WASHOKU 2020 by New York Mutual Trading, Inc.

Market Trend View #1

The Surge of Takeout, Delivery, and Catering Services —Ways to Survive

in the Restaurant Business in the Post-COVID-19 Environment

Photo by

sakechiz

When COVID-19 hit the U.S., no one was really prepared for its

either. “I see upscale restaurants offer expensive takeout din-

subsequent drastic changes. As of writing this piece, which is

ner, and it seems well-received,” Mr. Huang continues. “Howev-

four months after the pandemic eruption, some businesses are

er, mid-range restaurants, especially in business areas like Mid-

allowed to reopen with restrictions and the economy in the

town Manhattan are still struggling while residential areas like

country is showing signs of recovery. However, the restaurant

Upstate and New Jersey are doing pretty good.”

industry, which is one of the hardest hit, will still be obliged to follow strict rules after reopening and adjust their business to the new normal. Here, we share some successful cases and also try to predict the trends in the post-COVID-19 period.

Even after reopening, it is unlikely to go back to the pre-COVID-19 state. So, restaurants need to either shift their style or craft a new strategy to cater to a new market.

Simplified and Efficient Operations As of late-June, most restaurants are still required to serve takeout/delivery or outdoor dining only. While many restaurants are struggling, some restaurants are doing healthy business under the circumstances. What are the differences? There are some clues though it depends on areas, sizes and styles of business. Mr. Steven Huang, senior sales manager of NY Mutual Trading, Inc., says, “I see some good examples in casual Japanese restaurants, which minimize their operation flow and the number of staff. In order to do that, they have simplified their menu with a small number of items and easy-to-cook dishes such as karaage and onigiri.” In relation to the minimal operation style, he points out the business style called “ghost kitchen” is growing. It refers to a foodservice with no dining area, which focuses only on takeout, delivery, and catering. This proves that cutting the running cost to a minimum helps them survive. Meanwhile, high-end restaurants are not losing core clientele 02

Casual, grab-and-go style dishes attract customers.

Add Values to Delivery and Catering Services Takeout, delivery and catering services will be the key to success even after reopening. Naturally, the competition over takeout and delivery orders will be intense. Each restaurant has to create unique values to raise their competitive advantage and find a breakthrough. Some restaurants might need to expand delivery areas while some can develop hyperlocal campaigns. Some might create a chef’s weekly special series to attract repeaters while some might start an online cooking instruction to find new fans. Community contribution might be a big help if a restaurant heavily targets local people. Catering for special events and occasions seems to be a must for increasing sales. Another trend already seen is a grocery pick-up and delivery service by restaurants. Since restaurants can source fresh and quality ingredients, people are happy to buy those “chef’s select” ingredients. Some of the ingredients might not be easily found in grocery stores, but restaurants might be able to get them from their providers. Especially, some of the Japanese ingredients and seasonings are not always available in regular supermarkets, so

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sakechiz

and play the role of select food shops.

Selling alcohol for takeout/delivery is now allowed for restaurants with a liquor license. Whether it’s a cocktail making kit or food & drink pairing, it’s time to be creative to reach new targets.

After the months-long quarantine, people have gotten used to

There are still many uncertain things ahead of us, and it’s hard

Japanese restaurants may take advantage of their specialties

working from home and some are enjoying cooking at home. This is a great business opportunity for meal kit services, and restaurants can ride on this trend as well. Restaurants can create an original meal kit that contains partially prepared ingredients, seasonings, sauces along with instructions and allow customers to finish the meal at home. As mentioned before, some Japanese seasonings are hard to find, and even if people could find them, they often cannot use them at home because they don’t have

to make a prediction now; however, it is also true that windows are wide open for new hit businesses. Ideas for new services are needed for survival. New York Mutual Trading carries an extensive variety and volume of items for takeout, delivery and catering services for supporting and accommodating new business ideas. Even if they don’t have what you want, you can always ask them. They can find it for you.

enough knowledge of how to cook with them. So, a meal kit packed with the right amount of ingredients and novel seasonings will be a great appeal to people who have started enjoying cooking at home.

From Comfort Buying to Necessity: Alcoholic Drinks for Home It’s also reported that people started buying non-essential items during the quarantine period in order to ease their pressure and stress, which is now known as comfort buying. Alcohol sales are growing, and it’s caused by this comfort buying. Restaurants should prioritize this trend and make it a custom after reopening. How about selling a food & sake pairing set, cocktail making kit, or omakase sake/beer/shochu package for a party? Since restaurants can sell alcohol for takeout and delivery until further notice from the government, it’s a good opportunity to create a new alcohol service with options for home drinkers.

From a simple container to decorative items, NY Mutual Trading carries takeout/ delivery products that accommodate every need.

Market Trend View #2

Dessert Trends You Can Incorporate Into Your Menu Right Now Mochi, taiyaki, kakigori, and matcha-flavored drinks and sweets—Japanese desserts are getting more and more popular today, and they are still evolving at a rapid pace, creating new business opportunities. Here we introduce the trends, ideas, and tips that you can incorporate into your dessert menu.

Colorful, Photogenic, Eye-Catching

offers a variety of sweets with original twists, including crepes,

Due to the popularity of visual-oriented social media, such as In-

bubble teas, and macarons. “We are trying to develop items that

stagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Tik-Tok, etc., colorful and eye-catching aspects are prerequisites for the success of your sweets and dessert business. Adding new visual values to the traditional Japanese sweets will help your dessert sales grow. For example, traditional taiyaki (fish-shaped pancake stuffed with anko [sweet bean paste]) is cute and tasty by itself, but several new twists boosted the Japanese vendor snack to star-

dom these past few years. Taiyaki NYC uses a taiyaki-shaped cone for soft serve and tops it with lots of creative garnishes like skewered, multi-colored mochi bits and waffle rolls. Delimanjoo

in Manhattan’s Koreatown has teeny tiny taiyaki that you can probably eat in two bites. Cha-An and its takeout-only dessert house, Cha-An Bonbon, constantly introduce original Japanese desserts, including dango skewer beautifully garnished with colorful anko, matcha latte

can catch customers’ attention in one second,” says Mr. Kawai, owner of Kai Sweets. “Colors are very important, and in my opinion, Americans like pink and purple colors. When we create new items, we first think about color variations and then we move on to flavors that can be related to the colors.” He gave us another good example that shows the importance of visual appeal. They served Pineapple Ice Cream, which was tasty on its own and sold okay, but once they started using colorful popping boba as a decoration, its sales soared. The same colorful theory is

used in Mochimochi Kai Sweets, which was opened adjacent to Kai Sweets last December. The store carries an array of colorful mochi donuts, such as strawberry, raspberry, matcha, caramel almond, yuzu, black sesame, and ube-flavors.

Textures: Chewy, Fluffy, Crunchy, and Popping Chewy texture attracts American customers. Mochi and bubble tea have been around in the dessert market for awhile and now

topped with rose petals, and hojicha (roasted green tea) soft serve. They are all cute and highly Instagrammable; however, that’s not all they have to offer. They are also health conscious. “One of Cha-An’s recent hits is Ruby Chocolate made with pink cacao that gives it a vibrant pink color without using artificial food coloring. In Cha-An Bonbon, we are increasing our vegan and gluten-free desserts,” says, wagashi expert/food consultant, Tomoko Yagi, of these East Village staples. Kai Sweets, housed in New Jersey’s Mitsuwa Marketplace, also 04

Matcha and ube-flavored Mochi Donuts at Mochimochi Kai Sweets (top), Fluffy Pancake with Matcha Cream & Anko at Flipper’s (above), and Matcha and Black Sesame Soft Serve at Taiyaki NYC (left)

the chewy donut is rising. We see new mochi donuts specialty

stores have opened their doors these days, such as Alimama, The Dough Club, and aforementioned Mochimochi Kai Sweets. Already super popular in Asian countries, the mochi donut is still fresh in the U.S. market. So, the snack has a lot of potential to increase your dessert sales. Light and fluffy sweets are also spreading. Japanese-style light cheesecake at Keki and airy pancake at Flipper’s and Eggcel-

lent Souffle Pancake are good examples. Although a delicate texture is key, it is also important to incorporate new textures into already popular American sweets. Completely new, fluffy Japanese sweets might not appeal to the American palate.

Photo by

chefarpin_arch

Dango Skewers at Cha An Bonbon

Another successful example of this East meets West theory is kakigori, Japanese shaved ice. The pioneer of New York style ka-

cording to Mr. Kawai, Kai Sweets creates new “design/character

lar because it incorporated Western flavor to syrup and topping

months to attract customers. At Mochimochi Kai Sweets intro-

kigori, Bonsai Cafe (formerly Bonsai Kakigori), became so popuvariations while maintaining the authentic fluffy texture and

macarons”, such as unicorn, panda, and Baby Yoda, every two duces a new flavor once every three weeks.

style of Japanese kakigori. Ms. Yagi at Cha-An says, “We strive to create something new Adding a crispy and crunchy accent is also a key. Soba (buckwheat) grains and bubu arare (rice cracker bits) are more popular than ever for this. Monaka (thin, delicate Japanese wafer made from mochi), originally served filled with sweet paste like anko and ice cream, can also be used as a topping. All these items are

day by day. In addition to regular items, we serve our patissier’s special menu on weekends only.” But they are careful about not grabbing the trend easily. “We like to be trend conscious, but instead of taking that trend directly, we incorporate it into the traditions we have built. That’s Cha-An’s brand identity.”

gluten-free and used for savory dishes as well. Though it’s not a Japanese native creation, popping boba is going to be big for its colorful and lovely look and unique popping texture.

Constantly Introduce New Ideas

Flavors, textures, decorations, and serving styles—every aspect is important to create a new dessert menu. Being creative is tough, but you may need just a little creative twist. Sprinkling bubu arare over cheesecake to add a crunch, layering ice cream with

Dessert trends change so quickly, and perhaps it’s because they

dorayaki pancake, and skewering colorful mochi ice cream—they

are mainly enjoyed by younger, social media generations. Ac-

are easy things to do and might catch customers’ eyes!

Hojicha Soft Serve at Cha An Bonbon

Hojicha: Next Big Thing After Matcha

Chocolate Peanut Butter Popcorn Kakigori at Bonsai Kakigori (left) and Baby Yoda and Unicorn Macarons at Kai Sweets (above)

Thanks to its vibrant color, nutritious benefits, and convenient powdered form, matcha green tea is now used in specialty drinks, ice creams, cookies, and cakes. What would be the next matcha? That’s hojicha, roasted green tea. Conventional hojicha is loose leaf tea, but powdered hojicha is now available, allowing you to use it for mixing into drinks and cooking easily. Hojicha has a nice roasty aroma and flavor that is great with Western style sweets. It contains less caffeine, so it might be more appealing to those who are sensitive to caffeine. *Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, restaurants and cafes featured in this article may temporarily be closed or have changed their services as of your reading.

“We strive to improve upon tradition and serve food in our own creative way.” - Douglas Kim, Owner/Chef of JEJU Noodle Bar

JEJU Noodle Bar elevated the Korean ramyun (noodle soups) to the level of fine dining.

Ramen and ramyun probably have the same origin, but they have grown to something unique dishes according to their food cultures, Japan and Korea respectively. In 2019, the ramyun specialty restaurant, JEJU Noodle Bar received a Michelin star, where Owner/Chef Douglas Kim elevates Asian soup noodles from casual to fine dining. Here, Chef Kim talks about his paths to this achievement and the restaurant’s future plans.

What drove you to open the ramyun specialty restaurant, the first kind in NYC back in 2017? I love eating ramen myself and it was always my goal to food whenever I could get it. Also South Korea tops the world in per capita consumption: 75 servings per year, but when I looked around we didn’t have any ramyun dedicated restaurant in New York. So, I told myself, “Maybe I should try to open a high quality ramyun focused restaurant,” even though never work or made ramen or worked at a ramen restaurant myself. It was a big gamble.

Could you explain the difference between Japanese ramen and Korean ramyun for someone who doesn’t know? Ramen originated from Japan. Ramyun has the same meaning but in Korea, and ramyun is almost always known as packaged instant noodles.

a bit more bite, chewiness and starchiness to it than Japanese ramen. Since the broths of our ramyun dishes are inspired by traditional Korean dishes, the flavor of our ramyun is different than any ramen restaurants.

America now has its first ever Michelin-starred noodle restaurant in JEJU Noodle Bar. What unique factors do you think contributed to your rise as the most highly rated noodle-serving restaurant in the country? The number one reason I believe we received the Michelin Star is because we did not make compromises. The second reason I believe is that our menu is very different from other Noodle restaurants’ menus. What we do at JEJU Noodle Bar hasn’t really been done before; we strive to improve upon tradition and serve food in our own creative way.

What are the challenges and concerns you are experiencing in the COVID-19 situation? I think ramyun take-out must be difficult. There are so many challenges now. You can probably make a book about it. Long story short, for us, JEJU noodle bar, COVID

-19 was a Reset button. So we consider as everything is new like making new restaurant. There is no old JEJU. Every day is new lesson and we will do our best to come back.

What we do at JEJU Noodle Bar is redefine ramyun. The meaning

NY’s dining culture has changed after the pandemic. JEJU is now reconstructing its concept and is introducing new dishes to their menu.

of ramyun as we present it is an adaptation of Korean soups re-created as ramyun. The texture of the noodles we serve is reminiscent more of the Korean packaged noodles, which has

Prior to opening JEJU, Chef Douglas Kim polished his culinary skills in New York’s finest restaurants, including Nobu, Per Se, Zuma, and Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare.

JEJU Noodle Bar

679 Greenwich St., New York, NY 10014 TEL: 646-666-0947 @jejunoodlebar jejunoodlebar.com

“I hope our business can increase the awareness of Japanese culture here in America.” - Gaston Becherano, Co-founder of Bonsai Cafe Fluffy kakigori and katsu sandwich are now Americans’ favorite tastes, thanks to Bonsai Cafe.

Kakigori, Japanese shaved ice, is a summer staple in Japan, but it was not in the U.S. until Bonsai Cafe (formerly Bonsai Kakigori) brought the dessert here. First opened at Canal Street Market food hall in 2018, then Smorgasburg, and their own brick and mortar in 2019, their business has surely grown in two years by perfectly localizing Japanese traditional desserts to American palates. Here, Gaston Becherano, co-founder of the cafe, shares his journey to bring the dessert here and talks about the expansion of the business.

What obstacles did you face when developing a kakigori-specialty cafe for Americans? I think the biggest obstacle in bringing something that I didn’t necessarily grow up eating was the fact that wasn’t very familiar with it. I had to familiarize myself with it. When I first had kakigori in Japan, in December 2017, I instantly fell in love with it. There were hundreds of kakigori places in Japan, but it was a

It’s fascinating that you brought your original flavors, instead of serving only traditional Japanese kakigori flavors—for example syrup and toppings representing your childhood snacks. What drove you to do that? Kakigori is really a blank canvas. I suppose it’s extremely fluffy as is, and is just a great vehicle for flavors. That’s a really exciting point. Because it’s a blank canvas, I can really think about hundreds of things that I can do with it. I could create a kakigori with everyday flavors like I had in childhood dishes. Also, when I get really excited about something, it’s easier for me to think about how that dish could go. There is a meal at lunchtime that our chef created, and it’s a roasted duck dish. It’s really good, and we’re working on a roasted duck flavored kakigori. It sounds crazy but it’s absolutely delicious.

new foreign dish to me. There’s a big difference between enjoy-

Could you tell us about Bonsai’s next move?

ing something and then trying to make it well for other people.

Last November I went to Japan to start sourcing tea for the cafe

And so, a big obstacle was learning how to make it good. We are still learning how to make it good. There’s still so much more to improve on. When I was in Japan last November, I went to some cafes and had kakigori. That actually blew my mind. It was just so spectacular. It’s just inspirational for us to get better every single day.

to start another business. I visited Shizuoka, Kagoshima, Kyoto, Shimane, and Mie and really learned about tea and Japanese culture. So, the next business is sharing Japanese tea. It’s not high end stuff, but is supposed to be approachable. Being approachable is my goal. We are getting matcha directly from farmers all across Japan, the best farmers that are known in Japan. Simply, it’s just educating people, and hopefully that increases their awareness of Japanese culture that I really enjoy.

Co-founder of Bonsai Cafe, Gaston Becherano truly appreciates Japanese culture and passionately explores ways to spread it through the food and drink market.

NOTE: The interview took place this February before the COVID-19 outbreak. As of July 2020, Bonsai Cafe is closed due to the pandemic. Their latest activities are updated on their website as well as social media.

Bonsai Cafe

100 Stanton St., New York, NY 10002 @bonsai www.bonsaikakigori.com

@bonsaikakigori

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Restaurant Insider

Map to MTC Kitchen 2rd Ave.

E 45th St.

3rd Ave.

Lexington Ave.

E 46th St.

E 44th St. Grand Central Terminal

E 43rd St.

MTC Kitchen 711 3rd Ave., (Entrance on 45th St.) New York, NY 10017 TEL: 212-661-3333 www.mtckitchen.com

Open: Monday-Friday 10am-7pm

www.mtckitchen.com 28

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