May 2022 - Total Food Service

NEWS

SPECIAL EVENTS

HOLLYWOOD AND CULINARY STARS GATHER TO FETE RIPERTS AT CITY HARVEST GALA

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he return of City Harvest’s Annual Gala at Cipriani/NYC late last month brought together celebrities, influencers, and NYC’s highprofile individuals to honor Mr and Mrs Eric Ripert. Top chefs joined notable Hollywood stars including the evening’s Master of Ceremonies Benjamin Bratt, Chrissy Teigen, John Legend David Burtka, Neil Patrick Harris and Richard Gere.

The Gala, which returned to an in-person event, serves as City Harvest’s most important fundraising event of the year, and this year’s was especially meaningful because of the uncertainty and challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, when the Gala was last held it raised enough to provide over 14 million meals for New Yorkers in need.

City Harvest, the food-rescue nonprofit that helps to feed 1.5 mil-

“But in that moment, I forgot about all our problems. It’s one of my greatest memories of helping City Harvest.” — Eric Ripert lion needy New Yorkers a year, recently moved its operation to a new, 150,000 square-foot facility in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

The near-100,000-square-foot expansion couldn’t come at a better

Gala honorees Sandra and Eric Ripert (standing) pose with John Legend and Chrissy Teigen (seated) while attending the City Harvest Presents The 2022 Gala: Red Supper Club at Cipriani 42nd Street on April 26, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty)

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time. The organization has been an indispensable provider for 40 years — never more so than during the pandemic.

The Riperts are universally adored by so many. On March 14, 2020, Ripert and his wife, Sandra, dropped in at the City Harvest Mobile Market in the South Bronx to help distribute food. Ripert had closed his threeMichelin-star restaurant Le Bernardin the day before. The city was in lockdown. Fear and uncertainty filled the air.

“There were long lines. It was extremely cold,” the chef recalled.

“But it felt really good to be active.

We were being cautious with Covid, but in that moment I forgot about all our problems. It’s one of my greatest memories of helping City Harvest.”

City Harvest CEO Jilly Stephens was there, too, and remembers it well. “Eric and Sandra saw for themselves in a tangible sense how many more people were online than in the month before.”

City Harvest delivers 111 million pounds of food annually to food pantries, soup kitchens and community partners in the five boroughs The Riperts and a who’s who of culinary stars have been prime movers in the nonprofit’s efforts for 25 years. Le Bernardin has donated nearly 600,000 pounds of food since 1997 and helped distribute over 17 million free meals. The Riperts, us-

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May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 3

NEWS

NEW OPENINGS

NYC BASED MAJOR FOOD GROUP DEBUTS TRIO OF DALLAS EATERIES

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n the heels of its expantion opened in mid-March inhabitsion earlier this year in ing 7,000-square feet in an anchor Miami, the Major Food position in the ritzy Highland Park Group has set its sites Village retail center. Its dining room on the Lone Star State. Their footis joined by an all-day coffee counprint just expanded considerably, ter and marketplace serving a range with three openings in Dallas last of to-go drinks, pastries, rotisserie month. chicken and breakfast tacos — the Major Food Group operates more latter is an exclusive nod to Texas. than a dozen unique concepts and Carbone is an Italian restauover 30 restaurants, bars, private rant with a mid-century vibe that clubs and hotels across the globe, opened in New York’s West Village from New York to Miami to Tel Aviv. neighborhood in 2013. The Dallas The group, which is run by managoutpost debuted March 31 in the ing partners Jeff Zalaznick, Mario Design District and is the concept’s Carbone and Rich Torrisi, has had its eye on Dallas for years.

“As we’ve grown our business, there are so many people in our world that are from Dallas or recommended it, so that seed was planted many years ago,” said Carbone. “It has a likeminded energy and is a bustling place that’s very much in line with the places we love to be in and do business in. If we want to hang out there, we want to be there, which makes it pretty simple sometimes.”

Sadelle’s debuted in New York in 2016 and expanded to Las Vegas in late 2018. It’s a brunch institution famous for its bagel towers with sliced-to-order fish ($15-25), triple-decker sandwiches ($31) and chopped salads ($2345). The Dallas locaThe welcoming interior at the new Sadelle’s in Dallas, TX

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“There was a lot of excitement when we announced we were coming here, so we came in with a bit of a running start.” — Mario Carbone fifth location, following openings in Las Vegas, Hong Kong and Miami.

It is 4,800-square feet of grandeur, with dark woods, gold crown molding and service captains dressed in burgundy tuxedos.

All of the restaurant’s signature dishes appear on the Dallas menu, including the spicy rigatoni with vodka sauce ($33), tableside Caesar salad ($25) and veal parmesan ($69).

Dallas is also the beneficiary of a unique concept called Carbone Vino, which opened April 7th beside its sibling and houses Carbone’s vast wine collection. It features a full bar and serves a handful of Carbone favorites, plus Vino-specific dishes, like pizzas ($22-$31), seafood crudo ($32) and a salumi board ($36).

“We’ve always wanted to explore different facets of the Carbone lifestyle and brand,” said Zalaznick. Most Carbone locations don’t have a true bar, so they saw this space as an opportunity to create a central bar where people can congregate and eat.

“Carbone is so iconic that we can’t change anything there,” added

Zalaznick. “If we take a dish off the menu, there are riots. Vino feels like Carbone, but it also lets us play with new dishes like pizza and have a huge wine program.”

Vino was designed by Ken Fulk, who helped create Carbone and multiple other spaces for Major Food Group. The atmosphere draws inspiration from restaurants and hotels in Tuscany and Northern Italy, and is meant to exude an oldworld feel that Fulk said “celebrates a leisurely European mindset.”

The 3,700-square-foot interior includes hand-painted pharmacy cabinets, gilded mirrors and a wall of windows, while the patio features citrus trees in oversized terra cotta planters.

Although new to town, the cofounders said the reception in Dallas has been warm and welcoming. Mario Carbone attributes the full dining rooms to the reputation they’ve built up over the past decade. “There was a lot of excitement when we announced we were coming here, so we came in with a bit of a running start.”

Major Food Group has no immediate plans to expand their business to more locations in Dallas or surrounding cities, but they’re always on the lookout for opportunities.

“Right now, we’re focused on Sadelle’s, Carbone and Carbone Vino, but I have no doubt there will be more to come just because we love this city so much,” said Zalaznick.

May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 5

NEWS

EDUCATIONAL STRATEGIES

by Karen Jones

CIA OFFERS WORKING PROFESSIONALS CAREER ADVANCEMENT WITH ITS IMPRESSIVE LINE-UP OF ONLINE MASTER’S DEGREES

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t is fair to say that the last two and “These programs are so topical and so a half years were a rite of passage for the foodservice industry. As the current that they are going to give students a pandemic raged, the food industry conversation and an arena to build ideas for the learned to adapt in a variety of ways.

Not only did diets change, but people future that are going to impart a huge amount of became increasingly conscious of change for the better.” — Robert Tremblay where their food came from and the importance of the food system. ourselves – the nutrition side of it. But Restaurants reconsidered their busiindustry. it also goes into areas of equity and ness models, and wine and beverage “Sustainable food systems,” Tremhow it affects not only the food that’s programs became a bigger priority blay said, “is special because it gives getting delivered to people and how than ever before. These changes, some an opportunity for changemakers to people are purchasing it, but people industry experts claim, have ushered address some of the top areas chalthat are working in that industry as in what they are hailing the Golden lenging the food system right now.” He well as the people that are tied to food Age of restaurateurs. added that, “At CIA, our slogan is Food in every capacity.”

To answer the challenge of advancis Life and at the same time life is food.

As an increasing number of estabing professionally within a changed People want to impact change. It’s an lishments and entrepreneurs confront industry, the world’s premiere culiimportant piece for the development the change wave, many are questionnary college, The Culinary Institute and success for our future.” ing how they can help change the of America (CIA), has developed a According to Tremblay, while the world through launching their own robust master’s degree program. “We term food system is broad, this course business or growing the food comare at a big crossroads in the industry “encompasses everything. It goes into pany they currently work for. For such and moving in the right direction is areas like climate change, the impact persons, the food business program a part of that,” said Robert Tremblay, of food on our environment and could be the ideal fit.

The CIA’s assistant This two-year program director of admisdeals in the first year on sions at the New York “filtering core business campus. Designed skill sets through the especially with busy lens of food at all times,” industry professaid Tremblay. sionals in mind, The second year is degree options in the divided into a choice of graduate program two tracks, one focusing include master’s in on restaurant developsustainable food ment and the other on systems, master’s in product development. food business, and “So not only are they master’s in wine and going to be learning in beverage manageclasses that are focused ment. Each program on areas like marketing, answers a pressing real estate, capitalism, need within the Culinary Institute of America students have embraced the new programs

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Robert Tremblay

and being able to find and build a business, but they’re also looking at branding strategy, overall restaurant operations, and management,” he detailed.

Answering the growing need for educated business professionals on the wine and beverage end of the industry is the CIA’s master’s in wine and beverage management program. Tremblay explains it “stresses the understanding of the business element, focusing on the distribution and marketing of the product as well as everything that goes into the lifecycle of the bottle, taking it from the vine to the customer and evaluating that whole process in between.”

All three programs have an online format, Tremblay explains, opening new possibilities for the busy profes-

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May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 7

NEWS

FLOOR PLAN STRATEGIES

HOW FLAT IS ELEVATING THE DINING EXPERIENCE ®

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tability On the Surface When looking at a total dining experience people typically evaluate the quality of food, the staff, the service, the atmosphere, and maybe the really decorative pieces or shiny sconces hanging from the ceiling. What isn’t taken into consideration often enough are the tables. Tables are platforms that hold food, drinks, and conversations with family and friends. Tables are the centerpiece of dining operations and when they are unstable, people take notice.

Wobbles, Wobbles Everywhere Coming across a wobbly table is a more common occurrence than you may think. Some guests ignore the wobble. Other guests spill drinks or drop silverware because of the wobbly tables and become annoyed. Then there are those crafty DIY-minded

guests that use a coaster or napkin to shove under and stabilize the wobbly table themselves. This is not a permanent solution and no guests should have to do this. Neither should any restaurant staff. Wobbly tables are a nuisance. They cost money, time, customer reviews, and valuable resources like coasters and napkins. Luckily, there is a company doing something about them.

FLAT is Revolutionizing Dining Wobbly tables and table alignment problems have plagued the industry for decades. FLAT® Table Bases for new tables or replacement bases, or FLAT® Equalizers for existing wobbly tables eliminate the wobbles created by uneven floors and allow restaurants to seamlessly align multiple tabletops.

FLAT’s innovative products increase ROI, improve the dining experience, and work indoors or out.

Indoors. Outdoors. Opening Many Doors.

FLAT® solutions provide table stabilization on uneven indoor or outdoor surfaces. Their smart design enables tables to align together allowing restaurants, cafes and bars to maximize space. FLAT® Table Bases also come in a wide variety of colors, configurations, and styles to match any environment.

To Customer Satisfaction and Beyond Customers appreciate when the total dining experience runs smoothly.

This is evident in the reviews they write. FLAT® Table Bases and FLAT® Equalizers are eliminating wobbly tables and providing a better dining experience for establishments around the world. They are redefining stability and it’s time to take notice.

Main Office 282 Railroad Ave. Greenwich, CT 06830 Publishers Leslie & Fred Klashman Advertising Director Michael Scinto Art & Web Director Mark Sahm SCOOP News Editor and Senior Contributing Writer Joyce Appelman Contributing Writers Morgan Tucker Francine Cohen Editorial Interns Hank Bedingfield Karen Jones Claudia Giunta Brian O’Regan Wyatt Semenuk

Phone: 203.661.9090 Email: tfs@totalfood.com Web: www.totalfood.com

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Follow @TotalFoodService

Subscribe to the TFS YouTube channel Cover photo by Tony Powell

No matter what floor surface, the self-stabilizing FLAT® Table Bases for new tables or replacement bases, or FLAT® Equalizers for existing wobbly tables, ensure your customers’ experience will be perfect every time.

8 • May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com

Total Food Service ISSN No. 1060-8966 is published monthly by IDA Publishing, Inc., 282 Railroad Ave., Greenwich, CT 06830. Phone: 203.661.9090. This issue copyright 2022 by IDA Publishing Inc. Contents in full or part may not be reproduced without permission. Not responsible for advertisers claims or statements.

Periodicals Postage paid at the post office, Greenwich, CT and additional mailing offices. Additional entry at the post office in Pittsburgh, PA. Subscription rate in USA is $36 per year; single copy, $3.00. Postmaster: Send address changes to Total Food Service, P.O. Box 2507, Greenwich, CT 06836

May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 9

NEWS

MENU STRATEGIES

Article By Avi Goren, CEO, Marqii

THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS OF ONLINE MENUS

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here is no turning back the clock. Technology is reshaping the how, where and when of what it takes to operate a restaurant. Now more than ever, the digital world is driving the way restaurants connect and communicate with customers.

In this new digital frontier, online menus are where the taco meets the grill (so to speak), and are often cited by customers and restaurant management alike as the reason why customers come to a particular restaurant.

Translation? Online menus have an overwhelming influence on the ability of restaurants to attract new customers and ultimately grow their business in the face of competition.

That’s why, at Marqii, we’ve developed what we call the “Seven Deadly Sins of Online Menus” for restaurants – a list of the most common mistakes we’ve seen as we’ve helped thousands of restaurants get the most from their online menus. We’re not just sharing this because we offer a platform that makes it easy for restaurant operators to publish and update their online menus across 75 consumerfacing sites directly from their POS. It’s also because helping restaurants find the best digital solutions to help grow their business is just…what we do.

We can’t help ourselves. .

If a restaurant continues to struggle with managing their online menus and using them to get new guests in the door, some of these call-outs might feel personal. We promise they’re not. .

Online menus have an overwhelming influence on the ability of restaurants to attract new customers and ultimately grow their business in the face of competition. try where great customer experiences and food aesthetics are king, having a clunky, outdated menu sends an unconscious message that a restaurant is struggling to keep up. From the diners’ perspective, if the menu doesn’t impress, will the food and service be underwhelming too?

Another challenge of PDF menus?

Optimizing for search engines. It used to be that search engines could not ‘see’ PDFs and thus could not crawl them for their content in order to rank them for user searches. That changed some 11 years ago, at least for Google.

Still, despite now being ‘crawlable’ and therefore usable as part of an overall search engine optimization strategy, the process of optimizing a PDF is arduous at best.

Bottom line, it takes more work to manage a PDF menu, the user experi-

Sin #1: PDF menus Nothing screams ‘behind the times’ like a good oldfashioned PDF menu. Visually speaking it’s far less appealing than a modern digital menu platform. In an indus10 • May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com

ence is less impressive, and the work it takes to prepare the menu for search engines is manual and subject to erroneous entries.

Sin #2: Neglecting menu updates Every restaurant at some point, if it existed before the recent arrival of online menu management platforms like Marqii, has undoubtedly dealt with menu neglect. It’s not enough that there are print menus to maintain, but throw in delivery menus, and online menus across multiple digital platforms, and you have the recipe for menu version control chaos.

Recent developments related to pandemic-induced supply issues have put many restaurants in a situation where some ingredients that were available one week are suddenly unavailable the next week. Trying to

maintain an up-to-date menu is nearly impossible when not done with a more seamless, automated workflow.

Marqii’s online menu management platform solves for this by integrating directly into any cloud-based restaurant POS system. Each time the POS is updated for quick-changes, be they daily specials or ingredient supply snafus, the same information is fed to all the online menus automatically. If the POS is up-to-date, the menu is as well.

Sin #3: Not adding the menu to online listings As mentioned in the introduction, Marqii automatically updates its customers’ online information across over 75 different customer-facing sites, including online menus wherever they’re accepted. Why does that matter? As many as 49% of diners refer to online menus before choosing a restaurant. Consider the sheer size of what that statistics represents. If you take one report that said 163 million people dine out at least once a week – granted, that was a pre-pandemic measurement but today’s numbers are quickly returning to those levels – then 49% is a whopping 80 million views of online menus.

Another fact: not all diners are using Google and Facebook. There are many other sites restaurant-goers use when looking for a place to dine, not the least of which includes the likes of Yelp, Tripadvisor, Zagat and Maps.

Leaving sites like these out in the digital cold is a huge missed opportunity to win more customers. In the world of restaurants, every new guest can yield a multitude of benefits – referrals, positive reviews, return visits, better online visibility, and more.

Sin #4: Failing to optimize online menus for search engines

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May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 11

NEWS

TECH SOLUTIONS

CHOCO INFUSES RESTAURANT VENDOR ORDERING WITH INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY

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s the industry continues to settle back in and welcome in-restaurant dining patrons again, it finds a new set of challenges. Near the top of that list is how to maintain and manage the growth in takeout and delivery revenues while working to grow traditional table side dining to pre-pandemic levels.

“The challenge that our founder Daniel Khachab saw was how do we digitize the food chain from farm to fork for operators and vendors/distributors,” said Hilary Kenyon, General Manager-US. “He really came at this from a food waste vantage point and that evolved into the Choco solution. We know that the landscape is very fragmented with so many intermediaries that are touching every-

thing from produce to seafood until it reaches the table at a restaurant or in a home.” The company is going after a $6 trillion food service industry that traditionally does business via spreadsheets or pen and paper. It developed software that digitizes ordering, supply chain and communications for suppliers and restaurants to give back some of that time.

From an operational standpoint, operating two distinctly different businesses requires an infusion of technology to manage it. With that in mind, Choco has burst onto the scene with a platform that manages the complexity of multiple vendor relationships for the world’s restaurants and foodservice operators.

“We act as an aggregator between buyers and suppliers with a goal of streamlining both sides of the market and how buyers buy and sellers sell,” added Kenyon. “Previously restaurateurs typically would be calling a fish online from a seafood distributor, testing a meat guy buying produce on an

“A distributor may very well have a batch of tomatoes with one day of shelf life remaining that, although might not be right for a salad, might make a perfect cost effective base at 75% off for a batch of marinara sauce that needs to be prepped.” — Hilary Kenyon on-line portal. With Choco they get a single portal to transact with all of their suppliers.”

The Choco app is free for restaurants and enables them to chat and place orders with any supplier in seconds. It eliminates delivery errors, late night waits on the phone and order sheets. Choco simplifies the ordering process for restaurants. It ensures that every order will always have product IDs, units, a delivery date and delivery confirmation. The proof is in choice’s track record of eliminating 85% or order errors.

For many restaurants on the Choco

Choco makes placing and receiving vendor orders more efficient. Their intuitive app and web tools streamline operations for chefs, owners, and sales reps. Save time. Save money. Save food.

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platform, the ease of use has been invaluable. Choco enables operators to breeze through all their supplier orders in one app. Orders can be placed with just three taps and most restaurants on the platform have found they are saving 2 hour plus per week.

With the ever increasing cost of labor, Choco enables the operator to redeploy employees from time spent on the mechanics of inventory and ordering into other key aspects of daily operations.

Choco enables restaurateurs to place orders and chat with all of their suppliers in one app. Orders are then converted into a supplier’s format of choice – email, WhatsApp, text, fax, and direct ERP integration. Operators can view and edit all of their order sheets online. Choco eliminates the days of stacks of paper pinned to walls. Products, IDs, units and pars can be added to Choco and organized by category. This enables perfect orders to suppliers with a goal of accurate deliveries.

Choco has been built with an understanding of just how demanding the restaurant professionals issue has become. With that in mind the platform was built to easily track orders for multiple restaurants from the palm of your hand. Choco also features

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waringcommercialproducts.com

@waringcommercial

May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 13

FIORITO ON INSURANCE

VOLUNTARY BENEFITS: THE MISSING INGREDIENT IN HOSPITALITY TALENT ATTRACTION & RETENTION

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mployee retention is a serious issue that employers in the hospitality and food service industry are facing today and as businesses recover from impacts of the pandemic, labor shortages still threaten the progress. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the industry has an annual turnover rate of 73.6%1, much higher than any other industry.

In addition, the food and beverage production industry has felt firsthand the pain of worker shortages, with 45% of food manufacturers stating retention as a top issue;2 some 360,000 jobs were unfilled in nondurable goods manufacturing (including food and beverage) as of July 2021.3 Most employers, restaurants included, realize the importance of securing the loyalty and retention of existing employees, improving productivity, and remaining competitive. The right combination of voluntary benefits can differentiate food and beverage companies in their struggle to attract and retain talent long term.

At the same time, while employers are working hard to manage rising health care costs, offering voluntary benefit solutions is a win-win strategy for employers and their employees. A customized voluntary benefits program offers employees the choice they want and helps them close coverage gaps, without impacting your bottom line.

Historically, ancillary benefits

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the [hospitality and foodservice] industry has an annual turnover rate of 73.6%1, much higher than any other industry. have provided companies with a cost-effective and personalized suite of products, but in today’s environment where employees and their families are likely to incur more out-of-pocket expenses, voluntary benefits serve as a means to empower the employee. Some tradi-

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tional advantages of voluntary benefits seem more obvious, such as the following: • Attracting and retain top quality employees; • Protecting the financial health, wellness, and security of your employees;

Robert Fiorito serves as Vice President with HUB International Northeast, a leading global insurance brokerage, where he specializes in providing insurance services to the restaurant industry. As a 25+ year veteran and former restaurateur himself, Robert has worked with a wide array of restaurant and food service businesses, ranging from fast-food chains to upscale, “white tablecloth” dining establishments.

Robert can be reached at 212-3382324 or by email at robert.fiorito@ hubinternational.com.

• Adding benefits to your employee benefits program without adding to your costs; • Helping you address the rising costs of major medical health insurance.

Funded by the employer or not, voluntary benefits have value to workers in this highly competitive

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BOOTH #9216

BURRATA

Soft and delicate, with a slightly sweet, milky flavor, BelGioioso Burrata is made with hand-crafted Fresh Mozzarella filled with Stracciatella, a mix of soft mozzarella shreds and cream.

Enhance your menu by creating a deluxe Caprese salad with spooned sections of Burrata beside ripe tomatoes and fresh basil, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil. Or enrich your pizza or pasta by topping with a garnish of this fresh, creamy cheese just before serving.

Available in 2 oz., 4 oz. and 8 oz. Burrata balls, 4 oz. balls with Black Truffles, and 8 oz. and 1 lb. Stracciatella.

For more info and samples, please contact: foodservice@belgioioso.com 877-863-2123

belgioioso.com/Foodservice

May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 15

NEWS

By Karen Jones

MENU STRATEGIES

SABATINO TARTUFI BRINGS TRUFFLE ENHANCED MENU SOLUTIONS TO NATION’S CHEFS

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nce upon a time, truffles with their unique and complex flavoring, could only be found on menus in higher end establishments. This subterranean delicacy, distinct to France and Italy, was very hard to come by. But that has changed.

Now, thanks to Sabatino Tartufi’s wide-ranging products, truffle is no longer only a fine dining experience but is also showing up in QSRs, fast casual, midscale, and casual dining establishments. In fact, truffle is a trending flavor right now in the U. S. and has seen an increase on restaurant menus by 0.6% in the past year and by 10.9% over the past 4 years (Datassential, 2022).

This growing demand in the interest of this bold flavor is due in large part to, Millennials and Gen Zers said Sabatino Tartufi’s CEO Federico Balestra. “Our users are now be-

“I would start by adding it to a side dish like French fries or potatoes.” — Frederico Balestra tween 18 and 40-years-old,” adding that, if your restaurant does not offer a truffle flavor, it means that customers will go to a place that uses that new flavor that has become a part of both their palette and culture.”

Balestra’s intention when he moved to the U.S. in 1999 was to expand the family-owned truffle business beyond the shores of Europe.

Now, the over a Century old company has not only introduced its expanding line of products onto a new continent but also onto a diversity of new tables. “Our goal was how can we democratize truffles. Not everybody can afford truffles and its very different to cook with and

so we began to invent products that made it a lot easier to use,” he said.

To take their products farther afield, his company has crafted an exceptional method to inspire the cautious who are looking to introduce items on their menu using truffles to test the products before taking the big leap. Sabatino Tartufi has created a test kitchen on Manhattan’s eastside at 54th and First Avenue, where chefs can work with the products to create new menu items. “Our goal for the facility is to [help them] truffle-ize their menu.

They can work with the products and our chefs to find the right fit for their dining patrons. We know how to integrate and keep the cost down

which is a good ROI for them, and they can come in and do the testing,” he explained.

Balestra also offered guidance on how a restaurant or chef that is new to truffles can add it to their menu.

“I would start by adding it to a side dish like French fries or potatoes.

Potatoes in general are real good carriers for the truffle flavor and then you can add it to meat.” The biggest crossover use that he said he has witnessed so far has been in pizzas.

“Pizza growth is huge. Every pizzeria now has some kind of truffles.

We did a show in Las Vegas three weeks ago with success. Another big use is pasta. Pasta is pretty classic.

Italian or not Italian - it makes some side dishes like mac and cheese a little bit fancier. Even if you don’t offer fresh truffles, it’s a flavor that

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Fresh truffles have been prized for centuries for the warm, earthy flavors and aromas they add to every plate. Sabatino Tartufi imports fresh truffles daily to ensure their chefs and customers always have access to this prized ingredient. Their versatile range of seasonings and other culinary products allow you to add real, authentic truffle flavor to any dish.

16 • May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com

BOOTH #4855

May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 17

NEWS

FRONT OF HOUSE SOLUTIONS

THE TOP 3 RESTAURANT MENU MAKING TOOLS

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re you a restaurant owner looking for a quick and simple way to change up your menu design? Whether you’re starting a new restaurant, rebranding, or simply upgrading old menus, great menu design is an absolute must. While hiring a designer is an option, it’s more expensive than other do-it-yourself options. Luckily many menu design programs have sprung up that make it cheap and easy to create professional-looking menus.

With a restaurant menu making tool, you can easily update your menu when needed, without having to pay for an expensive designer to alter it every time. Menu making tools not only save you money, but they offer unrivaled flexibility and customization.

Web-based software tools can make your life easier, and your business look more professional.

When choosing a menu making tool, there are a few things you should look out for. A wealth of templates, of course, is a must. You’ll want to have the option to pick from thousands of options, finding the one that fits your restaurant best.

And while creating a dine-in menu

is often the original goal, you should be able to use this software to create a selection of menus and marketing materials, such as flyers, takeout menus, table tents, business cards, loyalty cards, stickers, social media assets, and so much more.

Are you looking to try out a restaurant menu making tool? We’ve broken down the top three menu creation programs, and why you should choose them.

1. MustHaveMenus Overview: MustHaveMenus is a design tool that was created specifically for restaurant owners, and is a onestop-shop for all menus and marketing materials a restaurant owner may need. It has the largest collection of design templates for restaurants out there, and its customer service team is unrivaled. On top of that, MustHaveMenus offers digital products such as QR codes, landing pages, and online menus to allow restaurant owners to further their reach.

MustHaveMenus also allows you to add team members to your account for an additional charge, making it easy for multiple people to work on

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designs for the same restaurant. On top of that, MustHaveMenus also offers a portion of its templates for free, allowing customers to use simple options without having to pay anything.

Price: $30/month Templates: • 5000+ menu templates designed by experts • 5000+ marketing templates for all occasions • 4000+ free marketing templates • 20+ ready-made product types like flyers, table tents, business cards, and sandwich boards • Free templates for Facebook and Instagram Menu Maker Tool: • Intuitive drag-and-drop system • Easy controls for menu sections • Allows custom sizes, plus resize to make matching pieces • Import items to save time on typing • Instant QR codes for any design • Digital menu link created instantly Bonus: Live restaurant experts are available to chat during business hours and professional printing services are available for all product

types.

2. iMenuPro Overview: iMenuPro prides also prides itself on being used specifically for restaurant and menu creation, allowing its customers to create menus and test out designs with a click of a button. While their tool works well, it has a higher learning curve, and the selection of templates is quite small.

However, they also offer a custom QR code generator and the ability to transition a menu over for use on a website. With iMenuPro, you can download PDFs to print menus out yourself.

Price: $15/month Templates: • 100+ menu styles • 9 different product sizes • Custom size tool Menu Maker Tool: • Change menu “styles” with one click • Drag and drop editing • Easily manage designs 3. Popmenu Overview: Popmenu is much differ-

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May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 19

TREND TALK

WITH JOYCE APPELMAN

HOSPITALITY EDUCATION, BLENDING THE PRACTICAL WITH THE THEORETICAL TO PREPARE TOMORROW’S LEADERS FOR SUCCESS AT CITY TECH Q&A With Karen Goodlad

K

aren Goodlad, CSW, is an Associate Professor at New York City College of Technology of the City University of New York where she was recently named the Interim Chair of the Department of Hospitality Management. Specializing in beverage management, she teaches an array of courses preparing students to become leaders in the hospitality industry.

As a proud and active member of Les Dames d’Escoffier New York she moderated the inaugural wine trends conference, The Next Big Sip. She was named by Total Food Service as a Top Woman in Metro New York Foodservice & Hospitality

Joyce Appelman is the SCOOP News Editor and Senior Contributing Writer for Total Food Service and previously the National Communications Director for C-CAP, Careers through Culinary Arts Program. An industry leader supporting education and scholarships, she has been instrumental in opening career opportunities for many young people in the foodservice industry. Email her at joyceappelman@gmail.com

in 2019 and 2020. She is a Certified Specialist of Wine with the Society of Wine Educators.

Her academic publications highlight her work as an educator and cover topics such as place-based learning, the first-year transition to college, and wine education.

person. After 15 productive and creative years in the position, she recently retired. Under her leadership we created a course of study that was nimble enough to last for many

Share your background prior to your role as an educator.

Prior to teaching I had several positions in the field of hospitality management an internship with the Walt Disney Company, worked in some independent restaurants, both FOH and BOH, and also worked at The Plaza Hotel.

What clicked where you knew you needed to give back through teaching?

People often told me that I would be a good teacher, so when an industry friend presented the opportunity to teach at City Tech, I was intrigued, I thought, yes, I can do that. Then my first day in the classroom sealed the deal. The students were eager to gain knowledge, eager to be part of something bigger than themselves. They gave me their energy and I returned it, creating many moments of deep learning both in lab situations and lectures. Those first moments with students in the classroom were 20 years ago, yikes!

What was the curriculum like in the past and now?

Liz Schiable is the outgoing chair-

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Karen Goodlad

years and focused enough to provide students with a specialty, should they want it. Students can earn an

continued on page 105

BOOTH #5870

May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 21

NEWS

By Brian O’Regan

TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

NEXTBITE BRINGS UNIQUE PORTFOLIO OF SOLUTIONS TO VIRTUAL KITCHEN PLATFORM

T

he concept of ghost kitchens is one that has been rapidly growing due to the pandemic, but what if an online only food provider existed that did not need to build a new kitchen and hire new staff? With their hybrid model, Nextbite has done just that. By using underutilized kitchen space for mobile deliveries, Nextbite is helping existing restaurants grow their margins with existing kitchen space and staff.

“I grew up working in my family’s deli in Los Angeles, Canter’s Deli, and developed a technology, Ordermark, to aggregate all of the delivery apps onto one platform. As we were scaling that business to help restaurants across the country, we realized a lot

of the restaurants we were partnering with not only needed technology to manage their delivery business, but they all had excess capacity in their kitchens to handle more volume,” said Nextbite CEO, Alex Canter. “We started experimenting with ways to drive incremental orders into their kitchens, and in 2019 we launched a new concept called Nextbite.”

The goal in the creation of Nextbite was to create a turnkey, delivery only restaurant brand and menus that only existed on the UberEATS and Door Dash platforms. “We started with grilled cheese sandwiches and chicken sandwiches, to grow a delivery only concept that only existed online. We ended up going back to our Ordermark client restaurants

“On average we are adding extra orders to restaurants, that don’t require the addition of any new labor and the orders that we are adding to a restaurant have a thirty to thirty five percent profit margin.” — Alex Canter and upselling them the ability to cook food for a second menu out of their same fixed cost kitchen. In 2020 when the pandemic hit, a lot of restaurants had to shut down their dining rooms and Nextbite became the most important thing for these restaurants. We started figuring out creative ways to drive orders for these businesses and we really shifted our focus to Nextbite. In 2021 we rebranded the entire organization in-

Each Nextbite virtual restaurant concept is backed by data and carefully crafted to dish out what customers crave.

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cluding the Ordermark solution into Nextbite, which really helps us with what our mission is to help restaurants with their off-premise dining.”

As for what being a part of Nextbite would look like for a restaurant’s kitchen, Canter has the answer.

“There are over eight hundred thousand restaurants in the U.S., our belief is that over ninety percent of them have excess capacity in their kitchen and can make more food,” said Canter. “Whether it’s five, ten, twenty, extra orders a day, every restaurant has slow times of the day or slow times of the week that they would love to be able to crank out more food. We are in the business of matchmaking those underutilized kitchen spaces with in-demand brands. We have become a marketplace of building this network of kitchen capacity and creating and partnering it with bestin-class brands to put in those kitchens. We do not believe in the ghost kitchen model of creating new real estate or new kitchen space to cook food out of, when there is already so many kitchens that can be doing more as it is.”

According to Canter, the addition of extra orders at a low cost to the operator can be beneficial for a restaurant’s bottom line at minimal extra expenses. “Our whole mission is creating a more profitable, sustainable

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BOOTH #4660

May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 23

RESTAURANT EXPERT

WITH DAVID SCOTT PETERS

WHY INVENTORY IS SO IMPORTANT FOR RESTAURANTS AND FOOD COST

D

oes the thought of weekly inventory send shivers down your spine? Can you already hear your managers complaining and resisting? Do you picture yourself buried in the walk-in for hours on end? These fears keep a lot of restaurant owners from staying on top of their inventory, but not doing inventory has a surprising impact on restaurant food cost and the cash you need to pay your bills.

Here are just a few of the negative impacts not taking inventory has on your restaurant every week: • You don’t have the essential numbers you need to manage your restaurant, so you’re flying blind, wondering why your food cost is so high.

• Your employees aren’t understanding the value of what they’re using. You’re ordering so much product to make sure you never run out that the shelves are always full and nothing is precious to your employees. They look and there is always more on the shelf so when your cooks are making something, such as Ranch dressing, they aren’t scraping the mayo out of the container to get every last bit, which is all usable product and your money.

Instead, they get what they can easily and throw the rest away and grab the next one from the shelf because there is always more on the shelf.

• People are stealing from you.

When the product disappears from

David Scott Peters is an author, restaurant coach and speaker who teaches restaurant operators how to take control of their businesses and finally realize their full potential. His first book, Restaurant Prosperity Formula: What Successful Restaurateurs Do, teaches the systems and traits to develop to run a profitable restaurant.

Thousands of restaurants have worked with Peters to transform their businesses. Get his three principles to restaurant success at https://dsp.coach/ three-key-principles.

• You have slower inventory turns.

When you don’t pay attention to your product, you get inventory creep. You keep adding and adding to the shelves, never fully making a turn in your inventory. The last time I checked, when you over order, when you have too much on your shelves, and you don’t have money in the bank account to pay your bills, you can’t go to the power company with a case of steaks, drop it on the counter and say, “Here is my payment.” your shelves with someone’s fivefinger discount, your food cost goes up. They’re able to hide this from because you’re not counting, and they know it.

• Items are misplaced. Picture the middle of a lunch rush, you’re running your hot special, a sandwich with your secret sauce, that’s selling like crazy. Someone runs into the walk-in to grab a new container of sauce, but because there is so much product on the shelves and nothing is organized, no one can find it, declaring the sauce all gone. The kitchen 86s your number-one-selling item. Then, after the lunch rush is over, your chef or kitchen manager walks into the cooler and finds it exactly where it shouldn’t be, be-

24 • May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com

hind the shredded lettuce and carrots. This is a missed opportunity for profits.

• You’re not cleaning and organizing your walk in. It’s dirty and messy, and you’ve got that terrible meat dangly stuff hanging from the meat racks. Now you’re jacking up your labor because somebody finally gets sick and tired of the messy walk in. You have to pay extra labor to empty it out, scrub it down, scrub all the racks, put them back in, and reorganize the walk-in.

• Take that same exact description of what I just talked about in your walk-in, and you get lower health scores, which means lower sales, because nowadays your health scores are on the Internet and the news.

Think about it this way: when you take food inventory for value on a weekly basis to know your food cost, your costs will go down, your inventory levels will go down because you’re paying attention, your walkin will be clean and organized, your health scores will be higher, and your guests will be happy because you’re not running out of product.

It’s time to ditch the excuses and move toward signing up for a food and beverage management software solution and make weekly inventory a part of your weekly management.

If you follow a shelf-to-sheet inventory system and you do less than $2 million per year, you’re done in under an hour each week and reaping the benefits.

The best of fruit with ease and simplicity The best of fruit, ready to use.

100% ready to use, 100% taste quality and no added sugar. Les vergers Boiron ready-touse purées are the product of 80 years of expertise. Once you’ve tasted our strawberry, raspberry, mango, passion fruit, blackberry and peach flavours, you’ll understand why they are so popular among chefs and mixologists for their instant preparations.

To discover our recipes, visit my-vb.com

BOOTH #10347

May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 25

NEWS

By Karen Jones

ACQUISITIONS

EASY ICE SETS SIGHTS ON NEW YORK & SPECIALTY CUBE EXPANSION WITH ICESURANCE PURCHASE

F

oodservice operators have a lot on their plates these days. As many seek to reinvent their businesses, the last thing they should be troubled about is ice. However, Gen Zers – the population segment born between 1997 and 2012 - are driving a new trend that is raising the demand for ice in the marketplace.

“I don’t know anybody under the age of 25 who drinks hot coffee anymore,” said John Mahlmeister, COO of the full-service ice machine subscription company, Easy Ice. “The younger generations consume more iced beverages than ever, and this increased market pressures businesses to have a 100% reliable supply of ice.”

There’s one problem with that: ice makers are notoriously fickle machines that require a precise environment, maintenance, and quick repairs to avoid disrupting ice production. Business owners from cocktail lounges and cafes to coffee shops and hotels are in dire need of a guaranteed ice supply to meet customer demand. Easy Ice has built its business by addressing a common concern expressed by operators: ice machines are the least reliable piece of equipment in the kitchen.

Growth for Easy Ice hasn’t just been the result of an ice-obsessed market. Easy Ice recently acquired Icesurance, the leasing division of the packaged ice giant, Arctic Gla-

26 • May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com

“We provide real value to our customers, and we love partnering with new and existing businesses. We are committed to helping customers figure out the best way to run their business.” — John Mahlmeister cier. This strategic alliance netted Easy Ice “an operating base and skilled technicians that will enable us to significantly expand our market share in Metro New York,” Mahlmeister said.

With branches in New York and Los Angeles, Icesurance was led by Jeff Hendler. The industry veteran has built a family enterprise into a

bi-coastal ice resource for the restaurant and foodservice industry. “We are very excited to become part of the Easy Ice family, because we share so many key core values,” noted Hendler.

The success of Icesurance was due in part to their strategy of pair-

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May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 27

NEWS

By Karen Jones

TECH STRATEGIES

CHOWNOW SAVES RESTAURANTS $470M, CREATES TAKEOUT AND DELIVERY WIN FOR NATION’S RESTAURANT OPERATORS

Chris Webb

A

s foodservice operations cast off the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, many are saddled with high commission fees charged by third-party delivery apps. These fees not only consume a chunk of their already meager margins but are also eating away at the personal relationship the restaurants should have with their customer base.

To help restaurants and foodservice businesses remain viable and visible, ChowNow, an online food ordering platform, offers restaurants a range of digital tools and services, marketing support, and access to valuable customer data.

Independent restaurants have been especially hard hit as they struggle to meet the high demand of off-premises dining - a habit which became rou-

tine for diners during the pandemic.

The problem is further compounded by the fact that these delivery apps have teamed up to sue the City of New York for the right to maintain their high commission fees per order. “This sends a very clear signal of their intent to continuously increase their commission charges over time,” said Chris Webb, ChowNow’s Co-Founder and CEO. ChowNow’s model is particularly attractive to restaurant operators as it helps streamline online ordering as well as increase their visual presence with different marketing tactics. According to Webb, their platform “is the future of the industry.”

ChowNow offers three standalone products. ChowNow Direct includes a full suite of online ordering software for the restaurant at prices ranging

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from $129-$199 a month depending on subscription length. Restaurants get their own branded mobile app, membership loyalty program, ordering on their website, plus automated marketing.

An overview of ChowNow’s current products: • ChowNow Direct: a transparent, subscription-based model for online ordering with optional add-ons like professional photoshoots and website creation. ChowNow Direct is commission-free and restaurants own all of their customer data.

• ChowNow Marketplace: ChowNow’s national, commission-free app and website that allows restaurants to keep 100% of their profits. It is free for any local or independent restaurant to sign up and be listed on the app.

• ChowNow Order Better Network:

the industry’s first product to connect restaurants to over a dozen diverse channels for delivery and takeout, including Google, Yelp, OpenTable and Snapchat, so restaurants can maximize their online footprint without costly setup fees and time.

ChowNow restaurant partners are paired with Restaurant Success Managers who guide the operator through online menu structuring and positioning to increase sales. The company also offers effective marketing tools suited to individual foodservice type and location. “It’s an all-in-one package that makes it easy to get up and running,” Webb explained.

Webb and his team recognized more than ten years ago that online

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WGYC - Dressing 9.5x10.pdf 1 1/21/2022 8:32:10 AM

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May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 29

MEDIA CORNER

With Joyce Appelman

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING:

BOOKS, TV, FILM, AND PODCASTS

WHAT WE’RE READING:

WHAT WE’RE LISTENING TO: her grandmother to a cold cucumber soup with garlic chives and mint to poblano peppers stuffed with polenta and cheese. Most are preceded by informative, justifiably opinionated notes on everything from the selection of ingredients (no canola oil, thank you) to the importance of experimentation and improvisation. Practical, but more important, thoughtful and inspiring.

Serving The Hamptons The Hamptons is where the rich spend their summers, and Zach Erdem’s 75 Main is known as one of the best and most exclusive restaurants in the Hamptons. With constant drama in the staff house, broken rules and a shocking love triangle, will the sexy, young staff manage to make the summer a success? Tune in to watch the series from Discovery+ on how the staff works to keep customers coming back.

Bad Vegan The four-part documentary on Netflix chronicles the rise of the vegan and raw food restaurant Pure Food and Wine NY restaurant Sarma Melngailis opened with the chef Matthew Kenney. After marrying a mysterious man who claimed he could make her dog immortal, she finds her life veering off the rails and onto the path that led to plead-

ing guilty to theft and fraud charges in 2017.

Matt Sartwell, Managing Partner, Kitchen Arts & Letters Bookstore in New York City shares his book reviews...

Six California Kitchens: A Collection of Recipes, Stories, and Cooking Lessons from a Pioneer of California Cuisine Sally Schmitt with Bruce Smith Forewords by Thomas Keller and Cindy Pawlcyn A chef’s chef and a cook’s cook, Sally Schmitt helped define California cuisine, in particular the form that flourished in the Napa Valley, where she founded and ran three restaurants, including The French Laundry. She passed away in March, 2022.

In this highly personal cookbook shot through with memoir, Schmitt

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chronicles the six places she did most of her cooking, from her mother’s farmhouse kitchen to the three restaurants she ran, to a cooking school she founded, and finally, to the Mendocino cottage where she retired.

Anyone looking to understand the development of American cuisine will gain much from Schmitt’s perspective, which traces influences as diverse as frugal home cooking, the cuisine of Spanish-speaking early California settlers, internationally-travelled diners such as M.F.K. Fisher, aspiring winemakers, and chefs drawn from across the country by the region’s abundance of produce.

Schmitt’s recipes are distinctively styled, with instructions to the left and ingredients to the right. They range from a cheesy drop biscuit passed down from

Food IQ: 100 Questions, Answers, and Recipes to Raise Your Cooking Smarts Daniel Holzman and Matt Rodbard Imagine having experienced and patient friends who happily answer kitchen questions of any sort. All they want to do is encourage you to cook, and to cook better, so that you can eat happily.

Daniel Holtzman and Matt Rodbard want to be those friends for

you. Food IQ address a range of issues that you might otherwise secretly Google, only to find conflicting advice from sources as varied as a traffic cop who claims to have once written Alice Waters a parking ticket and a dude on Reddit whose handle is u/mybigkniferulz.

Holtzman’s professional resume runs from training at Le Bernardin and the CIA to opening The Meatball Shop and running a pizza joint in LA. Rodbard founded the James Beard Award-winning online magazine and podcast Taste Cooking.

The guys have been around and know their chops.

In a smartly conversational tone they treat head on questions which are often relegated to the background in other books, offering clear and concise answers, and supplementing their insight with appealing recipes.

Food IQ will answer questions such as: • How do I make great coffee and

do I need to spend $300 on beans and a grinder?

• How do I strategize a “clean out the fridge” meal?

• Why shouldn’t I always use olive oil?

• What is a gastrique?

• Why is my whole roast chicken always dry?

Throughout the book sidebars introduce you to other authorities worth knowing (Eric Ripert, Deb Perelman, and Ligiya Mishan, for example), and the clearly written recipes encourage you to step outside your comfort zone and try something new. Encouraging and smart.

Editor’s Note About Podcasts- Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, including on Apple Podcasts, iHeart, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Audible & more.

of the year and NY restaurant owner Joe Campanale (and also dabbles in winemaking in Italy called Annona), this weekly podcast dabbles on the inner workings of our favorite spirits via chats with winemakers, sommeliers, brewers, beverage directors, bartenders, distillers and journalists sharing firsthand what goes into making our favorite drinks.

In The Drink Hosted by Food & Wine Sommelier

Farm to Table Talk Hosted by Rodger Wasson, this

podcast tries to understand what farm to table really means and what the movement is all about. Hear from young ranchers who discuss what it means to be a part of the next generation of farmers and activists fighting for rural communities. Each episode features chefs, producers, policymakers, and researchers that are influencing the food system today.

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May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 31

SPIRITED NEWS + VIEWS

WITH FRANCINE COHEN

SHORT TERM DRINKS-TO-GO LEGISLATION SHAKES UP REVENUE STREAMS AND POSSIBILITIES FOR BARS

F

ollowing legislative budget agreement talks sounds like a lengthy, and dusty, business that few New Yorkers, except for the wonkiest and those involved, would want to do. The exception, perhaps, was this year’s budget talks…when reinstituting the temporary pandemic-time measure of drinks-to-go was on the table.

Good news in case you weren’t listening in; it passed. And drinksto-go are now legal in New York for the next three years. For many bars it will be a lifeline or a bonus opportunity. For a few, unfortunately, a burden. But, like with all communities, it was passed in the interest

of the greater good. And instituted immediately.

That immediacy was important to New York’s Governor Hochul as she notes, “Our small businesses have well, have been hit so hard by this pandemic. Sadly, many did not return. Small businesses, especially restaurants, just couldn’t hold on during that time. And we hear their voices, especially as I’ve traveled across the state during the pandemic and afterward. Many companies, many small businesses have had to make tough financial decisions just to keep their workers safe under rules that we put in place because the pandemic was not over. And so, we have to keep

32 • May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com

them alive. They add the personality and the charm to our communities. We have to make sure they keep the doors open... I was a waitress for a long time, five years, and I know how hard it is to hang on. They really bore the brunt of shutdowns and pandemic restrictions.”

Lisa Hawkins, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs at DISCUS commends Governor Hochul and the legislature for reinstating cocktails to-go. She notes the importance of a vibrant and strong hospitality industry that helps boost jobs, tourism and tax revenue for the state, and recognizes the importance of this economic lifeline as she says, “Just because New York’s restaurants and bars have reopened, doesn’t mean they have recovered. Hospitality businesses continue to face several challenges. The pandemic continues.”

At Lucky, the bar owned by Abby Ehmann, the return of drinks togo legislation remains challenging.

Her pain points? The substantial food clause that’s part of the legislation and the fines that come with not adhering. For venues like hers, i.e., taverns without a kitchen, offering up a food item to go with the drinks is cost prohibitive and operationally challenging. She’s opted not to offer drinks to go for her guests and doesn’t look forward to telling her guests what she expects to have to repeat over and over for the next three years, “No, I can’t give you a drink to go.”

At other establishments drinks to go were a lifeline, though they may take a back seat as the weather warms up again. Mathias Van Leyden spent two solid years putting

Francine Cohen is an awardwinning journalist covering the business of the f&b/hospitality industry, and a proud native Washingtonian (DC). In addition to her work as a journalist she keeps busy fundraising for Citymeals on Wheels, Les Dames d’Escoffier, NY Women’s Culinary Alliance, and the USBG Foundation and serves as chief storyteller and brand steward for clients in the food and beverage sector by providing them with strategic marketing and business growth guidance.

She has never met a cheese or beverage she does not like, and lives with her husband in New York; leaving him behind to visit New Orleans every summer. (Except 2020-21. Darn pandemic.) You can reach her at francinecohen@mindspring.com

his restaurant vision into place before he opened the doors of Loulou in Chelsea on February 19th of 2020. And then almost immediately found himself having to reimagine his business plan for the bistro once everything shut down. Cocktails togo were a saving grace at that point.

He shares, “It was a steady revenue stream. It started growing quickly, going from $1,000 a month to almost $5,000 and it helped us stay afloat and keep the doors open.”

Now that restaurants are open again Van Leyden is seeing things a little differently as his guests are

continued on page 34

­

Ruggiero Seafood, Inc.

PO Box 5369 Newark, NJ 07105 - info@ruggieroseafood.com - www.ruggieroseafood.com

May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 33

FRANCINE COHEN

from page 32

not walking in and getting drinks to go, the way they used to when they didn’t feel comfortable going inside.

The addition of outdoor seating has also played a big part in his feeling about to-go drinks since capacity for covers jumped from about 60 seats a night to over 120 while the kitchen remained the same size and has to keep up. He notes, “I’d rather people stay and have more drinks than take their one and leave.”

At Holiday in the East Village Creative Director Barbara Sibley just wants her patrons to get Holiday’d

wherever they’d like. Sibley feels like that drink a guest takes to go, or orders for delivery at home, had better be just as good an experience as they’d have at the bar. She is committed to consistent standards and says, “If they have that craving and know your bar, they want you to recreate that experience for them for them at home.”

Hawkins sees that. She and her team that lobbied to get 18 states and the District of Columbia to permanently enacted drinks-to-go legislation, with over a dozen more put-

SIPS TO SAVOR

Sibley is tapping that desire and spreading her creative wings by staying true to Holiday’s cheeky embrace of nostalgia and building a Happy Meal-like drinks-to-go program that encompasses every single drink on their menu. Count on drinks and sliders coming your way in a dinosaur lunchbox when you order from Holiday. Dinosaurs? In a bar?!

Sibley concludes, “When you have a business challenge it makes you be more creative, and I think this is one of those moments.”

We’re traveling this month to Italy and Greece for the newest items we’ve found to pour into our favorite glass. And while we’re not advocating getting an early morning start on the drinking, we can’t help waking up to say buon giorno and kalimera to Gajardo and Kástra Elión and the families behind them.

Gajardo Gajardo is a liqueur with deep Italian roots. Produced at Distilleria Schiavo, a fifth-generation Grappa distillery based in a small town near Vicenza, Italy named Costabissara, it is made with the infusion of all natural herbs, roots and spices and crafted in small batches.

You’ll find three varieties for your sipping pleasure and cocktail making: Gajardo Bitter Radicale (25% ABV/$45 SRP), Gajardo Fernet Radicale (40% ABV/$45 SRP), and Gajardo Arancia Radicale (40% ABV/$45 SRP).

34 • May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com

ting temporary measures in place.

And they know it was something that consumers wanted as much as the bars did. She comments, “New York consumers really embraced cocktails to-go. At the height of the pandemic, it allowed them to support their local restaurants and bars, while also enjoying a handcrafted cocktail at home. When the pandemic hit, so many people missed being at bars and a being able to pick up a handcrafted cocktail to go was a small way to bring that experience back into their homes.”

Kástra Elión Three generations have been working behind the scenes tapping Greece’s rich heritage of world-class olives and turning them into vodka. These hand-picked olives are found in the Nafpaktos region of Greece, and they create a flavor profile for this vodka that offers subtle notes of ripe olives refined with peppery undertones before it comes to a soft, buttery finish.

May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 35

Q&A

EXCLUSIVE FOODSERVICE INTERVIEW

KIMBERLY GRANT Global Head of Restaurants and Bars, and Senior Vice President, Food and Beverage, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts; Board Director, Performance Food Group

A

mong the truly challenged segments of the hospitality industry as a result of the pandemic has been the hotel sector. With that in mind, Total Food Service sought out a world-renowned expert to help us understand what it is going to take for the hotel industry to once again flourish. Our goal — to share a food and beverage perspective that’s topical, that a hotel operator can control while waiting for tourism and business travel to return.

As the recently appointed Global Head of Restaurants and Bars, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts (in addition to being their Senior VP, Food and Beverage), as well as Board Director at Performance Food Group, Kimberly Grant is such an expert. Grant has over twenty-five years of hospitality industry experience leading and scaling restaurant and F&B companies in both the privately-held and publicly-traded sectors. Grant brings to her role at the Four Seasons, operational expertise that includes leading a decentralized workforce of over 30,000 team members, multi-unit operators, and support center operations.

In this exclusive interview, Kimberly Grant shares her plan for the Four Seasons food and beverage operations and with that, her insights into how the hotel industry will stage its comeback.

Please walk us through your career track prior to the Four Seasons.

I started at L&N Seafood (Morrison Restaurants) as a server in the early 1990s. Like a lot of us in the industry, I worked my way up through all the positions: as a server trainer, manager,

General Manager and even kitchen manager from time to time as needed.

We did everything when I joined the company. There were about 157 restaurants, and it was definitely in the growth stage of the company. I ended up after four or five years in operations moving to the finance department just as the Specialty Restaurant Division became Ruby Tuesday Inc and spun off as its own public company from Morrison’s. I eventually worked as the controller for the company, then VP-Controller, working for the CFO and doing all the activities of a public company that a financial executive would do.

And then after a handful of years doing that, I went back out and operated 40 restaurants in Atlanta. Then a couple 100 restaurants in the southeast. I actually went from server to COO of the company in about nine years. We were in our heyday and opening 50 to 60 restaurants a year with nearly 1.8 billion in revenue. I was there a total of 21 years before leaving a decade ago, when the founder, retired, I left shortly thereafter and went on to move across the industry to become the CEO of Jose Andres’ Think Food Group (TFG).

That’s the next chapter in my career.

The first was in the public company, casual dining world and then the second chapter was in the privately held Michelin starred chef world with Jose.

Funny, many people ask me about that transition. Because in our industry, we generally pick a lane and stay in it. I really didn’t have to pick because I was working for Ruby Tuesday while I was on the board of BlackBerry Farm

continued on page 38

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Kimberly Grant, Global Head of Restaurants and Bars, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts (Photo by Tony Powell)

PARTNERING TO HELP DELIVER

FOODSERVICE SUCCESS AT EVERY LEVEL 1

Do more with less

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May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 37

Q&A

KIMBERLY GRANT, from page 36

so moving to TFG was a natural evolution in my food and beverage career.

I can’t believe you just mentioned Blackberry Farm, isn’t that the place in Tennessee where they do the weddings?

That’s one of the many things we did including a lot of culinary events. It’s beautiful land and people that create beautiful, experiences. I was able to meet top chefs and vintners from all over the world and form relationships.

One of the relationships that I had formed led me to become the CEO at TFG. I was for almost seven years right before the pandemic. It’s funny I stewarded one brand for many, many years and then went over and had 16 different concepts and nine different cuisines. It was a total opposite of what I had done for so long. At TFG, we were operating in boutique hotels and casinos, and amusement destinations, as well as neighborhood restaurants. We did a little bit of everything. Our last project was to open a 36,000 square

foot food hall in Manhattan. It was the full gamut. I tell everybody, now I’ve run everything from a food truck to a Michelin two-star restaurant and everything in between.

What attracted you to the opportunity at Four Seasons?

First of all it’s the Four Seasons, just start there! I’m obviously an admirer of the brand. But more importantly. I gravitate towards founder led organizations. I appreciate and really enjoy being a part of a deep seeded culture that is attractive to other people like me. I think that was one of the starting points and then it’s the opportunity. I feel like the 30 years that I’ve navigated through the industry and all the different types of formats and geographical diversity has prepared me to be able to lead, an organization that has a footprint of restaurants and bars, like we do at Four Seasons. I think it was a perfect match of opportunity and timing and skill set and passion for what I have in the business.

The name Isadore Sharp has been synonymous for a long time with the Four Seasons brand. Does it still sort of live on as you help to write a new chapter for the brand?

It’s the spirit 100% today. I was really fortunate because within the first three weeks, I was able to meet and spend time with him. He is not only a legend, but he continues to be the driving force behind everything that we do.

After spending time with him, how would you define the Isadore Sharp recipe for success?

My opinion is that he’s both happy and uplifting. He makes people smile as soon as he’s in the room. Start there and then it’s all about hospitality. Early on, the company culture was grounded in the Golden Rule-treating others as one wants to be treated. It’s been like that from the beginning, every person I met at Four Seasons as I went through the hiring and on-boarding process. It is an absolutely amaz-

ing feeling that we have for guests and team with everything revolving around their happiness.

What were the marching orders that Christian Cleric handed to you to create and implement this new vision?

We have been in conversation for quite a bit of time. It’s evolved obviously, with the pandemic that has changed our world, probably forever and in some ways for the better. It begins with an amazing footprint of restaurants and bars at just over 550 venues around the world. And it’s really around achieving a vision of strengthening our position as the preferred luxury operator of restaurants and bars around the world. We also happen to have this beautiful backdrop of spectacular hotels and resorts to do that in. The key becomes strengthening the skill and capability within our organization to accomplish our goal.

continued on page 40

BOOTH #1112 38 • May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com

BOOTH #11438

May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 39

Q&A

KIMBERLY GRANT, from page 38

The last two years have been nothing short of devastating to the hotel industry. What are your goals as you look into engineering a restart through the portfolio of properties?

The real starting point is just getting back to business, getting all of our outlets, amenities and independent signature restaurants operating at full capacity. That relies on many factors but obviously, first and foremost is our team and their talent. There are the realities of navigating the supply chain challenges and all the mechanics that go into, producing guest experiences every day. That’s really the practical part. Once we get past today and the near term, really being able to be innovative and creative. That includes fine tuning all of our current food and beverage offerings that we have, from restaurants and bars, to in-room dining, catering, and special events.

We also need to look at our future that includes a number of properties under development that are in all different stages. With that we spend a lot of time thinking about the future of food and guest experiences. How will those evolve, two years, five years and a decade from now.

It’s revolving around creativity and innovation, for both our hotel and neighborhood guests.

Do the buckets remain the same meaning business travel, tourists travel, and then local trade? Is that

how you look at the landscape?

It may be even a little bit more nuanced than that. With a brand like Four Seasons, we have so many different types of properties around the world.

Some are destination resorts, others are urban retreats, some are small, and some are very large. The one consistent opportunity that we’re really embracing is more and more local guests are enjoying our restaurants than ever before. We also know that many of our hotel guests enter our brand through their first experience with one of our restaurants or bars. On the business side it could be a power breakfasts, an important lunch or a celebratory closing dinner. Personally, it might be an anniversary or their Easter brunch.

The goal is that with a local experience at one of our hotels, the guest falls in love with our brand and our team.

With that they want to try more and their next interaction with the brand may be an overnight stay on a business trip.

The hotel industry has taken a number of different approaches to restaurants including as a loss leader. For many years, you would rarely see a high-end chef or a high-end restaurant go into a hotel property. Can you talk about how that turned into Joel Robuchon in New York City at a Four

continued on page 42

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40 • May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com

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May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 41

Q&A

KIMBERLY GRANT, from page 40

Seasons and how you look at what goes into properties now?

We probably want to separate a chef joining a hotel project and the idea of a loss leader. It begins with what are the needs of the guest that is going to be enjoying the venue and our projecting what the guest is looking for: fine dining, approachable dining or even limited service dining. In many cases, it has a lot to do with not only what we are offering within the footprint of the hotel, but also who we are competing with in the neighborhood.

That includes which cuisines are represented and offer an opportunity. We read the local trends in the marketplace with an understanding that different cosmopolitan cities around the world have different levels of sophistication with food and beverage. So we can be a little bit more envelope pushing and exploratory in certain markets or to be more predictable. We have so many incredible concepts that within Four Seasons, we’ve developed and proven over the years. Many of them have garnered, accolades and awards, not only from our guests, but from the industry. That has given us a stable of creative content that we can use at our disposal to launch new or renovated projects. Our priority is to look within first. Of course there are opportunities from time to time where we may or may not have the needed solution format or check. In that situation, we’ll look outside to partners that we’ve had wonderful relationships with or emerging talent that we feel are a good fit for the opportunity.

With that in mind can you build a successful culinary team and a career at a hotel?

It’s great that you asked that we actually just posted new culinary, corporate culinary director’s positions yesterday for three key roles on our team around the world. The talent that we’re looking for within Four Seasons to add to our already tremendous pool. They really love and want to be a part of innovation and creativity within the culinary world. What then resonates with them is the uniqueness of our Four Seasons career opportunity. Our

venues to offer structure with the systems, processes and the support of a larger organization to succeed. At the same time, we offer nimbleness, the agility to be creative, and to be innovative within a framework. It’s kind of the best of both worlds. I spent the first 21 years of my career in a systemized organization, where you are replicating over and over again, and then the last seven years in a very fluid creative environment where anything was possible, and it’s kind of the blend of both.

Is the opportunity to work globally in hotels still an attraction for young people looking to build a career?

Here at Four Seasons, you can decide that you want to live in Tokyo or Dubai because that’s where you are in your life and you want a new adventure. The ability to be able to move around the world, but never change your employer is so unique. We also offer stability and continuity to stay in the same location or city.

Does a Four Seasons chef have input into menu design and local vendors to buy from?

Yes and foremost, it comes back to the skills and capabilities of the chef.

Depending on where they are in their, experience and career, some get more autonomy than others. At the same time, we have leveraged the size and scale of our organization to get access to the highest quality products at the best price and to support our goal for consistency.

Do you come into this with any preconceived notions about menu trends? Do you see people wanting to eat healthier? Is sustainability something for them on the menu?

Our guests, want food with integrity and certainly that can now include plant-based items. The goal is to be as local as possible whether it’s a tomato, center of the plate protein, or their water, we were serving to our guests.

It really begins with our guests’ preferences, eating habits and how we can accommodate by saying yes.

continued on page 44

42 • May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com

BOOTH #4478

May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 43

Q&A

KIMBERLY GRANT, from page 42

Why is the Four Seasons a great place for a hospitality grad to build a career?

Today’s graduates have a different expectation of what companies need to do to make them happy. And that feeds a little bit of our labor issues and the industry overall. Four Seasons is a great organization with very deeply entrenched values, and a passion for excellence. If that resonates with you as a front of house, team member or at whatever level of our organization you would come in at, then we offer a great place to start your career.

For instance, if I’m a kid coming out of Cornell, I get to learn two businesses at the same time rather than one.

Not only am I working in the food and beverage and restaurant business, but I’m also in the hotel business as well.

There’s a misconception sometimes out there in our industry that you have to go to Cornell to work at Four Seasons, right? No! But it’s a great question that I run into all the time. I don’t know that I as a young person in the industry would have applied at Four Seasons. I grew up a poor farm kid in Pennsylvania and I didn’t have those type of life experiences. What we’re really working hard to do is something that I learned while I was on the board of BlackBerry Farm. We are looking for happy, kind, nice people that love the industry and want to make other people happy and wherever that happens.

There’s no academic program that

teaches that.

Exactly right. I run into people all the time that will say to me do you think I could work in a hotel? Or I’ve never worked in luxury before? Absolutely. We need that core DNA of a happy, kind person, and we will teach you the rest. We have the most amazing training program, and our teams just live to help others learn and grow.

We just need that starting point and anyone can flourish, if this is what they want to do.

What about in terms of an environment for women to grow their careers does Four Seasons provide?

The best way to answer that is it’s a journey for all of us in the industry.

We know that the industry is underrepresented, there’s no doubt about it.

There are a lot of reasons for it and the key is doing something about it and making Four Seasons and every company in our industry a great place to work and grow for everyone. We’re doing better than we’ve done before.

What I tried to do is just lead by example and be able to demonstrate there’s a pathway for all types of leaders. It’s something that we work at every single day.

I’m making the assumption that your definition of hospitality is still face to face. With that in mind, what role does technology play as we move for-

continued on page 46

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44 • May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com

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Q&A

KIMBERLY GRANT, from page 44

ward in this business?

I think we look at technology as an enabler to be able to spend more time with guests. We also want it to be an enabler for our guests to be able to speak with us, whether they’re in our restaurants or hotels.

We have invested heavily into an app that is a tremendous communication tool. It helps us within the organization to serve the needs of our guests as quickly as possible. We are not looking to replace personalized service because it’s the foundation of Four Seasons, so that’s something that will never change. Perhaps a robot could run the dishwasher tohelp us be more efficient. I don’t see it in a scenario in which we are interacting with a guest that requires the personal touch of someone who cares. Robots can’t provide our standard of care and love.

When you started years ago, a restaurant would promote itself with a print ad or radio, ad and maybe some television. How has technology im-

pacted how you market the Four Seasons restaurant properties?

This is one of the journeys that we’re, exploring further right now.

Typically, in the past, a lot of venues that were located within hotels, relied upon the touch points that the hotel offered from a website to reservations or collateral within the rooms. Technology has enabled us to compete like a local restaurantand just like local restauranteurs,we use different reservation platforms like Open Table and Tock so external guests can find us.

Internally, we are using technology to make sure that it’s easy for a guest in our hotel to plan ahead and make a reservation in our restaurants.

With that what’s your approach to the branding of your restaurants in each of your local markets?

For instance, here in DC, we have a great restaurant within our Georgetown location called Bourbon Steak.

It’s a partnership with Michael Mina and people here in DC when they say

they’re going to eat or dine or have a meeting, say they are going to Bourbon Steak not the Four Seasons for dinner.

That’s a great goal for us in every city that we operate in as we try to establish a presence for our food beverage.

Because in some cases, the majority of the guests that are dining in the restaurant are coming from local trade and not from our hotel rooms. It’s location dependent, of course. We need to make sure that we’re in the conversation if guests are deciding where they want to eat for a meal experience.

We want our brand and our offerings to be in that conversation. That means in the local Eater and Thrillists as people search for what’s exciting and are really great places to experience great food and service.

Final question, when you get up in the morning, it’s a very far-flung worldwide portfolio. Where do you start this mission and what do you see in the proverbial crystal ball?

Someone once told me that when you’re looking at the next opportunity in your life career, if you can say it without having to explain it, then you’ve “got it”. I look at the collection of spectacular, gateway cities in the Four Seasons portfolio. With that I see aspirational locations all over the world as people get inspired to travel, again and to, experience our brands and places that they’ve either loved today or have dreamed of going, I want that list of restaurants and bars that we have within our portfolio to be of equal stature and presence and as inspiring as the locations that we have hotels and love. That’s part of having, celebrated brands, and gifted crafts people both in the back and front of the house to make it happen. The aspiration of our guests being willing to drive across town or fly to another city to have a Four Seasons created culinary experience will serve as our North Star for the restaurant and bar group going forward.

BOOTH #3620

46 • May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com

May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 47

PROVISIONS PREVIEWED

WITH LMT PROVISIONS

RELIEF TO-GO I

This time around [to-go drinks] will be a bit different.

Restaurateurs and bar-owners already faced the learning curve and figured out how to do it right last time around, and we’re certainly all ready for another round. But, another development has been the influx of new, specialized products that allow for stylish packaging without the risk of spillage or tampering.

n a development that has been hailed by local businessowners and customers alike as a boon to the state, to-go cocktail legislation has been approved as part of New York State’s 2023 budget. It will be the law of the land for the next three years.

This will further the industry’s recovery by opening another income stream to the state’s bars and restaurants. These businesses, which are among the most strained by the pandemic, more than deserve it.

What a most welcome, overdue up-

date from Albany! Join us in toasting this legislation, which is mirrored across the country in 18 states, and the District of Columbia, where cocktails to-go are permanently legal and 13 where they are temporarily legal as a Covid relief measure.

Relief, indeed.

We tried this before – from March 2020 to June 2021. To-go drinks came and, well, went equally abruptly, causing confusion among both consumers and operators. This time around will be a bit different.

Restaurateurs and bar-owners al-

48 • May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com

ready faced the learning curve and figured out how to do it right last time around, and we’re certainly all ready for another round.

Another development has been the influx of new, specialized products that allow for stylish packaging without the risk of spillage or tampering. A regular to-go cup and straw will not do on their own but can easily be integrated with tamper-proof labeling. For example, Cambro’s StaySafe tamper evident labels are an easy and economical way to turn existing, traditional

Andrew Geoffrey Beres is the Marketing Operations Manager for Singer Equipment Company, developing global marketing strategy and tactics for the enterprise. He holds a Master of Management in Hospitality from Cornell University, a Bachelor of Arts in French and Francophone Studies from Columbia University, and a lifelong love of restaurants and dining. Andrew is based in Manhattan and can be reached at aberes@ singerequipment.com.

products into something more compliant and reassuring.

We’ve also seen success with entirely new products which, in addition to making cocktails to-go more convenient than ever, lend them-

continued on page 50

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SINGER

from page 48

selves very well to customization, either with labeling or printing. Resealable drink pouches, like those from TableCraft, have been one of the breakout stars in this segment.

PET bottles are another great option for operators. American Metalcraft’s sleek, minimalist version with aluminum screw-top lids and DOCC Inc.’s tamper-evident bottles in a host of sizes and lid colors are excellent choices for operators aiming to bottle cocktails in advance of service. Unlike canned cocktails, do not require additional equipment beyond perhaps a funnel.

Aiming for large-format cocktail service or even draft beer or cider to go? Gotta get a growler! Libbey offers multiple sizes, in classic amber glass, that can be easily customized with etching. They’re a great choice that customers can use and reuse!

It’s one thing to implement a new cocktail program to-go or introduce a new product while simultaneously in recovery – it will be quite another

during better days. Looking forward to three years of to-go drinks, at least, we’ll see more investment in specialized products both by manufacturers and consumers. With more options and greater freedom of choice, we’ll continue to optimize the guest experience, one drink at a time.

If you’re looking to enhance your beverage program with new to-go options, reach out to us at marketing@singerequipment.com.

About Singer Equipment Company: Singer Equipment Company is the fourth largest foodservice equipment and supply dealer in the United States and remains privately owned and operated in its third generation of family leadership. Headquartered in Elverson, Pennsylvania, Singer maintains offices and 8 distribution centers throughout the East Coast. Singer offers the power of a century of experience combined with highly personalized service delivered nationwide.

50 • May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com

Pack up your house beverages to-go with this 16 oz Plastic Beverage Pouch from TableCraft. These beverage pouches offer a fun alternative to the standard plastic or Styrofoam cup. Available in varying capacities to fill with your drink specials, juices, mixers, fruits or veggies and more! Pouches also work well to store and seal food and ingredients to prepare take away meal kits. Translucent polyethylene pouch design opens so you can stand it up; making filling and prepping simple and easy.

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Request a FREE sample and see recipes at https://go.simplotfoods.com/delivery May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 51

NEWS

KITCHEN STRATEGIES

SIX REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD MAINTAIN YOUR COMMERCIAL KITCHEN EQUIPMENT

M

aintenance of kitchen equipment forms an important part of the day-today operations in a foodservice business. Regular upkeep and maintenance allow you to maintain the health of each piece of equipment, ensuring it lasts long and works well throughout its operational lifespan.

Maintenance also acts as a preventative measure against potential kitchen accidents and food-safety concerns arising from poorly kept kitchen machinery. Frequent upkeep and cleaning also prevent major breakdowns that can cost your business a lot of money to repair. Maintaining a strict maintenance schedule and ensuring your kitchen equipment is regularly serviced is integral to the safe and hassle-free operation of your foodservice establishment. We discuss the importance of maintenance and offer a few tips on the upkeep of some major & essential machinery integral to your kitchen’s functioning.

The Importance of Maintaining Your Kitchen Equipment 1. Helps You Keep Equipment Looking New Most modern pieces of kitchen equipment come with sleek metal or

stainless steel finishes. Regular cleaning and maintenance will help you keep them looking bright and new.

Daily usage will lead to stains, grease, and grime buildup on your appliances.

Regular sanitation and cleaning will allow you to maintain the new look for longer. This also affects the long-term resale value of your appliances, since machines that look new will be more likely to be bought. The cleanliness of your machines also promotes safe practices in your kitchen and allows you to set the benchmark for regular upkeep at your restaurant.

2. Extend the Operational Lifespan of Your Equipment Frequent cleaning, maintenance, and operational checks allow your commercial kitchen equipment to last long. Food debris, grease, and grime can reduce the efficiency of your kitchen machinery, leading to breakdowns and eventually, repair costs.

Also, the main goal of purchasing high-quality equipment is to ensure it gives you maximum returns on your investment. Working to keep your equipment for longer brings you the highest returns on your investment.

It also prevents frequent purchases of equipment since maintenance en-

52 • May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com

sures each piece of machinery lasts for its full operational lifespan.

3. Save Money on Utilities Most commercial kitchen machinery relies on electricity, gas, and water to function. Equipment that isn’t clean tends to consume more of these resources due to the extra effort the machine needs to put into performing routine tasks. Cleaning and maintenance ensure grime and gunk are removed regularly so that your kitchen equipment can work efficiently. Lower consumption of resources means you have lower bills and higher profit margins from your business.

4. Maintain Food Quality & Safety Foodservice equipment that isn’t clean is a major safety hazard in commercial food businesses. Food deposits are breeding grounds for dangerous bacteria that can contaminate the food prepared by these machines. This presents a risk of food poisoning for your patrons and can lead to serious consequences. Not maintaining your equipment also poses a food quality problem as unclean machines will prepare subpar food. Machines that are not maintained properly can also land you in trouble with the health &

food departments. Hefty fines are imposed on establishments that don’t adhere to the health, hygiene, and food safety standards of the authorities.

5. Helps You Avoid Repair Costs Sudden breakdowns and malfunctions can cause major problems in a foodservice establishment. Not only do they cost money to fix, but also stall operations and cause you to take items off the menu until the malfunctioning equipment is back in service.

Lack of regular maintenance and service can lead to an increase in the frequency of major malfunctions, resulting in sudden delays, loss of sales, and increased costs of upkeep. It’s also important to insure yourself against sudden breakdowns of equipment by buying extended warranties from the manufacturer so you don’t end up paying money for repairs.

6. Promote Workplace Safety Equipment that is not maintained properly is more prone to accidents and mishaps. Grease and gunk can be flammable, and this presents a very real fire hazard in your kitchen. Ensure

continued on page 107

May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 53

NEWS

TABLETOP

ARC CARDINAL EXPANDS PRODUCT PORTFOLIO BY ® PARTNERSHIP WITH ABERT BUFFETWARE

L

eading manufacturer and supplier Arc Cardinal, proudly announces an official partnership with Abert Buffetware.

Abert, founded by Antonio Bertoli in 1929, is a market leader with ranges of tableware and smallwares products. Abert expanded its manufacturing knowhow in the 1980’s to include a full portfolio of buffetware including chafing dishes, stands, risers and more. Each product in the portfolio is guaranteed Made in Italy, fully in respect to the rights of the workers and devoted to Italian creativity.

Abert Buffetware stands out with its flexibility and personalization. Each piece in the portfolio is made to be intertwined with one another and made to match any solution at need thanks to its customization capability. Combining different materials like wood, tile and other mixed media of varying heights offers a pleasing display. The timeless and elegant design of this brand features many colors which can be adapted by restaurants or hotels to fit their themes, decor or menu styles.

“Abert’s high-design buffetware is a collection of contemporary styles entirely manufactured in Italy.

Unexpected combinations of natural materials allow elevation and versatility of our buffet system that perfectly integrates with the Arc Cardinal collections,” said Fabrizio Leonardi, Sales-Operations North America for Abert. “The partnership with one of the major players in the hospitality industry puts Abert in a prime position

a modern and trendy style.

Cosmo: Cosmo features cereal, juice, jam and coffee dispensers and display woods. Unique by their design and functional thanks to the dosing system, these dispensers will complete the buffet set up.

Along with display wood platters that bring design to the buffet and allow for a nice presentation of the food.

On Stage: Comprised of buffet stands and a chafing dish, this collection is perfect to out stand the cuisine of all types of buffets.

Mix & Play: Elevate your display and maximize display space with Mix & Play. Wood displays bring warmth to the buffet.

in the North American market.”

Arc Cardinal is proud to offer four unique collections to the market: Domino: Domino features ranges of steel podiums, stackable frames and porcelain tiles. The steel podiums are designed from powder coated steel in three different color options that

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are rust and scratch resistant. Featuring multiple sizes to mix and match at various heights and are fitted with the porcelain tiles available in a variety of styles. Domino stackable frames constructed from durable ash wood are available in black and white. Stack the frames for varying heights and pair with the stoneware tiles or the ice pack holders. Porcelain tiles offer a customized solution to the buffet with

“We are excited to announce our partnership with Abert Buffetware to our North American distribution network,” said Alexandre Bollengier, President of Arc Cardinal.

“Abert can be found across all buffet categories from breakfast, to conventions, meetings, large and small events, and more. Partnering with an innovative and design driven company like Abert made sense for us as we continue to grow our portfolio. The superior quality of the products, made in Italy, are in line with our company values and commitment to the market.”

To learn more about Arc Cardinal and the Abert brand, please reach out to your local Arc Cardinal tabletop consultant or visit www.arccardinal. com and follow on social media @arccardinal.

BOOTH #3809

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NEWS

TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

by Brian O’Regan

ADENTRO PAIRS WITH RESTAURANTS’ WIFI TO CREATE POWERFUL MARKETING PLATFORM

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ith the rise of “With that [data connected to your marketing], mobile ordering and take-out and a breakfast patron gets very specific breakfast delivery, restaurants offerings, and a cocktail hour patron receives a are working to get customers back 2-for-1 drink offering.” — Megan Wintersteen in their dining rooms. One way to achieve that goal is through personguest visited or how recently, it’s alized marketing. To help simplify the email address, we are also capalso possible to understand dwell and modernize a restaurant’s marturing the unique device ID of the time, walking in versus walking by, keting solutions there is Adentro. guest’s mobile device. That unique and what time of day and day of the Through their data capturing softcombination is then associated with week they visited. ware Adentro provides owners and an individual guest profile in your For example, operators can use a operators with the information they customer database, allowing operafeature called Labels to tag guests need to launch successful marketing tors to get a better understanding of that visit during certain days and campaigns that include personalizaa customer’s visit behavior and how times. Labeling guest profiles with tion at scale. they respond to your marketing,” lunch guest versus happy hour guest Adentro was founded in 2012 and said Wintersteen. “So now instead allows marketers to develop differwhile they were formerly known of measuring emails and ads with ent segments for communication, as Zenreach, they rebranded to clicks, you’re measuring perforwhich is only going to make it more Adentro last year to more accurately mance based on real customer visits effective. represent the value they bring to to your restaurant.”

Access to Adentro simply requires brick-and-mortar businesses.

The other benefit of leveraging a subscription and that a working “Adentro means ‘inside’ in Spanish, WiFi for visit data is that it gives guest WiFi network with compatible which gets us closer to the benefit the restaurant operator more hardware in the restaurant location. we provide to physical businesses at modern visit data than traditional From there, Adentro can simply log the in-store level,” said Adentro VP loyalty programs. In addition to in remotely to make a few configuof Marketing, Megan Wintersteen. understanding how many times a “The company founders saw that ecommerce had an advantage when it came to customer visibility and data compared to the brick-andmortar level. They sought to close this visibility gap for businesses with physical locations when it came to their in-store customers.”

The Adentro marketing platform helps businesses better understand and market to their customers based on customer visit behavior.

While it’s typical to see WiFi portals that captures guest email addresses, Adentro Megan Wintersteen, Adentro takes it a step further.

VP of Marketing “We are not only capturing

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ration changes and the system is set up in minutes. “Other than that, the only time additional investment is needed is if your existing WiFi access points are outdated,” explained Wintersteen. “In that case you would need to update them to make them compatible with the Adentro platform. We will assist the restaurant or operator in finding up-to-date access points and systems.”

With the connection to a location’s WiFi, the Adentro platform is then able to track to the visit behavior of a restaurant’s customers seamlessly and automatically. Previously the only way to do that was for a customer to be enrolled in a loyalty program.

Whether a restaurant has two locations or 200, Adentro is built to accommodate the needs of both independent and multi-unit operators. “We understand how busy the hospitality professional is, so we built this so that it doesn’t require daily or weekly management,” said Wintersteen. “Our system is built to enable personalization at scale, and we understand how important automation is for our audience.”

For those looking to take their marketing to the next level with modern customer visit data, Adentro offers a unique solution. By simply connecting the Adentro marketing platform with your in-store guest WiFi, you can reinvigorate your restaurant’s marketing efforts and better understand customer visit behavior.

More information can be found online at https://adentro. com/

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PLANT BASED NEWS + TRENDS

WITH CHERRY DUMAUAL

LET’S GROW! EXPERTS SHARE PLANT BASED COOKING TIPS

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t’s a privilege to contribute this new column that will highlight tips and insights from experts who can enlighten and inspire foodservice and restaurant professionals about plant-based cooking. With the evergrowing interest in the category, it makes sense to keep pace with current practices, while being aware of profitable trends and opportunities.

Our first expert is Chef David Bruno, Associate Professor, Culinary Institute of America. Prior to CIA, his experience includes Executive Chef, Cripple Creek, Rhinebeck, NY; Ardsley Country Club, Ardsley-On-Hudson, NY, and Executive Sous Chef and Head Chef, Mayflower Inn, Washington, CT. Chef Bruno shares these strategies: • Create craveability by introducing new items, examples: New Wave plant-based Shrimp, Finless Foods Tuna.

• Try and create plant-based items with the same intensity that other menu items have.

• Use the yin/yang effect/balance push & pull cooking principle – Yin/ yang is when complementary forces make up a balanced dish. The push and pull is how the ingredients work together to enhance the dish.

• Use acid, spice, and fresh herbs to create flavor.

The term plant-based may be misinterpreted.

Plant-based has multiple definitions such as no-meat/dairy product (vegan) or more plant than animal product (plantfocused/plant-forward). Thus, it is suggested to be extremely specific on what you are looking for from the distributor.

• Use the umami flavor found in natural foods. Examples of plant-based umami-rich foods: kombu seaweed; fresh tomatoes; aged, fermented, and cured foods; balsamic vinegar; soy sauce; green tea; shiitake mushrooms, and grapefruit.

• Think themes: seasonal, or special-occasion driven.

• Use texture, color, and nutrients.

What advice would Chef Bruno give on what to ask distributors about plant-based products?

• First, research new items available in the marketplace. Then, talk to people who enjoy eating plant-based foods to find out what appeals to them. Their input combined with your research will help inform what you’ll ask distributors.

Our next expert is Peggy Policastro, PhD, RDN, Director of

Rutgers Dining, Nutrition Services, NJ Institute for Food Nutrition, and Health/Dining Services. Dr. Policastro’s strategies are: • Identify key personnel who have a passion for plant-based foods, then develop an interdisciplinary team (chefs, RDNs, foodservice directors) to get buy-in for all areas within the foodservice establishment.

• Hire a registered dietitian/nutritionist. RDNs can collaborate with chefs to plan plant-based dishes and help educate the population on why eating a plant-based diet is recommended for personal health and the environment.

• Offer a plant-based item that has a familiar component, for example, a plant-based mac and cheese that uses a nut cheese instead of cow’s milk cheese; portobello mushroom fajitas in addition to beef or chicken fajitas.

Cherry Dumaual is the Partnerships Director, The Monday Campaigns / Meatless Monday. She oversees PR and partnership development for the initiatives of The Monday Campaigns (TMC), including Meatless Monday. She has forged partnerships with leading organizations, such as C-CAP (Careers for Culinary Arts Program), the American Institute of Cancer Research, and New Jersey Healthy Kids Initiative, Prior to joining TMC, Cherry served as svp for leading PR agencies and worked with major food and healthcare clients. Passionate about learning and cooking international cuisines, Cherry has traveled to more than 50 countries where she and her husband explored local food markets and restaurants. She earned her communications degree cum laude at Hunter College, CUNY.

• Label plant-based foods as being good for the environment (climatefriendly). Avoid focusing only on the health benefits. Also label items with sensory descriptions focused on the deliciousness of the dish.

When working with distributors, Dr. Policastro recommends: • Make sure distributors can supply the item in the amount needed over a period of time (supply chain issues).

Confirm the dish is HACCP certified.

• The term plant-based may be misinterpreted. Plant-based has multiple definitions such as no-meat/ dairy product (vegan) or more plant than animal product (plant-focused/ plant-forward). Thus, it is suggested to be extremely specific on what you are looking for from the distributor.

Chef Dan Churchill, Executive Chef at Charley St, a fast casual restaurant in Nolita, NYC, and one of the Meatless Monday Culinary Ambassadors, shares his strategies.

• Most importantly, the menu has to

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The landscape of food is completely raw right now which gives us a new light and ability to create.

NYESHA ARRINGTON Celebrated Chef, 2022 Show Supporter

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The Future of Foodservice Begins at the Show The most trusted industry event is serving up solutions for the challenges you’re facing now, from staffing and retention strategies to menu and supply chain optimizations. Find what you need to capitalize on emerging opportunities at the 2022 National Restaurant Association Show.

Watch celebrated chefs bring culinary trends to life.

See leading products from more than 1500 exhibitors to make your business more profitable.

Gather unique approaches to efficiency and sustainability at the Kitchen Innovations Showroom — the largest in Show history.

Sample multiple years of the Food and Beverage (FABI) Awardee creations that are breaking new ground in taste, imagination, and packaging.

Explore specialty areas like The Culinary Experience, The Beverage Room, and Startup Alley to get ahead of industry trends.

REGISTER NOW

www.nationalrestaurantshow.com/why-attend

MAY 21-24, 2022 McCormick Place | Chicago, IL

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NEWS

SPECIAL EVENTS

By Brian O’Regan

NATIONAL RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION SHOW SET TO HOST FIRST POST PANDEMIC EVENT LATER THIS MONTH IN CHICAGO

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ne would be hard pressed to find an industry that has faced more obstacles and overcome more seeming unconquerable challenges than the restaurant industry over the past two years. The Pandemic forced the nation’s restaurants and foodservice operators to adapt on the fly to a changing world.

With a collective search for what’s being termed a “New Normal”, the first time in three years the industry will reconvene this month in person. The National Restaurant Association (NRA) Show will take centerstage from May 21st through May 24th at McCormick Place in Chicago. At the show attendees will be able to attend multiple educational seminars as well as meet with more than 1,500 exhibitors who will be on the show floor.

“While there are a lot of events happening in the industry, the National Restaurant Association Show is the foodservice industry’s event because it unites all segments of the industry; everyone from commercial independent operators to chain operators to noncommercial operators, equipment dealers and distributors all have a place at the Show,” said President of Winsight Exhibitions, Tom Cindric. “The Show will be the first opportunity in three years where representatives from all parts of such a broad industry can come together and talk face to face. While we’re excited to provide a space for people to reconnect and talk about what they’ve

been through, we’re even more excited about bringing everyone back together to reimagine the future of foodservice.”

As for the vision of the show, Cindric has the answer “The Show certainly has a tremendous legacy.

When I went to the show in 2019, I was most impressed by the excitement around the products,” added Cindric “Everything from food sampling to equipment display, it’s a live show with lots of energy that promotes excitement around inventing and reinventing in the restaurant business. While our industry has certainly evolved, our vision remains the same. We want to leverage new perspectives and new innovations to cultivate foodservice professionals to be successful in their businesses.”

After three years of developing the next in person show, this year’s event will have multiple new features. “Two of our big experiences are Kitchen Innovations and our FABI (Food and Beverage) showcase awardees. The 2022 Show marks the largest showcases to date, as we feature the latest equipment and new food and beverage products from 2020, 2021 and 2022,” said Cindric.

“But the innovation extends far beyond these two areas. We have three years’ worth of new innovations and ideas to present at the show.

We have over five hundred new exhibitors plus over one thousand returning exhibitors. We are also looking forward to featuring brand

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NATIONAL RESTAURANT SHOW new startup companies and their products in the Startup Ally. Here you can find new food and beverage companies of all kinds— whether they be in the fields of technology, equipment, supply, we have something for everything. We are also excited to debut The Culinary Experience, which will be an interactive specialty area with some of the most celebrated chefs who will be providing demonstrations and offering tips and techniques. The Show really does offer something for everyone in the industry.”

In addition to the new aspects of the show the event will also play host to multiple special events for both attendees and exhibitors. “We are excited to announce that we have Alexis Ohanian, the cofounder of Reddit, as our keynote speaker,” said Cindric. “He will cover a variety of topics impacting our industry today in his address, and we feel that his discussion with the University of Chicago’s Starr Marcello will be both relevant and cutting edge as he speaks about creating disruptions and embracing opportunities.. Another highlight of this year’s Show will be the rebranding of our bar area into The Beverage Room, which widens our focus and range when it comes to adult beverages in the industry. We will also have a tremendous education program taking place right on the show floor—everything from fireside chats to our education super stages. We are offering paid workshops this year ,including one on ghost kitchens., and already have over 500 people signed up to participate.”

As to what he hopes attendees take away from the show, Cindric says it’s all about having an informative and memorable experience. “In the trade show industry there is a saying about finding the panda,” said Cindric. “When you go to the zoo and see the pandas it is something that you share with your coworkers, friends, and family when you come home. The

from page 62

“We have three years’ worth of new innovations and ideas to present at the show.” — Tom Cindric great thing about trade shows is the serendipity of them, whether it be from a product you saw, a conversation that you had, or session that you sat in on, that is my hope and goal for this show, that everyone comes away with their ‘panda experience.’

For those interested in registering for the show as either an attendee or exhibitor, or finding out more information on exhibitors, educa-

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tional opportunities, or other special events, more information can be found online at nationalrestaurantshow.com. Connect with the Show online on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. The National Restaurant Association Show, Hotel-Motel Show is owned and operated by Winsight LLC in equity partnership with the National Restaurant Association.

Tom Cindric

Let Your Senses Come to Life

Join Arc Cardinal and Sommelier David Berube who comes from the acclaimed sommelier team at Chef Daniel Boulud’s flagship, Restaurant DANIEL at the National Restaurant Show booth 4413. David will take visitors through the different shapes of the NEW Chef & Sommelier Villeneuve stemware collection created in collaboration with Chef Daniel Boulud.

www.arccardinal.com (973) 628-0900 May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 65

MEDITERRANEAN MENU TRENDS

WITH CHEF MARIA LOI

TRUFFLES: TU-BE(R) OR NOT TU-BE(R)…

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t’s May, and that means it’s officially spring. April showers have brought May flowers…as well as damp grounds, perfect for breeding truffles. Often thought of as one of the more accessible luxury culinary items in this modern day, truffles have actually been a part of epicurean culture for thousands of years.

as a tuber), was a miracle in and of itself, as ‘it is born and grows without roots.’

Around that same time, Plutarch of Cheronea, the ancient Greek philosopher said that truffles were ‘born’ through The Truffles of Old the combination of Since ancient Greece, Sumeria, Babwater, heat, and lightylon, and Rome, truffles have been a ening, referencing an precious commodity. Well respected instance in mytholoWinter Truffles being harvested (Photo by Sabatino Tartufi) and sought after, this coveted tuber gy where Zeus threw made its official historical debut in a lightning bolt at an the beginning of the common era by oak tree where truffles only as the father of the Gods, but as a Pliny the Elder, when the noted histowere then found. conqueror of women as well. rian and scientist penned his most imThis mythological connection with portant work, ‘Naturalis Historia’ (The Zeus triggered the physician Galen to So are Truffles mushrooms, or History of Nature). In his book, he assert that truffles possess aphrodijust Fun Guys (fungi)? claimed that the truffle (then known siac qualities, as Zeus was known not Often, I hear truffles referred to as mushrooms, but the truth is they are not! So, what’s the difference?

While it’s true that both mushrooms and truffles belong to the Fungi Kingdom, it’s best to think of them as cousins. Mushrooms grow above ground – almost anywhere – and have a very high moisture content; truffles, on the other hand, are the subterranean fruiting body of fungi. Truffles only grow below ground, always near tree roots, and have a very low moisture content.

While there are tens of thousands of mushroom species (though far less are edible), there are far fewer truffle species of which most chefs and culinarians are familiar – black winter truffles, black summer truffles, white truffles, burgundy truffles, and perigord truffles.

One of the biggest differences between mushrooms and truffles is Fresh Shaved Black Truffle and Eggs (Photo by Sabatino Tartufi) how they are to be handled: while

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Chef Maria Loi is an Entrepreneur, Greek Food Ambassador and Healthy Lifestyle Guru. The author of more than 36 cookbooks, she will also host a new show, The Life of Loi, debuting on PBS, which aims to build an inspirational and educational movement around the Mediterranean diet and lifestyle. Her Loi Food Products, a specialty brand built on traditional ingredients from Greece, includes pastas, beans, botanical herbs, refrigerated dips, honey and olive oil sold on QVC, at Whole Foods Markets and in other stores. The namesake of three restaurants, her current one is Loi Estiatorio in the heart of Manhattan. Connect with her on LinkedIn and learn more about her food philosophy atloiestiatorio.com/chef-loi/.

mushrooms of all sorts can be sauteed, baked, roasted, fried – really any cooking method available will work on these delicious earthy treats, truffles are meant to be revered and respected, allowing their natural musky, savory, unctuous, exotic qualities to elevate any and every dish in which they are incorporated, without heat.

The Truffle Shuffle - A Man and his…Pig? Wait, that doesn’t sound right….

When I was younger, I didn’t love the smell of truffles, but I did enjoy the flavor! However, per usual, the reason I was willing to try them at all, in spite of the aroma was because I got to go on truffle hunts with my Papou (grandfather in Greek), his best friend Christos, and their dogs, Jack and Argos (named for Ulises’ dog Argos), and this tiny little stray runt dog named Koukla (which means ‘doll’ in Greek), who would always follow along…like me!

For a long time throughout history, truffle hunting was done with a man and a special truffle sniffing pig…but

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MARIA LOI

from page 66

over the years, truffle hunters realized that these pigs were doing more than just sniffing – they were eating these precious tubers!

It turns out that the iconic truffle aroma acts as pheromones for pigs, because the compounds released are similar to porcine testosterone, which drive them wild! So, instead of simply finding the truffles, thanks to this pheromone driven excitement, the pigs dig wildly until they destroy the area and eat the truffles – not very productive for the human truffle hunter!

Nevertheless, truffle hunting with pigs was the common practice until the 1970’s, but my Papou preferred bringing Jack with him. This was in part because it meant Koukla would follow along (she loved Jack!), but mainly because the pigs would often eat the truffles, whereas Jack (and/ or Argos) would sniff them out, and then Koukla would do the ‘hard work’ – even at her more advanced age (she was 9) – and get into all the nooks and crannies with her tiny paws to dig up these nuggets of culinary gold.

Bringing Home the Proverbial Bacon…

After a triumphant hunt, Papou, Jack, Koukla, and I would come home and proudly show my mother our treasures. Her favorite way to honor this special ingredient was in a simple recipe that still makes my mouth water to this day. She would take the freshest eggs from our hens, and separate the whites from the yolks; after seasoning the egg whites with a little salt, fresh pepper, and touch of olive oil, my mother would cook the egg whites until they were semi solid – sometimes in a pan over open fire, sometimes in the oven. Once they reached her ideal consistency, she would gently add the yolks on top, and then cover with a lid for a minute or two, or stick the pan back in the oven, until the egg yolks were just barely set, and then take them out. Finally, she would take the newly harvested truffles, and shave them generously over the eggs, until you couldn’t see the yolks or whites any more.

That first bite?

Supple, fluffy

Truffles are a great flavor of Mediterranean cooking, in cuisine such as Roasted Chicken with Chestnuts Mushrooms and Greens dressed with Sabatino Truffle Zest and Truffle Oil (Photo courtesy of Chef Loi)

whites…rich, creamy, runny yolks… and of course, the indescribably earthy, savory, pungent flavor of the truffle that marries everything together into perfection, transporting me in that moment to my happy place.

Truffle-Mania It seems like today, truffles are everywhere! Everything on menus, in stores, and online seems like it’s all truffle-infused, truffle-scented, truffle-dusted, truffle-inspired…so the question is…is it really?

The answer is no. There are some companies that lean into the magic of food science to use synthesized flavors and scents to enhance dishes with artificial truffle this and that – most predominantly in the form of truffle oils.

However, there are some companies out there creating amazing truffleinfused/truffle-adjacent/truffle-tastic products for consumption using real

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truffles instead of synthetics.

One such company, Sabatino Truffles, has been in the truffle business for over a century, since 1911, and have created genuine, authentic truffle products that are accessible to everyone, professional chefs and home cooks alike. I know this, because I learned of this company many years ago, during my travels through Italy as a lobbyist. Often, we would detour to Umbria to enjoy the world’s most famous truffles.

While it’s true that a professional chef would love nothing more than to have an endless supply of the finest tubers on the planet, the reality for many of us in the industry is that fresh truffles can be prohibitively expensive, as not only are these precious commodities, but they are also highly perishable.

Sabatino Truffles came up with some amazing solutions for this is-

sue, with their incredible proprietary method for extracting truffle flavor and essence from real truffles imported from their land in Italy to their state-of-the-art factory in Connecticut. One of my favorites being their Truffle Zest line. As a purist at heart, I really appreciate their original Truffle Zest, which can be used to add a little bit of that unctuous, earthy, umami essence to literally any dish, from seafood, to soups, salads, sauces, eggs – when I say anything, I mean anything!

So, whether you’re a truffle lover, or simply dipping your toes in the truffle waves, there’s a truffle out there for everyone, just waiting to be unearthed.

Kalí órexi! Enjoy your meal!

Chef Maria Loi has the Loi Specialty Shop at The Plaza Hotel (open through January 2023).

May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 69

LEGAL INSIDER

FROM ELLENOFF GROSSMAN & SCHOLE LLP

FEDERAL COURT DECISION ESTABLISHES HEIGHTENED BURDEN FOR PLAINTIFFS BRINGING WEBSITE ACCESSIBILITY CLAIMS

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ast year there was an explosion of over 2,000 website disability accessibility lawsuits filed in New York federal courts, which sounded the alarm for many New York employers. These lawsuits allege that businesses’ websites violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), which prohibits discrimination against disabled individuals in the “full and equal enjoyment” of the goods and services of any “place of public accommodation.”

The majority of business leaders can surely agree that the ADA is well-intentioned.

Americans with disabilities should be able to fully access the features on a company’s webpage irrespective of their disability. However, these lawsuits have been a thorn in the side of New York employers and the business community generally because many of these lawsuits are filed by only a handful of law firms on behalf of the same plaintiffs, or “testers.”

“Testers” visit businesses’ websites with the sole purpose of uncovering violations of the ADA. Many times testers seek out the low-hanging fruit – companies who have existing website accessibility issues and have such alleged non-compliance with the ADA made public, usually on a separate website dedicated

to outing these companies. Once identified, testers file complaints against these companies in federal court that consist of vague, cookie cutter claims alleging that they were not able to access the goods and services offered by the company’s website because of an alleged disability, such as if the user is visually impaired, whether or not the tester actually visited the website and intended to ever purchase goods from the website or utilize the company’s services via the website.

Until now, businesses have not had many notable victories in

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federal courts that changed the landscape in this area of the law.

Employers may now feel some relief due to a recent ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit which has appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in New York, Vermont and Connecticut, and has effectively elevated the burden necessary for plaintiffs to bring these lawsuits: the individual must sufficiently allege that they suffered a “concrete” and “particularized” injury. In Harty v. West Point Realty, the Second Circuit found that the plaintiff failed to

Joseph Tangredi is an Associate at Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP in the firm’s Labor & Employment practice group. Joseph specializes in advising clients in the hospitality industry on labor and employment legal matters, and also defends his clients in labor arbitrations before the NLRB, and against wage/hour and discrimination claims brought in federal and state courts. Joseph Tangredi can be reached at JTangredi@egsllp.com or via phone at 212-370-1300.

meet this burden, and ruled that the plaintiff lacked standing, or the ability to bring the lawsuit. In that case, the plaintiff, a self-proclaimed “tester” who is disabled and uses a wheelchair, sued a hotel in West Point, Florida, based on claims that the hotel’s website did not have sufficient information about the property’s accessibility features available for people with physical disabilities.

The plaintiff acknowledged that he visited the hotel’s website solely to determine whether the website complied with the ADA, and not as a potential guest with the intention of reserving a room.

The Second Circuit held that the plaintiff lacked standing to seek monetary damages because the plaintiff did not plan to visit the West Point hotel as a guest and therefore, he could not allege that “his ability to travel was hampered by West Point Realty’s website in a way that caused him concrete harm.” For a similar reason, the Second Circuit held that the plaintiff could not seek any prospective, non-monetary relief for his claims. Specifically, the plaintiff only asserted vague allegations that he intended to use the hotel’s website to reserve a guest room at some unidentified point in time in the future. The court determined

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HOSPITALITY MARKETING

WITH REV CIANCIO

HOW TO GET CUSTOMERS TO ORDER DIRECTLY FROM YOUR RESTAURANT … Instead Of Using Third Party Apps

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hird Party Delivery Service Providers are a great way to find new guests. Hungry consumers use these marketplaces as a way to find new restaurants that will deliver to them.

They’re easy to use and have all kinds of options.

Unfortunately the DSPs control your customer and charge a high percentage to the restaurant. That’s why you’ve got to prioritize getting guests who have their first experience via the apps to make all subsequent orders directly.

You need control of the guest journey, the experience and the revenue.

This quick guide will show you 5 strategies and tactics that will get your guests to place orders directly with your native ordering system.

us still keep a menu drawer where it would make sense to keep that card.

RIGHT? Here’s the boss move: Instead of a call to action to order again, ask them to give you feedback. How was the meal? Did everything turn out all right? Did they enjoy it? How do you know if you aren’t there to ask?

Do a digital table touch … send them to a website where they can share their feedback and make sure

In Bag Conversion Tool & The Digital Table Touch Create small cards or notes that you can put into every order you get through a third party. What to put on those cards? That is the key here.

Most restaurants would include their logo, a QR code that takes them to their website, the URL of your website and maybe a discount.

That makes sense, right?

Think about it though, they literally just ordered from you and are enjoying your food right now. Why would they need instructions to order again? Also, it’s not like any of 72 • May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com

you are collecting their phone number and email address. That way you can email them a week later and suggest they order again … when they are ready! *Pro-tip* Offer an incentive like an enter to win if they give you their feedback.

Need help with this? It’s EXACTLY what Ovation does. It’s incredible and one of my favorite tools we use at Handcraft Burgers & Brew.

David “Rev” Ciancio is a former New York City bar owner and knows exactly how hard it is to operate and brand a hospitality business.

He is now a hospitality marketing consultant, customer and technology evangelist with more than 20 years experience in B2B digital marketing and business development, specializing in hospitality marketing, content, local SEO, reputation management and influencer marketing. He helps technology companies, brands and restaurants to acquire and retain customers. Rev is known as an “expert burger taster,” pens hospitality and marketing tips on his Instagram @revciancio, as well as his LinkedIn Profile. He believes that Pizza is a religion.

Convenience Tax It’s totally a common practice now and consumers expect that online ordering, especially from the third-party delivery service providers, costs more and has extra fees.

It’s been accepted as the norm.

Take advantage of this and increase your prices on third-party sites by around 20%. I pay a convenience fee to do anything anywhere else, why shouldn’t I expect the same when going through a delivery partner that isn’t the restaurant?

Look at it as a convenience tax.

They want to order from those apps because its easy, they are already logged in, maybe they got a discount …. Ok, no problem, that comes with a cost.

The Rolling Stones When Mick, Keith and the boys take stage to headline a festival, they do a 45 minute set of their greatest hits. You get “Satisfaction,” “Brown Sugar,” “Start Me Up” and the other big jams. But when you

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May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 73

NEWS

LEADERSHIP

HOW PLAYING UNDER A SUPER BOWL WINNING COACH MOTIVATES THIS RESTAURANT CEO

T

urning Point Restaurants, an emerging breakfast and lunch only concept offering unique, creatively designed, seasonal options in a warm and inviting setting, has recently made the decision to go into franchising. With 21 locations across three states, Turning Point’s growth can largely be attributed to the leadership of founder and CEO, Kirk Ruoff.

Ruoff started in the restaurant industry at the age of 13 when he was hired by his best friend’s father, former National Restaurant Association president Michael Hurst, to work at his ‘15th Street Fisheries’ restaurant in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. While that experience spurred his passion for the restaurant industry, his time playing football for Boston College under Super Bowl-winning coach Tom Coughlin helped to shape the type of leader he is today.

“While the coach may not be on the field running the ball or battling in the trenches, they are on the sidelines calling plays and getting the most out of their players,” said Ruoff. “Coach Coughlin was always motivating our team and collabo-

rating with every position on the field to create a winning game plan.

Coaches, like business owners, will pull out all of the stops to succeed, and it’s up to them to set expectations and be clear about the game plan ahead.”

Coughlin was the head coach of the Boston College Eagles Football Team from 1991 to 1993 before taking over as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 1995. After becoming head coach of the New York Giants in 2004, he led the team to two Super Bowl wins in 2007 and 2011.

He left the Giants in 2016.

A few years after graduation, Ruoff, who was working in the auto industry at the time, realized that his passion was in restaurant hospitality.

That’s when he and his wife, Pam, took a big risk and moved into his parents’ New

“Coaches, like business owners, will pull out all of the stops to succeed, and it’s up to them to set expectations and be clear about the game plan ahead.”

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Jersey home while Ruoff worked at his local Chili’s. Three years later, the duo purchased a small lunch and dinner restaurant in Little Silver, New Jersey and turned it into the admired brand it is today.

Ruoff attributes his success to three leadership qualities he experienced playing under Coughlin:

Kirk Ruoff, Turning Point Founder and CEO

TEAMWORK “Without teamwork, success is impossible, especially in our industry,” said Ruoff, who stressed the importance of collaborating with every single part of his business to create an environment where people feel empowered and taken care of. Ruoff says he may not be working on the cooking line or in the dining room anymore, but his experience of growing the business from humble beginnings and performing all the duties in the restaurant allows him to empathize with his staff members, and ultimately make them feel like a pivotal member of the team. “It’s not my company, it’s our company,” he said.

MOTIVATION “If your team isn’t motivated, you might as well not even have one,” said Ruoff. “When motivating a team, sometimes the numbers speak for themselves. In business, your scoreboard is the key performance index’s, guest satisfaction, financials and growth.” Turning Point Restaurants has

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May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 75

RESTAURANT STRATEGIES

WITH RYAN GROMFIN

FLIP THE SCRIPT ON THE LABOR CHALLENGE

W

e all know that the nationwide labor crunch at nationwide probably won’t let up

anytime soon.

In the National Restaurant Association’s 2022 State of the Restaurant Industry Report, they found that roughly half of restaurant operators expect that recruiting and retaining workers will be their biggest challenge this year. A recent Alignable poll painted a more dismal picture, finding that 85% of restaurant owners said it was very difficult to find staff.

These numbers may be directly tied to the last two years of turmoil in the industry, but we’ve been seeing this shift happening for a while. If you’re struggling to recruit and retain employees, then it’s time to take a good honest look at your restaurant’s culture.

Your success in the restaurant industry is directly related to how well you recruit, train and develop your employees.

DO YOU LIKE TO BE MANAGED? No matter your growth goals, you will never have the success that you

If you’re struggling to recruit and retain employees, then it’s time to take a good honest look at your restaurant’s culture.

Your success in the restaurant industry is directly related to how well you recruit, train and develop your employees. desire if you can’t get others to do the things you need them to do, how you need them to do it, and when you need them to do it. If you can’t master these skills, you will be limited in your success. Let’s face it, you won’t accomplish much in the restaurant industry without the help of your team.

In your career, the amount of growth you experience is dependent upon your ability to deliver. Deliver service, deliver quality, deliver projects on time, etc. In other words, it’s based on the value you add to others, to an organization, to a company, to your guests.

In order to add more value, there comes a point where you have to get other people to help you. But here’s the rub: I don’t believe people can be managed.

I used to believe people could be managed. Matter of fact, I used to try to manage people and, quite frankly, I sucked at it.

That was until I asked myself the question, what if people can’t be managed?

I would ask myself this question over and over again because I never liked being “managed.” I mean, do you like to be managed?

I remember the first chef I ever worked with.... My first day at work, I was standing in the kitchen cutting something and he was just standing behind me staring over my shoulder.

I would stop, peek over my shoulder at him, and then continue my work because he wouldn’t move. Finally, I had the nerve to ask if everything was okay?

He replied, “Yeah, why? Am I not allowed to stand here?” I sheepishly replied, “Of course, chef.” But he was really freaking me out.

If your anything like me, you probably didn’t like being managed. So, what makes us (as managers) arrogant enough to think that our team is going to like being managed by you.

They’re not.

MANAGE SYSTEMS, DEVELOP PEOPLE Before we dive deeper into this subject, grab a piece of paper and a pen and write this down: Manage Systems,

76 • May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com

Ryan Gromfin is an author, speaker, chef, restaurateur, and founder of therestaurantboss.com, clickbacon. com, and scalemyrestaurant. com. He is the most followed restaurant coach in the world helping Restaurant Owners and Operators increase profits, improve operations, and scale and grow their businesses.

Develop People. Perhaps do what Ted Lasso did and write it big on a piece of construction paper and tape it to a wall where you can look at it daily.

What if, instead, we manage systems instead of people? Systems don’t have emotions, systems are black and white, systems are right or wrong. Systems take the person and the personality out of it.

Then, if they are not following the system, we develop them!

When you go to a store to buy something, especially at a big box store, a person is usually there to greet you with a quick welcome and then they ask you how they can help you today. How do you typically respond?

Instinctively, you say no, I’m fine, I’m just looking.

That’s because we love to buy things but don’t want to be sold.

Hum....Lightbulb moment!

People don’t want to be managed; they want to be developed. They want to be nurtured, they want to be brought into the fold, they want to be become better, they want to be coached.

Coach your team how to add more

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May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 77

NEWS

SPECIAL EVENTS

PECINKA FERRI ASSOCIATES HOSTS SECOND ANNUAL PIZZA FORUM THIS MONTH IN NJ

O

n the heels of the success of the recent national Pizza Show, Joe Ferri is convinced that the agenda is changing for Metro New York’s pizza makers.

With that focus, Ferri and his Pecinka Ferri rep team will once again host the Tri-State foodservice community.

On Thursday, May 12, 2022, from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST, the Fairfield, NJ company will sponsor its 2nd Pecinka Ferri Pizza Forum.

The event will focus on the newest for all things pizza! It will be held at the Pecinka Ferri Culinary Center in New Jersey. Anyone who loves pizza is invited to come and learn. Tri-State chefs, decision makers, restaurateurs, general managers, F&B managers, and pizza aficionados will enjoy a full day of pizza baking, classroom opportunities, innovative pizza making strategies with leading vendors.

Among the highlights will be celeb-

rity Chef John Arena’s live Dough Clinics throughout the day. Arena is a pizza chef with over 48 years of experience. He is the co-founder and owner of Metro Pizza in Las Vegas, a team member of the World Pizza Champions, and a frequent contributor for Pizza Today.

Break-out sessions throughout the day covering “Sauce, Tomatoes & Olive Oil” will be offered by Stanislaus, founded in 1942 Modesto, California.

As well as ongoing Neapolitanstyle dough demonstrations by Chef Jeanette Catena, owner of Eursource food importer and founder of Luna Pizza in Three Bridges, NJ. The Pizza Forum will also feature food demos, from Tory Profaci of Grande Cheese based in Fond du Lac, WI. He will be discussing Italian cheese types for all varieties of pizza needs.

“The pizza making industry finds

78 • May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com

minutes from Newark Liberty International airport.

The event will feature the very latest in pizza making prep and cooking equipment. The Pizza Forum will have ovens, to slicers, to mixers, with equipment from Blodgett, Marsal, Bakers Pride, Middleby Marshall, Doyon, Globe, Varimixer, and Turbochef.

“We are looking forward to introducing many of the latest equipment and supply innovations in pizza making,” Ferri noted. “They run the gamut from a simple dispensing gun for use with sauce from Wunderbar to a fully automated robotic pizza prep and cooking solution. The goal of our event is to introduce you to the latest and help you create a strategy that fits your operation.”

In addition to this, the Pizza Forum will be holding a raffle with prizes including pizza peels, an OONI pizza oven, a selection of wines, and various smallwares.

Founded in 1972, Pecinka Ferri Associates is one of Metro New York’s leading manufacturers’ agent to the foodservice industry. Pecinka Ferri Associates represents internationally recognized brands by providing enduser knowledge and solutions, supporting dealers and consultants, and innovating marketing services in the greater New York Metro area.

“We also believe that the pizzeria, or [any] restaurant making pies, needs to be rethinking the beverage side of their business.” — Joe Ferri itself at crossroads,” Ferri noted.

“Even before the Pandemic, it was a struggle to find a talented and dependable pizza maker. It was not uncommon for them to command $30 plus an hour. The last 2 years could have brought that to $50 an hour. So, unless you think your dining patrons are willing to pay $40.00 plus for a pizza, you’ve got to start searching for alternatives. That’s exactly what our event will provide.”

“We also believe that the pizzeria, or [any] restaurant making pies, needs to be rethinking the beverage side of their business,” Ferri continued. “Our goal is to showcase both value added wine and beer selections, and the technology to manage them, at the Pizza Forum. Operators need to understand the profit potential of their beverage business to balance the increase in other expenses.”

The Pecinka Ferri Culinary Center is a test kitchen with the largest selection of ventless cooking supplies, where all stages of food and beverage production is live and hands-on. Located an hour outside of NYC and 35

A full schedule and lineup will be released by Sunday, May 1, 2022. For more information on Pecinka Ferri, visit pecinkaferri.com. To speak to Pecinka Ferri’s team of foodservice professionals, call Fairfield, N.J., headquarters at (973) 812-4277 or email Sales@PecinkaFerri.com.

May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 79

EYE

PRESENTED BY:

FOODSERVICE EVENT COVERAGE

NYC HOSPITALITY ALLIANCE STATE OF THE INDUSTRY 2022 EVENT

A

ndrew Rigie and the NYC Hospitality Alliance always seem to have an impeccable sense of timing. As restaurateurs seek to find their “New Normal”, restaurant and hospitality professionals gathered last month to tackle the major challenges.

The return of the Alliance’s State of the Industry event was hosted at a beautiful new midtown home etc. venues on Madison Avenue. The day of panel discussions and networking clearly led one to believe that the future of the industry will continue to be the face to face interaction of waitstaff and dining patrons.

“After a two-year hiatus, we were thrilled to bring together hospitality professionals to connect and learn about the latest issues and trends impacting the restaurant and nightlife industry as a result of the COVID-19 crisis,” Rigie explained.

There was certainly no shortage of topics to discuss. With that in mind, the theme for the days opening session was “The Future of Restaurant and Nightlife Advocacy.” When the pandemic struck, restaurants, bars, and nightclubs banded together to fight for survival. From outdoor dining, to capping 3rd party delivery fees, to securing the Restaurant Revitalization Fund and Save our Stages Act, the hospitality industry advocated like never before.

The Alliance assembled an expert panel that moderated by Rigie explored pandemic policy and the future of hospitality industry advocacy. The All-Star cast of panelists was highlighted by Robert Bookman of Pesetsky & Bookman, - Crafted Hos-

pitality’s Tom Colicchio, Jeffrey Garcia of Mon Amour Coffee & Wine Bar / NYSLRBLA and Ariel Palitz - NYC Office of Nightlife, Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment.

The second panel focused on: “The Post-Pandemic Restaurant and Nightlife Industry”. The pandemic devastated the restaurant and nightlife industry and a constant pivot was required in order to survive. This panel discussed how the pandemic disrupted hospitality in NYC and how operators are building for the future. The panel included Dhruv Chopra of Elsewhere, Historic Neir’s Tavern’s Loycent Gordon, Susan Povich of Red Hook Lobster Pound, Happy Cooking Hospitality’s Gabe Stulman and was moderated by NY1’s Jamie Stelter. Stulman pulled no punches in his remarks and once again eloquently outlined how to deal with Community Boards.

The final panel delved into the The City’s restaurant and nightlife

continued on page 106

(L to R) Citrin Cooperman’s Vicki Dill and Stacey Gilbert with The Smith’s Michael Jacobs

80 • May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com

(L to R) Imperial Dade’s Howard Hirsch and Gabe Stulman of Happy Cooking Hospitality

(L to R) Mermaid Inn’s Daniel Abrams and Tom Colicchio of Crafted Hospitality

(L to R) Avished Avini of USHG and EB Cohen’s Neil Owens

(L to R) Bloomberg’s Ben Sgteverman and Sasha Acosta-Cohen of ChowNow

(L to R) The Magnolia Bakery Trio of Doug Vaughn, Georgeth Rojas and Randia Deo

(L to R) Locale Market’s Don Pitabona and Andrea Strong

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May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 81

NEWS

RESTAURANT OPERATIONS

SERVING UP DEEP FRYER SAFETY WITH AUTOFRY

S

afety has always been a priority for the foodservice industry. But in this day and age, businesses must be proactive in finding solutions for keeping both their employees and customers protected. We all know about the standard safety precautions of a commercial kitchen like wearing rubber gloves and knowing the proper temperature to store perishables. But when it comes to some of the more dangerous kitchen activities, like deep-frying, did you know there are some safer options to provide your customers with the food they crave?

Let’s start with the problem: The area around an open deep fryer is a hot spot for workplace accidents.

According to Occupational Safety

& Health Association (OSHA), employees who cook in restaurants are especially at risk of burn injuries while cooking or cleaning deep fat fryers or vents above fryers. Burns can occur from contact with the fryer itself, from hot splashing oil while cooking, and from straining the oil while cleaning. Even worse, fires can occur when fryer and oil maintenance is not done regularly, putting your entire business at risk.

But the fryer isn’t the only thing businesses need to worry about when it comes to deep frying foods.

If your kitchen’s hood system isn’t working correctly or hasn’t been cleaned properly, it can lead to the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning. This is a danger to not only your employees, but for your cus-

tomers as well. The good news is that there is a wide range of options for deep-frying other than open fryers. With the right equipment, owners and operators can avoid the hazardous scenarios listed above.

Starting with a ventless, automated fryer like AutoFry takes away nearly all the risks mentioned above.

These fully automated and enclosed fryers keep your staff away from hot oil at all times, while the exterior stays cool to the touch. With SimpliFry™ technology, AutoFry does all of the dangerous work for you, even

shaking the baskets and dispensing the finished product. Best of all, with AutoFry, you will have peace of mind knowing a fire will be contained and extinguished by the internal ANSUL Suppression System.

AutoFry also offers easy oil filtration solutions to ensure your fryer is well maintained and you get the most life from your oil while keeping foods tasting great.

Learn more about AutoFry and their full line of safe, ventless kitchen solutions at AutoFry.com

continued on page 130 82 • May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com

May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 83

NEWS

DISPOSABLE GLOVE TRENDS

ELARA BRANDS’ GRINBERG READS BAROMETER FOR 2022 GLOVE MARKET

T

he last two years have put the microscope on health and safety concerns, especially within the foodservice industry. “Clean and Safe” took their place at the head of the proverbial table with “Green and Sustainable” through the duration of the Pandemic.

The industry has begun 2022 seeking to find its definition of the new normal. What is non-negotiable are restaurant patrons’ demands for ongoing proper cleanliness standards.

This is highlighted by the packaging of their goods in a safe and efficient manner. The marketplace has changed, and restaurants and the distributors that serve them are continually seeking the right partners to help read the market properly.

Dan Grinberg, President and CEO of Elara Brands, fits that bill perfectly. He was an active participant in the glove industry from a young age, having been raised in a family that owned a foodservice glove business. He joined the company, Island Poly, in 1990, and in 1992 was responsible for develop-

ing a new brand called FoodHandler.

The success of FoodHandler led to the company’s eventual sale to private equity investors. Grinberg would soon start a new company, Elara Brands, to produce gloves, bags, and protective apparel. Elara supplies trusted products and continues to educate its customers on the marketplace’s new cleanliness standards, many of which will become the new norm.

Grinberg’s 31 years within the glove industry have exposed him to the evolution of foodservice sanitation standards. “In 1991, just a year after I joined the business, New York State banned bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods, which in turn influenced new health codes around the nation. Thirty years later, with Covid, came a renewed focus on restaurant safety,” noted Grinberg. “COVID-19 has brought health and cleanliness concerns to the forefront of customers’ minds. Visible gloves will continue to be more important than ever for guests that are nervous about onpremise dining.”

One of the key obstacles this year has been the challenge of supply chain issues. “The supply chain continues to be a challenge.

This not only affects gloves, but a wide range of other imported products operators rely on, from packaging to foodservice equipment,” Grinberg said. “Most disposable gloves are manufactured in Asia and shipped on container vessels to the United States.

Ocean freight rates are still very high, which makes products more expensive. Shipping delays out of Asia are also a major problem. For example, China just implemented new COVID-19 lockdowns, forcDan Grinberg, Founder and CEO, Elara Brands ing shutdowns at major ports

84 • May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com

“For example, we’re introducing a heavier gauge nitrile glove that will provide added comfort around heat and more durability for meat cutting and tougher cleaning and maintenance tasks. At the other end of the spectrum, there is a new ultra-thin yet strong glove that provides superior touch sensitivity for chefs who would prefer not having to wear gloves at all.” — Dan Grinberg such as Shanghai. These lockdowns also disrupt the trucking of raw materials and finished goods to and from factories. Vessels arriving to the U.S. are still facing port congestion. We’ve seen overall transit times increase from 45 days to as long as 90 days. Domestic trucking is another pain-point in the supply chain, with driver shortages and missed pickup and delivery appointments. Elara is spending inordinate amounts of time staying on top of our vendors and freight providers, and we’re increasing our safety stock levels to account for the longer lead times and delays. There is a cost to doing it this way, but we have to keep our customers stocked with these essential items. When will the supply chain normalize? Some logistics experts say the current situation could continue into 2023. That sounds optimistic.”

Restaurateurs and distributors have often mentioned the possibility of the return of domestic manufacturing of gloves to solve the supply chain challenge. “When glove prices surged into the $100s and there were shortages, domestic manufacturing looked compelling. However, as glove prices come back down, higher-cost domestic manufacturing may not be as attractive. Labor is another issue. That said,

we could see some new manufacturing that’s backed by large government or private sector contracts. Even so, this would be a small amount relative to imported gloves. Emergency glove reserves, importers maintaining higher safety stock levels, and global sourcing diversification are other approaches to mitigating supply chain risks.”

Both end-user operators and their distributors are trying to make an accurate call on the glove marketplace as they project the accelerated return of customers to their in-restaurant dining facilities. “The glove market is in a ‘correction’ phase right now,” Grinberg observed. “When the pandemic started in 2020, there were severe glove shortages and extreme price increases.

For example, gloves made from nitrile were virtually impossible to come by, and prices surged well into the $100s (per case of 1,000 gloves). This started reversing in late 2021. Medical glove demand came down from pandemic highs just as manufacturing capacity started to improve. Some hospitals, distributors, and importers are now overstocked. Lower demand and more supply have prices coming down,

continued on page 104

Your customers’ trust is in your hands So put your hands in Elara brand gloves Show guests you care about their health. Protection you can count on, from the brand you trust.

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May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 85

NEWS

EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES

NEXT STOP FOR HOBART’S 125TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION: NATIONAL RESTAURANT SHOW 2022

A

mong the highlights of the return of the NRANational Restaurant Association Show later this month, will be a celebration of a long-time exhibitor’s special anniversary. Hobart was founded in 1897 and this year marks the company’s 125th anniversary of bringing innovative cooking, dishwashing, food preparation, weighing and wrapping equipment to the foodservice and food retail industry.

From the first-ever introduction of motorized mixers, coffee grinders and dishwashers in the late 1800s and early 1900s to the advanced, WiFi-enabled devices of today, Hobart continues its commitment and focus on delivering industry-leading technol-

ogy solutions to support the needs of commercial and institutional kitchens, groceries, bakeries, and delis worldwide.

That innovation also includes a priority of bringing green and sustainable solutions to the industry’s it serves. With that in mind, since 2008, Hobart has been an ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year.

“Reaching a milestone of 125 years in business is more than just celebrating our history,” says Todd Blair, Director of Marketing. “It’s about using that foundation to look to the future—to continue offering unmatched equipment technology that always keeps our customers and their needs top of mind. Hobart wants to empower them to do what they love

“We will be showcasing at NRA Show and NAFEM our vision for connected devices through our new SmartConnect365 suite of apps.” — Todd Blair most—create great food for great people.”

In recognition of the anniversary and to celebrate its customers and community, Hobart plans several activities throughout the year—all focused on the theme “We Innovate.

You Create.” These include a variety of social media activities, as well as a Hobart 125th anniversary celebration giveaway—details of the latter will be announced in May. Information will also be available at www.hobartcorp. com/125-years.

This special anniversary year has not been without its challenges. “Supply chain disruptions continue to remain a challenge for manufacturers, making it difficult or delaying access

Todd Blair, Hobart’s Director of Marketing

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to various resources, materials, parts, components, etc.,” Blair noted. “As a result, we’re all experiencing longer lead times, increased demand, and increased costs.”

As with many segments of the industry, Hobart has carefully monitored the growth of takeout and delivery.

“Off-premise sales certainly increased throughout the pandemic; however, demand for on-premise dining seems to be coming back strong as things have been opening up,” Blair observed. “Regardless, we anticipate off-premise concepts will continue to remain popular. Ghost kitchens and mobile kitchen concepts will likely remain popular and experience continued evolution. In these smaller, modular kitchen spaces, smaller footprint, multi-functional equipment offers more flexibility.

We’ve also experienced an increase in the need for larger refrigeration equipment at retailers, where cold products need to be stored up front to support curb-side pick-up.”

Changes in the needs of the nation’s dealers and their end user operators led to the introduction of Hobart’s highly anticipated Centerline series in 2019. “With Centerline, Hobart and Traulsen recognized a need in the marketplace where we have not historically offered a solution,”

continued on page 118

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May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 87

NEWS

By Claudia Giunta

SOURCING MENU SOLUTIONS

NOTCH BRINGS SIMPLICITY TO RESTAURANTS’ DISTRIBUTOR RELATIONSHIPS

F

or many restaurant operators, B2B commerce has not adapted quickly enough to today’s digital age and the technological advancements that can ease the workload. In addition, businesses naturally worry and stress during the payment process that affects both sides of a transaction: restaurants and distributors.

In integrating software solutions into their payment and ordering processes, restaurants can now eliminate the challenges of B2B payments. The first all-in-onesoftware solution to digitize the traditionally paper-driven route of wholesale food and supply ordering is notch. The Toronto, Canada

based company strives to simplify the payment and ordering process for both restaurants and distributors.

This past month, notch partnered with Balance, a top B2B payment processor that provides businesses with the first online checkout. The resulting solution, referred to as “notchPay,” is a payment platform for notch’s customers that allows them to leverage payment processing methods such as wire transfers, checks, or credit cards. Distributors will receive those payments in a short number of days as opposed to the traditional weeks or months that a paper process would take.

to learn that the experts in the restaurant know best.

“There are graveyards of technology companies that think they know the landscape better than a restaurant, but really the restaurant owners and chefs know what is best,” Huck said. “The culture of running a restaurant business is in their blood.”

Launched just over two and a half years ago, notch has been built by hospitality specialists. Restaurant owners that come to notch’s online marketplace can request catalogs, and explore the online supply chain.

“We are giving restaurants the power on an iOS app to send notes about products on the invoice in real time,” Huck said. “That stack of paper invoices just accumulates all day, but we help digitize that stack so it is accurate for every invoice for every supplier. We want restaurants to gain a financial partner so we can provide working capital to a restaurant. They can take care of cutting checks to different distributors via our technology product with the click of a button.”

The company identified the needs of both the distributor and restaurant in the online supply chain process. From a distributor perspective, notch spent a significant amount of time and money to figure out an intensive structure for these specialty products. “We learned from our distributors and helped identify three things we can automate,” Huck explained. “Restaurants no longer need to call buyers and get their credit card info or type in so

“You get the supply chain you’ve invited and cultivated when you onboard with us.” — Jordan Huck Jordan Huck, CEO of notch, explained their mission to bring B2B and food commerce online: “When out of ingredients, restaurants reach out to wholesale service supply chains. This may be local or broadline, however, they may be procuring a fragmented supply chain.” Huck grew up working in restaurants and managed the relationships with specialty suppliers by managing orders. With this operation experience in the food industry, Huck quickly came

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SCOOP

INSIDER NEWS FROM THE FOODSERVICE + HOSPITALITY SCENE

Do you have the SCOOP on any foodservice and hospitality news? Send items to SCOOP Editor Joyce Appelman at tfs@totalfood.com

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The whole line of Organic Kiddo Pasta by HELIOS, which includes Letters & Numbers | Little Animals | Little Dinosaurs varieties, was shortlisted by the public as one of their favorite new product lines, and the judging committee agreed!

Organic Kiddo Pasta by HELIOS is Loi Approved, USDA Organic, Kosher certified, Halal certified, Non-GMO verified, and is especially popular among children and parents for the flavor, quality and shapes that combine high nutri-

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SCOOP learned that Kalera, a hydroponic indoor vertical farming company, has opened its newest farm in Aurora, CO with the first harvest this May. The nearly 90,000-square-foot facility is the company’s fifth domestic farm, joining a U.S. footprint that includes Atlanta, Houston, and Orlando. Globally, Kalera operates farms in Munich and Kuwait with a farm set to open in Singapore

The lettuce from Kalera

later this year.

“Increasing our national and global footprint has been a priority for our team as we seek to serve our major retail and foodservice customers,” said Curtis McWilliams, Kalera’s interim CEO. “Opening this facility is an exciting step towards this goal, and we’re proud to serve urban communities like Denver with clean, nutrition-dense leafy greens that are accessible to local consumers.”

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SCOOP

INSIDER NEWS, from page 90

FANCY MEAT SUPPLIER D’ARTAGNAN PURCHASED BY MASS FOOD DISTRIBUTOR SCOOP heard that Ariane Daguin’s D’Artagnan, a leading meat and poultry supplier for NYC restaurants, has been acquired by Fortune International, one of the country’s largest seafood processors and distributors. Daguin will now run the company as a subsidiary of Fortune.

YANKEES AND LEGENDS HOSPITALITY REVEAL 2022 YANKEE STADIUM DINING MENU AND PARTNERSHIP WITH WINCUP’S PHADE® SCOOP discovered that the Yankees and Legends Hospitality recently unveiled a variety of new dining options available to all guests at Yankee Stadium, food that you can try at the ballpark all throughout the 2022 season. From familiar names like Benihana and Jersey Mike’s to Streetbird by Marcus Samuelsson and The Halal Guys, Yankee Stadium has a broad array of options for whatever you’re craving. Concessions this year include offerings from Bobby Flay’s Bobby’s Burgers, City Winery, Sumo Dog, Applegate Naturals, Chickie’s & Pete’s, Oatly, and Wings of New York.

WinCup, Inc. will be providing its phade® straw — an ecologically preferable non-petroleum, non-forest-based bio-plastic product — to concessions stands at Yankee Stadium. The phade® straw is a marine biodegradable, home & industrial, compostable drinking straw made with PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate), a biodegradable biopolymer derived from the fermentation of canola oil.

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The introduction of the phade® straw at Yankee Stadium will further the venue’s award-winning and globally recognized sustainability initiatives, including its commitment to achieving zero waste and promoting a circular economy based on composting and recycling. Through the dedicated efforts of Stadium staff, fans, and the Yankees’ recycling and composting partners, approximately 85 percent of the Stadium’s total waste is diverted from landfills and incinerators, making Yankee Stadium one of the most environmentally responsible venues in all of sports.

“Yankee Stadium’s shift to a less impacting biobased option for those who request a straw is a small but meaningful ecological step in the right direction that, hopefully, other businesses will emulate,” said Dr. Allen Hershkowitz, Environmental Science Advisor for the New York Yankees.

Phade® has quickly become the environmentally preferable straw of choice for multiple professional sports venues, teams and events, including SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Gillette Stadium in New England, and the 2021 PGA Championship in Kiawah Island, South Carolina.

“We continue to see the tremendous impact phade® is having across the sports industry and the positive reaction from fans discovering our unique sustainable Caribbean blue straws and stirrers,” said Michael Winters, WinCup President and Chief Revenue Officer. “The New York Yankees is one of the most well-known sports brands globally and the franchise is to be commended for using that influence to positively impact the environment.”

PEPPERI BENCHMARKING STATISTICS FOR B2B ECOMMERCE SCOOP learned that B2B eCommerce continues to be an area of interest and growth in the FMCG sector. In order to get businesses ready for the fast-paced world of B2B eCommerce, a new benchmarking survey was conducted by Pepperi to understand best practices and the challenges of FMCG companies that are planning to adopt omnichannel commerce.

The benchmarking survey reveals critical trends. A huge number of FMCG distributors and wholesalers plan to adopt an omnichannel commerce approach. 58% of respondents do so with the goal of increasing revenue, 53% want to become more competitive in the market, while only 47% are driven by customer satisfaction.

The Pepperi platform

Switching to an omnichannel approach has its own set of worries. Field sales are facing new challenges -- such as how to coexist with eCommerce.

72% of those who responded believe the clash between field and B2B eCommerce is unavoidable at this point in time. As for other potential problems, 65% are afraid that profits will shrink with existing legacy systems; 63% predict reduced average order sizes; 60% argue that there’ll be high expenses associated with customizing products or services.

Surprisingly, tighter integration with ERPs, mobile apps, and advanced trade promotions were the most critical B2B features. Nearly everyone surveyed said they use an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software to track finances and inventory. For optimal productivity, it’s important for these users to leverage the full scope of their program’s capabilities by staying on top of stock levels (92%), setting cutoffs for deliveries (64%), and doing promotions (46%).

Pepperi’s survey showed an increased need for a B2B eCommerce solution. It’s no wonder, as the benefits of selling online are too hard to ignore.

FMCG brands and wholesalers recognize they will benefit greatly from this type of system and are happy to invest in a new way to sell their goods.

NEW PRODUCTS:

Oryx Desert Salt is a new category of salt available in the USA from the remote Kalahari Desert of South Africa, Namibia & Botswana. The Desert salt is sourced from an ancient underground 55 million ton salt lake that’s a renewable and sustainable source. Three rivers flow 100300ft underground through Dwyka rock strata geo-scientifically tested at 280-300 million years

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old, converge and replenish the salt lake. They draw the 100% saturated brine onto the pan and it cystallizes in 120oF in four weeks in Summer.

The salt contains vital minerals and trace elements and no chemicals added. Unprocessed, unrefined and unpolluted. Oryx Grindable Black Peppercorns are sourced from small farmers and cooperatives in Madagascar. Products are sold in refillable glass bottles with grinder heads that can last ten times longer than those made with plastic and are better for the environment. The bottles have a printed logo so grinders can be wiped down daily to be kept clean and looking new. They supply 4,4lb refill salt Doypacks for refilling. MOQ of 72 each salt & pepper grinders and a carton of 6 x 4.4lb salt refill, exworks Baltimore.

Oddlygood’s plant-based Mozzarella style cheese alternatives from Finland are starting to land atop pizzas in the U.S. Known for its great taste and meltability, the cheese alternative is now available at five pizzerias in New York State and via five East Coast distributors. The U.S. division of Oddlygood, is based in Parsippany, N.J. Oddlygood is a spinoff of Valio, a storied Finnish dairy company known for its cheeses and butter.

The pizzerias in New York now using Oddlygood include Mark’s Pizza Chain (Fairport), Papa Brillos Restaurant (Pittstown), Elbow Room Restaurant (Loudonville), Capellis Pizza (Orchard Park), Pasquale’s Pizza (West Seneca).

Distributors include Honor Foods (Philadelphia, PA), E&S Foods (Whippany, NJ), Saval Foods (Elkridge, MD), Ace Endico (Brewster, NY), ByGeorge Foods (Ballston Spa, NY).

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Jeff Hessel, President of BSE shared the news that Joe Niedzwiecki has been appointed General Manager. For the first time since 1925, the Hessel Family business will have a non-family member as General Manager of BSE. As BSE continues to expand in sales, geography, services rendered and personnel, “I need to build upon the sales and vision of our BSE platform, pursuing the continuance of BSE corporate culture and brand. Joe possesses the skills to help BSE both on the business relationships and in the business, with his ability to manage people, implement systems and oversee the administrative disciplines throughout BSE.”

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OPENINGS:

Manhattan Lashevet has opened on the Upper East Side. Lashevet is a Middle Eastern restaurant with flavors from Lebanon, Morocco, Israel - with influences from Provence. Brought to you by restaurateur of the highly acclaimed Sushi Dojo in the East Village Boris Lidukhover and Larisa (Lola) Sheihet, PhD chemist in food science. The chef is Majid “Jay” Moulay Alami who was born in Casablanca and raised in Marseille. He’s a veteran of Wallse, Espace, Lot 61 and the W. There’s more: the two owners were both born in Ukraine and have friends there. Boris has plenty to say about Ukrainian history, growing up in Lviv, and Ukraine’s relationship with Russia. He still has friends there. His partner in life and in Lashevet is Lola Sheihet, who is also from Lviv. Recently, they also organized a donation drop-off at the restaurant collecting items such as blankets, first aid, warm clothing, bedding, and non-perishables that they brought over to the Ukrainian Institute of America. They collected enough to fill two vans.

A weed-infused pizzeria on the Lower East Side is throwing open its doors and will be run by Chris Barrett. Stoned Pizza — located at 302 Broome Street, near Forsyth Street — stocks $50 to $60 pies made with pot, plus an assortment of appetizers and desserts.

Broward County, Fl Hillsboro Beach Resort has opened its signature restaurant, Roí. Exclusive to resort guests, Roí is one of the area’s only oceanfront restaurants, offering pristine views of the hotel’s private beach along the iconic Hillsboro Mile (Deerfield Beach).

At the helm of Roí is Executive Chef Jason Antolak, who brings over 15 years of experience in the culinary arts to developing the restaurant’s globally inspired dishes made with locally sourced ingredients. Prior to joining the Hillsboro Beach Resort team, he actively shared his passion for culinary creativity with several prominent Fort Lauderdale restaurants. Chef Antolak has participated in major culinary events such as the South Beach Wine & Food Festival and has worked alongside some of the region’s most renowned chefs, including celebrity chef Dean James Max and Top Chef winner Jeremy Ford.

Nashville, TN Joey Fecci, the 24-year-old who earned his way in prestigious Michelin-starred kitchens Aureole, Spiaggia and Per Se has been named Chef de Cuisine at Nashville’s premiere Italian restaurant,

One of the oceanview dining rooms at Roí at Hillsboro Beach Resort in Broward County, FL

Yolan. Previously head sous chef, Fecci has been a valuable member of the team since its opening in 2020, where he works alongside Michelin-starred Chef Tony Mantuano and wine and hospitality expert Cathy Mantuano.

Portland, OR King Tide Fish & Shell in Downtown Portland, has a new Executive Chef, Alexander Diestra.

Seattle, WA Jay Donahue has been appointed Executive Chef at Shaker + Spear a chic eatery offering Pacific NW cuisine at the Kimpton Palladian Hotel

THE WESTERN FOODSERVICE & HOSPITALITY EXPO 2022 TO SHOWCASE HUNDREDS OF LEADING INDUSTRY VENDORS For three days in August, the Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo and Coffee Fest Los Angeles will showcase hundreds of leading vendors demonstrating and sampling the newest food products, technology and equipment for the restaurant, foodservice, specialty beverage and hospitality markets at the Los Angeles Convention Center from Sunday, August 28 through Tuesday, August 30.

The Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo is sponsored by the California Restaurant Association, and produced and managed by Clarion Events, Inc., the global leader in trade show management. “After a two-year hiatus, we are thrilled to be bringing the Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo and Coffee Fest back to the Los Angeles Convention Center for three days of networking, product sourcing and education,” said Rita Ugianskis, Vice President, Clarion Events Food & Beverage Group. “Attendees will have the opportunity to evaluate new foods and beverages, products, solutions and technology innovations from major companies on a robust show floor featur-

ing the latest in menu engineering options, business and operational services and tools all designed to increase guest satisfaction and their bottom line.”

Clarion Events Food & Beverage Group recently held the International Restaurant & Foodservice Show in New York, the first post-pandemic, and received high marks from the exhibitors. In a post event survey, exhibitor satisfaction increased 19 pts; exhibitor loyalty increased 10 pts; and exhibitor NPS increased a staggering 39 pts. Exhibitor ROI increased due to both an expansive marketing campaign delivering active and engaged buyers, and the feature areas outlined below which will also be located throughout the trade show floor at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Feature areas on the slow floor will include: • Coffee Fest Los Angeles which offers an expansive trade show, education and competitions for the coffee, tea & specialty beverage industry, as well as insight into profitable beverage programs for restaurant and foodservice operators.

• Bar Innovation showcases alcoholic beverages including craft beers, ciders, wines, spirits and more.

• Food Trends provides direct access to products, flavors and ingredients driving the most exciting, emerging trends in the market – local, organic, sustainable, ethnic, artisanal, and more.

• Gourmet Way is the place to taste samples from the specialty providers in the industry—from spices to specialty foods and appetizers to mains.

• Technology Pavilion will offer dedicated educational programs addressing the needs to navigate today’s technology landscape – from mobile payments to delivery and ghost kitchens, AI and machine learning, and building an effective tech stack.

• Healthy and Wellness celebrates foods that are both good for you and delicious, bringing together the leading purveyors of healthy, natural, and organic products.

• The New Town Square, a space in the exhibit hall at the intersection of Coffee Fest and the Western Foodservice Expo will feature a concierge, MATCH meetings, informal networking, and a space to continue the conversation following education sessions.

In addition to a robust show floor, the Western Foodservice and Hospitality Expo will offer for the first time the New Food & Beverage Academy, the umbrella education platform for all education including four Education Summits focused on independents, multi-units, foodservice and technology and Coffee Fest Education offering sessions for new startups, up and running coffee shop, roasters and baristas. Attendees will also have the chance to experience fun and inspiring culinary demonstrations, award presentations, panel discussions, paid workshops, and food, beverage and coffee competitions.

The Show Floor is now accepting applications for new vendors. For companies interested in exhibiting, contact Brian Bernstein, Show Manager for com-

panies # – M, at (203) 484-8056 or brian.bernstein@ clarionevents.com or John Lederer, Show Manager for companies N – Z, at (203) 202-8626 or john.lederer@ clarionevents.com. For access to the most up-to-date floor plan, click here.

Exhibitors can also participate in the MATCH! Program which connects exhibitors with the most relevant restaurant and foodservice buyers including coffee shop owners and operators who want to offer food and expanded product offering to their customers. The appointment program delivers measurable ROI in the form of pre-scheduled appointments with qualified buyers who have purchasing authority. For companies interested in exhibiting or sponsorship, visit the website.

The Western Foodservice & Hospitality Expo is owned by Clarion Events Food & Beverage Group and sponsored by the California Restaurant Association.

Clarion Events produces 37 events across thirteen sectors of both trade and consumer events. The Clarion Events Food & Beverage Group also includes the Florida Restaurant & Lodging Show, the International Restaurant & Foodservice Show of New York, Coffee Fest and The NGA Show. Clarion Events acquired PennWell in early 2018, bringing 4 Tradeshow 200 events into the U.S. portfolio and super-charging the already rapid growth. Clarion Events has offices in Trumbull, CT; Kennesaw, GA; Boca Raton, FL; Tacoma, WA, and Fairlawn, NJ.

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NEWS

NEW OPENINGS

NEUMARK’S GREAT PERFORMANCES DEBUTS NEW BRONX CAFE

N

ew York City’s culinary landscape just became a little greener last month with the debut of Mae Mae Café as The Bronx’s first plant-forward restaurant and potted plant emporium (arguably the city’s first) in Mott Haven at 2417 Third Avenue, in the Bruckner Building. The cozy new 22-seat urban rustic eatery’s vegan menu is Latin inspired as a nod to The Bronx’s culture and population. Mae Mae Café is operated by Great Performances, the catering and hospitality company, that was an early embracer of plant-based dining.

Its taco-and-quesadilla-centric menu features ingredients grown on Great Performances’ organic Katchkie Farm in upstate New York. Taco options include the likes of Mushroom Mole, white onion, cilantro, sesame seeds and Guajillo Nopal, red cabbage, cilantro, radish. Among the quesadilla and burrito offerings are Huitlacoche, corn, lime onion, radish and Mushroom Mole, Spanish Rice, stewed black beans, guacamole. A selection of starters whets appetites, including: Grilled Pineapple, avocado, baby kale, sesame seeds, negra vinaigrette; Crispy Tortilla Salad, romaine lettuce, black beans, watermelon radish, lime onion, cilantro vinaigrette; and Ital Stew, plantain, pumpkin, callaloo.

Situated on the street level at the Bruckner Building, home to Great Performances’ commissary kitchen and offices, Mae Mae Café also presents an array of plants for sale, the display of which complements the space’s natural wood decorative accents. Additionally, the new restaurant offers the opportunity for local residents to participate in Katchkie Farm’s CSA. They can sign-up at the café now and pick-

“As we settled in and got to know our new community, we decided it should be plantbased to symbolize our long-standing advocacy of delicious, affordable and healthy eating in an area with few choices.” — Liz Neumark up weekly produce shares there every Wednesday, June through November.

Farm flower bouquets will be available throughout the summer season.

“Opening this neighborhood café was always part of our plan when we moved Great Performances to The Bronx in 2019. As we settled in and got to know our new community, we decided it should be plant-based to symbolize our long-standing advocacy of delicious, affordable and healthy eating in an area with few choices,” said Liz Neumark, founder of Great Performances. “Adding the plant store and Katchkie Farm CSA is our way of bringing more green to Mott Haven.”

“In 2019, I worked with a local nonprofit called the Thinkubator,” Neumark explained. “It was an amazing group of high school students and I

Liz Neumark

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gave them a challenge. How does a 40 year old company relocating to the South Bronx tell our story? For those ten kids they started with a playlist for our web site, engage in the neighborhood and their ideas for us opening a restaurant. They didn’t tell us Vegan but they did focus on the flavors of home with a range of all kinds of dishes and flavors: Mexican/Jamaican/ Puerto Rican.” Neumark and her team decided that they would interpret the flavors with a plant-based menu.

Great Performances Executive Chef Andrew Smith has taken the lead to create that menu.

In addition to offering Latin-inspired food, houseplants and CSA shares, Mae Mae Café will forge relationships in Mott Haven by offering summer internships to neighborhood high school students, connecting with community gardens and strengthening the bridges Great Performances has already built with the nearby Dream School. The Mae Mae Café space will also be made available for community gatherings and for food education.

“There is no question that our small businesses are the lifeblood of our Bronx economy, and I am proud to join our community today to welcome the Mae Mae Cafe, which will bring delicious and high-quality plant-based meal options to Bronx residents. This is a space that exemplifies the future

of our collective recovery and marks a new step in our efforts to reverse the legacy of adverse health outcomes that has affected our Borough. I look forward to working with Liz Neumark and Great Performances in activating the full potential of this space and ensuring that every Bronx resident feels welcome here,” said Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson.

Gibson attended the cafe’s April 12 ribbon cutting and presented a Citation of Merit to Newmark in recognition of her new establishment and the contributions she and Great Performances have made to The Bronx, since the company’s move to the borough in 2019. The citation reads in part, “… your leadership and valuable contributions to the economic vitality and continued growth of The Bronx.

You have distinguished yourself as a small business that will contribute to the economic development and betterment of The Bronx. As the owner of a woman-owned, plant-based restaurant in The Bronx, you have paved the way or others to follow in your footsteps in pursuit of a healthier Bronx and you are a distinguished role model to be admired by all. You have contributed to the quality of life of this borough by volunteering your time and resources for the advancement of the small business community.”

The Bronx Mae Mae Café is a reprise for a Great Performances’ restaurant with the same moniker, Neumark’s daughter’s nickname. In operation from 2001 to 2019, the former Mae Mae was also situated on the ground floor of what was then the company’s headquarters building in Manhattan’s Hudson Square. While not solely plant-based, it had a vegetarian bias throughout its run.

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NEWS

SPECIAL EVENTS

RESTAURANT ASSOCIATES TACKLES FOOD WASTE ISSUE AT SPECIAL EVENT

T

he long term success of Manhattan based Restaurant Associates (RA) has been built on its attention to detail. From its customer’s needs to taking an active role in the communities it serves, the Compass unit has been a bellwether for doing things the right way.

With that RA participated in the Compass sponsored Stop Food Waste Day last month with a goal educating and igniting change.

Food waste is central to some of the key challenges facing the world today, including hunger and poverty, climate change, health and wellbeing and the sustainability of agriculture and oceans.

As a global leader in foodservice, Compass Group US introduced Stop Food Waste Day in 2017 before going global in 2018. Compass’ com-

mitment to tackling food waste is aligned to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development goal #12.5 as we work to halve food waste by 2030. That commitment stretches from working with suppliers, implementing sustainable practices in its operations and raising the public profile of the issue.

2022 marks the sixth anniversary of Stop Food Waste Day, the international day of action, sharing education and solutions surrounding food waste and sustainability. Compass Group and Restaurant Associates created the day to combat food waste at the source in our kitchens, both professional and at home. The virtual panel discussion featured industry professionals who focused food waste initiatives and strategies across the entire food supply chain.

The panel included ReFED’s Exec-

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“That waste represents $400 billion dollars that goes straight into landfills which produces methane and other greenhouse gasses while decomposing.” — Einav Gefen utive Director Dana Gunders,, Danielle Nierenberg, the Co-founder of Food Tank and Amy Keister, Compass Group’s Global Sustainability Director. The event was moderated

by Restaurant Associates, Einav Gefen who is RA’s Chef/Innovator and is well known as an established leader in foodservice and retail foods with a focus on quality, innovation, and growth. Gefen was joined by Aimee Takamura who serves as RA’s Director of Wellness and Sustainability and a Registered Dietitian with expertise in the foodservice industry, both of which serve her passion for nutrition, community, and planet wellness One of the goals of Stop Food Waste Day was to bring awareness to the 35% of the all food in this country that is wasted each year.

“That waste represents $400 billion dollars that goes straight into landfills which produces methane and other greenhouse gasses while decomposing,” added Gefen.

The RA panel

highlighted what could be done to help prevent food waste. Within Foodservice, some best practices include reusing leftover parts and pieces in menu design (think rotisserie chicken one day with leftovers made into chicken salad the next) , batch cooking in the morning vs. preparing items as needed, smaller soft serve pans with more replenishment in buffets throughout the day and portion sizes.

To celebrate the event, RA and Compass introduced a digital Food Waste Cookbook for home cooks, featuring recipes from 45 Compass Group chefs across 30 countries, giving a second life to ingredients that most commonly go to waste in home kitchens.

Restaurant Associates (R/A) is recognized as the nation’s premier hospitality company, operating over 160 prestigious locations. Based in New York City, provides premium food services to museums, performing arts centers, aquariums, corporate dining, educational facilities and off-premise catering events in New York City, Boston, Hartford, Atlanta, Washington D.C., Philadelphia and Toronto. R/A is a subsidiary of Compass Group, The Americas Division, the world’s leading foodservice organization.

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ONLINE MENU SINS

from page 10

Long gone are the days when diners would pick up a phone book to find a restaurant. Heck, long gone are the days when a newspaper might write about a restaurant’s grand opening and that was all you needed to fire up the customer attraction engine. We live in an increasingly digital world and search engines still wield incredible influence. Among search engines, Google is the undisputed heavyweight, coming in at around 94% of the mobile search engine market worldwide compared to 0.42% for Bing.

Most restaurants have a search engine optimization strategy and do their best to rank as highly as possible for search terms that diners use when looking for local food options. Yet many restaurants neglect optimizing their online menu for search. Online menus are valuable digital real estate, and they often net direct search traffic on mobile devices that may not otherwise go to the main website. So for restaurants to stay competitive among diners feeling the itch to get out for a good meal, it makes sense to deploy the SEO tactics to online menus at least as much as their main website.

Failing to do so is an unforced error that can suppress future business growth for some time to come.

Sin #5: No pictures on the menu The old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words could not be more applicable than to online menus.

CITY HARVEST GALA ing donations from Le Bernardin itself and from fundraising efforts, helped to contribute more than 20 million pounds since 1997.

Ripert, a City Harvest board member since 2002 and a vice-chair since 2013, is also chairman emeritus of the nonprofit’s Food Council, a group of 80 local chefs who donate food, help raise funds.

City Harvest’s Food Council has more than 70 members. The current chair of the Food Council is Geoffrey Zakarian who is joined by top toques including Dana Cowin,

Here’s why: People tend to remember only about 10% of what they read.

Seems crazy, right? Yet it’s a fact and based on solid science.

But change one simple thing by adding pictures and guess what happens? A reader’s retention rate jumps to 65%. Adding at least some pics of tasty-looking dishes will help online menu visitors retain much more about that menu. It just might lure them back again over competitors without any pictures on their menus.

Another reason to add pics? Search engines and people love them. Google has been steering its traffic toward more mobile friendly and visually appealing content for years. It should come as no surprise that web pages with pictures have been reported to receive as much as 94% more views compared to those without them.

An extra note here: it’s best if the pictures are good ones. High-quality phone cameras make this easier than ever, but we recommend investing in a good hand-held light for any restaurants planning to run their own photoshoot.

Sin #6: Slow web page load times A slow loading web page is not good for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that Google weighs page load speed in the algorithm that it uses to rank websites. If the online menu on a restaurant’s site is slow to load, it could drag down the search rankings

of the rest of the website. In this case, speed doesn’t kill, it triumphs.

Another reason why slow loading menus are bad for business? Consumers are impatient. Some research has pegged the online consumer patience threshold at 2 seconds. In other words, if your online menu doesn’t load in 2 seconds, an average consumer will bail and look for an alternative. It’s an unforced error with a bottom-line consequence.

Sin #7: Lacking a mobile friendly website This echoes some of the previous six deadly sins of online menus in that search engines (namely Google) reward web pages that are mobile-first by design. We’re not talking mobile friendly here. Many older websites may be considered ‘mobile friendly’ but they rely on technology that was designed prior to Google’s mobile-first mandate. Legacy website architecture doesn’t age well in a world run by Google’s constantly-evolving search algorithm.

Additionally, if a restaurant is hoping to drive traffic to its website from local “near me” searches, chances are high those searches are happening on a phone, not a computer.

If online menus fall behind the times, they will impact load times and lead to a poor user experience, both of which will cost a restaurant in missed customer acquisition opportunities

over time.

Marqii to the rescue For those restaurants seeking to avoid one or more of the seven deadly sins of online menus listed above, now is a good time to look for a better alternative. Marqii has the ability to create and update online menus directly from a restaurant POS, eliminating errors and saving hours in mindless data entry. Best of all, Marqii also updates a restaurant’s info, including menus, hours, location, daily specials, contact info, and preferred online ordering links, across 75 consumer-facing sites.

We make sure when guests search for our restaurant partners, they find only the most accurate and up-to-date information..

For more information about how Marqii can save you time and help you get the most from your online menus, visit https://marqii.com/ and schedule a free demo and consultation today.

With nearly 10 years of experience helping restaurants optimize their online presence at companies like Yelp, Yext, and Marqii, Marqii Co-Founder and CEO Avi Goren lives and breathes the daily challenges restaurant operators face. He’s committed to teaching them how to reduce the time they spend on tedious online tasks and get back to doing what they love - cooking great food.

from page 2 Michale Lomonaco, Danny Meyer Drew Nierporent. Tom Collicchio, Marc Murphy, Marcus Samuellson, Jean George Vongerichten and Gail Simmons.

Starting in May of 2020, when Ripert wondered whether he’d ever be able to reopen Le Bernardin to the public, his kitchen cooked 400 meals a day, using food collected

by City Harvest. Their partner, chef Jose Andres’ World Central Kitchen, delivered meals to shelters.

Following the indoor-dining resumption in February 2021, Le

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Bernardin earmarked $5 from each customer’s dinner check for City Harvest. Since lunch service resumed last year, the donation continues on the three-course, $90 bar/ lounge lunch menu.

Sandra Ripert is the gala’s cochair. Throughout the year she visits City Harvest’s facilities, helps pack food for mobile markets and brings awareness to the organization by hosting events. Stephens said, “They are by our side at every turn. Their contribution is almost inestimable.”

City Harvest is New York City’s

largest food rescue organization.

The organization collects food that would otherwise go to waste from restaurants, bakeries and cafes. City Harvest was founded in 1982, and is the world’s first food rescue organization. The organization collects excess food from restaurants, grocers, bakeries, Greenmarkets, corporate cafeterias, manufacturers, and farms. The food is then delivered without charge to community food programs throughout New York City.

Food delivered by City Harvest is received by about 1 million residents.

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HOSPITALITY MARKETING see the Stones on their headline tour at your local normodome playing the 2.5 hour set you get all the faves, songs from the new album and fan fave deeper cuts.

Think of your online ordering the same way. Your menu on your website through your online ordering has the whole catalog. Every item that you offer for delivery is available. Build your own set list!

But on the third-party sites, just do the greatest hits. Offer only your most popular items, the crowd pleasers. Keep the limited time offers and speciality items to yourself. For those guests who want the really good stuff, make them come direct.

(PS The Best Stones tune ever is “Under My Thumb”!)

Earth, Wind and Fire If you know a guest ONLY uses a third-party, you should send them a message that encourages them to try ordering direct.

If you know a guest switches from ordering via third-party to then ordering direct, you should send them a message to say thank you.

If you know when a guest orders directly from you but then goes back to ordering via third-party, you should send them a message explaining the benefits of ordering directly.

That requires knowing. That requires segmenting. That requires marketing automation. Or as I call it, Earth, Wind and Fire.

If you have a view into your guest’s purchase behavior and you can create a segment of guests who do this, you can then set up automated marketing that triggers when the guests enter into those pre-qualified segments.

Sounds easier said than done?

Yeah, that would be the case, unless you had the right tool. Check out Bikky. Earth, Wind & Fire is just one of the many awesome things it does and exactly how we use it at Handcraft Burgers & Brew.

Head them off at the Pass If you were playing another team in a sport and you knew the exact play they were going to run, you could

from page 72

If you know a guest switches from ordering via third-party to then ordering direct, you should send them a message to say thank you. use that knowledge to run a play that counteracts their strategy.

Look at the analytics on your website. Where does most of your traffic come from? I’m willing to bet Google is the top answer. Why is that?

When people get hungry and they don’t know where to order or are looking for something new, what do they do? They go to Google and search “Best Burger near me,” or whatever it is that they are craving at that moment.

How do you make sure your restaurant is found at the top of that search and NOT a link to order via a third party delivery service? It’s called listing management.

You make sure that every single field you can possibly fill out in your Google My Business profile is filled out and it’s up to date 365 - 24/7.

The most important of which is your menu, item descriptions and photos of your food and menu.

If you make a change on your menu, you should also update Google My Business.

As it relates to getting people to order directly from your restaurant, there are 3 things you need to do: 1. Make sure the direct link to your online ordering is in the “menu link field” 2. Include that same link in the “order ahead links” section 3. Be sure to mark the star next to the order ahead link as “Preferred link” By doing this, you’ll optimize your Google profile for online ordering.

You’ll also optimize your restaurant to come up higher in search results. *Pro-tip* Update ALL of your listings with menu information to see even higher search results. This includes Yelp, Facebook, Foursquare, Tripadvisor, Bing, Yahoo, Apple Maps, Siri, Alexa and anywhere else information about your restaurant can be

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found online.

Want the easy button? Use Marqii.

I can’t recommend it enough. All you have to do is update Marqii and it updates all of the other sites with just a push of a button. Need to add photos, update a menu item or change your hours of operation for a holiday? That will take you less than 5 minutes in Marqii and then it will be updated everywhere.

That’s what we do at Handcraft Burgers & Brew and I can tell you that beyond a shadow of a doubt, 90% of the people who end up on our Google My Business got their by searching “burger near me” and keep in mind, we are in Bryant Park NYC, just a few blocks away from Times Square.

There are A LOT of Burgers near us!

Go Dom Cobb Ever see that move Inception starring Leonardo DiCaprio as the character Dom Cobb? They find a way to enter people’s minds and manipulate them by placing an idea in their subconscious. Well guess what … you can do it too and it doesn’t require some kind of future technology.

What happens when people get a craving? They go to Google to search for a restaurant to satisfy it. Well we already discussed how to win that battle. But what if instead of using Google or Yelp, they open up GrubHub, DoorDash or UberEats? Welp, you lost that battle. Now you’ve got to use the conversion tools above.

But what if in that moment, right before they go to search, you can slip that idea into their subconscious that they should order from you. What if you could Dom Cobb them into wishing their were eating from your restaurant?

Well you can… with Facebook and Instagram ads.

Facebook and Instagram ads are an inexpensive, highly targeted and flexible way to find people who would

love your food and service. Food is the second most popular type of content on social media (fashion is number 1) so that means people are used to looking at pictures of your lunch on social.

Placing an ad with a great looking picture of your food and compelling caption is hardly an interruption. It’s an inception!

Want to make it super simple and easy? Use an incredible tool called Targetable. They take your data, your information, your content and create your ads for you so that you never have to log into Meta Business Manager again. HALLELUJAH! Go Faster That’s it! Doesn’t sound too hard, does it?

Want more tactics and tips on how to do it, including how to turn your social media into an online ordering jackpot?

Check out my book “How To Get Customers To Order Directly From You Instead Of Using Third Party Apps.” In the book you’ll discover how to: • Stop Your Guests From Ordering Via Third-Party Apps Right Away • Take Your Own Orders • Get More Orders Into Your Own System • Increase Order Frequency • Quickly Organize Your Google My Business For Optimal Search Results • Social Media Tactics That Get Your Followers To Place Online Orders • STOP RENTING YOUR GUESTS FROM THIRD-PARTY DELIVERY APPS Got questions? Send me a message on LinkedIn or Instagram and let me know. I answer!

May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 103

ELARA BRANDS

from page 84

though not to pre-pandemic levels.

One thing that isn’t changing is the need for glove buyers to be cautious.

When nitrile gloves shortages were at their worst, some speculators sought to capitalize by importing gloves labeled as ‘nitrile’ that are made mostly from vinyl. This puts users at risk if they believe they’re getting a true nitrile glove, which provides a much higher level of protection than vinyl.

Stick with brands you know and trust.”

Restaurant and foodservice professionals are also trying to gauge and create their interpretations of ‘clean and safe’. “We’re moving into a new endemic phase, and it appears we’re going to have to live with the virus for some time. Infection rates may ebb and flow, which means safety protocols may have to be fluid as well. While consumers are starting to enjoy dining out again, perceptions around safety have been heightened, and restaurants must continue to make guests feel safe. Potential employees, not just consumers, are paying attention to what operators are doing about safety as well. A cleaner and safer operation has a better chance of hiring hard-tocome-by workers over a lax competitor. With all the focus on COVID-19 protocols, operators must remain

RESTAURANT STRATEGIES value and reward them with making more money or getting promoted (or both).

When we think about systems in our restaurant, you should realize that you need systems for everything.

You need systems for: • Recruiting people • Interviewing people • Hiring them • Onboarding • Job training • Requesting time off • The steps of service • Greeting a guest • Answering the phone • Counting a drawer back to 300 • Checking out servers • Checking out cooks • Monthly maintenance • Yearly maintenance

vigilant about food safety. A single foodborne illness outbreak can have devastating consequences. Norovirus and Hepatitis A can be a bigger threat to a restaurant than the coronavirus.

Training your staff and monitoring food safety protocols are imperative.”

Many operators find themselves confused over the relationship between gloves and the media coverage and politics of mask usage. “Gloves were a priority before masking and will continue to be important even if masks go away for one key reason – food safety.

Masks are used for reducing airborne transmission of the coronavirus. The main reason for glove use in restaurants is to prevent disease transmission from a worker’s hands to food. Most food codes and company protocols prohibit bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat foods. A majority of consumers surveyed well before Covid said they want to see food handlers wearing gloves. Other uses for gloves stemming from Covid are here to stay as well, such as for protecting hands when cleaning, sanitizing, and performing maintenance tasks.”

Grinberg sees a positive result of the increased demand of the past two years. “Whereas glove choices were

limited during the peak of the pandemic, operators now have options in pretty much every category – nitrile, latex, vinyl, and polyethylene gloves, and newer blended varieties. This means operators no longer have to settle. For example, some nitrile users were forced to switch to vinyl gloves because of shortages. They found that vinyl was far from ideal, tearing more easily and creating more waste.

These users are moving back to nitrile, even though vinyl is less expensive. Other operators switched to less expensive options and are not moving back. Elara’s digifit glove is made from a stretchable plastic formulation that mimics vinyl gloves. Certain customers switched to digifit when vinyl prices shot up. Even though vinyl prices have declined, digifit is still less expensive and is working great for the customer. What is vital is to understand that with so many different uses for gloves, no single product can do it all. For example, we’re introducing a heavier gauge nitrile glove that will provide added comfort around heat and more durability for meat cutting and tougher cleaning and maintenance tasks. At the other end of the spectrum, there is a new ultra-thin yet strong glove that provides superior

touch sensitivity for chefs who would prefer not having to wear gloves at all.”

With his read on the ebb and flow of the marketplace, the Long Island– based glove executive shared his thoughts on best practices for creating a glove strategy. “During the worst of the shortages, distributors did a great job finding substitutes, some of which were not ideal, but there were not many options. That’s changing. Operators can be more selective again and find the glove that balances durability, comfort, and cost. Remember, the cheapest glove is not always the lowest-cost option, especially if it doesn’t hold up to the task. Ask your sales rep for samples so you can try out different types of gloves. Purchase reputable brands from distributors you trust.

There are still suspect products in the market. Finally, I can’t stress enough how important it is to train your staff on proper glove use. This starts with handwashing and learning the dos and don’ts of proper glove use. Elara has free training guides and wall charts to help you do this. We have additional innovations coming out this year, so stay tuned,” Grinberg concluded.

flipped the script from the error being about them not doing their job well to them not following their checklist.

Now, you can work on developing that person into the kind of person who follows their checklist!

Start thinking about systems, processes, and procedures in your restaurant as the way you do something or the way you want it done each and every time. Then start documenting it and train your team to do it the exact same way every time, with the help of the documentation.

This is managing the system.

It’s either done or it’s not done; it’s either done right or it’s not done right; it’s either done on time or it’s not done on time.

It’s a subtle difference from trying to manage a person but it’s a big differ-

ence. This mindset shift is important if we want to overcome the labor shortage and challenges. We have to do better for our employees and for our industry. We have to provide out team with a path that is paved for them to follow, instead of wondering why they are quitting so quickly and leaving the industry.

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TYING IT ALL TOGETHER If you’ve ever had trouble getting someone on your team to do their job properly, it’s probably because there isn’t a black and white, exact step-bystep, this is how we do it system.

For example, you should have a checklist for how Cashier 1 opens up the cashier station. Do they have to get the soda taps plugged back into the soda machine? Do they have to put bottled waters on ice? Do they have to refill cutlery and napkins and to-go containers? Do they have to reset their drawer? Do they need pens, pencils, tape, etc.?

These items should all be on a checklist. Then if Cashier 1 doesn’t follow the checklist, it brings up an amazing coaching moment. You’ve

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If this overwhelms you or if you’ve tried to build systems and checklists and you’re stuck, please consider finding the right tools to help you, taking a training course or hiring a restaurant operations coach who has a proven system for building systems specific to your restaurant. We have all of this and more at www.TheRestaurantBoss.com if you need a starting point.

KAREN GOODLAD

from page 20

associate’s in applied science and a bachelor of technology with areas of focus that include food and beverage, culinary or pastry arts, tourism, and lodging operations. The BTech degree in Hospitality Management is an internationally accredited program of the Accreditation Commission for Programs in Hospitality Administration (ACPHA).

Our co-curricular activities, designed to provide additional chances for students to hone their professional skills, include The Anna Nurse Culinary Workshop, Spoons Across America, American Culinary Federation (ACF), Big Apple Junior Chapter, Aspiring Hoteliers Club, and the City Tech Tea Club, all include student leaders who invest in their own development for the betterment of the department as a whole.

Currently, the department members are at the beginning stages of a curriculum review. Though we constantly evaluate and shift our requirements, we are about to embark on a much bigger change. I look forward to leading this effort, one that will reflect the continually changing demands of the hospitality workforce and that will make more deliberate connections between the students and industry leaders. With our partners and advisory board, I believe we are in a good place to continue to serve the needs of the hospitality industry as we have for over 70 years, graduating students who can identify and demonstrate skills relevant to the operational areas of hospitality management while also exhibiting the analytical and social skills essential for success in the global workplace. As our current curriculum does, we will continue to utilize the dynamics of collaboration in diverse settings, we are after all, among the most diverse colleges of technology in the country.

How have the needs of the hospitality community evolved and intersected with your curriculum?

During the height of the pandemic, many of the inequities in the food and beverage industry played out

in public settings, in our students’ communities, and in our student’s homes. We are the most diverse college of technology in the northeast, we celebrate that. We are also a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Built into our curriculum are two elective courses that focus on ingredients and techniques of individual regional cuisines, but that also consider diversity and representation in the food industry. The courses are International Cuisine and International Desserts. The teachers take time to explore culture and celebrate the diversity of our student population and their lived experience, it is in this celebration of their diversity that we elevate them. Moving forward, we are seeking opportunities to explicitly collaborate with the HSI leaders on campus to forge collegewide conversations and actions similar to what we do in our courses.

How have you molded your program to respond to those changing needs?

Virtual everything is here to stay so it is important for us to prepare our graduates to work in this environment. Our future cooks, chefs, sommeliers, tourist professionals, and hoteliers will require the facilitation or participation in virtual meetings, conferences, and demonstrations.

Do you offer courses about plantbased cuisines?

We offer three courses The Art of Vegetation Cuisine, Sustainable Food Systems, and Nutrition for Food Service. In addition, the City Tech Garden Club covers this topic. In the past, we farmed a plot at Brooklyn Grange and now we have a hydroponic garden that often provides lettuces and herbs for our culinary labs.

terms of student retention and persistence, the quick help that a professor can provide when a student says “I have a quick question”, I call this “drive-thru advising”. Sometimes the answer is truly quick, other times the question reveals the need for a deeper conversation and the faculty member can invite students into that longer conversation. Then there is “spillover advising”, which is when students support each other.

Something like “hey, I just spoke to Professor Goodlad about the same issue, here is what she said…”. This just does not happen often enough in a virtual classroom setting.

What do you suggest that the industry does to help facilitate the career path for entry level personnel?

More structured internship programs that provide a rotation through various positions offering developmental and leadership opportunities for recent graduates and include insight into all aspects of the workplace. A sommelier will be better prepared to pair food if they have examined the menu and spent time in the kitchen. A line cook can better prepare to be a sous chef if they spend time in purchasing. We graduate students who have a technical degree that is grounded in the liberal arts, exposing them to the basics and celebrating them as they practice and improve and create. In the workplace, they make contributions based on their classroom experience but they need to be provided with a path to show their knowledge and skills and express their values as

they continue to learn.

What support does City Tech get from the Hospitality and Food Service Industry?

The cost of college is often cited as the most significant reason students stop attending. Additional reasons are linked to feeling connected with the college experience and their course of study. Organizations like Les Dames d’Escoffier NY (LDNY), The Partridge Foundation, The Food and Beverage Association and NYC & Company offer financial scholarships and networking to students.

These scholarship programs are intentionally designed to address both the financial and connection issues and more. The LDNY formal mentoring program along with the financial award has an exponential effect.

Societe Culinaire Philanthropique and Paris Gourmet offer different approaches but address these same retention concerns. These organizations fund our study abroad program in Paris which heightens students’ exposure to new cultures and deepens the impact of their education.

Our donors recognize that their generosity impacts the award recipient’s preparedness for the industry and creates additional reasons to stay in school and work towards their academic and career goals.

Find Karen Goodlad on IG & Twitter @ProfGoodvino, FB & LinkedIn – Karen Goodlad, Website: Prof. Karen Goodlad

As you look at your students today, how important is the classroom piece?

In-person learning will benefit students in terms of applied skills like, filleting a fish, piping rosettes, analyzing wine and more. But inperson learning does a lot more in May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com • 105

SABATINO

from page 16

you can offer year-round,” Balestra continued.

The truffle varieties that his company distributes are harvested primarily from the Umbria region, Italy’s green heart. “Ninety-five to ninety-eight percent of the business is done with three different truffles – white, black winter, and black summer truffles,” Balestra explained.

Right now, it’s pretty easy with all the varieties of products that we offer.” Sabatino Tartufi’s distributes the truffle flavor in oils, salts, and

NYC HOSPITALITY ALLIANCE industry that is still thousands of jobs short from pre-pandemic employment levels. “The State & Future of the Hospitality Workforce” explored the state of the workforce and how restaurants and bars are working to attract and retain talent. The panel was anchored by Di An Di’s Dennis Ngo, James Parrott of The New School (Economist), NYC Food and Beverage Industry Part-

NOTCH

sweeteners, to name a few. However, its product with the highest demand is the Truffle Zest®.

The idea for this revolutionary product, Balestra said, was born during a visit to Asia. “I was with a customer in Tokyo, Japan, and he asked, ‘Do you have something I could use in my rice?’ Oh yes. I have truffle salt. ‘Oh no, I can’t put salt in my rice. It’s not a spice,’ he said. So, I said, ‘what are you talking about?

You don’t grind truffle for truffle flavor. It doesn’t work like that’.” On

his final leg of that trip back in New York, Balestra said one of his company’s truck drivers told him: “I love truffles, but I cannot have salt, do you have a spice or product with no salt with a truffle flavor?”

According to Balestra, this New York encounter confirmed the market demand for such a product. “He was asking for the same product that the Japanese were asking for! I called my sister in Italy and told her we need to have this and that’s when we started to invent that product. It

took almost a year to invent it, but it was a success from day one. Within three years, this became the number one selling product in the industry.”

Balestra concluded by inviting the nation’s chefs and restaurateurs to get more information on adding truffles to their menus on line at www.sabatinotruffles.com. The West Haven, CT based company will also be on hand in booth 10416 at the upcoming National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago, set for May 21st-24th in Chicago.

nership’s Steven Picker and Carolyn Richmond of Fox Rothschild LLP. Crain’s New York’s Cara Eisenpress moderated the much-anticipated session.

The program concluded with a much anticipated “Economic State of the Industry” address from Rahul Jain - Deputy Comptroller for New York City and Office of the State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

Jain took the business down to the proverbial studs with insight into such key items as Jackson Heights, Queens being the home to the most New York City restaurant workers.

“The return of our State of Industry event simply couldn’t be timed better,” Rigie said. Our counsel Robert Bookman really said it best with his thoughts on our efforts to secure long term passage of drinks-to-go.

“Everyone likes to think that Covid is over, but it isn’t for the restaurant industry. They’re deeply in debt and two thirds of those who applied for a federal bailout show were shutout, to come out of that they need every revenue stream they can get.

They’re nowhere near back to normal. “We are hoping that our gathering provided insight for New York City’s restaurant community.”

This levels the playing field so that distributors are gaining the same technology that a broadline supply chain, such as Sysco, may have. When restaurants bring their supply chain online and integrate it into their accounting and POS systems, they can easily pay their distributors and distributors can collect from the restaurant. In addition, the notchPay program seamlessly handles purchase rebates from manufacturers and packers that have become an essential revenue stream for restaurants and foodservice operators.

When discussing problems within the wholesale process, Huck touched on GPOs. “When major distributors receive orders the data flows to the actual brands that provide the rebate. If they do not live with a GPO model we have a partnership with

a major one called Foodbuy, from Compass Group, the largest food service group in America.” While most restaurants are aware of GPO models, notch has them ready if a restaurant is in need of one and helps to onboard this process.

Huck commented that notch believes that restaurants are not ready to say goodbye to the relationships they have with their representatives. “I think the DSR (Distributor sales rep) will continue to build relationships with chefs. This company took off when everything we thought about when building products was about making things easier to maintain relationships with the distributors.”

An example of how notch encourages this is when a restaurant sends an order to their distributor, they can cc their representative. The module

notch is building and also allows representatives to enter orders. “We want to increase continuity, not get in the way; we are the technology company that exists to help automate the stressful labor,” Huck concluded.

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from page 88

many orders a day. We automatically pull the money, you click one button, and enter the credit card information once. The integration with that restaurant’s system triggers our product to pull the money that is owned and is deposited directly into your bank account.” With that, the concept of manually handling invoices can be eliminated. Digital invoices are delivered, and weekly statements are automated as well.

Huck went on to explain that the relationship between distributors and restaurants is about loyalty: “You get the supply chain you’ve invited and cultivated when you onboard with us. The product experience we build we want distributors to embrace. The way we look at it is that we are giving back to the community to deliver lowest possible rates to specialty producers.”

106 • May 2022 • Total Food Service • www.totalfood.com

For restaurants interested in the next steps with notch, visit https:// www.notchordering.com/.

With pent-up demand in the food industry, notch aims to help operators cut down on manual work so their focus can be on their guests.

EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE the equipment you use is maintained to the highest standard based on the recommendations of the food, health, and fire safety department. This promotes a safe work environment for your employees - the topmost priority for any business owner. Training your employees in fire and workplace safety, and supplementing these measures with fire suppression equipment at your establishment will go a long way in maintaining a safe workplace.

How to Maintain Commercial Kitchen Equipment Properly?

Here’s how you should maintain important kitchen equipment properly: Refrigeration Equipment Commercial refrigerators and freezers are some of the most essential pieces of machinery in a foodservice establishment. They allow you to store material for long periods and also help you in making ice - an essential commodity for refreshments. Proper maintenance of your refrigeration and freezer units is instrumental to your restaurant’s success. Here’s what you should know when maintaining refrigeration equipment: • Be sure to check and clean the air filters in your refrigerators and ice makers regularly.

• Check for any damage to the door gaskets and air seals in the refrigerator to prevent leakage of airflow. Grime and dirt can damage the gaskets.

• Drain pans are used during defrosting, and the tubes in the refrigeration equipment must also be cleaned and sanitized regularly for hassle-free operation.

Commercial Cooking Equipment Cooking equipment like ranges, griddles, fryers, and ovens form the backbone of the commercial kitchen industry. Without their optimal functioning, your business will encounter major hurdles in running through day-to-day operations. Due to their near-constant usage in the kitchen, these machines undergo a lot of wear & tear, alongside heavy grease and grime build-up. Their maintenance is not only important for seamless kitchen operations, but also for ensuring all health codes are followed by your establishment. Here are some tips to

from page 52 follow: • Boil out fryers regularly to remove grease and carbon deposits. Don’t forget to inspect the gas supply lines and watch out for potential leaks. It’s also important to clean combustion fans in fryers to ensure safe operation.

• For ranges and griddles, it’s important to clean the burners, grates, flat tops, and grease pan regularly. Ideally, this must be done once every few hours or at the end of the day after operations have ceased. Indulge in deep cleaning for these machines at least

once every week. Also, don’t forget to check the exhaust area for grease build-up. Replace the filters in case the buildup is too stubborn to remove.

How Often Should Your Commercial Kitchen Be Cleaned?

While equipment like ranges and ovens must be cleaned daily, ice makers and other refrigeration equipment must be cleaned at least once a week.

Machines that work with dairy and other protein-based products must be cleaned at the end of the day or once

every few hours. All surfaces should be wiped and sanitized at the end of each working day, and a deep cleaning must be undertaken at least once every two weeks or once every month without fail.

Now that you understand the importance of maintaining commercial kitchen machinery, ensure your establishment follows the maintenance guidelines provided by manufacturers, and reach out to the professionals when the cleaning gets too complex for your staff.

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CHOCO

from page 12

multi-language options and customizable profiles, so that management can share access in real time with their team.

Most importantly, the restaurateur controls the vendors on their Choco dashboard. “We understand how important those relationships that the restaurant has fostered are,” explained the former GrubHub executive. “It really fosters the ability for the distributor sales rep to provide info on a special that is being promoted. It also ensures that what is being ordered is being used to minimize our mission to do our part to eliminate food waste.”

The popularity of Choco for the world’s distributor and vendor community continues to grow in 2022. The platform enables distributors to manage orders, edit catalogs and promote platforms in a single platform. The goal is to enable the distributor to save time, reduce errors and build deeper customer relationships. Choco integrates with your ERP to erase manual order entry forever. This also triggers time savings that cuts costs. Restaurant orders with Choco eliminate all guess work because they come with product IDs and delivery dates.

Keeping your catalog up-to-date is one thing but telling customers about it is another. Managing your catalog online with Choco means product information (units, IDs, availability) is always up-to-date and visible for customers. Distributors can promote special offers and seasonal products by messaging multiple customers at once. Choco even unlocks a new kind of marketing by sending offers straight to customers’ Choco app. 20-30% of

TOP MENU MAKERS

products promoted to customers via Choco are purchased.

The Choco platform has given the nation’s distributors a unique solution for communicating with their customer base. “We have the ability for a distributor to let their restaurant customers know that we are running an hour late today, or we are out of stock on Kale and can replace it with a new product,” Kenyon noted. “It’s interesting how this new transparency has created new opportunities. A distributor may very well have a batch of tomatoes with one day of shelf life remaining that, although might not be right for a salad, might make a perfect cost effective base at 75% off for a batch of marinara sauce that needs to be prepped.”

The company also understands that is part or an industry that seeks to be part of a community that can solve something meaningful to the planet.

With the fundamental purpose of the company being to make the food supply chain more transparent and sustainable, they carried out 14 months of research on food waste. Choco’s research found that food waste played a leading role in other global problems, causes deforestation and is the thirdlargest driver of climate change. Choco has emerged as a leader in tackling the food waste issue. “We know that there is something broken in the food supply chain that is creating all of this waste,” Kenyon noted. “It puts farmers and producers under a great amount of price pressure. Our goal was to create a digitizing solution for the whole supply chain. Its even reflected our name: Choco which is one of the most

bio-diverse areas in the Amazon rainforest.”

“With the cost of gas and the carbon emissions issue, Choco has been able to eliminate the pesky second run issue that has plagued distributors for decades,” Kenyon continued.

“By growing our penetration across the US and eliminating mistakes from distributor/vendor orders, we are able to make a significant impact on eliminating waste. In addition to food and beverage, US restaurateurs are utilizing the Choco platform to manage everything from recycled packaging to tabletop, linens and kitchen equipment.”

Choco also collects data in real time so that suppliers can more accurately balance supply and demand so less food is wasted before it reaches the consumer. Its aim is to “completely digitize the food wholesale market across the globe by 2026 on behalf of zero food waste.”

Choco’s goal is to provide the vendor/distributor the industry’s most comprehensive portfolio of solutions. “We accompany restaurants and suppliers every step of the way on their personal digitalization journey, Khachab noted. “We’re convinced that the entire industry will go digital by 2026. We believe those suppliers will win who digitize and optimize their operations end-to-end.”

Choco’s premium offering for suppliers focuses on optimizing three keys. “We can drive increased sales by displaying products digitally and targeted marketing to customer,” Kenyon added. “Choco reduces costs by order streamlining and automation

via integrations. Most importantly, we can fully digitize the hundreds of customers that a supplier has in just a matter of weeks by with our simple onboarding to the order management platform.”

Choco’s mission is to provide an open platform, with basic order transmission to all suppliers for free. “For suppliers that want to start the digitalization journey step by step, they can for a small fee get listed and create a profile so that existing customers can find and start ordering from them,” Kenyon explained.

Meanwhile, Choco is active in the U.S., Germany, France, Spain, Austria and Belgium, and experienced 350% growth in users over the past year. And as of February 2022, the total value of goods traded through Choco exceeded $1.2 billion, and it is working with around 15,000 restaurant customers and 16,000 on the supply side.

Choco also understands that for those there are new to technology or the platform that there will be questions. With that in mind Choco’s support team offers 24/7 support. In addition, on-boarding can be accomplished in less than 24 hours. “Onboarding is white glove and simple. We want to be an extension of your team and brand,” Kenyon concluded.

Restaurateurs and distributors interested in learning more about how Choco can streamline operations are invited to visit the company’s web site at www.choco.com. The company will also be on hand in booth #7607 at the upcoming NRA-National Restaurant Association Show on May 21st-24th at Chicago’s McCormick Place.

If you’re looking for a menu-making tool that can truly do it all, MustHaveMenus is the perfect option. With the ability to design, customize, and print nearly 20,000 unique templates, there’s no reason to try any other service. MustHaveMenus can help you create a unique brand for your restaurant, giving you the ability to display it across dine-in menus, takeout menus, social media posts, flyers, and more.

Not only that, but MustHaveMenus also publishes new templates every single month, meaning you’ll never run out of ideas or inspiration.

They’ve got you covered on holidays, special occasions, and so much more. For only $30 a month (or for free on a select number of templates), you can’t go wrong with MustHaveMenus, the #1 menu-making tool.

from page 18

ent than options like MustHaveMenus and iMenuPro, as they offer a lot of different services, aside from menu design. On top of that, they offer both website, mobile menu, and print services. However, their focus on overall FOH solutions seems to be one that could benefit many restaurants. Although, if you’re looking for just menu design, this may be a bit on the pricier side compared to other options.

Price: Starting at $99/month Menu Maker Tool: • Patented interactive menu technology • Syncs to online ordering and delivery • Many other non-menu related features How to Choose a Menu Maker for Your Restaurant

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LEGAL INSIDER

from page 70

that such assertions lacked specificity of any future plans to patron the hotel and were therefore, not sufficient to support a finding of injury that would warrant prospective relief. Further, the Second Circuit rejected the plaintiff’s claim that he suffered an “informational injury” due to the hotel’s website depriving him of sufficient information to travel without discrimination. The court reasoned that plaintiff must allege “downstream consequences” from not receiving the information in order to have an injury. In other words, the plaintiff must show that he had an interest in using the information, other than for the lawsuit. The court found that the plaintiff did not sufficiently allege such interest.

This ruling should be a welcome development for New York employ-

PLANT BASED

ers as the Second Circuit has raised the bar on the level of detail complaints must contain to be viable in federal courts, thus limiting the ability for plaintiff-side law firms to rely on boilerplate complaints in their lawsuits. Such heightened pleading standards hopefully slow down the proliferation of tester lawsuits and reserve such claims for those disabled individuals who have actual cognizable claims warranting relief and whom in good faith sought to use a business’s goods and services, but were unfortunately unable to do so.

Even with the promising Second Circuit decision, employers should continue to review their websites to ensure compliance with the ADA and avoid potential legal exposure in the future.

from page 58

taste epic. If not, it won’t get you anywhere.

• Ask yourself these questions: Is the product easy to cook with? It has to be so simple that it makes sense for your team to be able to dish it out effectively, consistently and with speed.

What margin will I get by adding this dish to my menu? It has to make sense from a business perspective. In short, look for tasty foods with real ingredients that are super easy to cook with.

• Speak to your customers, ask what they think about bringing on a dish.

They are so valuable to you and your business. I would also look to add options to dishes that are not plantbased. For example, our Charley St Chorizo began as an element to our Naughty Eggs with 2 poached eggs.

We serve our Charley St Chorizo with roasted garlic hummus on sour dough.

The Chorizo became so popular we were able to highlight it as its own dish and now it is available across the country. You can find information about our delicious Charley St Chorizo and Bolognese here: www.charleyst.com.

• When working with distributors, find out: Where was the product made and why? What is in the ingredients?

Is the protein easy to cook with? How long can you store it? How do you store it?

To drive in customers while taking a leadership position on health and climate, Dana Smith, Meatless Monday Campaign Director, offers these tips: • Start with your most popular meat dishes and make them plant-based.

So turn chicken tacos into tofu tacos or beef chili into three-bean chili. On Meatless Monday specifically, leverage the popularity of #MeatlessMonday to promote plant-based eating and attract new customers.

• Run a promotion to bring awareness for Meatless Monday. For the past two years, Starbucks promoted a discount on Meatless Monday to support their sustainability initiatives.

In addition, New York Presbyterian Hospital added vegetarian and plantbased dishes to its hospital cafeteria, at a discount, to promote health and bring awareness for the connection between meat production and the environment, For free recipes, social media assets, health and environmental resources, visit MeatlessMonday.com.

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CIA MASTERS PROGRAM sional who desire credentials but would find it difficult to balance the equation of studies plus personal and professional responsibilities. Tremblay said the type of candidates that are attracted to these programs are “people that have professional experience and are looking to grow their careers further and have specific goals in mind.” He added that these classes are taught asynchronously, which allows the students “the flexibility to meet their deadlines over the course of the week as their schedule allows whether it’s at two-thirty in the morning or two in the afternoon.”

The online educational experience is enhanced in each concentration with short in-person residencies.

FIORITO ON INSURANCE labor market. Here are some options to consider: • Supplemental health: Employees are often stretched to cover out-of-pocket medical costs. Supplemental health coverage pays benefits to members directly for treatments related to injuries, the costs of hospitalization or a covered critical condition.

• Accident insurance: If an employee or the employee’s family members suffer an accident away from the job, accident insurance helps pay for treatment. This coverage can help reduce workers’ compensation claims, as the funds en-

NEXTBITE

from page 6 “Each residency is about four to five days in length, so there won’t be a huge time commitment. But they are such a crucial part of the supplemental of the education and also the interpersonal connection of the cohorts,” he explained.

Those enrolled in the food business program will participate in the CIA’s highly regarded Menus of Change conference hosted annually at the New York campus. In their final residency, they are granted the opportunity to pitch their business playbook to industry leaders, receiving ample feedback and networking opportunities. But perhaps the coolest residencies are for those in the wine and beverage management track,

which are held in the quintessential place to learn about wine, Napa Valley.

While there, students get hands-on learning, participating in wine tastings and getting field experience at world-renowned wineries.

The sustainable food systems residency takes the participants to the San Francisco Bay area. There, Tremblay said, “they will dive into understanding the activism side of food sustainability, how they’re going to implement change in the food system and look at it from the perspective of doing it from grassroots initiatives and also from within an already established business.” He said this helps the students to see the “parallels and differences and to understand those

two elements of how to effect change in those arenas.”

While these programs undoubtedly create new opportunities for participants, they also are “changing the narrative and changing where the industry is going,” said Tremblay.

“These programs are so topical and so current that they are going to give students a conversation and an arena to build ideas for the future that are going to impart a huge amount of change for the better.”

able employees to pay for treatment (rather than delaying it) if they are hurt.

• Digital benefits wallets: Easy access to benefits doesn’t just help employee wellness but boosts engagement. So-called digital “wallets” are a representation of benefits details, with a “card” for every offering on a smartphone. These cards can help workers access everything from 24/7 telemedicine to mental health and caregiver support services and discounts for prescription drugs.

• Legal services benefits: Group legal plans ensure access to pro-

fessional legal help for everything from traffic tickets and small claims to landlord and immigration issues. They are good for employers on multiple fronts beyond recruitment, helping reduce presenteeism and absenteeism.

• Early wage access: These programs give employees access to earnings that have accrued between paychecks. Early wage access can be an attractive option for food and beverage workers to help avoid predatory lending and other practices that can hurt their finances.

help manage the labor gap in the hospitality industry and attract long-term staff. Work with your insurance advisor to offer a strategic and competitive benefits package.

not cook for multiple. We are adding extra orders to restaurants that don’t require the addition of any new labor and the orders that we are adding to a restaurant have a 30 to 35% percent profit margin.”

As to what the onboarding process for a restaurant would look like, Canter has the answer. “Generally, when a restaurant wants to take on more orders, we scope out what would be a good match for that restaurant

based on where they’re located, what kind of equipment they already have, what cuisine type are they making, do they want to diversify to another day part. We ship them our Ordermark device, along with rigorous training videos that teach restaurants how to produce and follow the standards for the items that we have created. We then put the brands on the delivery apps and market them in a way that will drive meaningful and incremen-

Restaurant and foodservice professionals can find additional information on the new Masters tracks at https://learn.ciachef.edu/graduatestudies/

from page 14

1. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/jolts.pdf 2. Deloitte, “Deloitte and FMI – The Food Industry Association: New Study Examines the Future of Work in the Food Industry,” July 27, 2021.

3. Food Processing, “Where Did All of the Food & Beverage Workers Go?” Nov. 2, 2021.

Offering voluntary benefits can

from page 22

business model for restaurants,” said Canter. “Restaurants are used to operating on razor thin margins as it is.

If you’re lucky you are making margins of five to ten percent every year.

It is a very, very break-even business model, but when you can layer incremental orders on top of a business where the rent is already fixed, the lights are on and the staff is there, whether you are cooking food for one brand or multiple brands, why

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tal volume their way. We take care of one hundred percent of the marketing so that all the restaurants have to do is something that they are already good at, cook.”

For restaurants looking to unlock the full capacity of their kitchen, while adding a low cost extra source of revenue, more information can be found online at https://www.nextbite.io/.

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CHOWNOW

from page 28

ordering would become an industry staple. The necessity of this service took on greater meaning at the height of the pandemic when it witnessed its highest growth. And though the numbers have fallen below the May 2020 high, current takeout demands remain higher than pre-pandemic levels. ChowNow’s solution has not only focused on positioning restaurants to escape the 20 – 40 percent delivery commissions but has also brought transparency and partnership to the table, and most importantly, control.

ChowNow’s goal is to give restaurants control over their takeout business, customer database, menus, prices, and delivery zones. “We want to help restaurants take back control of their businesses and online ordering decisions, especially in a landscape that often makes choices that are not beneficial for independent restaurants,” said Webb.

ChowNow does not provide delivery personnel but does enable its restaurant partners to add delivery services.

Most deliveries on ChowNow are done by restaurants and staff, “...which I think is the best way of doing it. You get this kind of inside knowledge.

There’s accountability. There’s association with the restaurant, the brand,

KIRK RUOFF

and the customer base,” said Webb.

ChowNow also offers restaurants the ability to work with a third-party delivery courier. ChowNow restaurant partners are able to determine the pricing model that works best for them when it comes to courier fees and splitting costs with restaurant customers. ChowNow asks their restaurant partners not to inflate the cost of menu items as is customary on the third-party delivery apps but to display their in-store price on their app, ChowNow Marketplace, since no commission is required, offering a better experience for both restaurant and diner.

Because they do not charge commissions, Webb estimates that they have been able to save restaurants around $470M - money that would have been paid as fees to different third party delivery companies.

Over the last decade, ChowNow’s clientele has grown to more than 20,000 restaurants and over the last ten years, they have processed more than 168 million takeout orders. ChowNow has quickly become an industry favorite.

For those interested in learning more, visit https://get.chownow.com/ (Chris Webb photo by Erin Doll, Takeout photo by Grant Puckett)

from page 74

continued to add locations and are now embarking on franchising the concept. “My team often motivates me to be better and continue to push into new challenges. I am extremely humbled at how hard they work for our business.”

ADAPTABILITY A core statement that Ruoff lives by is “complacency breed mediocracy,” saying it’s up to successful leaders to continuously grow, redirect objectives, and adapt to the world around us. “When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we recognized an opportunity,” said Ruoff. “The pandemic gave everyone the chance to reassess their professional goals and evaluate new opportunities for

the business. This was a big reason why we began franchising earlier this year. We put Turning Point in the best possible position to expand our footprint and provide restaurant industry colleagues an opportunity to start making their own professional decisions and say goodbye to 80-hour work weeks.”

Ruoff says none of his success would be possible if he didn’t have an idea of what a good leader looks like. He says it’s helped him build confidence in the future of the Turning Point brand.

“We have our game plan and the team is prepared, now we just need to go out and execute to win the day!” said Ruoff.

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EASY ICE

from page 26

ing machines that produce perfectly square ice cubes with those that produce chewable nugget ice in highend cocktail bars and restaurants.

This strategy lends itself well to the nation’s increased desire for specialty cocktails. “The size and shape of the Kold Draft cube has become an essential ingredient of the signature cocktail,” Mahlmeister noted.

He added that it is the company’s intention to eventually “migrate this vision of specialty ice” to other metropolitan markets.

“When exclusive cocktails are a fundamental part of your brand and image, renting an ice machine creates the flexibility to evolve your beverage program without the major capital outlay of purchasing an ice machine that you might outgrow as your ice needs change,” he said. By the same token, Mahlmeister is under no illusion that all operators require specialty ice. For 95% of the market, customers do not return to a food or entertainment establishment just because of its ice. “To most people ice is just a commodity. In reality, if a restaurant or bar is out of ice there’s an uproar.”

Easy Ice provides full service of its ice makers, so that restaurateurs can focus on the bigger picture without the hassle of worrying over a broken ice machine. “No capital. No hassle. Just ice.” has been the hallmark of their value proposition since launching.

“The key to our success has been aligning our interest with those of our customers. When an operator owns their own ice machine, everybody that services them makes money when the ice machine breaks: the service companies, the repair parts suppliers, and the bagged ice providers,” he said. “They all benefit from a downed ice machine, while the customer is suffering. We maximize our profit by eliminating problems – which means our customers always have ice.”

The company has undergone much change since Mahlmeister and Easy Ice CEO Mark Hangen installed their first ice machine in Texas in

2009. They started the company with an Uber-like model. Uber solves a transportation problem by contracting the driving service to others and Easy Ice initially solved the maintenance problem by contracting the repairs to refrigeration companies.

However, Mahlmeister said “We found it difficult to find service organizations that were both skilled and consistent when it came to working on ice machines. It was a great opportunity to ‘walk a mile in our customer’s shoes. That’s when we really decided to shake it up.”

Easy Ice hired their first technician in 2013, acquired their first company in 2015 and since that time haven’t looked back. Icesurance is Easy Ice’s 12th acquisition over the last 8 years and coming out of COVID, the pace is accelerating. “Ten years ago, 100% of our ice machines were serviced by 3rd party providers, today over 80% of our machines are serviced by Easy Ice technicians, aka Iceologists.”

This shift has opened new frontiers for them to conquer in the way of training. “We invest heavily in training and development. We are committed to providing our employees a growth path with a special emphasis on creating opportunities for young adults who do not plan on going to college,” Mahlmeister said.

Extensive training and technical support are critical to the success of the service division of Easy Ice. In ice machine servicing, the troubleshooting process can be difficult because of the complexity of ice machine mechanics. “Ninety-four percent of the service issues we have are due to mechanical and electrical problems,” he explained. Therefore, “it’s important to train our technicians to be specialists in ice machines.” With their new national training center and meticulous training standards, Easy Ice is paving the way for the next generation of highly skilled technicians to develop with their team.

Mahlmeister and the Easy Ice organization have embraced technology to accomplish their goal of having 24/7 access to ice for restaurants and hospitality establishments. “An

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ice machine is a manufacturing device that produces a food product using a mechanical process,” he said.

“Inevitably it will need physical service, so we will need to be on site with the asset. Over the last couple years, we have worked closely with numerous ice machine manufacturers to develop remote monitoring solutions that will give us insight into mechanical performance indicators of the machines we have in the field.

This will allow us to better gauge the machine’s efficiency from the time it is installed to when it begins to show signs of lower output.”

With these technological advancements plus more acquisitions slated for the future, Easy Ice continues to focus on educating the food and beverage industry that owning or leasing an ice machine are not the only two solutions. There’s a third - subscriptions - and it singlehandedly alleviates all the major pain points of securing a safe, reliable supply of ice.

“Many operators simply don’t

know that our full-service subscription model is available,” Mahlmeister explained. “It’s not a lease that comes with a 12 to 15 percent interest charge. We don’t view our solution as a financial service. We view it as an operational service.”

In addition, he pointed out that for new foodservice startups, their best bet is a full-service ice machine subscription. “We provide real value to our customers, and we love partnering with new businesses. We are committed to helping customers figure out the best way to run their business.”

Easy Ice’s recipe for success begins with the strength of the Easy Ice subscription model and the promise of 24/7 ice. Add to that the customer service reputation that Jeff Hendler and his Icesurance team have garnered, and you have a big win for the Metro New York restaurant and foodservice industries.

To learn more, visit the website at https://www.easyice.com/

SOCIETY FOR HOSPITALITY AND FOODSERVICE MANAGEMENT

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HOBART

from page 86

Blair continued. Hobart and Traulsen are known for their premium, heavyduty products; however, there is a large number of operators that don’t require the advanced performance capabilities and technologies associated with Hobart and Traulsen’s premium line. For these operators, mid-tier solutions like Centerline are better suited for their business. Although there are many product and brand options in the mid-tier space, few offer an extensive line of equipment, across food preparation, refrigeration, dishwashing, etc. Additionally, with the resources and expertise of Hobart and Traulsen, we set out to deliver a better mid-tier product. Our mission for our customers has always been to deliver the best product in its category. Through rigorous product testing, we feel very confident in the quality and reliability of Centerline products in the mid-tier space. And, we believe customers will appreciate the price.”

The latest addition to the Centerline series: our door-type dish machines, refrigerators, prep tables and blast chiller will make their NRA Show debut this month. The new Centerline by Hobart door type commercial dishwasher is perfect for moderate daily use and features a simple, durable design to meet the demands of smaller operations and budgets.

The dish machine can also fit specific kitchen needs with a choice of either a high-temperature (CDH) or a chemical-sanitizing (CDL) model (CDL model includes easy-to-read chemical indicators and chemical pumps). The units can be configured for corner or pass-through operation.

Hobart’s Centerline Door Type machines (CDH, CDL) in addition to the undercounter units (CUH, CUL) will be featured at the NRA event.

Centerline™ by Traulsen also is introducing Reach-In Refrigerators/ Freezers, Prep Tables, Compact Undercounter Refrigerators/ Freezers and Reach-In and Undercounter Blast Chillers. The new product line combines quality, simplicity, and reliability to provide the best possible value for budget-conscious operators.

The company plans to honor its most valuable asset—its employees— at a summer celebration event at the Hobart headquarters in Troy, Ohio.

In turn, employees will participate in a Give-Back Day to support the Troy community, which has been a significant part of the company’s legacy and is a valued part of its future. Employees plan to volunteer time at local independent grocers and restaurants to show their appreciation and engage the community in the 125th anniversary celebration.

With feedback from NRA dealer and end-user operator visitors, Blair and his team will set their sights on the return of the annual NAFEM Show in early ‘23. “At the NAFEM show, in addition to our standard booths, we have plans for a booth that features an institutional (non-commercial) kitchen space on one side and a retail space on the other. Each space will showcase the breadth of our ITW Food Equipment Group offering across brands, in the context of the respective space. In typical fashion, we’ll surely have new products and technologies on display in our booths, many of which I’m not yet able to speak about simply because they are currently in development.”

Technology has been a key to the continued growth of Hobart. “We will be showcasing at the NRA Show and NAFEM our vision for connected devices through our new SmartConnect365 suite of apps,” Blair said.

“The first of which that has been brought to market is our Hobart app for new WiFi-enabled dishwashers.

The apps for cooking and refrigeration products will begin to roll-out soon. These will certainly evolve and become more advanced over time.”

Hobart is backed by a nationwide network of 1,500 factory-trained service technicians, that are always nearby to install, maintain and service equipment for the restaurant, foodservice and retail professional.

Hobart’s complete portfolio of offerings can be viewed in booth 3693 at this month’s annual NRA Show slated for May 21st through May 24th at Chicago’s McCormick Convention Center.

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STABILITY YOU CAN TRUST Bring peace of mind to your operations with FLAT® table solutions. Our self-stabilizing Table Bases and Equalizers for existing tables can eliminate table wobbles and easily align to provide a better dining experience for your guests. Learn more at FlatTech.com or call 855-999-3528.

BOOTH #4076