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.
How a bubble tea fan became a master franchisee who is ‘brewing happiness’ across the U.S.
How Modern Market’s chef brings a farm-to-table ethos to a growing fast casual
How KFC's head chef taps his food science, nutrition and culinary expertise
How Modernist Cuisine’s Francisco Migoya is changing the pizza world
How Playa Bowls turned a blender and a dream into a growing fast-casual concept
How food futurist Liz Moskow sees the year shaping up
How Baar Baar’s modern take on Indian food aims to change Americans’ perception of the cuisine
How ghost kitchen 2 Korean Girls is growing a fan base one bowl at a time
How Smokey Bones diversifies the menu to please many palates and control meat costs
How Passavant Community engages senior-living residents with menu innovation and creative connections
How Piada Italian Street Food puts a ‘chef’s touch’ on every menu item
How The Melt Shop evolves its menu in sync with today’s tastes
How Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar is blazing a trail in casual dining
How Culver’s evolves its menu while staying true to a core of customer favorites
How Another Broken Egg wins the breakfast, brunch and lunch crowd with a craveable menu
How Just Salad keeps innovating the menu while moving its sustainability mission forward
How Bartaco refreshes the beverage menu in tune with its Mexican beach vibe
How Chicago’s Avec continues to evolve while staying true to its roots
How Mighty Quinn’s menus authentic barbecue in an urban fast-casual setting
How Cura Hospitality’s senior-dining program is building on 2020’s successes
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