This week on Menu Talk, Restaurant Business Senior Menu Editor Pat Cobe and Bret Thorn, senior food and beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News, share their take on some recent happenings in the world of food and drink.
Bret is settling into his new Brooklyn digs, discovering the vast assortment of pickled and smoked fish available in his new neighborhood. And buckwheat—that’s the grain of choice in the shops that surround his apartment.
Pat was recently a guest at a “Nikkei Twist” dinner in which private chef Will Ono created a five-course Colombian-Japanese menu. Off-duty private chefs, restaurant sous chefs, line cooks and other culinary pros develop the menus and cook at these events. There’s also a sommelier at the dinners to pair wines. It’s a new kind of dining platform that’s becoming a win-win for both chefs and consumers.
We listened to clips from Bret’s podcast with Joe Schaeffer, VP of Culinary for Atlanta-based Electric Hospitality, about Muchacho, the group’s Southern California-inspired taqueria. Schaeffer created six unique fresh salsas using a variety of chilies, some raw, some roasted or simmered, to infuse each with complex flavor.
Local Kitchens' partnerships help existing restaurants grow and new ones start up
The 'customer is chef' at Pepper Lunch, a growing fast casual with Japanese roots
How Beatrix nails the all-day restaurant format with its chef-driven menu
How Yia Vang became the leading voice for Hmong cuisine and culture
How Alon Shaya is bringing a family's culinary memories to life through 'Rescued Recipes'
Noodles know no boundaries with Nick Graff leading R&D at Noodles & Company
How Firebirds Wood Fired Grill stays ahead of the culinary curve with its polished casual menu
Chef Paul Fehribach showcases the Midwest's culinary diversity through 100 recipes
How Sip Fresh is refreshing the beverage segment with mixology-inspired juice drinks
How Hilton is redefining what hotel food and beverage can be
How Chicken Salad Chick is shaking up the menu with its first warm sandwich
How Eileen Andrade transformed her grandmother's Cuban diner into an elegant fine-dining restaurant
How a new Margaritaville transformed foodservice at a Louisiana campground in mere months
How CEO Jeff Carcara is taking Sixty Vines to 'wherever the wine drinkers are'
As director of culinary for US Foods, Scott McCurdy is a 'constant student of restaurants'
How Mike's Hot Honey sparked the sweet-heat menu trend, starting with Paulie Gee's Brooklyn pizzeria
How Eric Gabrynowicz gave Tupelo Honey Southern Kitchen & Bar a menu refresh while staying true to its roots
How Spike Mendelsohn is changing up healthy eating in the fast-casual and snack spaces
How True Food Kitchen reimagined its menu with a focus on hyper-seasonality and comfort
How Fabio Viviani is expanding his restaurant empire into the sweet side
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