I couldn't accomplish that from a computer in Russia so I spent much of the time designing on site in New York. So when I first saw the space, my first impression – and the first question to myself – was how to connect the 1st and the 2nd floor. I had designed a cultural center in Russia – with exhibition halls, cafes and shops – and it required this kind of thinking, literally, from A to Z. Once we decided that we would connect the two floors with a the spiral staircase and the glass elevator, we started thinking about building open kitchens around them, laying out seats, then the look with the right mix of design, color and texture. Among the design challenges were creating kitchen designs that are semicircular, and could easily be fitted with equipment. In addition, they had to correspond to fire codes. As you can well imagine with a fire pit with open flame by the stairs, they had to have complex ventilation. We designed three unique kitchens to support our "Real", "Un-Real" and "Sur-Real" kitchens. The approach to all three is – function and function again. We
wanted to create a solution to be able to serve as much fresh food as possible. We see that balance as coming from both our culinary team and their professionalism and architectural design solutions. A main objective was to create a feel of a real grub shop on the 1st floor. We wanted our guests to see that food is prepared right there and that all products are fresh. Our approach was to build a top design
team with Next Step and H. Weiss. We then spent a lot of time discussing and designing each unit with Eric McDonnell and his Next Step team. It is extremely important to actively involve the culinary team and get them on the same page with the kitchen equipment design team. We saw the 1st floor as a rough-hewn industrial-style place; at the same time we used lots of wood to create a
So when I first saw the space, my first impression – and the first question to myself – was how to connect the 1st and the 2nd floor. I had designed a cultural center in Russia – with exhibition halls, cafes and shops – and it required this kind of thinking, literally, from A to Z.
The 1st floor is a rough-hewn industrial design with lots of wood to create a warm, natural Brooklyn feel
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warm, natural feel. We worked with a Brooklyn company: Hecho; they helped us with tables, chairs and tabletops; we think they even helped to bring some Brooklyn air in the place. As for lighting, we worked with Isometrix, a London-based company; it was given a direction to highlight architectural features and create lighting scenarios for the space throughout the day. We of course had to deal with the challenge of an open fire pit by the circular stairs. According to codes, we had to add a glass enclosure to separate it from the stairs. Plus we had to increase the size of canopies above the open kitchens, which required more structural support. We had a set of drawings from our architect: HLW. Everything was manufactured in ac-
cordance with these drawings, and then we met with a subcontractor and approved materials and textures including the marble tabletops in the open kitchen patterns and types of matte/shiny surface that we wanted. Our design includes many first ever elements. This includes the 2nd floor solariums, the water tank, the whole circular stairs – all of them are unique. The takeaway is that when assembling and working with such a huge team, with people and companies from all around the world on projects of such magnitude success is only possible if the whole team works as one.
Eric McConnell Approach The management team was very passionate about capturing the New York pizzazz. They also wanted the guest experience to be interactive with the kitchens. Next Step design specializes in exhibition and show kitchens. Therefore, we were very excited to have the opportunity to work on a project that embraced this concept to the fullest. My first impression was just how great a location we had to work with. I thought it was perfect for the concept and an ideal location for the team to execute the requests set forth by the ownership. Due to careful planning, the specifications did not change much during the project. At the beginning, Next Step Design provided the ownership with a budget and worked on an equipment package based on that budget. My extensive hotel experience did play a large role in my design direction. With large properties, it is important to be mindful of the properties needs and the flow of goods and execution. My approach was to create high quality and functional showpieces. For example, the curved counters around the first floor fire and water islands are very much in the customer’s line of sight. They had to be functional as well as complementary to surroundings and overall look and feel of the design intent.
The design challenges included a round kitchen that required coordinating the radius of all the integrated materials and various trades/ craftsmen. My design approach was to maintain positive functional flow while preserving the design team and ownership’s vision. This includes collaboration with ID team members, as well as operations and ownership. We located a large breakdown area, dry storage, and cold bulk storage immediately off of the main goods elevator. We also located additional prep areas and cold holding stations at the rear of the back of house prep kitchen to ensure quality product and handling. An exciting design concept that the owners presented was the idea of the “guests feeling like they were in the kitchens” at many areas of the restaurants. This idea especially holds true at the glass feature elevator that showcases the kitchen on the first and second floors. This allowed us to “turn the kitchens inside out” for this guest experience. With the cooking lines we were trying to accomplish sautéing, broiling, as well as inserting pieces for grilling, and a Beech hearth oven for flatbreads and bake-off. The hoods to support the project had to be low velocity, low CFM’s, quiet, and of course aesthetically on point. We had to adjust exhaust hoods and maximize the cooking with the available CFM’s. Due to obvious challenges of city location, precipitators had to be used to clean exhaust air prior to exiting the building. There was limited space available for the necessary (3) precipitators that this project utilized. Keeping the CFM’s at the absolute minimum was essential in pre-planning and execution. For the walk-in space I wanted
Brian Young, Culinary Director at URBO Kitchens utilizes Irinox’s Blast Chilling technology
to maximize the storage and ensure efficiency. The dishwashing and dishware needed to be strategically located on each floor so that those working at the facility did not have to transport the dishes to different levels. By providing dishwashing on each level, it saves the client time, labor cost, and minimizes breakage. This is something that Next Step Design takes pride in on every project. We always want to be known for specifying high quality equipment that is intended to last and work day in and day out. Equipment that is down and not working, just puts certain parts of your menu on the sidelines. On this project we utilized Montague, Beech, Traulsen, Glastender, Carbone Metal Fabricators, Halton exhaust hoods, just to name a few. One thing I really learned on this project is just how important the right contractor can be. JRM was the general contractor on the project, and I cannot even imagine having completed this project without their involvement. In short, my goal was to create an extremely functional, and interesting restaurant kitchen space that would not only keep up with the demands of this rather large and unique multi-lev-
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This project is about building out 26,000 square feet to be able to handle hyper seasonal super creative menus with a different menu of each of our three floors. el restaurant, but also felt like you were in a kitchen ride at Disney World®.
Brian Young Approach I started as a cook at the Quilted Giraffe and worked at Le Bernardin. Later on I spent two years as executive chef at Tavern on the Green. So I am very comfortable in putting some-
thing together of this magnitude. Our goal is to create menus that will feature local ingredients that will even list the purveyors. The name is a mash-up of urban and bohemians. The first floor features a casual 150-seat area with three glass-enclosed kitchens. There’s a retail shop off to one side. A spiral staircase and a circular elevator lead upstairs for more-formal dining in a 300-seat room with latticework and greenery, and to a big bar overlooking 42nd Street. This project is about building out 26,000 square feet to be able to handle hyper seasonal super creative menus with a different menu of each of our three floors. In a lot of ways we’ve brought the reclaimed feeling of Brooklyn to the first floor. Upstairs we’ve captured the best of roof top dining. There are all these cool elements like catwalks and festival lighting. The first floor is walk-in only with a more approachable price point
URBO Kitchens took advantage of Montague’s numerous features to support their commitment to fresh local menus in a high volume setting
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known as "Real". The second floor is our fine dining concept: "Unreal" and the third floor is a private dining room with a much higher price point called: "Sur-Real". To support that we have a different type of kitchen for each one. Each of them is entirely open and interactive with the dining experience. The second floor kitchen was designed to handle the receiving loading and prep area for the whole operation, including potatoes and carrot prep. Our goal is to put every thing in Lexan plastic containers and then reverse the empty boxes to the dumpster. This gives us clear transport into the phase two prep kitchen for processing and more delicate knife work. From the prep kitchen we can utilize rolling racks to move between floors. The second floor prep kitchen supports the Real and Unreal operations. It has an Irinox blast chiller, kettles, skillet, Unox ovens, ME wave bread oven and Montague cooking lines. We supported our custom cocktail program with the special cubes that a Kold-Draft produces. The equipment package also helped us create the unique look. It is the most unusual
This is a very complex machine that's the equivalent of driving a magnificent sports car.
design I have ever seen. The circular Beech oven grill with its flames will greet our guests when they enter. The entire kitchen is custom. There isn’t a standard dimension in the project. There’s special glass for the sushi case there’s very little air-cooled refrigeration. It’s all water-cooled racks-using chilled condenser water. We even broke ground by creating a bracket less shelving design. This is a very complex machine that's the equivalent of driving a magnificent sports car. We are lucky to have a very generous prep space to support an operation this large. Keep in mind, when you have a triple net building like this, there is a lot of space chewed up with mechani-
Among the design challenges were creating kitchen designs that are semicircular
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Next Step and H. Weiss collaborated on one of Manhattan's largest kitchen facilities to feed some 600 guests
cal requirements for HVAC that are needed to meet the city’s stringent code. Our goal in the build out was to be able to support at least 12 menus a year with a chance that it could grow to two a month. In New York it’s all about reading the micro changes in taste and staying on top of your game. We believe our customers will not be the traditional Times Square tourists; however there will of course be a burger on our menu. The goal is great prices on very creative items like fresh ricotta and peaches that we’ve teamed with olive oil, and a pesto mozzarella parmacotta parmagania Panini. Our approach to sourcing for these menus will start with personal relationships I have with companies. We will work with many specialty farms and firms in the meat market that have zero inventories. I send them what I want and then they get it for us fresh. After working on the opening at Le Bernadin and then running the kitchen at Tavern as executive chef, I have a really solid understanding of what it takes to accomplish high quality and high
volume menus. I’m looking to build a team with DNA that combines talent and work ethic. In many ways I’m looking for a younger version of myself, with very little ego and thoughtfulness towards others.
Donovan Espeut Approach My first impression was that the space was like any other open space. Some of the biggest challenges were downstairs, where they had most of the features. This included smoke baffles over the hoods, the fire grill and the staircase. So those are really the most time-intensive parts of the job. Matching the radiuses with the millwork radiuses with the stainless steel was interesting. The issues with the hoods proved to be very challenging. This had to do with the low floating ceiling and then trying to line up the hood to match the radius of the counter so that the equipment would be protected properly. We had to tweak it a couple of times to get that right. Our success with the project came from our ability to get on
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the same page as the JRM, the general contractor. A project like this brings a lot more pressure because they wanted to open at a certain time and there were inevitable delays on the job. There really was not any code delays as most of them had to do with coordination. I think this is a great example of how our restaurant portfolio of work is growing. Many people in the industry would be surprised to find out that in addition to Urbo Kitchen, we've recently finished the Nomad and Allonda restaurants. Many consultants like Next Step who did the Urbo project have worked with us in the past on a variety of B&I projects, so they
are comfortable with our ability to deliver quality on deadline. As with many consultants’ Next Step is very particular with the many design elements that are required in a project of this magnitude. At Urbo that attention to detail focused on paying close attention to the trimming finishes. That's to be expected with an open kitchen like this. Everything is so visible. You walk in and there's that piece of curved glass with that Beech oven and its wall of fire sitting in the middle of it. It needs to be perfect because it's the first thing that a guest will see. Photography by Max Zagor
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The second floor design features an expansive bar with a spectacular NYC view
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// NEWS
GREEN SOLUTIONS
EnviroPure Offers Cost Effective Solution With NYC Foodwaste Mandate On Horizon When most people hear the word “garbage,” they usually think, newspapers and plastic bags and paper plates and napkins. But what about food?
T
hat would seem a fairly benign type of waste but the reality is that it's very heavy, and when it sits in landfills, it rots. “Several years ago I read an article about vineyards in Northern California having a problem with what to do with the leftover organic grapes from the wine they made,” says Jim Slanina, president of EnviroPure Waste Disposal Systems. “At that time it was considered waste no one wanted, and getting rid of it was very expensive.” It piqued his interest, he says. “I saw there was going to be a need to handle the organic volume generated now and in the future so I wanted to come up with a technology to address that need – on-site – without having to drive trucks back and forth. If composting's your thing, trucks are still needed.” Getting rid of waste is very costly. “There's pick-up, environmental surcharges, fuel surcharges, tipping fees. It can be prohibitive,” says Slanina. “Since food is so heavy, it's a pretty big portion of waste.” Jona Thomas, national sales manager, notes that getting rid of waste can cost foodservice operations between $75 and $150 a trip. EnviroPure came up with a organic
waste treatment system that converts food waste to what ultimately becomes what is called “gray water,” a liquid that meets or exceeds all municipal standards for waste disposal. The organic waste starts with a grinding process-- either a sink-type grinder for smaller operations or a large grinder, and the grinding process reduces the particle sizes to allow for a greater absorption of the micro nutrient, which aids in quick digestion. “The slurry is pumped into the digestion vessel, which goes through a series of settlings and stirrings, just like our stomachs,” Thomas says. The slurry is then mixed with the company's proprietary EP-BioMix. This process takes a few hours for fruits and vegetables, and under 24 hours for meats, bones, shells, and pits. EnviroPure's EPW Food Waste Disposal system is a self-contained, continual-feed, organic waste disposal system that fits into any supermarket, commercial or industrial kitchen operation, allowing food waste to be dealt with as it is generated at the source. “It uses the EP-BioMix medium that provides the natural bacteria already present in the food with the critical micro nutrients required for rapid breakdown of food,” Thomas points out.
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EnviroPure came up with a organic waste treatment system that converts food waste to what ultimately becomes what is called “gray water,” a liquid that meets or exceeds all municipal standards for waste disposal.
“Organic waste is quickly reduced to a harmless liquid that is odor-free and can be safely disposed of into existing municipal waste water systems,” says Slanina. “EPW systems handle virtually any kind of food waste, including vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, poultry, dairy products, bones, shells and pits, with complete decomposition typically occurring within 24 hours.” These units are particularly valuable in the foodservice industry, says Slanina. “EnviroPure units are customdesigned units that fit into a kitchen's work flow. We not only provide a easy solution, we design the systems to in-
crease productivity and capture the organic waste in the dish-washing area and the food prep area.” The biggest difference between the company and its competitors, Slanina and Thomas say, is BioMix, the complete, natural vitamin mix the company uses to “digest” and treat the waste. “Others use microbes or enzymes that are chemically engineered, not a natural product,” says Thomas. Enzymes tend to emulsify the food recycling in a high contaminated byproduct. We turn it into gray water, then treat our gray water with our vitamin mix and it comes in at a tenth of what's allowed in most municipalities.” This gray water can then be poured into drains, or collected or used for irrigation purposes. “It can even be recycled back into our system and used as our grinding water instead of potable water,” says Thomas. And the systems pay for themselves. “It costs the end user $28 per ton for our BioMix, well below the national average for waste removal in the US and Canada,” she notes. And the machine can save big money because it costs less than $400 a year in utility costs, using the water extracted from the food rather than having to buy additional water. In addition to everything else, the company also provides customers with a program where end users – tasked with increasing diversion rates and reducing their carbon footprints – can now see visually what those rates are. EnviroPure is sold through the foodservice distribution channel. Distributors can benefit from selling the systems because they can not only help their customers save money, they also aid foodservice operations in complying with the regulations that are now
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// NEWS
SIGNATURE SOLUTIONS
Jersey Firm Sets Sights On Enabling Foodservice Operators To Serve Signature Waffles Co-founders of WaffleWaffle, a gourmet Belgian waffle manufacturing business that blasted off a year after the guys graduated from college, the company's products can now be found in almost every state in the Union - in supermarkets, specialty stores, restaurants and convenience stores.
"S
am and I were friends in college. We're both from New Jersey, and we had met at the University of Wisconsin," says Samuels. "During my junior year, I was studying abroad in Barcelona and these waffles were everywhere. At the same time, Sam was skiing in Vermont, where they were selling these same kind of waffles. The one constant, regardless of location; people were waiting 25 to 30 minutes in the freezing cold for them. The thought that came to mind was 'Either these people are crazy, or something really good is going on here'. We leaned heavily towards the latter being the truth, and after trying them we both agreed they were delicious, and that it was a winning product we could make the staple of our futures." Now, of course, we're not talking about your typical diner waffle, which is really just pancake mix poured into a waffle grid, but something called a Liege-style waffle (also known as the "sugar waffle"). Named after the region in Belgium - Liege - where it was first created, a Liege waffle incorporates a unique blend of sugars in order give its eaters the perfect balance of
crunch and caramelization in every bite. This atypical sugar, known as pearl sugar, is mixed in with a yeastraised dough in order to create an amazing dining experience. The result is a waffle that is sweet enough to enjoy without syrup, whipped cream, or dressings of the like. As I'm sure you can imagine, the final product is golden and crispy on the surface, with a flakey and tender crunch within, like a baguette, only richer. "We explored the idea that summer, going into senior year" says Samuels. "Once we fine-tuned a recipe, the initial plan was to open a mall kiosk, but after taking a closer look at the overhead and expenses, it didn't seem feasible at the time. So we decided to go the manufacturing/retail route. There was a Dunkin' Donuts commissary in our neighborhood, and in its downtime, from 5 to 11 a.m., they let us come in and make waffles. We had three waffle irons. Sam would cut the butter. I would measure the flour. We'd make everything by hand; wrap it by hand, seal it by hand. Then Sam would go right, I'd go left, and whoever sold the most waffles that day was the self-proclaimed winner. It was not a sustainable or profitable way of
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doing business, but it did prove that there was a demand for the product." As their business continued to grow, one day Sam went into Whole Foods,
where he happened to see an employee stocking the frozen shelves. "He said, 'Would you like to try our waffles?' The guy was curious, and after tasting them he said 'Hey, these are really good, where can I buy them?" Sam said, 'Well, that is why I am here. Our waffles are not yet in the store.'" A short time later, the guys were able to get a meeting with corporate. "They said, 'We're willing to try you as a local vendor.' We were given a test-market of two stores, and had three months to get our ducks in a row. We didn't have packaging. We had to scramble to get something out there. But we were able to do that, and slowly we went from two stores to four stores to seven, and in correlation, from three waffle irons, to five, to seven to 10 doing our own operations and assembly."
Shortly after that, the business moved to an incubator kitchen in the Bronx. "It was pretty small but it gave us a little more space to do what we needed to do. After a six-month stint in the Bronx, we then moved back over to New Jersey with 25 waffle irons," Samuels remembers. "It was still limited capacity and profitability because we were doing it all by hand. But after we added more Whole Foods stores, Sam and I went to Belgium. We had proven the concept to ourselves; we knew where we wanted to go. So we were able to purchase larger equipment to streamline the process, make it slightly more automated, where we now could make 1,000 waffles an hour. We continued to hit the pavement and add retailers, and in a corresponding move, added more equipment in order to churn out 4,000 waffles per hour. We continued to make strides towards legitimizing our business; we were adding more chains, more regions, and since we had the ears of retailers, utilizing our products in a foodservice application was a natural next step." In addition to packaging the waffles in retail boxes and stocking the frozen foods shelves, the business was able to put out the larger quantities needed for the foodservice markets starting in 2012. "Whole Foods offers waffles on their hot bars, and packages them instore for sale in the bakery. Ice cream shops serve them with ice cream and toppings. In the colder months of winter, our waffles make for a great compliment to ice cream or frozen yogurt, and serve as a great stand alone treat! They drive customers into the stores during a time that is usually considered 'quieter' for frozen dessert businesses," says Samuels. There is one particular aspect of the foodservice applications WaffleWaffle has to offer that Samuels is particularly excited about; their fresh dough program. "We've put together a comprehensive program in which we procure
the waffle bakers needed to bake off our products, and supply them along with our dough to retailers. Ultimately what we've done is created a unique customer experience that engages all five senses! Customers love having the opportunity to watch the waffle press at work, and hear the sizzle of the dough as it bakes. Not to mention the incredible smell our products give off while they bake. And in my humble opinion, it tastes great too," says Samuels. He adds "The irons do not take up much space - a little over a square foot - so the program requires a very minimal footprint in order to participate, and subsequently, allows retailers to ensure that every single square inch of their existing infrastructure
ucts directly into the infrastructure of brand new stores (Whole Foods of Portchester, NY, and Whole Foods of Hyannis, MA). The fresh dough program is just one of the many things WaffleWaffle has done to try and remain cutting edge, and ahead of the curve. "We had the frozen retail packages, however, we also developed a shelfstable product line. We designed a shipper-display unit, and began individually wrapping and labeling our products so they could essentially be grabbed 'on-the-go'. It allows us to work with convenience stores now, but also, makes it easier to approach some of the supermarkets we want to work with. Whereas a frozen foods
(L to R) Co-Founders Justin Samuels and Samuel Rockwell along with VP of Sales Brian Samuels make up part of the WaffleWaffle Team
is income producing. And whether it's at the bottom of a ski mountain, at your local Whole Foods or grocery store, or at a nearby froyo shop, they make fresh waffles and waffle cones. The fresh waffles and waffle cones are dipped in sauces, enrobed in chocolate, dressed with sprinkles, Nutella, fresh fruit, or anyway the customer wants it. Suddenly it's no longer just a waffle. It's a customized WaffleWaffle. It's John's waffle, Jill's waffle, Tommy's waffle…what kind of waffle are you?" Samuels says the fresh foodservice program is the fastest-growing part of the business. And in retail, it's become so big that Whole Foods is now building waffle bars for which WaffleWaffle supplies all equipment and prod-
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buyer may not have the shelf-space available to stock our items, our shipper displays can be set-up in store aisles without encroaching on the limited facings retailers can offer to their consumers. They can be eaten directly out of the packaging like a cookie or a muffin as a snack, or heated up for breakfast or dessert," explains Samuels. While WaffleWaffle has worked hard to develop its brand vertically (the different applications from frozen retail to foodservice), it has allocated just as much time, energy, and resources to expanding horizontally (in terms of the flavor it offers). Samuels says he and his partner were concerned with how much the American and Euro-
pean markets differ from one another. "There's only one flavor in Europe. It's very traditional; it's plain, and if you dare to throw try any new flavors you're a pariah. But American consumers love variety. So we developed an entire arsenal of flavors; red velvet, cinnamon, chocolate chip, pumpkin, maple, chocolate cocoa. We have even fine-tuned tofu-based vegan products, and are currently R&Ding with gluten-free". WaffleWaffle also works with restaurants to come up with special one-ofa-kind flavors. "We're working with a restaurant in the North Carolina area; we had started supplying them with our original flavor, however, the restaurant was looking to do something different during the summer months. They wanted a Bananas Foster and a Key Lime waffle. So we did it!" Samuels notes that the company works with a number of distributors, including UNFI, C&S, U.S. Foods, Bozzutos, Mt. Pleasant Ice Cream, and others, and services numerous markets, restaurants, and ice cream shops in the New York and New Jersey area directly. "We love working directly with our customers, so long as they are within arms reach. We like to say we're partners. Not vendors servicing clients. Partners. It's not 'Here's your iron, here's the dough, and good luck to you.' We're constantly checking in and touching base, and making sure that everything is as it should be. If it's not, then we are right there with them every step of the way to troubleshoot any issues and be better moving forward. We're not in this to make sales, we're in this to make customers. If they are not happy, they are not coming back," he says. And the name - WaffleWaffle? "If you're hungry, you grab a waffle. If you want an experience, you grab a WaffleWaffle," he says. "So nice we named it twice."
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// NEWS
MOBILE SOLUTIONS
Como Offers Restaurants A New Way To Satisfy Diners With Mouthwatering App Creation Solution That’s Made To Order Not that long ago, there was no such thing as an app. Then you could shop with them and play games on them and even get prescriptions filled on them. But these apps were always created by someone else and users pretty much had to take what they could get.
N
ow, thanks to Como, foodservice operators can now develop their own mobile apps. Formerly known as Conduit Mobile, Como was conceived as a way to level the playing field, allowing anyone to build and maintain a mobile app, with low cost and no coding, according to Gil Harel, Como’s vice president of business development. And you don't have to be a computer genius to create one. “Como provides a do-it-yourself (DIY) app-creation platform that allows small-to-midsize businesses to compete in today’s mobile market,” Harel says. The platform first launched in 2010, when mobile app development was still an emerging industry. “At the time, only those who could afford to hire a mobile developer (often costing tens of thousands of dollars) could benefit from a mobile app,” he recalls. Harel says Como has since grown to become the world’s leading DIY mobile app maker. “Just recently, it was announced that more than one million apps have been created via
the platform worldwide—with over 4,500 new apps created daily,” he says proudly. With 20% of apps coming from the food industry, Como enables thousands of cafes, restaurants, distributors, food bloggers, bars, and more to reach their customers on their most personal device.” Como’s platform, the Como Console, uses an interface that makes it easy to create beautiful mobile personalized apps, says Harel. “And these apps are tailored to specific businesses for all major mobile devices (Android, iOS, and Amazon Kindle Fire),” he notes. But Como isn’t just for building apps—it’s for maintaining and managing them, too. “Our platform includes a business management dashboard that allows business owners to track customer activity, such as the number of reservations, orders, deliveries, coupons, and promotions made and used through the apps that they create with Como,” says Harel. “We also expand our offerings via integrations and partnerships. For example, we offer integrations with a number of online ordering and pay-
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Como also helps businesses promote their apps, get more downloads, and attract new customers with the Marketing Genie, a resource center that provides on- and offline tools.
ment systems, such as MyCheck, OnlineOrdering, and Olo.” Como also helps businesses promote their apps, get more downloads, and attract new customers with the Marketing Genie, a resource center that provides on- and offline tools. Though Como does not specifically target the food world, many of the apps created from its platform seem tailor-made for it. This includes the ability for users to make reservations, allowing them to book a table through the app with OpenTable, Urbanspoon, TopTable, and more; devise menus, creating a custom menu or importing an existing menu from online menu guides such as Allmenus or SinglePlatform, and food ordering, grabbing content from GrubHub, Seamless, Eat24Hours, OLO, Online Ordering, and other online delivery services to let users place an order on- the-go. In addition, the program allows foodservice operations to design mobile apps that develop loyalty programs, enhancing customer loyalty by offering promotions and rewards, as well as mobilizing a restaurant's stamp card; provide in-app coupons to promote products, services, and special deals, and click-to-call, allowing users to call restaurants directly through the app in a single click. The Como generated apps also give foodservice outlets the opportunity for customers to review the restaurant and then share their reviews by adding Yelp, Citysearch, and other guides, and even optimize workforce management of orders, delivery assignments, and tracking via Bringg. Push notification updates and in-app real-time map tracking enable direct communication between the delivery person, the business, and the cus-
tomer. Don't know where the restaurant is? Directions and maps on the app display the exact location of a business so customers can easily find it. And you can connect to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social networks through the app; display photos by connecting with Picasa, Tumblr, Flickr, Facebook, TwitPic, Como’s unique LiveAlbum technology, and collect feedback and information about customers and their behavior with reports, forms, and detailed business analytics. “These days, there are a number of DIY app-creation platforms on the market—but very few boast the size, expertise, and wealth of features Como offers,” Harel points out. “However, the real secret to our success lies in our dedication to not only helping
businesses build, but also maintain, their mobile app.” To truly derive value from a mobile app, users need to ensure that the app provides value to customers. “We believe that mobile technology should serve as a core extension of your business, and we’re dedicated to helping you make that happen by including key features, such as coupons, promotions, and built-in loyalty cards; providing a robust business management system that allows you to track (and tweak) your app’s activity; and offering promotional materials such as printed stickers, automatically generated QR codes, website banners, and tools to help you create targeted social media campaigns,” he adds. Distributors benefit, too. “Many of the core restaurant-focused fea-
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tures, such as delivery services, are very useful. They also benefit from our many e-commerce integrations,” says Harel. As for the future, the company is currently working to automate restaurants’ entire marketing ecosystems and investigating a number of new partnership opportunities, including the option to connect with point-of-sales systems. “Como aims to serve the future of mobile, in which businesses will offer a targeted and engaging experience for customers via mobile apps created on our platform,” says Harel. “Our streamlined, intuitive platform allows businesses to create professional apps in order to integrate with their customers’ mobile lifestyle.”
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Lioni, from page 46 production, says Lori Church, director of sales and marketing. “From selecting the freshest whole milk, to the processing of the valuable curd, to the perfect timing of the creation of the cheese and the inspection and in-house packaging. It's the attention to detail that continually guarantees consistency and quality.” In the mid-'80s they opened a plant in upstate New York, where he “worked” the milk. “I made the curds the way I want, the way we make it in Italy,” he says. “People would taste it and I would see their faces. 'Wow,' they said. When my nephew came here, we got a place in Brooklyn and started to make it in the store. After that, we started to get more and more customers, we worked really hard to bring this business to where it is today,” he says. Today, Lioni’s successful team includes Sal’s wife, Michelina, and their children, Giovanni and Teresa as well as Giuseppe’s children, Salvatore and
Our fresh mozzarella scale starts with one gram, and goes all the way up to one pound in water. “It's specific to the customer's needs,” says Church. “Restaurants particularly like that they can order the exact size that they need so there is no waste.” Andrea, the sixth generation. Together, they all continue to be fully involved in the day to day operational and production processes as well as sales, marketing and product development. What makes his cheeses – he has 40 different varieties of mozzarella and ricotta – so different, says Salzarulo, is their consistency and quality. The cheese is sold by size: 1 Gram:
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Perline, 4 Grams: Perle, 9 Grams: Noccioline, 13 Grams: Ciliegine, 1.5 Ounces Bocconcini, 4 ounces: Ovoline. The company has won many awards. Lioni's Burrata Con Panna earned a gold medal, World Cheese Awards, in 2012 at the BBC Good Food Show at the NEC Birmingham, run by the UK’s Guild of Fine Food, one of the largest and most esteemed competitions of its kind in the world, according to Church; and this year, a silver medal at the World Champion Cheese Contest, fresh mozzarella class. “We have distributors in every major city and state in the country and the mozzarella is made fresh to order” Salzarulo says. He's very particular about how distributors handle his product,” Church says. “It's my reputation,” Salzarulo adds. Our fresh mozzarella scale starts with one gram, and goes all the way up to one pound in water. “It's specific to the customer's needs,” says Church. “Restaurants particularly like that they can order the exact size that they need so
Bocconcini Fresh Mozzarella
there is no waste.” One customer used to order cheese sliced. “I tell them, 'You're making a mistake. Once you cut it, all the juice comes out, there's no taste,” says Salzarulo. “That's when I invented the Medallion. It's pre-portioned, one ounce, always consistent in size, the perfect pairing for a sandwich or Caprese salad.” To this day, nothing has changed, he says. “We make it exactly the way we made it in Italy. We got started in the heart of Brooklyn, where there was a large Italian-American community, and through word of mouth, we took off.”
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// INSURANCE
FIORITO ON INSURANCE
Securing Your Success with Trade Credit Insurance Every time you extend credit to your customers, your business incurs credit risk. While your accounts receivable may be one of the most liquid and valuable assets your company has, chances are it is also one of your least protected.
Bob Fiorito, Vice President of Business Development at Hub International Robert.Fiorito@ hubinternational.com
P
racticing good credit management is the first step to securing your business' standing and protecting yourself from catastrophic risk. Begin with a formal credit policy that includes: • A layered credit approval process that addresses new debtors and creditworthiness • Credit limits for customers, including potentially lower limits for new customers until they have established a satisfactory payment record. • Credit terms, which should include the length of time the debtor has to pay, with late payment fees communicated up front • Guidelines for monitoring debtors regularly (quarterly, for example) for new, adverse information • A series of formal actions should a debtor be consistently lax in its payment obligations • This formal policy should be clearly communicated to all potential business partners at the time of each purchase or new contract.
•
But, good credit management practices alone will not eliminate credit risk. The risk of selling goods or services to a third party on open credit terms is constant and will continue to evolve as markets swing and businesses grow and change.
Evaluating Your Need A few key questions are critical to determining your need for trade credit insurance. If you answer yes to one or more of these questions, a trade credit insurance policy may be right for you. • Do you want your business to grow? • Are you looking to expand sales to new customers or territories where you're not familiar with doing business? • Are your exposures growing because of the current economic rebound? • Are your customers exposed to external risks that could cause them to default in their payment obligations? Whether you sell locally, internationally or both, trade credit insurance helps secure payment for goods or services delivered to your customers. A trade credit insurance policy protects cash flow and profitability, within the terms and conditions of the policy, for the goods shipped or services rendered to
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A few key questions are critical to determining your need for trade credit insurance. If you answer yes to one or more of these questions, a trade credit insurance policy may be right for you. your customers in the event that they cannot pay due to a financial default. Trade credit insurance can strengthen your company's balance sheet, enhance your borrowing capacity and enable you to grow your business by providing protection from: insolvency (bankruptcy), protracted default (nonpayment) and political risk (international risk). More specifically, these risks include: • Chapter 7, 11 and administrative filings Continued delinquency/non-payment • Broad peril political risk exposures • Government intervention causing a non-payment • Political violence/terrorism • Currency inconvertibility • Product confiscation post title transfer
• An Ongoing Relationship Because trade credit insurance carriers are underwriting your risks, you will also receive credit due diligence on all current and future customers. Leveraging their collective experience and knowledge of business and industry data, trade credit brokers and trade credit insurance carriers will determine the risk levels for the specific countries and industries, down to the individual customers you sell to. This ongoing analysis and evaluation of both new and existing customer risk is a value-add to current trade credit insurance policies.
Why Now? It is time to secure trade credit insurance and position your business for the next economic dip. With the market gaining strength, coverage is more widely available today than just a few years ago and at more competitive prices. Plus, insuring your receivables now will protect your company's critical working capital and ensure you maintain the cash flow required for the success of your business. Just as you insure your cash, property, inventory and employees, it is wise to insure all your assets against normal and potential loss. Your broker can help identify a tailored solution for your business. Contact your broker to learn more about how trade credit insurance can help you protect and grow 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
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Champagne, from page 24 $65,000, to support the James Beard Foundation’s mission and educational programs, including culinary student scholarships and the organization's annual food conference on sustainability, public health, and nutrition. Carrying on its long tradition of supporting culinary education, the James Beard Foundation was proud to announce Samantha Whitlam as the recipient of the 2014 Christian Wölffer Scholarship. Established in 2006, the Christian Wölffer Scholarship assists students in their study of food and wine, and with this honor Whitlam is enrolling in the Intensive Sommelier Course at the International Culinary Center (ICC). Also in attendance were 2014 MY China Scholarship recipient Alexis Sicklick, 2013 Christian Wölffer Scholarship recipient Jhonel Faelnar, and multiple James Beard Foundation Scholarship recipient Christina Cassel. The Chefs & Champagne participating chefs read like a who's who of the restaurant industry. New York City's culinary community was represented by notable toques including: Franklin Becker, Philippe Bertineau, Chad Brauze, Stephen Collucci, Coby Farrow, Yuhi Fujinaga, Alex Guarnaschelli, Shane McBride, Pecko Zantilaveevan and Dan Silverman. A number of top Garden State Chefs made the trek to the Hamptons led by Ben Del Coro, Jean Paul Lourdes and John Greeley. Local Hamptons chefs included: James Carpenter, and Todd Mitgang. Flay joined the ranks of such gastronomic giants as Julia Child, Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller, Wolfgang Puck, and Emeril Lagasse, with this honor. His career includes receiving the James Beard Rising Star Chef of the Year Award at the start of his career back in 1993 and being inducted into the Who’s Who of Food & Beverage in America in 2007. As Su-
B. Smith and President of the James Beard Foundation Susan Ungaro seen at the James Beard Foundation's Chefs & Champagne event at the Wolffer Estate, on Saturday, July 26, 2014 in Sagaponack, N.Y. (Photo by Mark VonHolden/Invision for James Beard Foundation/AP Images)
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san Ungaro, president of the James Beard Foundation, has noted: “Not only has he starred in over a dozen hit national cooking shows, co-hosted the James Beard Awards, and taught President Obama how to grill on the White House lawn, but the native New Yorker also manages to maintain the integrity of each and every one of his projects along the way.”
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Atalanta, from page 34 event team is actually working on using these peppers in not only savory recipes but sweet applications like panna cotta. “You can use the Sweety Drop in side dish applications, salads, garnishes, and there's a very real possibility for some unique sweet applications. There's this big huge fusion of flavors now of sweet and savory and this pepper fits ideally.” Stephano is really excited about a new demographic that's helping the company stretch and expand its networks and customers. “We're talking about the millennials,” he says. “Years ago, if a food company wanted to launch a product, you'd go to the international food shows, study the demographics, evaluate pricing metrics and packaging, then after a long time hopefully release it. Today a young couple goes on a date in Portland at a hot new restaurant, where we are seeing a lot of new trends develop, and the Chef introduces an appetizer special using our black flour in a rustic pizza. They love it, they need to know the passion of its origin, they take a picture, post it instantaneously on Facebook or Instagram and it goes viral to their foodie friends. Next, one of their friends from college, in let’s say Philly, sees it and she's going on a date the next day and she goes to the Chef and says, "I WANT THIS can you make it?" “In less than 24 hours your brand new specialty food product just traveled 4,000 miles and the Chefs of these chain restaurants and menu developers of these white table cloth hot spots just throw up their hands in disbelief. Our industry now has no choice but to quickly understand this new arena and quickly adjust to the speed to which our customers desire these products,” he says. He adds that Atalanta is in a unique position to capitalize on this. “Because of our network of suppliers, growers across the globe and awareness of developing trends, we’re the ones whose salespeople introduce it through our distributors faster than you can blink. We used to be able to launch a product. Now millennials and today’s
foodies are discovering these foods and simply demanding them. There is no time any more to launch and release a product. You have to be first to market, offer specialty and high-end products today and that's where we shine. Millennials are in control of the flavors, trends and stories today and will be for the forseeable future.” Stephano says where his company really differentiates itself from others is in its ability to help Chefs and Buyers use its products in many different culinary applications. “If we sell a Chimay beer cheese, or a Danish crumbled blue cheese, we provide our customers with recipes and culinary ideas using those products. We teach them how to take it and develop an exceptional three cheese soufflé as apposed to just showing how it looks beautiful on a premium cheese board – We need to offer and share multiple ways to use this product from the appetizer course through the dessert course. By doing this, Chains can drive down costs because they now use these products through the entire spectrum of the menu.” It's particularly important for foodservice operations who may have to order expensive cheeses, then throw them out when they're not used in time for other dishes. “Think Parmigiano Reggiano. It's a gorgeous product, with a rich Italian history of over 750 years, probably the most well known specialty cheese on the planet. But here's what happens in the back of the house. They order a whole wheel of it, and it's pricy, maybe around $1,600. They have a wedding, a huge catering event or a corporate conference, and they crack the wheel and chunk it into beautiful wedges. They pair it with fresh fruit and fantastic wines on a banquette table. It becomes the centerpiece of the catering event. “People get excited about it. 'Where did you get this?' 'Ooh, this is so-oo good!' They tell their friends, try this cheese, it comes from this unique dairy in Parma. Now, That's what everyone in our industry has done really well. But here's what happens next. The catering event is over, the guys in the back of the
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house take the cheese and wrap it and then throw it in the walk-in. The souschef comes back two weeks later, the cheese is dried out or has mold all over it, puts it on the prep table, then looks at it and he gets upset because the product wasn't taken care of and most importantly doesn’t know how else to use the cheese other than grating it on top of pasta, so he throws it away. The last experience the sous-chef has with one of our specialty food products is throwing it in the trash. There's no other industry in the world where you could get away with that.” So what does Atalanta do about that? “We introduce, teach, and offer culinary applications. Meaning, we had a great party, used this premium cheese, now what do I do with it? We have to teach them how to use this in soups, in baked dishes, and how to use this in as many culinary apps as we can,” Stephano says. “Now we've truly provided value to the product. We need to be able to take our specialty products and power the entire menu. And that's what we're doing.” Stephano says that what Atalanta is now bringing to the table is a teaching-tool and a cost-saving product. “We're teaching the passion behind it, the story behind it, and the culinary app behind it. We want to offer you an artisanal aged Mahon from Spain and we want to see that on all your specialty cheese boards. But if we're not teaching you how to use that cheese with small plates and tapas or how to take the cheese and put it in a high-end grilled cheese sandwich or how to incorporate that into a specialty salad, we've really missed an opportunity, and then we're just selling products.” Stephano says the company's goals are to offer culinary solutions to its customers. “And the hottest way to do that is to teach them what's happening from a trend basis, offer them multiple uses of a product and teach them the passion and culinary apps behind it. Ultimately, when we do that, we help our customers increase their margins and ultimately their profits.”
NY, from page 22 Midwestern staff and a completely unexpected menu are a welcome surprise to see in this small town on the prairie but when the Scotch eggs with homemade Dijon mustard and butter washed Pretzel bread featuring a homemade cream cheese and Cheddar spread arrived, I was sold. Then the Mako Shark with adobe spiced French potatoes was placed
I had to hold back the tears. Radius brew pub has raised the proverbial bar on pizza and set a new standard for brew pubs while homing in on a new food trendsetting idea.
in front of me I had visions of my home town- New York, this was a piece of paradise or an oasis on the Great Plains (pinch me). As if all this was not enough for this kid from Brooklyn, the next dish was a broccoli pancetta pizza delight cooked in a revolving wood burning brick oven built by the New York Brick Oven Company. I had to hold back the tears. Radius brew pub has raised the proverbial bar on pizza and set a new standard for brew pubs while homing in on a new food trendsetting idea. This long time restaurateur feels Gourmet Pizza Brew Pubs will be of the importance and demand attention on par with the fast casual trend for quick eating. It is fantastic to see young entrepreneurs bringing their best game and hitting it out of the park.
Q&A, from page 31 be, oh, I'll go to national conferences, I'll kind of touch the wall, but keeping that community active, looking at a theme of, okay, what are we hearing from our members, what do they need, and addressing that with a lot of programming. How do we make sure we're delivering on that commitment? SHFM has always had a broad New York City base. What impact has New York and some of the members there had on the growth of the organization, the culture of the organization? Our tri-state area membership is really important to SHFM and I hope it remains a strong part of SHFM. What's great is, you have a concentrated area that has the diversity of a lot of environments, so it really stimulates the organization. You get a lot of different flavor and it helps you to keep your perspective. SHFM does want to be broader than just the tri-state area, and
we're doing things, as I talked about, the locals, and Seattle, and San Francisco, and into Dallas, and Chicago and all that. So, we want to have balance there, but we never want to forget New York. That's a very important thing and those members -- it's kind of like that old saying, if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. And working in New York, look at how good their operations have to be because of the choices you have on the street. My goodness, you can walk out of the door and go to the best this, the best that. You've got to be on your toes. At one point in my career I worked in a very suburban/rural environment in Ohio. And I had a somewhat captive audience. But in New York, you don't have that. People there have the opportunity to go to a lot of different places, so they're really up there on the trends. I think both coasts are. That's why I'm glad to see our West Coast really coming in. They're up there on the trends, and they're on their game. They have to be to compete there.
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cilities counterparts and our buildings and, and things of that nature. So that's what we're trying to do.
What's ahead? We talk so much about menus and food safety and now, farm to fork. We'll do a lot of programming around that, but as I say, SHFM is food, food at our core and our members, a lot of them, like myself, are food at our core. So you need those complementary schools almost more than you need the food. We're foodies at heart, and if I'm not working, I'm going out to great restaurants or watching the Food Network. Where am I getting the space stuff, where am I getting the conference center stuff, where am I getting those other things. A little harder to come by sometimes, so that's what we're trying to deliver, those skills there so we can really be part of the conversation with our fa-
What was your biggest contribution to the organization? I would like SHFM members to really get why we added the "H," that it's not just talk, it's not just a letter we added in there. But we've shown them why we did it and it makes sense to them. And they see value in it. Now we want to make it, SHFM, our indispensable industry resource. And serve every category of our members. Not just the corporate liaison, and the self operator, but our contractors, our consultants, and suppliers. And here's what I really would like to achieve. Increase the visibility of our segment of the industry. And do more school outreach, and let people know we're not just talking a lot about the schools, but also our foundation, the military, people looking for a better quality of life. We've all got a lot to offer.
// MEET THE NEWSMAKER
Valeri Lea, Partner at Deep Group When you grow up around food, it often becomes your life, whether you want it to or not. But for Valeri Lea, it was one of the best parts of her childhood. And she's continued on with it, in a different way, but with food still the centerpiece of her life.
"I
actually have been in the food business for what feels like my whole life,” says the partner and head of account services at deep group, a leading food marketing agency that promotes global foodservice brands. “When I was a kid, my mom owned a restaurant, and I was exposed to a lot – as you might imagine, a child in a family business trying to 'help out' where I could.” She laughs. “And watch and learn. At a very young age, I actually remember going to my first food show. Gosh, I was probably about eight years old, which was just incredible, being that age and running around a food show, sampling food and beverages at all these different booths.” Lea says she remembers her excitement about food shows “and all that wonderful food,” to this day. “Even at such a young age, I was completely drawn in. After that first show, I was pretty certain I wanted to work in the industry. I’m happy to say I still get the same kind of charge at food shows today,” she says. Today she leads a team of foodservice marketers at deep, which designs brand identities, print advertisements, social media campaigns, and package design for some of the nation’s largest brands such as, Nestle Professional, Tyson Foods, and Lamb Weston. Lea is proud of the family deep comes from. It's part of the Marlin Network, which is comprised of two companies (Food IQ and Star Awards) and three agencies (deep, Marlin Company and
Lea was recently featured in Forbes’ “Women Business Leaders” section, which focused on Lea’s leadership role she has played since the agency launched in 2005.
The Alchemedia Project). “There is an incredible amount of talent here and each affiliate, as we call them, has a special skill set. Marlin is our oldest agency and has some really long-lasting relationships with their clients. The Alchemedia Project is a digital branding agency. FoodIQ is an innovation firm that provides culinary, insights and innovation services. And Star Awards is a College & University loyalty program.” The Marlin Network offers STARAwards®, a loyalty program for selfoperated college and universities. Manufacturers are members of the
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program. Operators are rewarded for their purchases and use those rewards for free attendance to the annual NACUFS conference. “It’s a really beneficial program that has grown tremendously the last few years, proving that the reward is of great value to those C/U operators,”she says. Recently, Lea was featured in Forbes’ “Women Business Leaders” section, which focused on the leadership role she has played since the agency launched in 2005. Lea took a brief segue from food when she went to college and majored in communications, with a minor in public relations and promotions, but once out of school her career went right back to food. “My first job out of college was at a company in St. Louis called Sunmark, which was a division of Nestle. The job market in the mid-90's was really, really tight, much like today. I started out there in a temporary position as a secretary for the vice president of manufacturing,” she says. She remembers really flourishing and thriving there. “Nestle is known for placing a lot of value on its employees and they invested a lot of training in me. I got to know the vice president of marketing and he took me under his wing,” she recalls. “I was able to leverage my communications degree in the marketing field there. And I've been in foodservice ever since.” Lea worked for Nestle for about five years, and then relocated to Springfield,
Mo., where her mom was living at the time. “I wanted to be closer to family, get back to my roots again. I got a job at an advertising agency in town and have been working on the agency side ever since. I've been doing agency work for the last 15 years,” she says. Not a career as a chef or restaurateur? “While I loved that life of owning a brand and having our name on the door, I think the marketing agency world suits me so much better. To me, it’s so exciting to help other people grow their brands and to be able to work on a different one each and every day,” she says. Her agency's primary clients are in foodservice, but also range across food manufacturers to equipment manufacturers to ingredient companies, restaurants, hospitality, clubs, convenience stores, delis, even brokers and distributors and contract managers. Lea says her approach to business at the agency can be put into just a few words. “Service. The people we employ at deep are required to be givers; to always put others first. We practice a true spirit of servant-hood, not only with our clients, but with one another as well. What this truly means in regards to how we service our client is that we put their true needs first. We don’t sell them services we have. We sell them services they need; things that will be effective in moving their business forward. Too many times we’ve seen agencies push ideas onto their clients that are 'cool,' but ineffective. We’re not into that and consider that a disservice to our clients. We’ve actually had clients approach us with a project that we’ve talked them out of because we know it won’t work in meeting their needs or their customers’ needs.” When it comes to strategy, trade shows are a critical part of agency business. “Trade shows always offer a great forum
for showcasing innovative new products, so it gives us an opportunity to try things first-hand, to witness live demos, and see what trends are really taking off,” Lea says. “Our favorite thing about trade shows, however, is finding opportunities to overhear operators talk about issues they’re facing in their businesses or new things that they might be adding to the menu or doing to drive traffic. All of these things make us smarter and help us do our job for our clients better. We design a lot of booths for our clients, help them get materials ready in time for the shows and will even help serve food in the booth if needed. We’re there for them, whatever they need.” A typical day for Lea might start with planning to market a new brand. “It’s
always exciting for us to sink our teeth into a new brand. At deep, we find it’s important to get as immersed into the client’s expectations of that brand as possible, what competitive issues we might face, operator needs and any other marketplace condition that might affect a launch,” she says. “The first rule of marketing is to know your target audience, so which tactics we deploy for a product introduction or new brand depends on who our operator target is and how they like to receive new information. Sometimes we focus more on digital, sometimes it’s more of grassroots PR effort and other times we’ll just work to arm the sales and broker teams with what they need to have valuable conversations with their operator cus-
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tomers.” Lea believes agencies are crucial for businesses trying to grow a brand. "We really like to work with clients that see us as a partner versus a vendor. So we act as an extension of their marketing department bringing fresh thinking to the table. A brand manager has a lot of things under their responsibility beyond just managing a communication plan or a marketing campaign, but that’s our sole focus, so we can really be a tremendous asset to them. Plus, our eyes are constantly on the industry, we attend nearly every industry event and this isn’t something that an in-house team is always able to do." The Partner says deep is so successful because everyone who works for the
agency is in love with what they do. “Eating is a communal experience that brings people together. What a great thing to be a part of! And we’ve been doing this collectively as a team for several decades. Our experience, fresh perspective, creative talent and service mentality are what attract global brands.” deep practices what it preaches. It even has a working kitchen with a full range, grill, deep fryer, and convection oven, space it shares with its affiliate, FoodIQ, which supports the agency in culinary development for its clients. Through FoodIQ, deep can provide recipe ideas and menu development and engineer-
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Newsmaker, from page 89 ing. She notes that the foodservice industry is growing in new and exciting ways. “Locally-sourced menu items are something that consumers are looking for. This includes both produce and meats and seafood. There’s a vegan movement, a gluten free movement, and we’re seeing healthier kids’ meals too. People are becoming more and more concerned about what they put in their bodies and they’re being more vocal about it, which changes menus more quickly. Consumers will want to continue to experiment with new flavors, like sriracha and snacking will continue to occupy a lot of our time and interest,” Lea says. Demographics are another crucial piece of the pie. “Baby Boomers behave a certain way of consumption and they have common needs from a more psycho-graphic perspective. We try to really be observers of human behavior versus just reading a bunch of statistics
and data,” she says. “We're trying to make a good connection and apply that information for clients to make good decisions, because, as you know, what a person says they do, and what a person actually does, are two very different things!” When it comes to Millennials, they won't spend as much money when they eat out. “They are very tech-savvy, they are much more social and leverage technology to do that, like tweeting a meal they're about to eat. They are looking to experiment a lot more with their food, so experiential flavors, a restaurant concept, is often built with the needs of a Millennial in mind. When you're tracking that particular consumer, our clients want to make sure that their menu items have sriracha and other really extreme and bold flavors,” she says. As far as relationships with distributors, all of the agency's clients have good relationships with both large broad-line distributors like Sysco and US Food as well as smaller ones, and it does
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not view distributors as competitors. “We're collectively together growing the food service industry, versus competing with one another,” she says. The agency supports its distributors and operators in many ways. “For example, we help them answer the question, ‘what do I do with this product in my restaurant?’ How do I create some great dishes with it that will meet my customers' needs, so recipe ideas are part of that. How do I generate awareness and attention that I've got this item on my menu, so it could be merchandising support, things like that. We also arm the DSR with the information they need, the story about the product, and what makes it different, what makes it better and how it's going to meet their customer's needs. How it's going to help to grow their business. So it's not just about the operator and helping them reach their customers for the consumer, but also helping the distributor sell the right product to the right operator to meet the right need and not just about rebates and making
discounts. It's about growing food service in totality,” Lea says. She believes the purpose behind broker consolidation is a good one. “Brokers are trying to become much more sophisticated consultants to operator customers. And at deep group, we're all about elevating service so that we can grow foodservice collectively, together. Does it necessarily concern me? Not as long as the operator's needs are being met, not as long as we're being responsible and the foodservice offerings that we're bringing to the market are meeting consumer needs.” Where do cash-and-carry outlets like Restaurant Depot and Smart and Final fit? “They play a big role for us and our clients,” she says. “We love the small business guy. Like I said, I grew up in that world and that's where they shop. They shop at Sam's Club and they shop at Restaurant Depot. And so we're making sure we've got applicable products for
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Newsmaker, from page 91 them in those outlets. A lot of our clients are very active in placing product in cash-and-carry and we think it's an important part of growing food service and helping out those small business people, because that's where they shop. It's about knowing your target. Where do they go? Not just how do they consume media information, but where do they go to get their product and just making sure we're there so that we can help them out.” Right now the agency has several different product categories in which it doesn't currently operate. “Our sights are set on fresh produce and foodservice seafood. We don't have seafood clients on our roster, but, with our knowledge of some of those areas from our past lives, we're ready to help people out in those product categories,” she says. “Dairy is another area that is untapped for us, so those are our immediate short-term needs. Long-term, we'd like to have some non-foodservice manufacturers on our client list, as well, whether they're distributors, or contract managers, or brokers, or even affiliations, such as councils or boards. We'd love to help those folks out, because those are the guys who are really getting the word out. They really have a need for PR and we have a great public relations and social media team here at deep group, so that would be my more immediate need, to focus, to expand on those kinds of areas. We're still tied to food but not necessarily food growers and manufacturers, if that makes sense.” Lea says what helps clients most to make their brands stand out is very simple. “Consistency is so key in both Front of House and Back of House. Every eating experience should be exactly what the guest expects when they enter an establishment. Or better. Keeping it fresh. Know your audience. Get the word out.”
Enviropure, from page 70 going into effect in many cities, like New York, to ensure that organic matter does not go into landfills. Coming in the future is a closed loop system, which takes the effluent through an ozination – or purification – process. ”Since our grinding process allows us to use our own water, this process also greatly reduces the amount of gray water returned to the environment,” says Thomas.
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The company also offers a remote monitoring program that troubleshoots systems in the field, from its corporate office and supplies end users with valuable information to increase their diversion rate and decrease their carbon footprint. But probably what separates EnviroPure from the rest of the field is, as compliance becomes more mandated, its ability to help businesses now in cities
that don't have strict sewer discharge regulation and are therefore going to be mandated foodservice operations to cut back on waste. The EP machine discharge is typically one tenth of most municipal sewer discharge regulations. “We fall way below anything that's coming, where the new regulations are now and where they're going, and you can't say that about our competitors,” says Thomas.
ICC, from page 10 distinguished faculty, including Dean of Wine Studies Scott Carney, respected professors from the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, and experts in law, real estate, finance, architecture and marketing. Everything is reality-based. The theory taught throughout this course will be underscored by real-life case studies. Students will learn to antici-
ICC students learn the equivalent of a two-year internship in as little as six months. Often imitated but never duplicated, our Total ImmersionSM teaching method offers intensive instruction and puts you in the kitchen from the very first day.
Everything is realitybased. The theory taught throughout this course will be underscored by real-life case studies. Students will learn to anticipate and conquer the wide range of restaurant and retailing challenges they are likely to face, beginning with their original business concept through opening day and beyond. pate and conquer the wide range of restaurant and retailing challenges they are likely to face, beginning with their original business concept through opening day and beyond. Topics will include: developing your business concept, whether it's a traditional restaurant or retailer or an innovative mix of the two; legal issues: raising capital, personnel, real estate and more; choosing a location; key factors in design, facility maintenance, restaurant economics; menu creation and yield management; kitchen design and equipment; mar95 • September 2014 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com
keting your restaurant, and leadership skills in training staff. Perhaps the most valuable part of the class will come not in it, but after. A dedicated online learning community will allow attendees full access to course materials as well as the ability to network and communicate with your classmates and your instructors in real-time outside of class. Tel: 888-324-2433 Web: CulinaryCenter.com
Blount, from page 6 ily available to consumers, pleasing every person is nearly impossible. For the Legal Sea Foods brand, navigating this push/pull comes down to engaging in what the company believes are environmentally sound practices. Vellante pointed out that where and how Legal Sea Foods practices sustainability ultimately becomes a decision that directly impacts their brand. After a break for lunch, it was time for Craig Levitt, managing editor of Grocery Headquarters to lead a deep dive into the subject of "Marketing to Millennials." After taking the attendees through the demographic and psychographic profile of this hugely important and massive market segment, Levitt drilled down into the sources of this group’s power and influence, which come from not only buying power that will dictate the landscape for manufacturers and retails for the next two or three decades, but also because this is the generation that has always known about, had and harnessed the power of social media and peer-to-peer influence. Levitt’s discussion also unearthed preferences and biases within millenials that come from this group’s awareness of and commitment to principles of fairness and social justice, environmental stewardship and acceptance of global cultural differences. The last element, more than the others, drives this generation’s preferences for diverse culinary influence, spicy foods and “adventurous eating.”
Millennials, it was discussed, show a higher interest in and preference for “value” than other generations did at similar points in their buying lifecycle. This reality brought store brands to the fore in the discussion, which it turned out was also well supported by available data. Millennials and their penchant for spicy, world-inspired cuisine was the perfect set-up for the next discussion, which was led by Chris Warsow, corporate executive chef at Bell Flavors & Fragrances. Perhaps the day’s most fascinating discussion, Warsow mesmerized the attendees describing the process and timeline involved in identifying and staying ahead of culinary and taste trends. To learn that Bell Flavors is typically three or more years out in their trend spotting and product development seemed to blow away the majority of those in the room. Peter Romeo, VP of content & editorial director at both Restaurant Business and Foodservice Director magazines, led the final segment of the Summit. He set up his discussion with a presentation that took a humorous look at the push/pull that goes on between consumers and consumer activists and restaurant chains over healthful options like lower-calorie, lower-fat and lower-sodium options on the menu. The “conversation” as Romeo set it up, goes something like this: • Consumer activists: “You need to offer more healthful options.” • Consumers, chiming in: “Yeah, that’s what I want!” • Restaurant Chain: “Right away! Here is our new super-healthy
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menu!” From here it was discussed, with many anecdotal examples being bandied about, how those healthful menu items, and of course the inventory required to make them a reality, would then languish, unordered and unappreciated, until the restaurant accountants finally ask “What happened here?” This, it was explained by Romeo, is how it used to be… Or so we think. The reality, the ensuing discussion uncovered, is that there are plenty of indications that consumers are embracing healthier choices: the success of grilled vs. “crispy” chicken, alternative sides and smaller fry servings, and of course the host of successful new healthy restaurant concepts. But that, argued Romeo, was only half the story. For every success, there seems to be one or more counter-indications that healthy eating is where America’s dining public is trending. As examples began to fly around the room, it became clear that one need look no further than the hottest products in recent memory: Taco Bell’s Doritos Taco, KFC’s Double Down, which saw cheese and bacon sandwiched between two fried chicken filets, and Wendy’s 1850-calorie Baconator. After a very lively discussion of crazy menu ideas, Romeo brought the group around to his thesis: the biggest change in consumer preference is not the desire for healthier food, it is the desire for more wholesome food, which means less-processed, fewer or no additives, locally-sourced ingredients, fresh baked, no preservatives, seasonal, etc. All of these terms, according to
Romeo, communicate “health” in the eyes of consumers. To celebrate a successful Summit, at the conclusion of the day’s discussion, Blount shuttled everyone by trolley to nearby Castle Hill Inn, one of Newport’s famous mansions that has been converted into an luxurious inn, and which offers breathtaking views of Newport Harbor, for a traditional New England lobster bake, which the group learned comes from the local Native American tradition of celebrating the conclusion of any major success with friends, neighbors and guests. Blount Fine Foods is a family owned company that has been processing food since 1946. It is the largest manufacturer of lobster bisque in America and produces more than 350 proprietary soup recipes, including 75 varieties of clam chowder alone. Its product lines include fresh and frozen gourmet soups for food service and retail as well as premium side dishes. Blount’s gourmet soups and specialty foods are made with the finest and freshest ingredients, locally sourced whenever possible, and handcrafted by a dedicated team through unparalleled customer collaboration. Blount operates production facilities at its Fall River, Massachusetts headquarters and in Warren, Rhode Island. Customers include national restaurant chains that have their custom soups made for them in accordance with their secret recipes. Similarly, the deli departments of many large and small supermarket chains offer Blount-created hot-to-go soup selections as well as fresh store-brand pre-packed soup
cups. Blount also carries a full line of fresh and frozen soups sold to Club Stores and Retailers nationwide under the Legal Sea Foods and Panera Bread brands. Blount generates over 140 million servings of handcrafted gourmet soups each year.
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IHMRS, from page 18
COMMUNE (Los Angeles): Ace Hotel Downtown Los Angeles Stonehill & Taylor Architects (New York): NYLO New York City Group One Partners (Boston): Residence Inn Downtown/Seaport, Boston Best Nightclub/Lounge YWS Design & Architecture (Las Vegas): Hakkasan, Las Vegas Jeffrey Beers International (New York): Moon Club, Paradise Island, Bahamas Ramsgard Architectural Design (Skaneateles, New York): The Gig, Verona, New York Rockwell Group (New York): TAO Downtown, New York Best Restaurant Casual Dining AvroKO [New York]: General Assembly, New York Rockwell Group (New York): Five50 Pizza Bar, Las Vegas
Aria Group Architects (Oak Park, Ill.): Nando’s Flame-Grilled Chicken, Toronto Schoos Design (West Hollywood, Calif.): Puesto, San Diego, Calif. Best Restaurant Fine Dining Meyer Davis Studio (New York): St. Cecilia, Atlanta Studio Mapos (New York): Sopra, New York Meyer Davis Studio (New York): The Wayfarer, New York Judges’ “So Cool” Award Meg Sharpe Interior Designs (New York); Stonehill & Taylor Architects (New York): Diamond Horseshoe at the Paramount Hotel, New York JOI-Design Interior Architects (Hamburg): Hotel-Kompetenz-Zentrum, Oberschleißheim, Germany Stonehill & Taylor Architects (New York): The Nomad Hotel Rooftop Event Spaces, New York
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Marriott Global Design Strategies (Bethesda, Md.): Marriott Hotels Design Strategy, Marriott International, Bethesda, Md. Judges for the 2014 Gold Key Awards were: Alan Philips, Chief Marketing Officer, Morgans Hotel Group Dana Kalczak, Vice President of Design, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts Danette Opaczewski, Chief Operating Officer, Ian Schrager Co. John D. McMullen, Senior Vice President of Construction, Highgate Hotels Lora Spran, Interior Designer, Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI)–Interiors R. Tyler Morse, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner, MCR Development Ron Kollar, Chief Design Officer, Tishman Hotel & Realty LP Serena Rakhlin, Vice President, Hotel Development and Acquisitions, Amer-
icas, Trump Hotel Collection Trisha Wilson, Chairman, Trisha Wilson Global Finalists were selected based on excellence in: concept, execution, innovation and “wow factor.” The 34th Gold Key Awards coincide with the fifth annual Boutique Design New York (BDNY) trade fair, serving hospitality design professionals, and the 99th IHMRS, held concurrently at New York’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Tickets for the Gold Key Awards Gala (cocktail reception and dinner) are available now for $375 and can be purchased as part of IHMRS/BDNY trade fair registration or as an event ticket only. More Gold Key information is available at bdny.com and ihmrs.com.
IHMRS, from page 3 ity and networking skills to people of color within the industry, the College Bowl will present the same challenges – unknown ingredients used to make a premier meal within set time limits – as the professional chefs' event. "Our mission is to consistently build a broader platform for diversity within the culinary and hospitality industries,” notes BCA co-chair Alex Askew. “We want to endow our participants with awareness, exposure and educational opportunities. The true value of our work is the investment we make in young people who aspire to become professionals in the fields of their choice.” IHMRS' “throwdowns” will follow the format shown on The Food Network. Chefs will each be given the same unusual set of ingredients to create a dish and then a jury of professional award-winning culinary professionals will decide whose dishes are best. The college competitors will follow the same procedure as the professionals, except they'll be in teams. Competitors do not get a recipe to follow. Rather, they are told the mandatory ingredients which must be included in each dish, and each single professional chef and college team try to outwit the others with a sensational meal. The College Bowl will start with three teams for the first throwdown. The winner of the first round will then move on to the second throwdown, competing against a new set of teams. Finally, the winner of this segment moves on to the “Ultimate Throwdown,” as does the winner of the first round, against another set of teams, and a champion is crowned. Each college challenge will be limited to 30-45 minutes of preparation and plating time, and judging will take place for 15 minutes. “You'll be competing against other BCA members with the opportunity to move onto the next round and
compete for the top prize,” says Joelle Mahoney, College Bowl originator. Schools who typically compete include Johnson & Wales, Kingsboro Community College, Monroe College, CIA, City College of Technology, Pennsylvania School of Culinary Arts, The Culinary Education (ICE - NYC)
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and the International Culinary Center (formerly the French Culinary Institute – NYC). All culinary schools in the tri-state region are invited to compete, as well. IHMRS is sponsored by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA); the Hotel Association of
New York City, Inc. (HANYC); and the New York State Hospitality & Tourism Association (NYSH&TA), and is managed by Hospitality Media Group (HMG).
// INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVE
WITH FRED SAMPSON
What If …? A Fantasy If you have driven on an interstate highway, you have probably seen the bumper sticker on most tractor trailers that reads “Without Trucks – America Stops.” There is no question that these four words make a compelling argument for the trucking industry.
O
ver the years I have heard many foodservice operators state that our industry’s value and contribution to the country’s overall economy have never been fully appreciated, and that motivated me to write the following “What if …?” fantasy. “Good evening, America. This is Walter Rather. Let’s go right to the news for June 16. The nation’s foodservice industry shutdown continues. You will recall that ten days ago, the federal government announced that, in trying to balance its fiscal woes, it would slap a 20% tax on all meals eaten away from the home. After much lobbying by the foodservice industry in opposition to this tax, the government went ahead anyway. The industry said enough is enough and within days it was almost completely shut down. For an in-depth look at what this has meant to our economy, let’s go to our various reporters around the country. First, Tom Kuralt in Kansas City.” “Walter, the shutdown certainly has had an impact on the stockyards. Without all fast-food hamburger operations and family steakhouses—to say nothing of the atmosphere operations that are closed—the American
Fred G. Sampson,
President of Sampson Consulting, Inc. fredgsampson@juno.com
cattle industry is feeling the pinch. As one longtime observer said, ‘I guess no one ever realized what foodservice meant to our industry.’ A few years ago there was a popular television commercial where a little old lady asked: ‘Where’s the beef?’ Well, Walter, if she were to ask that today, the answer would be, ‘Here in Kansas City.’ ” “Now, to Ted Jennings in Madison, Wisconsin.” “Walter, the state of Wisconsin is full of it! Dairy products, that is. Cheeseburgers, milk shakes, ice cream, coffee cream, milk, and dozens of other dairy products that daily find their way to thousands of foodservice operations, are not moving. The governor here has said that because dairy products are so perishable, if this shutdown is not over soon it could become an economic nightmare for the state. It certainly
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drives home how important the foodservice industry is. Walter, the cows in Wisconsin may be contented, but the farmers are not.” “Now, to Peter Koppel in San Diego.” “Thank you, Walter. California is about to become the world’s largest fruit and vegetable bin. Many farmers are starting to lay off workers. Thousands of trucks and their drivers are idle, and refrigerated cars by the hundreds sit motionless on rail sidings. One longtime resident told me: ‘We have had floods, mudslides, tremors, and blinding smog, but I can’t remember anything affecting the entire state the way this shutdown has.’ Hard to believe that all those mom-and-pop places could have this kind of impact, Walter. In a state where earthquakes are a way of life, the foodservice industry shutdown has registered an eight on the
economic scale. Back to you.” “What you have heard is only the tip of the iceberg. Millions of people are out of work as a direct effect of the shutdown, and millions more will soon be laid off. Federal, state, and local governments are concerned about the dramatic decline in tax receipts. Maine and Idaho report large drops in potato consumption. Florida is worried about a large surplus of citrus products, and the Maryland, Louisiana, and Texas seafood industries are operating with skeleton crews. “The Great White Way is not so bright, due to the thousands of New York City foodservice operations that are closed. Countless numbers of people who depend solely on foodservice operations for their meals are going to government-sponsored ration centers. Hundreds of weddings, retirement parties, dinner dances, business luncheons, and other special functions that take place around a meal have been postponed. Much of the nation’s social life has come to a standstill. … “I have just been handed this special bulletin. The federal government’s special tax on meals will expire at midnight. In a few hours, you will be able to be served at your favorite eating place. “To sum it up, I think we all have a better understanding of how important the foodservice industry is to our everyday social, economic, and nutritional lives. It is unfortunate that it took a nationwide shutdown to make that point. “In New York, this is Walter Rather, saying good night.” While the story is a fantasy, the results would be real.
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