Afleveringen
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Menu Talk hosts Pat Cobe, senior menu editor of Restaurant Business, and Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nationâs Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, agree that restaurants are pushing out spring flavors earlier than ever.
Itâs also the season for menu makeovers at several restaurant chains. After identifying âteam momâ as a core customer, Walk-Ons Sports Bistreaux introduced a number of new, female-friendly dishes, less sugary cocktails and higher-end wines. And Noodles & Company launched nine new menu itemsâan overhaul two years in the makingâwhich youâll hear more about next week.
But this week, we are spotlighting Matt King, president and COO of Legal Sea Foods, as our guest. He chats about the recent menu makeover at the Boston-based casual-dining chain. While the restaurantsâ signatures will never be taken off the menuâweâre talking about the best-selling lobster roll and fish and chipsâKing shares Legal Sea Foodsâ journey toward customization.
Guests can now create their own flavor profiles, choosing the protein they prefer, along with a sauce or rub, cooking technique and sides. For the indecisive, there are also plenty of chef-curated dishes featuring seasonal, sustainable seafood. Listen as King, the brandâs former head chef, describes Legal Sea Foodâs new culinary direction and whatâs next.
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Lent is upon us, and that means seafood specials at restaurants across the country, both for Catholics who refrain from eating meat on Fridays during the six-week period, and for those for whom it has become a seasonal lifestyle for other reasons.
Pat Cobe, senior menu editor of Restaurant Business, noticed some relatively unusual fish, such as Alaska cod and flounder, rather than the more typical pollock gracing menus, particularly at quick-service restaurants. Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nationâs Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, pointed out that the rather debauched holiday of St. Patrickâs Day always falls during Lent, which is intended to be a time of abstinence. The contrast means that green menu items and corned beef share menu space with seafood at this time of year.
Bret noted that there are other, smaller, less formal holidays at this time of year, too. Mar. 10 is Mario Day, important to a certain subset of young video gamers. Itâs followed by Pi Day on Mar. 14, celebrating the universal constant that starts with 3.14. Restaurants reinterpret it as Pie Day, and offer a variety of specials around pizza and dessert. Pat observed that BJâs is offering specials in its skillet cookies, called Pizookies.
Mar. 16 is Steve Austin Day, which holds some importance for professional wrestling fans. This year itâs also part of St. Practice Day, which some people celebrate on the weekend before St. Patrickâs Day (which is on a Monday this year), ostensibly to build up their alcohol tolerance for the annual celebration of Irish culture.
Then thereâs April Foolâs Day on April 1, International Cannabis Day on April 20, Earth Day on April 22, and Star Wars day on May the 4th. Pat pointed out that March 9 was National Meatball Day, and Bret expressed his disdain for that and other food holidays, but he acknowledged that they can be a great and relatively easy way to bring in more customers.
In other F&B trends, Pat observed the rollout of several new sandwiches this week, including Potbellyâs Barnyard, and Bret noted new sauces from Buffalo Wild Wings and Hardeeâs. Of particular interest, he said, was the fact that Hardeeâs called out Dukeâs mayonnaise specifically as an ingredient in its new Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce, and Bojangles also mentioned that it is serving its annual Lenten fish special, the Bojangler, made with Dukeâs tartar sauce.
The guest on this weekâs podcast is Einat Admony, the chef and owner of Balaboosta restaurant in New York City and the recently opened Moondog, a listening bar that serves Admonyâs version of Mexican food, among other things. The Israeli chef and restaurateur shared insights into how Middle Eastern and Mexican cuisines are related, and also discussed the unique nature of Israeli cuisine.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Pat Cobe, senior menu editor of Restaurant Business, and Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nationâs Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, were both invited to a preview of Starbucksâ spring menu. At the tasting, which took place at the Starbucks Reserve location in NYCâs Empire State Building, they sampled a collection of colorful beverages, including a purple Iced Ube Coconut Latte, pink Iced Cherry Chai and several lavender drinks returning from last spring.
Pat especially liked the cherry chai with its topping of cherry cream foam and crunchy red and pink sugar flakes, while Bret was impressed with the combination of ube, coffee and coconut and voted that as his favorite.
The editors were also impressed with the new food additionsâa warm, savory Jalapeño Chicken Pocket and a sweet pistachio-filled pastry. Both made nice accompaniments to Starbucksâ newest blonde roast coffee, Sunsera Blend. It tasted pretty complex for a light roast.
The two then shared an interview with Sayat and Laura Ozyilmaz, husband-and-wife chef-owners of Dalida in San Francisco. Dalida serves âborderlessâ Mediterranean food, mixing and matching flavors and dishes from the Turkey, Lebanon, Armenia, Cypress and other countries in the region. Sayat is from that area but Laura is Mexican, and some of her culinary influences come into play on the menu, too.
Listen as they describe how the restaurantâs location in Presidio Park and California-sourced ingredients also impact their menu, and how they foster sustainability and community at Dalida.
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Pat Cobe, senior menu editor of Restaurant Business, recently attended a milestone event for the town of Seguin, Texas: the debut of the first Applebeeâs-IHOP cobranded restaurant.
With around 110 items, the menu is about as large of those of Applebeeâs and IHOP individually, featuring their greatest hits alongside collaborative mashups, like a Buffalo Chicken Omelet that Pat particularly enjoyed.
Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nationâs Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, remarked that, although Buffalo chicken is everywhere, and spicy breakfasts are now quite commonplace, this is the first Buffalo breakfast item he has seen.
He and Pat also discussed menu items that debuted at other chains, including caviar service that is now available at Sullivan Steakhouse and sister brand Eddie Merlotâs. At $110 itâs a premium offering to say the least, but the co-hosts observed that if there werenât demand for it they wouldnât have added it to their menus.
There were also some interesting new collaborations this week, most notably Taco Bell introducing Birthday Cake Churros developed in concert with the New York City-based pastry shop Milk Bar. A couple of doughnut chains also introduced collabs of different sorts. Duck Donuts rolled out Sonic the Hedgehog-themed treats in celebration of the debut of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 on streaming service Paramount+.
Meanwhile, Krispy Kreme rolled out more broadly movie-themed items, such as a Caramel Popcorn doughnut and a Blue Raspberry Slush doughnut in partnership with Hulu, apparently encouraging people to snack on the movie theater concession-inspired treats while watching their favorite shows at home.
Bret also interviewed Sarah Thompson, executive chef of Casa Playa, a coastal Mexican restaurant at the Wynn Las Vegas, who discussed her approach to procuring top-notch ingredients and elevated cuisine while also appealing to the many guests who just want tacos and queso fundido without a lot of fuss.
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Danny Meyerâs Union Square Hospitality Group (USHG) just reopened the "The View" restaurant atop the Marriott Marquis Hotel in NYCâs Times Square. Bret had a chance to attend the opening reception, and he remarked that while revolving rooftop restaurants are not generally known for their great food and cocktails, clearly Danny Meyer and his team are not following that route.
Limited-time offers are designed to boost traffic and sales, and lately, convenience stores have been competing with restaurants to lure customers with their own LTOs. Pat talks about a couple released this month, including RaceTracâs Taco Pizza and tasty new chicken nuggets from Krispy Krunchy Chicken, a brand popular in convenience stores as well as freestanding units.
Pat and Bret also dissected the dirty soda trend, in which branded soft drinks are mixed with cream or coconut milk and often candies and cookie pieces. They agree that the trend is still in its early stages, as most consumers really arenât that familiar with dirty sodas.
Then the hosts shared an interview with Eric Huang, chef-owner of Pecking House, a fried chicken concept that he started during the pandemic as a delivery-only brand. Huang has since grown Pecking House into two brick-and-mortar restaurants, the original in Brooklyn and a smaller outpost in New York Cityâs Chinatown. Both frequently have lines out the door.
Huang talks about how he blends Asian and American flavor profiles to set his menu apart and how his fine-dining training has taught him valuable management skills. And as Lunar New Year celebrations draw to a close, Huang shares some of his familyâs culinary traditions, including sticky rice dumplings made from a cherished recipe. Give a listen.
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Valentineâs Day is approaching quickly, and another major American midwinter celebration, the Super Bowl, is just past.
Chain restaurants gear up for both of them, each in their own way. Pizza concepts have long offered heart-shaped pies for Valentineâs Day, but doughnut chains are following that lead and offering their core products in heart shapes too.
Pat and Bret discussed how wings are the most popular appetizer ordered with pizza, making them perhaps the most common combination in American foodservice.
They also discussed how invented holidays such as National Pizza Day are, in fact, great sales drivers, giving people a reason, no matter how small, to order something they love.
For the podcastâs interview this week, Bret interviewed Donnie Madia, co-owner of One-Off Hospitality in Chicago. He discussed the restaurant groupâs new catering arm, how his restaurants that were featured in the hit FX TV series "The Bear" benefitted from the exposure and his philosophy about the future of fine dining.
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Valentineâs Day is fast approaching and many restaurants are offering the usual romantic dinners for two. But this year, even coffee cafes and smoothie bowl concepts are spreading the love with specials themed to the holiday.
Pat and Bret chat about the trend, and how restaurants are not just targeting couples anymore. An OpenTable survey found that groups and singles are increasingly dining out on or before Valentineâs Day. So candy-topped milkshakes, strawberry lattes and heart-shaped doughnuts make perfect sense.
Valentineâs Day and Super Bowl vie for attention every February, with heart-shaped pizzas and chicken wings competing on menus.
Speaking of wings, Bret came across a couple of new sauces recently. El Pollo Loco introduced its first new flavor in almost a decadeâmango habanero. The sauce taps into the sweet-heat trend that weâve been seeing a lot of lately. And WNBA star Angel Reese partnered with McDonaldâs on a new smoky barbecue sauce. Itâs flavoring a quarter-pounder rather than chicken, and this is the first time the burger giant is collaborating with a female athlete.
Our guest this week is Chris Smith, CEO of Zunziâs and Zunzibar based in Savannah, Georgia. Zunziâs started as a hole-in-the-wall sandwich shop and now has multiple locations in Georgia and South Carolina and is expanding to Florida. Zunzibar has a topnotch mixology program but manages to project a relaxed, tropical vibeâa formula that has proven to be a winning combination.
Listen as Smith talks about how heâs built a team culture thatâs as unique as these two concepts.
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The Super Bowl is approaching fast as the Kansas City Chiefs will face the Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans on Feb. 9, and in the restaurant world the Big Game means big orders of chicken wings.
Promotions for wings arenât rolling in quite the way they have in recent years, but Pat pointed to a couple of them, including new wing sauces such as Popeyesâ Louisiana Garlic, and the Sweet Chili Glaze from Wingstop that Pat and Bret discussed last week. Also, Cousins Subs has a new giant sub thatâs certainly suitable for Super Bowl parties.
Bret, meanwhile, is freshly returned from Rimini, Italy, where he attended SIGEP World, a large annual foodservice expo. It was very Italian, with huge varieties of gelato, coffee, and pizza.
Bret noticed vegan options in gelato, including a peanut butter one, which seemed like a no-brainer since peanut butter is already delicious and naturally vegan. He also saw a lot of pinsa, the flatbread cousin of pizza from Rome. In terms of coffee, he was taken with some single-origin espresso beans from Ivory coast, and beans that had been co-fermented with peaches.
This weekâs interview is with Tyler Haake, the executive chef of the Atlanta location of Indigo Road Hospitalityâs Italian concept, Indaco. The chef shares strategies for making seasonal pizza, working with local producers and creating a positive work environment that encourages everyone to excel without succumbing to excessive stress. Give a listen.
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Pizza toppings are going way beyond the usual these days.
Pat and Bret discussed that trend, leading off with all the appetizer-inspired pizzas weâve seen lately. Jalapeño poppers, a nostalgic bar food, are back as pizza toppers at &pizza and Your Pie, plus Your Pie has another LTO pizza topped with spinach-artichoke dip.
Bret came across Chicken Tikka Pizzas at several Indian concepts in California during a recent trip. And this week, Via 313, a Detroit-style pizza chain, introduced tikka masala pizza, which has masala curry sauce, marinated chicken, cheese, onions and peppers.
Aside from pizza, beef, especially steak, is showing up in limited-time offersâand it usually performs very well. Noodles & Company brought back its Steak Stroganoff, a comforting dish with marinated steak in a mushroom sherry cream sauce served over egg noodles. Itâs been the fast casualâs top selling LTO, and winter is a logical time to bring it back. Dig also introduced steak recently, a char-grilled sirloin featured in dinner plates and bowls.
To wrap up, we shared an interview with Chris Morgan, who along with his partners Reza Farahani and Iranian cookbook author Najmieh Batmanglij, operate Persian restaurant Joon in the Washington, D.C. metro area. Chef Morgan talks about how many popular Middle Eastern dishes trace their origins to Iran, and Joonâs menu includes specialties from other cuisines, including Levantine. The menu also reflects his experience working in California restaurants and is inspired by the ingredients Joon sources from an organic farm in Maryland. Give a listen.
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This new year, there has been a lot of buzz about how short-lived most peopleâs commitment to their resolutions are.
Pat and Bret discussed that trend, and the fact that restaurants donât pile on the better-for-you limited-time offers in early January the way they used to. Instead, they start rolling out later in the month, possibly in anticipation of slimming-down efforts that are renewed in the spring.
They rounded out the podcast with an interview Bret conducted with Yara Herrera, chef and partner at Hellbender in the Queens, New York, neighborhood of Ridgewood, who discussed the changing role of women chefs, her sourcing strategy and some of her favorite dishes. Give a listen.
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Welcome to a new year of Menu Talk. On this weekâs podcast, Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nationâs Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, and Pat Cobe, senior menu editor at Restaurant Business, talk trends.
New Yearâs Day marks the start of Dry January, which seems to be motivation for people to moderate alcohol consumption for a while, even if they fall off the wagon before the month is out. Pat has tried it and stuck with it twice, but this year, sheâs going with âDampâ January instead, cutting back without completely abstaining.
However Dry January shakes out, the hosts are in agreement that the quantity and quality of mocktails at restaurants and bars is much improved. Bret recently wrote about how the complexity and craftsmanship of spirit-free options offers non-drinking guests an experience thatâs not at all diminished. In fact, spirit-free pairings or smaller pours with a tasting menu can actually enhance rather than dull the experience.
Aside from the spirit-free trend, which Pat and Bret see continuing, we chatted about the abundance of food and drink predictions that have landed in our inboxes. Will the sweet-heat or âswicyâ flavor trend move into 2025, and what will be the âitâ cuisine this year? And whatâs with all the brown sugar and espresso on the beverage side? Plus, what happened to all the healthy menu items that usually launch in January?
Tune in to find out the latest, plus Pat shares an interview with Nathan Louer, chief brand officer at Jamba. He discusses how Jamba has evolved from a juice and smoothie concept to a destination for meal replacements and snacks that balance health and indulgence. Louer and his team are focusing innovation on the core menu, introducing new categories including bowls, blended coffees and bites. Give a listen.
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On this weekâs podcast, Pat Cobe, senior menu editor of Restaurant Business, and Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nationâs Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, discuss recent tasting adventures.
Bret traveled to Los Angeles on vacation, where he began exploring restaurants in the West Hollywood neighborhood where he was staying almost as soon as the plane landed. He tried two happy hours, one at Madre, where he had a memorable fruity and spicy margarita and chicken enchilada with mole, and another at Laurel Hardware, where he ate glazed pork ribs while sipping a couple of beers.
The next day, Bret met up with a restaurant consultant friend who led him to several of his favorites, starting in Beverly Hills at a small plates restaurant called Bacari, where each dish was better than the next and most were a reasonable $15. The culinary tour continued to an old-timey place called The Hideaway, followed by loaded breakfast burritos at Cofax Coffee, and several hotspots in the Silver Lake-Eagle Rock area of the city. Before heading to Las Vegas for the second leg of his trip, Bret had tasted L.A.âs wide array of global cuisines, including Armenian, Japanese and regional Mexican.
Meanwhile, Pat got a preview of Taco Bellâs new chicken nuggets, which roll out nationwide on Dec. 19. The nuggets are coated with a mix of breadcrumbs and tortilla chips to make them extra-crunchy, and they lived up to the crunch. Since nuggets demand a dipping sauce, Taco Bell introduced three new ones: Hidden Valley Fire Ranch Sauce, Jalapeno Honey Mustard and creamy Bell Sauce.
The steak boards at Rare Society offer a sampling of several cuts and sauces. | Photo courtesy of Trust Restaurant Group.
Then Pat shared clips from an interview with Brad Wise, chef-partner in San Diego-based Trust Restaurant Group and operator of six Rare Society steakhousesâamong other concepts. Chef Wise introduced the Santa Maria style of wood-fired cooking at Rare Society, using oak sourced from Central California. He also has a unique way of presenting Wagyu and dry-aged steak on wooden boards and lazy Susans so guests can sample many different cuts.
Listen as Chef Wise talks about how he developed Rare Society as the antithesis of traditional steakhouses and describes his other concepts within Trust, including a zero-waste ice cream shop is primed for expansion.
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On this weekâs podcast, Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nationâs Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, said that the holiday season is actually a quiet time for him, with fewer media events as restaurants are busy serving paying customers, so the only party he went to this week was the holiday party of his own company, Informa, where he drank martinis and ate some interesting spring rolls â one topped with trendy chili crisp and another with Southeast Asian aromatics like makrut lime leaf.
Pat Cobe, senior menu editor of Restaurant Business, was at the party too, and noticed how many Espresso Martinis were being ordered.
She also found other events to go to, including one at Meduza Mediterrania in NYCâs Meatpacking District, which was, in fact, Yelpâs top restaurant for 2024, based on reviews. It was very trend-forward with Eastern Mediterranean dips, seafood towers and passed lamb chops.
She also checked out a new restaurant at Grand Central Terminal, Grand Brasserie, where she enjoyed a very French trout amandine.
Then Bret shared clips from an interview with Daniel Garwood, who is chef at Acru, a restaurant that opened in New Yorkâs West Village in October. Originally from Australia, Garwood arrived in the United States in 2022 and landed a job as sous chef of the popular modern Korean restaurant Atomix before being put in charge of Acru where, among other things, he is serving dry-aged steaks from dairy cows.
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On this weekâs podcast, Pat Cobe, senior menu editor of Restaurant Business, and Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nationâs Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, discuss recent eating adventures.
Pat took the subway to Jackson Heights, a multicultural neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. Itâs home to a large population of Nepalese and Tibetan families, and momos are one of their specialties.
Momos are round or crescent-shaped steamed or fried dumplings with fillings of spiced beef, chicken, goat, chives or potato. Led by a friend who has sampled many a momo in the Himalayas, the group visited four restaurants and one food truck, tasting a good cross-section of dumplings. It was a new culinary experience for Pat and one she would like to repeat soon.
Both Menu Talk hosts described their opulent Thanksgiving feasts, and Bret continued his feasting on Black Friday. He and a group of longtime friends have a tradition of visiting Chinatown after turkey day, and this year they started with soup dumplings at Joeâs Shanghai, a spot famous for the item. They followed that with drinks at Whiskey Tavern, then soup at Great NY Noodletown. Bret admitted the day-after âfeastingâ has gotten a bit lighter through the years.
Pat visited Baar Baar, a modern Indian restaurant in NYCâs East Village, where she enjoyed a dinner of small plates and inventive cocktails. Among the standouts was Dahi Puri, tiny crisp rice shells filled with potato, cilantro and spices and topped with yogurt mousse and house-made chutney. Her Anarkali cocktail was an Indian-flavored riff on an Aperol Spritz; a combination of gin, Aperol, rose cordial, cardamom and prosecco.
We moved on to chat about smoothies and bowls after playing clips from an interview with Deborah Von Kutzleben, CMO of Tropical Smoothie Cafe. She discussed how the chain differentiates itself from its competitors with an all-day menu, how it is positioning itself for Gen Zâs snacking style, and how items like a pork slider are the perfect add-ons for a signature smoothie.
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On this weekâs podcast, Pat Cobe, senior menu editor of Restaurant Business, and Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nationâs Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, discuss recent tasting adventures as the holidays approach.
Pat went to Peteâs Tavern near Union Square in Manhattan, which decks itself out in Christmas regalia every year. She went early with friends to beat the crowds and enjoyed well-made fish & chips while her friends had burgers and nachos. The festive dĂ©cor and negronis made up for the pouring rain.
On another day, Pat and her friends went to Mermaid Innâs Times Square location, which has an âamazingâ happy hour from 4-5:30 p.m. every day. That includes $12 cocktails and a bunch of appetizers, highlighted by particularly good oysters.
Bret went to the 30th anniversary celebration of Virgilâs, also in Times Square. Itâs a barbecue restaurant run by the same people who operate neighboring Italian-American landmark Carmineâs. Both are among those rare places in Midtown Manhattan where you can usually show up with a large crowd and get a table, and also eat your fill for a reasonable price.
A guest at the celebration was Shaw-naĂ© Dixon of Shaw-naĂ©âs House on Staten Island, who served her Savage Fries, which are fries topped with braised oxtail, four cheese mac & cheese and collard greens. Bret recommended that highly.
Bret also shared an interview with Chris and Megan Curren, who operate Graceful Ordinary, a restaurant in St. Charles, Illinois, that opened at the tail-end of the pandemic and serves satisfying and slightly cheffed-up food from its wood-burning hearth.
Give a listen.
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On this weekâs podcast, Pat Cobe, senior menu editor of Restaurant Business, and Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nationâs Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, discuss recent tasting adventures, starting with more of a smelling experience.
Bret was invited by Via Carota, a gem of an Italian restaurant in Greenwich Village, to try their new bottled cocktails. But the event was held at a perfume shop that crafted personal scents for the attendees while they sipped on espresso martinis, spritzes and white negronis. Bret left with samples of both bottled cocktails and his custom scent.
Pat visited Jones Wood Foundry, a British-style pub with an impressive draft beer selection. Between the Scotch eggs, Yorkshire pudding with blue cheese lemon dip, curried chicken pot pie and toffee pudding, she could have been in London rather than a few blocks from her Manhattan apartment.
We shared an interview with Anthony Amoroso, the new VP of innovation and growth at Maggianoâs Little Italy. Amoroso has helmed the kitchen in several famous independents and Michelin-starred restaurants, and now welcomes this opportunity to return to his Italian-American roots and work with the chefs across Maggianoâs 50 locations.
He talks about how he is elevating the dining experience with top-quality ingredients and presentations while retaining the menuâs well-loved favorites and Maggianoâs tradition. Amoroso also works closely with the beverage director and sommelier, and new cocktails and wine selections now complement the food. And he describes whatâs next in terms of the Dallas-based chainâs menu, restaurant design and growth.
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On this weekâs podcast, Pat Cobe, senior menu editor of Restaurant Business, and Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nationâs Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, discussed Bretâs trip to the San Francisco Bay area, where he went for The Culinary Institute of Americaâs annual Worlds of Flavor conference in Napa.
The theme this year was Borders, Migration, and the Evolution of Culinary Tradition, which Bret acknowledged was quite a mouthful, but basically it was a discussion of how cooks adjust their food based on what ingredients are available and what customs and traditions are around them, as well as their own life experiences. In short: Itâs all fusion. Highlights included a demonstration of southern Italian spaghetti and tomato sauce made like it was risotto and accompanied by a lecture of how spaghetti and tomatoes got to Italy, and lentil fritters that combined the traditions of West Africa and East Africa.
Bret then spent the weekend in San Francisco, and a culinary highlight was a pastrami sandwich with horseradish and red pepper aĂŻoli at Marioâs Bohemian Cigar Store CafĂ© in the North Beach neighborhood.
Pat stayed in New York City and checked out a Cambodian restaurant called Bayon. It was her first time trying that particular cuisine and she found it lighter and more subtle than the cuisines of its neighbors, Vietnam and Thailand. She also had brunch at Sarabethâs, a long-standing concept with four locations in New York City, where she enjoyed tasty popovers and mushrooms with eggs.
Then Bret shared an interview with Cheng Lin, chef and owner of Shota Omakase in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg. The chef discussed the importance of rice in sushi and of cultivating regular customers.
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On this weekâs podcast, Pat Cobe, senior menu editor of Restaurant Business, and Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nationâs Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, discuss a weekâs worth of eating experiences, starting with a dine-around in Chicago.
The two editors were in Chicago for the last conference of the International Foodservice Editorial Council, familiarly known as IFEC, and the opening event featured a tasting tour of three restaurants in the cityâs Fulton Market district. Chef-owner Joe Flamm of Rose Mary spoke about his popular Croatian-Italian restaurant while we chowed down Pork Ribs Pampanella with Calabrian Chile Agrodolce and walnut relish as well as Beef Cheek Gnocchi; at Publican Quality Meats we learned how to spatchcock a chicken while nibbling on Grilled Pork & Mango Brochettes, Porchetta Sandwiches and charcuterie; and at Leña Brava, we sampled Watermelon Aguachile and al pastor-marinated Watermelon Steak and sipped a watermelon cocktail and mocktail.
While in Chicago, Pat also had dinner at Eataly, and was reminded of how this Italian retail emporium is also a worthy restaurant destination. She joined friends at Vino &, an in-store wine bar with a large menu featuring specialties like Tagliolini al Limone, Pollo alla Milanese and Grilled Branzino, all of which her table ordered along with a nice bottle of red wine.
Bret continues to explore his Brooklyn neighborhood, where he discovered some Eastern European meat dumplings that he brought home for dinner. First, he tried them the traditional way, topped with sour cream, but then concocted an Asian-influenced âranch dressingâ with chili crisp and Chinese black vinegar that took the dumplings into another flavor dimension.
This week we share an interview with renowned chef and restaurateur Michael Mina, whose new cookbook, âMy Egypt,â was just published. Subtitled âCooking from My Roots,â the book relates Minaâs experiences of journeying back to Egyptâwhich he left at the age of twoâto rediscover his familyâs culinary legacy. The result is a book filled with stories, firsthand cooking experiences and a lifetime of recipes.
Mina operates more than 30 restaurants in the U.S., including the recently opened Orla in Santa Monica, Californiaâhis first to specialize in Egyptian-Mediterranean cuisine. Here he elevates the dishes he enjoyed eating around his motherâs table and shares the food he tasted and cooked in Egypt. Listen as the chef shares his passion for Egyptian food and talks about how Mina Group is ramping up restaurant openings.
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On this weekâs podcast, Pat Cobe, senior menu editor of Restaurant Business, and Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nationâs Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, discussed their recent eating adventures. That included Patâs visit to a Hampton Inn, home of the original waffle bar, created by the midscale hotel chain 40 years ago.
That historical milestone is being celebrated by the hotel chain and promoted by Paris Hilton, since Hampton Inn is a brand of her familyâs hospitality empire, in the form of special pink waffles with edible glitter that guests can add. The hosts observed that thereâs a lot of edible glitter on menus these days, because itâs fun and dazzling on social media and, one hopes, safe to eat.
It turns out that some onions being served by McDonaldâs probably werenât safe and allegedly sickened a number of people, resulting in one fatality. Pat and Bret discussed that turn of events.
First, however Bret discussed his visit to a sushi restaurant in Midtown Manhattan, which he said was fine, just like a lot of sushi is fine these days, but not with the attention to detail that came with sushi in the pastâthe server didnât even bother to explain what type of fish he had been served. Pat suggested that this is what happens when food like sushi becomes ubiquitous.
She had a chance to visit the newest location of Kernel, a heavily automated quick-service restaurant developed by Chipotle founder Steve Ells, and was happy to report that the formerly meatless chain is now serving chicken.
While Pat was at Kernel, Bret went to a preview of Hudson Club, a new restaurant in Midtown Manhattan headed up by chef John DeLucie. He particularly enjoyed oysters with an apple mignonette, and that was a nice segue to this weekâs guest, Aaron Juvera, a level one certified oyster master and chef de cuisine of Southerleigh Fine Foods & Brewery in San Antonio, Texas.
Juvera discussed the oyster master certification program, Texasâs burgeoning oyster-cultivation industry and Southerleighâs increasing use of lesser-known fish species. We hope youâll tune in.
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On this weekâs podcast, Pat Cobe, senior menu editor of Restaurant Business, and Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nationâs Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, share highlights from their recent eating and drinking excursions.
Both editors attended a media preview of Taco Bellâs chef-created Crunchwrap Supremes. The chain tapped three emerging chefs to come up with variations of this wildly popular menu item, and the results included Indian and Thai versions as well as a Southwest-style hot chicken.
Bret also attended a Cava event at a country western bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to celebrate the launch of the fast casualâs garlic ranch pita chips. The tie-in between ranch as a flavor and âranchâ as an icon of the American West was a little shaky, but Bret enjoyed the new chips and some ranch water cocktails.
Australian coffee cafĂ© Bluestone Lane was also a recent stop on Bretâs itinerary. Itâs known for its personalized service, and he reported that he did get extra-special attention along with his flat white. And Pat took a trip to Cape Cod and treated herself to a lobster roll done in the Connecticut styleâhot and toasty with lots of melted butter. She also enjoyed a New England specialty: fried clam bellies.
Speaking of clams, we share a conversation with Sammy Monsour, chef at Joyce Soul & Sea in L.A. and an ambassador for Food for Climate League, where he is promoting sustainable bivalves like clams as well as sea vegetables. October is National Seafood Month, and Monsour describes how he sources and prepares fresh seaweed, sea lettuces and mussels at his restaurant. He also talks about his advocacy work with the Monterey Bay Aquarium and other nonprofits to help chefs and consumers make smarter choices when it comes to farm-raised and wild-caught seafood.
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