|
|
|
Meat on the menu
By Mike Mitchelson
Not that it’s any surprise, but a look at restaurant menus of late shows that meat—no matter the economic or social trend—remains the fixture at the center of the American plate. The difference, perhaps, from the recent past is there is a greater attention to cost, and therefore more interest in proteins and cuts that were normally taken for granted. Example: Roast chicken, half or quarter birds, are becoming commonplace menu items in restaurants from brewpubs to upscale bistros, as are flank and hanger steaks.
The trend is moving along so much that the Minnesota Beef Council is promoting cuts from the less prestigious chuck roll of the cow, several that offer similar qualities to the in-demand middle meats, such as sirloin. The Denver steak from the chuck roll is the fourth-most tender muscle in a beef carcass, said Amy Halverson, director of nutrition and consumer information for the Beef Council, and the “sierra” cut resembles a flank steak in appearance, texture, taste and cooking method.
Exact cost savings aren’t in because the cuts aren’t yet getting much play in retail, Halverson said. “But, some of the pricing that has been done for the sierra cut, we’re talking two to three dollars less per pound than a flank steak, and it will act like a flank steak.” Restaurants are already using chuck roll cuts, including FireLake Grill House in Minneapolis.
Continue Reading >>>
On trends and service
I’m not fond of the word “trend,” as it has become yet another media and marketing buzzword. We like to talk about trends, because they are immediate. “Sustained movements” that create impact are much less exciting.
But trends can lead to movements, and talking about one trend inevitably leads to talking about another, and perhaps something more meaningful. Speaking with Ron Paul, founder and CEO of the restaurant research firm Technomic, about menu trends, one takes advantage of the time to let the conversation meander. The current economy impacts everything, of course, and not in a good way. But Paul is another voice that says there is opportunity for good operators. Restaurateurs creative with space and concept can find willing landlords. “If you don’t need a lot of space, and you don’t need a free-standing building, it’s a great opportunity to lock in some low rents that you haven’t seen in quite a while,” Paul said. (A local example: The opening of La Belle Crepe in Minneapolis, featured in the April 2009 issue of FSN. Its footprint is scarcely larger than a dorm room.)
Continue Reading >>>
Carlson grows, Via undergoes Tavern transformation, burgers keep up with the Joneses
CHEERS AT CAFE CARLSON…Looks like they’re building new audiences and a local business customer base over at the busy Carlson Towers off highways 494 and 394 in Minnetonka. For over a dozen years they have had a “corporate cafeteria” for the Carlson Company employees and Tower tenants. In fact, I recall they even showed their employee badges for entrance in the old days. Today this site is called Café Carlson and opens at 7 a.m. for breakfast, lunch at 11 a.m. and service through 2:30 p.m. each weekday to all comers. It’s a lovely space, too, complete with inviting neon-decked food stations and large dining room inside that seats more than 200. For the summer season, outside tables are available facing the pond, and they are busy serving about 500 people a day. The Towers has also been long known for their storybook setting with its huge marble rotunda, curved staircase, fountain and dynamic view for romantic wedding parties. This is also one of the busiest times of the year for them, with their wedding season bookings (June through October) sold out.
Continue Reading >>>
Turn garbage to gold: Edit your menu
There are many forms of garbage, not just the rotting stuff in the cooler. Mostly, it takes on subtler forms.
My ever-widening search for cheap ingredients has recently taken me back to the fifteenth century. This past Christmas, I was given a slim volume of recipes from the 1400s, which I find both entertaining for its use of ingredients and refreshing for its candor. You can tell the recipes were written by cooks and for cooks: “hack” and “smite” are two common instructions, blood is a commodity, and you are considered a klutz if you break the egg yolks. The inventory is particularly revealing—in addition to the stomachs of pikes and pigs, you are expected to make use of a frugal ingredient called “garbage.”
Continue Reading >>>
Feeling twitterpated
A conversation is going on about you somewhere on the various social media outlets. How are you going to participate?
Once, when I was in the throes of young love during my high school years, bounded with a kind of breathless excitement and wound to a frenzy, my mother said that I was “twitterpated.” It’s one of those old-fashioned words that shows up in first-edition Disney movies and ’50s teen-girl novels. Today, as a marketing executive in an increasingly complex world of social media, I find myself feeling much the same way—and the word applies perfectly albeit in a completely different fashion. The burst of online marketing outlets, like social media, blogs, e-mail marketing, word-of-mouth marketing, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and so on have put pressure on both marketers and those being marketed to figure out how to keep up, stay relevant and make this ever-larger list of options relevant and useful. I have been left reeling, breathless and eager to engage. I’m not the only one. Marketers big and small are hopping onto the bandwagon.
Continue Reading >>>
‘Uncorked’: sweet but shallow
By Julie Brown-Micko
What could be sweeter than the sound of a cork popping? A glass or two later and emotions, once bottled up, flow as easily as the wine itself. Uncorked aims for this celebratory freedom, but it’s more grape juice than champagne: sweet, but no kick.
The romp begins with a cast of kooky ex-pat Brits living on Sachem farm, a lovely California estate. Our hero is Ross (Rufus Sewell), a kind but clueless young man whose business ventures seem doomed to failure. His wealthy but emotionally distant girlfriend Kendall (Minnie Driver) brings a beautiful friend Laurie (Amelia Heinle) to visit. Ross thinks she might be perfect for his hermit brother Paul (Michael E. Rodgers), who lives in the woods, cultivating gardens out of the wilderness. But crazy Uncle Cullen (Nigel Hawthorne) watches the struggles of the young folk with tender amusement and has alternate plans for them.
Continue Reading >>>
MSNA Industry Conference takes on ‘risky business’
By Mike Mitchelson
“Risky Business” was the theme of the 2009 MSNA Industry Conference at Ruttger’s Bay Lodge near Brainerd, Minn., and throughout the two-day event, not one Tom Cruise reference was heard. Instead, the conference focused on navigating the increasingly challenging waters of providing nutritious meals at schools with tightening budgets.
Day 1 was highlighted with three breakout sessions: an update on the Kids Against Hunger program, a Farm to School discussion panel, and an equipment preventative maintenance presentation.
Continue Reading >>>
|
|
|
|
