It's A Wrap - Some of What You Missed or More of What You Long For

Charlie Rose, host of “The Charlie Rose Show” and keynote speaker of this year’s National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show, noted that restaurants are key meeting places for Americans’ most important conversations and experiences. 

Fittingly, the foodservice industry’s largest annual gathering once again brought operators together to learn how to serve their businesses and their customers better.

Throughout the four-day conference held at Chicago’s McCormick Place, industry advocates and operators stressed the importance of being proactive in the face of a business climate complicated by such things as the fledgling economic recovery, social media, growing government regulation and changing culinary trends...

CLICK HERE To read the whole kit and caboodle...(And don't forget to catch the comprehensive wrap-up section in the June 7 issue of Nation's Restaurant News.)
                                                                                               -- Mark Brandau -- 

Charlie Rose and Chicago chef-restaurateur Rick Bayless

Better Than 'Going for the Gold?'

Winning it. 

Villanova's Timothy J. Dietzler last night was presented the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association Gold Plate during a reception at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel & Towers.

Dietzler, center, is shown receiving the award from Norb Mayrhofer, left, IFMA chairman and vice president, global, for Procter & Gamble Professional, and Larry Oberkfell, right, IFMA president and chief exec.

Our Elissa Elan was all over the event and filed a report that can be read at NRN.com by Clicking Here.

NRN Photo All Rights Reserved

Using His Head, Feet, Tail...

Chicago chef-restaurateur Rob Levitt, of Mado, on Sunday demonstrated techniques for butchering a whole pig. Levitt recently staged a series of butchering demonstrations at his North Milwaukee Avenue eatery. Attendees paid $50 each but went home with a sampling of pork cuts. An advocate of using the whole animal, his current menu includes marinated pork tongue, spicy pig head stew and wood-grilled beef heart. Levitt is one of a number of younger chefs who know their way around a carcass, including last year's NRA Show guest dissector, San Francisco chef Chris Cosentino.

Producing in School

Jeffrey McClure of Sodexo discusses using more fresh produce in school meals at the National Restaurant Association’s World Culinary Showcase, a cooking pavilion at the show that will be featuring more demonstrations today and tomorrow.
                                                 -- Bret Thorn at bthorn@nrn.com --
                                           

The respect tip

The respect tip is bigger than the flirtatious tip, according to Mark Hanby, director of franchise development for The Tilted Kilt, a Scottish-Irish-English-themed pub and sports bar based in Tempe, Ariz.

He’s the gentleman in the picture, flanked by Lauren Muscolino (left) and Heather Green, two servers at a local unit of the five-year-old chain.

There are currently 34 Tilted Kilts scattered across the country, with another 40 under development (land procured, ink on the leases dry), 11 of which are physically under construction as I write this.

Hanby talked a bit about the difference between his restaurant and some others that encourage more flirtation from their servers, like Hooters.

The Tilted Kilt has an older demographic, with many of their customers old enough to be the fathers of the servers, and Hanby discourages his servers from flirting with them.

He says the servers make more money by giving good service and being respectful.

I don’t know whether that’s true or not, but Hanby says the average Tilted Kilt server makes more than 30 percent in tips.

-- Bret Thorn at bthorn@nrn.com.

Author: No Kidding - Healthier Foods for Children a Serious Matter

The list of restaurant chains offering healthier kids meals is growing, but there’s still a lot of work to be done, according to Pam Smith, a registered dietitian and founder of Shaping America’s Health in Orlando, Fla.

Smith, a panelist during Sunday’s session “The New Kids Meals: Kid Tested, Nutritionist Approved,” pointed toward such chains as Legal Sea Foods and Red Lobster as moving in the right direction where child nutrition is concerned.

“The list [of chains offering healthier kids meals] is definitely growing,” she said. “There are a lot more restaurants that are looking at it and trying … , but I don’t think there’s a single one out there that would say they’ve got it [exactly] right.”

Smith cited Legal Sea Foods’ baked cod fingers and vegetables and Red Lobster’s kids’ crab meal served with a bib and junior seafood fork as two winning programs.

She noted, however, that she is pleased to see that restaurants are making more progress on the kid nutrition front, and remains optimistic about the future.

“I can see that a lot more of them are working towards trying not only to be innovative, but also do the right thing,” she said. “It’s right for business and key for them to do.”

Asked what she hopes to see within five years, Smith said she’d like to see healthy options available to kids on all menus across the country.               -- Elissa Elan -- 

Drinking up show reconnaissance...

Observations from Sunday’s show floor:

Beverages are big. Lots of cool machines, some using touch-screen technology, to let restaurateurs and/or customers customize their own drinks. You want to dial up the espresso and down the milk in your latte? No problem. Tried delicious fruit drinks, sodas, flavored ices and smoothies. Come to think of it, food was harder to come by.

Best one-liner: Charlie Rose after showing a clip of Julia Child. “She does Julia Child almost as well as Meryl Streep.”

And attendees are growing weary. Several folks were sitting with their shoes off at day’s end, looking like they might not move, bags full of bounty at their sides. Clearly what they need is to get back to the booths and find more caffeine.       -- Robin Lee Allen -- 

It's just pickled vegetables

“I don’t want any dog in mine,” said a visitor to the kimchi stand at the NRA show’s Korea pavilion, and he laughed and laughed. Get it? Because Koreans eat dog. Ha ha ha.

I wanted to tell him that dog is a delicacy in Korea and they wouldn’t try to just sneak it into your food, but I’d just have been reinforcing a stereotype. Besides, David Lee and Jennifer Chon of BCD Food Incorporated didn’t seem to care. They were too busy overseeing the fried rice balls and savory Korean pancakes they were making to go with their cabbage and daikon kimchi.

“No cat today?” the same unfunny guy asked.

“No, try the Chinese pavilion,” David said.

Good one.

-- Bret Thorn at bthorn@nrn.com.

New McCormick work rules expected

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, left, was expected to sign legislation Monday that would overhaul McCormick Place work rules and give Chicago convention center exhibitors more rights in setting up their displays, media outlets were reporting Sunday. A spokeswoman for the National Restaurant Association, which is only committed to Chicago for the NRA Restaurant, Hotel & Motel Show through 2011, said Sunday afternoon that the group had not confirmed Quinn would be signing the law on Monday during the show at McCormick Place.

UPDATE: Gov. Quinn did not sign the overhaul legislation Monday, saying he was still looking into the bill.
- Ron Ruggless, RRuggles@nrn.com

Cathy in full command

S. Truett Cathy was on fire last night at the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation's annual Salute to Excellence. His acceptance speech for the 2010 Thad and Alice Eure Ambassador of Hospitality distinction was at turns heartfelt and sincere, insightful and informative.

But I had no idea how funny the man is. He had two pretty good jokes in his remarks, the first of which dealt with Chick-fil-A's well-known decision to close all its restaurants on Sundays. Sure, it helps the chain not only to further its mission to glorify God and helps crew members achieve a healthy work-life balance, Cathy said, but also "when you work 24 hours a day for six days a week, you could really use a break."

And when Cathy recounted growing up in the depths of the Great Depression, his comic timing had more than a few foodservice executives guffawing and slapping their tables. "I don't remember having anything to play with except a loose tooth," Cathy said, "and it wasn't even mine — it was my brother's."

NRN@NRA Chat - Audio

Geoff Alexander,  of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises' Wow Bao division, was a double dipper Saturday, as he was part of two NRA Show educational sessions dealing with technology. That's Geoff, at left, checking out, what he said was one of several iPad, iPod and iPhone plays for foodservice POS. (Photo by Irene Kijak Photography)

Listen to what he had to say about his sessions.

PLAY NRN@NRA Chat

 -- Alan Liddle

Food Truck Spot

I promised a peek at the new Food Truck Spot on the NRA Show floor:





The Ludo Fried Chicken truck, on the top, is one of the first from new firm Mobi Munch (learn about the industry players behind that venture here), and climbing in was my first behind-the-scenes look at how mobile cuisine can work.

With standard kitchen managment technology, POS systems, and room to spare for at least four people, a food truck seems like a decent investment these days considering the consumer buzz and low cost of entry.


-- Sarah Lockyer at slockyer@nrn.com.

Which ’Wich to open R&D Center

Jeff Sinelli, founder and boss at Dallas-based sandwich chain Which Wich, stopped by the NRN booth and, when I asked to take his picture, he immediately walked over to the promotional poster for this year’s MUFSO conference and posed in front of it.

Yes, Jeff knows how to show gratitude. He’s the only restaurateur to have won two Hot Concepts awards from us, one for his Genghis Grill and the other for Which Wich. And Jeff’s all about leveraging relationships — with vendors, with customers and, yes, with the press.

So he gave us the scoop on the 1,500-square-foot test kitchen, or “R&D Center,” that he’s building in Dallas, and for which he’s shopping for equipment here at the show.

There’s no corporate chef at Which Wich. Jeff does all the product development himself with the help of his vendor partners — leveraging that relationship.

The facility, which he hopes to launch mid-Summer, will be open to the public and will feature different test items every week — maybe items using peppadews one week, naan bread the next — all available for customers at a discount. In return, he’ll ask for their feedback, leveraging his relationship with them to use them as focus groups.

I asked Jeff if he’d be at our MenuMasters party this evening, and he said, “Some things you don’t miss. You don’t miss your daughter’s wedding and you don’t miss a party by NRN.”

-- Bret Thorn at bthorn@nrn.com.

Steve Carley stops by the booth

I had a good chat with El Pollo Loco chief executive Steve Carley when he stopped by NRN’s booth this morning. He’s psyched about the chain’s steak offerings that were launched at the beginning of the year and that now account for 25 percent of the Fresh Mex section of the chain’s menu.

Earlier this month the company launched the first sandwiches that they put on their permanent menu (they’ve done LTOs in the past). They’re based on Mexican-style tortas, with thick, soft rolls, available with guacamole or jalapeños and Pepper Jack cheese.

Carley said the guac sandwich is selling better, accounting for about 60 percent of sandwich sales, compared to the spicy sandwich’s 40 percent.

Both the sandwiches and the steak cost more than your average Pollo Loco item, and that’s the chain’s focus now, Carley said. Traffic’s down and is going to stay down until people start getting jobs again — although at least traffic has stabilized. And check averages are actually up thanks to the new menu items.

-- Bret Thorn at bthorn@nrn.com.

Restaurateurs floored!

Okay - so the headline is a bit dramatic. But here's the show floor earlier today.     Scott Windus Photography

Words matter

While I didn't get a chance to catch their session, Tom Denari and Charlie Hopper of advertising firm Young & Laramore graciously met with me in the hallway to catch me up on the highlights of their advice for selling more with well-written menus.

Just like advertising creative, marketing messages on the menu need to be concise as well as creative, Hopper and Denari told me, and cliches are to be avoided above all. The centerpiece of their presentation is this top 12 list -- or bottom 12, depending on how you look at it -- of Forbidden Food Cliche Words and Phrases:

1. Sumptuous
2. Succulent
3. Delectable
4. Piping Hot
5. Mouth-Watering
6. Perfection
7. Satisfying
8. Delicious
9. Heapin' Helpin' (seriously?)
10. Treat Your Tastebuds
11. Like Mom Used to Make
12. Taste Sensation (or Celebration or Explosion)

The key insight for me from their talk was that "best practices" in menu descriptions is a total misnomer, because so-called best practices lead to cliches and a "sea of sameness" (Crap! I just used the No. 1 foodservice industry cliche!)

Also, the journalism adage "Show, don't tell" totally applies here. "Lead customers to what you want them to conclude," Denari said. Meaning, instead of telling customers something on the menu is "fresh," as if you'd serve stale product, use a more evocative phrase like "cooked to order."

Posted by Mark Brandau at mbrandau@nrn.com

Twitter Patter

Social-media topics are rising from nearly every corner of the NRA Show in Chicago this year -- in this case: literally. Twitter-using attendees who are posting news and observations from the show floor with the hashtag (anything preceded with a hashmark like this "#") were published instantly to flat-screen kiosks throughout the convention floor. Consultant Aaron D. Allen, founder of the Quantified Marketing Group of Orlando, Fla., posted the kiosk photo at right to Twitter. I'm following the hashtags #NRAshow and #NRA2010 from my home base in Dallas, and it's like overhearing great show-floor conversations. I'm all ears.
- Ron Ruggless, rruggles@nrn.com

It's all happening

Only three hours in and it's a foodservice frenzy.

With more attendees than last year -- and what feels like more action -- operators, suppliers, and even just taste-testers have flooded the show floor Saturday morning. On tap so far, we've heard about sales-building strategies from Jamba Juice, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants and Street-Za Pizza, a food truck sensation from Milwaukee. Street-Za is part of the new Food Truck Spot, which is my next stop ... stay tuned.

-- Sarah Lockyer at slockyer@nrn.com.

NRN and the NRA

New product and deal announcements are a big part of the National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel & Motel Show tradition. So it seems fitting that an announcement about an upcoming strategic alliance between Nation's Restaurant News and the NRA would be made in Chicago on the eve of NRA SHOW 2010. CLICK HERE to catch the full report at NRN.com.

Windy City Eatin', Drinkin' & Thinkin' Spots

Here is an abridged list of NRNer picks for dining, drinking and concept snooping in Chicago. Llink to the full NRN.com spread below.

Robin Lee Allen, executive editor: While I’d still recommend such longtime favorites as Bistro 110, there are several restaurants I’m eager to visit [including] Sunda...

Mark Brandau, Chicago bureau editor: Sable Kitchen and Bar — Heather Terhune’s new restaurant at the Hotel Palomar is big on small plates, or what she calls “social plates,” which don’t disappoint...

Elissa Elan, East coast bureau chief: Alinea – Culinary wizard Grant Achatz showcases molecular gastronomy at its best...

Paul Frumkin, deputy managing editor: Buddy Guy’s Legend — It’s not quiet, but it is CHICAGO in capital letters. A great blues club with tons of atmosphere and pretty good food...

Chris Keating, associate publisher: Kingston Mines — The greatest [blues] bar in America. Live shows don’t start till 10 p.m....

John Kruger, Midwest regional sales and marketing manager: The Chicago Firehouse — A quick getaway in a converted Chicago firehouse just one mile north of McCormick Place. Lunch, dinner and a good bar menu...

Alan J. Liddle, managing editor: Wow Bao. Steamed Asian buns, potstickers, bowls, salads and gingerale served in relatively small but polished space. Ordering and payment by counter, kiosk, iPhone or web...

Sarah Lockyer, executive editor, NRN.com: The Original Gino’s East of Chicago — To keep it real, this spot is deep-dish pizza at its best. Seriously. NoMI at the Park Hyatt Chicago...

Pamela Parseghian, executive food editor: Chicago Craft Beer Week — Check out the last days of the first craft beer week in Chicago, May 17-23. Beer tastings, “Meet the Brewer” nights, beer dinners and brewery tours...

Ron Ruggless, Southwest bureau chief: Blackbird Restaurant — While open since 1997, the sleek décor and modern menu remains current. The name comes from the French slang for the merlot grape...

Susan Szymanski Vincer, publishing director, NRN.com: Big Star — Great tacos, beer and a crowd, so go early or be prepared to stand in line. As an extra bonus, if you get bored you can pop across the street to The Violet Hour...

FULL LIST & LINKS

Gearing up for NRA Show 2010

We're getting ready for our coverage of the NRA Show this weekend in Chicago. Stay tuned here and on NRN.com ... See you there!