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Trade show POETRY
STALL SUCCESS
A well-versed columnist shares
his trade show tales, including
encounters with blue ribbon
baker Marjorie Johnson.
Checking out some restaurant
restrooms whose design
actually adds to the overall
dining experience.
TIMING IS EVERYTHING
When construction closed its kitchen,
Birchwood Cafe popped up at Verdant
Tea—and the pairing brought out the
best in both.
FOODSERVICENEWS
The News and Information Source for Restaurants and the Foodservice Industry
Volume 25• Issue 4
May 2014
www.foodservicenews.net
Multi-concept
Creativity
S
Wage Hike,
What Now?
By Laura Michaels
ure it might be easier—and
faster, less stressful and cheaper—
to replicate the same dining
concept at every location, but Brent
Frederick and Jacob Toledo didn’t get
into the restaurant business looking for
easy. They take a right-brained approach.
“Could we have done, say, a Crave
concept and just rolled it out? Sure. But
we really like the creativity of developing
different concepts,” says Frederick, who
co-owns Jester Concepts with Toledo.
Different indeed. Maple Tavern is a
casual neighborhood spot in Maple
Grove catering to a suburban clientele.
Meanwhile in Minneapolis, there’s the
chef-driven restaurant/craft cocktail
lounge of Borough/Parlour and the 300seat Coup d’État. Frederick and Toledo
are also partners in the sometimes
sports bar, sometimes nightclub that
is Pourhouse. They ran Cowboy Slims
before the site became the Walkway
development in Uptown, where Coup
d’État now occupies two levels.
For these restaurateurs, site selection
influences the concept, mainly because
it in turn determines the demographic.
The original concept for Borough was
more sausage-grill-meets-beer-hall
than octopus and craft cocktails, but
when they found the chic North Loop
warehouse space with its loading dock
patio, all that changed, Frederick says.
The approach of chefs Nick O’Leary
and Tyler Shipton was another influencer,
and having the duo on board early is a
major reason Borough even exists.
“We had the lease and concept here
at Coup before we launched Borough
in 2013,” Toledo says. “Coup was a
three-and-a-half-year project so in the
meantime we had these great chefs in
Tyler and Nick and so we said ‘hey, want
to do another restaurant?’”
Borough
attracted
national
I
Jester Concepts owners
Jacob Toledo (left) and
Brent Frederick.
recognition, so when Coup d’État
opened a year later, Toledo and Frederick
knew the spotlight was on. They focused
on training, with the aim of creating a
complete restaurant experience that’s
recognizable across all their locations.
“I don’t want the feeling coming from
the décor,” Frederick says of customers
knowing they’re in a Jester-run restaurant.
“I want it coming from the service. The
beer and wine lists, the menu.”
They aim to do everything well and
that includes opening a coffee shop,
Marche, at 29th and Lyndale this month.
“We’re diversifying,” Frederick says of
his restaurant group that’s at about $14
million in annual sales. “Is it more work?
Absolutely. But this is really what we
want to do.”
By Jane McClure
t is official. Minnesota will
increase its minimum wage to $9.50
per hour within a few years. Gov.
Mark Dayton signed the wage increase
package into law April 14 as dozens of
advocates looked on.
Minnesota now goes from having
one of the country’s lowest minimum
wages to one of the highest. The current
minimum is $6.15 for large employers.
(Many workers already qualify for the
higher federal minimum of $7.25.)
It’s estimated that about 350,000
Minnesotans earn less than $9.50 per
hour. The change will be phased in by
2016, with indexing for inflation to start
in 2018. The inflationary hike can be
waived if the state is in difficult economic
times.
How this changes Minnesota’s
restaurant and hospitality landscape
remains to be seen. While business
Wage Hike | page 10
Steaking out Naples
By Nancy Weingartner
D
’Amico & Partners’ first
foray into steakhouses will,
alas, be in Naples, Florida,
not Minnesota. The creative and
operational talent behind the D’Amico
& Partners’ prolific brand, Larry and
Richard D’Amico, were both in Florida
when Foodservice News caught up
with them recently.
It was a cold day in Minneapolis.
That was not the case in Florida, which
may be why a new interpretation on
the traditional steakhouse, where
about half the seating will be outdoors,
is more suited for Naples than the
Twin Cities. The new restaurant will
Staking out Naples | page 20
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Minneapolis, MN 55418
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Foodservice News • May 2014
FOODSERVICENEWS
May 2014, Volume 25 Issue 4
Managing Editor
Nancy Weingartner
[email protected]
from the editor
Eclectic Trivia
From a hidden eatery to a fish-tanked restroom to this month’s content
Assistant Editor
Laura Michaels
[email protected]
Nancy
Weingartner
Advertising
Adam Griepentrog
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Amy Gasman
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Managing Editor
O
ne of the strangest
restaurant settings I’ve seen in
awhile was at Le Parker Meridien
in New York City. Even on Easter, the
lengthly queue was filled with the
burger-loving public.
The Burger Joint is basically a window
at the end of a hallway that is shrouded
by dark velvet drapes, so the people in
line look like they’re disappearing into a
black hole.
I can’t imagine going to an expensive
hotel—although what hotel in NYC isn’t
expensive?—and standing in a line that
can take up to an hour for a burger and
fries. I like a good hamburger, but there is
no shortage of gourmet hamburgers at a
sane price in any big city.
Personally, I would have invested my
money on the dry bar in the basement
to get my hair blown dry or the wet bar
upstairs for a glass of wine and deepfried olives.
Researching restroom trivia for this
month’s issue, I ran across numerous
articles and visuals on hand washing.
I’ve always been irritated by the signs in
public restrooms that say, “Employees
must wash hands before returning
to work.” What about the rest of us?
Shouldn’t we be encouraged to wash our
hands, as well? I don’t know about you,
but if I was a restaurant owner, I wouldn’t
want a customer touching my silverware
if he or she returned from the restroom
with unwashed hands.
The better sign is at a Jimmy John’s
in Covington, Louisiana. Situated on the
floor so a lady can read it sitting down,
it says, “Interesting facts about Uranus,”
and then proceeds to list trivia about
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Entire contents copyright 2014.
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the seventh planet from the sun. You’ll
see the sign, which looks like a rug, on
page 13.
Signs I like, but I don’t like the idea of
washroom attendants. I think modern
restrooms pander enough. We no
longer have to flush the toilet, it does
it automatically, sometimes earlier than
needed. We don’t have to turn on the
faucet, running water appears if you
wave your hands under the faucet in
exactly the right spot—which sounds
easier than it usually is. And the towels
or hand dryers are automatic, too. Why
would we need someone to hand us a
towel?
I have enough guilt in my life. Now I
have to inadvertently stiff a washroom
attendant, whose salary is tips, because
I didn’t bring my purse with me to the
restroom? Life shouldn’t be about these
kinds of choices.
OK, one more story about restrooms
before I move on. In addition to handwashing information on the web, I found
unusual restrooms around the world.
My favorite was a women’s restroom
where all four walls were floor-to-ceiling
fish tanks. The idea, the site said, was to
give women the feeling of “peeing in the
ocean.”
They spent thousands on the fully
stocked aquarium, but a cheaper version
is to flood your floor and tell women it’s
like peeing in a swimming pool. This
would be especially useful, if your pipes
broke and actually did flood your floors.
I don’t know why I didn’t go into
marketing.
One of the issues that will affect all
restaurants—chain or independent,
suburban or urban—is raising the
minimum wage. Veteran reporter Jane
McClure was there during the legislative
debates and the final signing of the bill.
Be sure to read her story on the
background, and then the comments we
collected from three industry veterans on
how they see it affecting their business.
We’d also be interested in hearing
from our readers—not just doom and
gloom, but suggestions on how to
make paying higher wages work for
everyone. Send them to me at nancyw@
foodservicenews.net.
We’ve got an eclectic group of stories
this month, including our annual multiunit coverage.
Assistant Editor Laura Michaels
researched the top multi-concept,
multi-unit chains in the Twin Cities. We
deliberately left franchises off the list
and concentrated instead on the homegrown concepts that have stayed local.
And yes, we did break our own rules
by including D’Amico & Partners, which
has restaurants in Naples, Florida. Some
concepts just belong on the list of
interesting businesses.
You’ll find that list on page 22. Plus
stories featuring three of the companies.
I’m also a fan of Server Speak, which is
one of the most popular columns. This
month is especially fun because Danielle
McFarland asked servers to expose the
secret language at their establishments.
What do you think Pepsi is code for?
Columnist Klecko never disappoints
and this month, he writes not only prose,
but verse. It never fails to astound me
that a giant of a man, tattooed from head
to foot shod in army boots, can write
such delicate poetry that can both bite
and kiss. The one thing it never does,
however, is suck.
Another fun, but instructive column,
is by Jonathan Locke. What I like about
Jonathan’s writing skill is that he never
gives you the expected—nor the
sane—example when trying to make
a point. But if you want to learn about
managing feast and famine, wouldn’t
you rather think about mammoth meat
than chicken?
The community also kept Laura busy
taking photos of a variety of events
from food shows to bees. And since
a picture is worth a thousand words,
we’ve saved you from reading a million
words. Enjoy.
174 Restaurant Projects.
77 Unique Concepts.
3 Rooftop Restaurants.
Jonathan Maze
http://www.twitter.com/JonathanMaze
Masu
Figlio
One Contractor.
Nancy Weingartner
http://twitter.com/nanweingartner
Laura Michaels
http://twitter.com/FSNLauraM
952-929-7233
WWW.DIVERSIFIEDCONSTRUCTION.COM
May 2014 • Foodservice News
3
server
speak
RESTAURANT LINGO—the things we say
that other people just wouldn’t understand
Danielle
McFarland
Neysa Brown
Position: Server/bartender
Years in the industry: 24
Milton’s in Crystal
Code: Where else other than a
restaurant would we marry the
twins?
Definition:
combine and fill
salt and pepper
shakers.
And
here’s
an oldy: “Go
scrub
down
the
pianos.”
This
would
be
cleaning
anything in the
kitchen with stainless-steel shelves in a
pantry, on the line, in the freezer.
Tobie Nidetz
Position: Owner/restaurant
consultant
Tobie Nidetz Consulting
In the old
kitchens I grew
up
working
in, everybody
spoke French
to one another.
In
the
old
days, a lot of
chefs expected
to hear only
four
words
from cooks: “Yes, Chef” or “No, Chef.”
If anyone said, “I don’t know, Chef,”
they were gone. I have to learn new
lingo when I go into operating different
restaurants, or when I’m developing a
restaurant. Whoever is the chef usually
sets the vocabulary for the kitchen—
he or she throws in their own twist. In
the late ‘70s and ‘80s restaurant lingo
started getting hipper. Sometimes the
inside guy on the line calling orders is
called the quarterback … sometimes
it’s the expo who calls out the orders.
One thing I try to instill in line cooks
is the ‘call back’ … When the expo or
the quarterback call out an order, the
appropriate station (person) should call
back the order to the voice from where
they heard it. I’ve seen cooks who have
set up their mise, or station, wrong…
haven’t followed the regiment and think
they can do it on the fly, but they’re
the guys who always get in the weeds
through the push.
4
Ryan a.k.a. Chente Fernandez with Rachel
Positions: Driver, server, cook; phone girl
Years in the industry: 21, 4
Frankie’s Pizza, in New Hope
Code word: Pepsi
Ryan Genereux
Position: Server
Tootie’s on Lowry, North
Minneapolis
I’ll order items
with
S.O.S.—
sauce on the
side. We can
burn the ice
(melt all the ice
in a bin) or burn
a drink (make it
strong) … just
as long as we’re
not burning the
food. And this permanent marker will
now and forever be called a Charpie. We
use Charpie’s a lot for labeling and dating
products … I borrowed the name from
my ‘south-of-the-border’ friends in the
kitchen. “Hey, I need a Charpie.”
Tammi Pauly, Zammy D., Lanay
Akkanen
Position: Bartenders, career
consultants, alcohol and narcotics
counselors
Years in the industry: 7, 10, 8
Zorbaz on the Lake, Alexandria
We call it “ice fishing” if someone is
nodding off at the bar. And we call
someone “hammer bombed” if they’re
way beyond intoxicated.
We used to run Pepsi out of the soda fountains here. We
would go back to the kitchen and say, “Pepsi” or “You’re
lookin’ kinda thirsty” to the cooks when there was a cute
girl in the dining room. Then, the guys could get out of the
kitchen, get a soda and check out the scenery.
Chad Wolfe, Cory
Neutgens
Position: Ambassador,
manager
Years in the industry: 4, 6
Mort’s Delicatessen,
Golden Valley
Order in: One wreck-it-on-araft with extra skid grease, and
sling that hash!
Definition: Ordering two
scrambled eggs on toast with
extra butter—and fast!
5
around the Twin Cities
News and Noteworthy
Five Minnesota breweries saw their
names on the big screen April 11 when
they took home World Beer Cup awards
from the Brewers Association during
the annual Craft Brewers Conference &
BrewExpo in Denver. Schell’s Firebrick
won gold in the Vienna-style lager
category and the New Ulm brewery’s
Framboise du Nord took bronze in the
German-style sour ale category. Steel
Toe Brewing in St. Louis Park claimed
gold in the Scotch Ale category with its
Wee Heavy brew.
In
the
Chocolate
Beer
category, Northbound Smokehouse
& Brewpub’s Snownami Chocolate/
Raspberry Imperial Stout came away
with the silver award out of 51 entries.
Summit Brewing’s Extra Pale Ale was
the silver winner in the Classic Englishstyle pale ale category, and rounding out
the winners was Canal Park Brewing
in Duluth, which won silver for its Nut
Hatchet Nut Brown in the English-style
brown ale category. This year’s World
Beer Cup brought 4,754 beers from 1,403
breweries across 58 countries.
Diversified Construction recently
began construction at Ling & Louie’s
Asian Bar and Grill in downtown
Minneapolis on Nicollet Mall, next to
Barrio. The restaurant will have four
levels—basement, street level, mezzanine
and rooftop—and encompass more than
13,000 square feet. Cuningham Group is
the architect and the space will have dark
wood, vibrant colors and Asian accents
throughout. The street-level dining area
will feature bi-fold doors that will open
to Nicollet Mall. An early June opening
is expected. Ling & Louie’s comes from
the team behind Rojo and Kona Grill,
including CEO Michael McDermott;
Minneapolis is Ling & Louie’s seventh
location nationwide, and the first in
Minnesota.
Charlie Award in
2011 for Outstanding
Pastry Chef and
was a James Beard
semifinalist in 2009.
Chef
Gavin Khanh Tran
Kaysen is making
the move from New York City to
Minneapolis’ North Loop to open his own
restaurant, Merchant. The Bloomington
native has been running Café Boulud
since 2007 and is returning to Minnesota
this summer with plans to open his spot
later this year. Kaysen was named one
of Food & Wine’s best new chefs in 2007
and in 2008 earned the title of Rising Star
Chef of the Year from the James Beard
Foundation.
Ling & Louie’s rendering from
Cuningham Group.
Pastry chef Khanh Tran, who left
Cosmos earlier this year, has joined the
team at the Bachelor Farmer. Tran spent
seven years at Comsos and Graves 601
and before that was in the kitchens of
Auriga, 20.21 and Levain. She won a
Chipotle Cultivate
Gavin Kaysen
sponsored by
coffee Talk
Bartender Adam Gorski left Eat
Street Social last month to guide the
cocktail program at La Belle Vie, which
said goodbye to longtime bar manager
Johnny Michaels earlier this year. Gorski
got his start at Bradstreet Crafthouse
and spent the past two years at ESS. Also
making a move is Dan Oskey, who’s leaving the Strip Club Meat & Fish in St. Paul
after seven years to lead the bar program
at Hola Arepa’s new location.
Former Hanger Room and W.A. Frost
chef Leonard Anderson is heading up
the kitchen of new St. Paul restaurant
Chipotle is bringing its Cultivate
festival August 23 to Loring Park in
Minneapolis. The event will feature a
bevy of local chefs, including Andrew
Zimmern of TV’s Bizarre Foods, Jamie
Malone of Sea Change, Jack Riebel, now
of The Lexington, Paul Berglund of The
Bachelor Farmer and Erik Anderson,
formerly of Nashville’s Catbird Seat.
Along with the chef demos the free
festival will feature five bands, artisan
food booths, craft beer and wine. The
Twin Cities, with its 50-plus locations,
was Chipotle’s third market following its
1993 Denver launch and later expansion
to Kansas City.
Tongue in Cheek in the Payne-Phalen
neighborhood. Other team members
include Ashleigh Newman, a former
manager at Nochee, and Ryan Huseby,
formerly the general manager of The
Happy Gnome. The restaurant will focus
on sourcing from farms that use sustainable and humane farming practices.
St. Paul’s Lowertown neighborhood is
getting a new restaurant this summer.
Public Kitchen and Bar is set to open by
Mears Park, with owner Carol March, a
real estate broker, renovating the historic
Woods Chocolate Factory. Head chef
Greg Johnson will have lunch and dinner menus, plus snacks and small plates
for the lower-level lounge.
Food truck Cajun 2 Geaux will have a
permanent home this summer as owner
Tim Glover plans to revamp the former
Annie’s Wok in Circle Pines as Bistro La
Roux. He’ll serve New Orleans cuisine,
plus local craft beers. The food truck will
also keep running.
SOLOS Pizza Café is opening its
fourth location and first franchise in the
Twin Cities. The company is working to
secure
more
franchise locations in the area and,
eventually, across the nation. Owners
Brian Banick and Bruce Thomson have
stores in Maple Grove, Plymouth and
Eagan.
Minneapolis’ Downtown Diner
is becoming Sal’s On Fifth. Amanda
and Adam Elazab took over from their
father, Abdelsalam “Sal” Elazab, after
his death, and plan to sell pizza, burgers,
salads and sandwich baskets. They also
run Flameburger in Roseville.
Berry Coffee Company is a proud distributor of Caribou Coffee. This
nationally recognized brand is now available to foodservice accounts!
Commercial equipment • grinders • thermoservers
• syrups • logo cups, lids and clutches
www.berrycoffee.com
Call us today at 952-937-8697, for all your coffee and beverage needs!
6
7
around
the twin cities
New Owners at The Lex, New Face Joins Foodservice News
A
lmost a year after it closed,
a trio of new owners has signed
on to revive The Lexington.
Josh Thoma, Kevin Fitzgerald
and Jack Riebel joined St. Paul
Mayor Chris Coleman at the Grand
Avenue restaurant April 17 for the
official announcement. Thoma and
Fitzgerald, who co-own Smack Shack
in Minneapolis’ North Loop, partnered
with Riebel, who most recently was the
chef at much-lauded Butcher and the
Boar, to update the almost 80-yearold restaurant after plans to sell it to
former owner Rick Webb fell through
earlier this year.
The menu is being developed
with plans to refresh offerings while
respecting the heritage and traditions
of The Lex. Design-wise, the owners will
New owners Josh Thoma, Jack Riebel and Kevin Fitzgerald will revive The
Lexington. They’re joined by St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman (second from
right) during a press conference at the restaurant.
update the lighting and do some other
surface renovations but the bones of
the 20,000-square-foot building will
remain intact. A rooftop patio is in the
works and the restaurant’s Williamsburg
Room will open as a modern cocktail
lounge. Upstairs the long-neglected
space is being remodeled as a private
dining room and ballroom. A late 2014
opening is planned.
Al hough she no longer dons a poodle
skirt to serve burgers and malts at 50’s
Grill in Brooklyn Center, Amy Gasman
continues to put her years of restaurant
experience to use as Foodservice News’
new advertising rep.
Since joining the foodservice ranks
at 16, Gasman has developed a passion
for the industry and its people.
A Minnesota native and University of
Minnesota grad, Gasman has worked
at a variety of restaurants since high
school, including serving at Claddagh
Irish Pub in Maple Grove, Cooper in St.
Louis Park and The Local in downtown
Minneapolis, while also helping to
expand the brand of 2 Gingers Irish
Whiskey.
“I’ve always liked the industry for the
people,” says Gasman.
The customers she will now be
serving will be restaurant operators
and suppliers, in order to build their
brand and client base through FSN’s
channels.
Gasman will continue to expand her
knowledge of the local foodservice
scene by checking out new concepts
and following industry trends.
Reach her at 612-767-3215 or
[email protected].
Amy Gasman
Herford House has 4 restaurants and does
multiple catering jobs all over Kansas City. We
can rely on Karlsburger Foods for an excellent
and consistent product with great service. We
never worry about out of stocks or back-orders
with Karlsburger Foods.
Erik Hyre
Corporate Chef, Hereford House
Karlsburger Foods—Where Signature Recipes Begin…
Manufacture with Direct Distribution of Soup Bases, Stocks, Sauces, Gravies & Seasonings
800-383-6549 • www.karlsburger.com
8
upcoming
event
Battle of Burgers
Local burger joints compete for patty bragging rights
By Joey Hamburger
W
hen I learned about the
upcoming burger battle in
St. Paul, I immediately pictured two semi-truck-sized hamburgers squaring off in a cage death match,
fighting for burger survival and burger
glory. When someone explained this
burger battle in more detail, I found
the reality even more spectacular.
On Saturday, May 17, from 5 to 8
p.m. in Mears Park, 12 local burger
outlets are handing out burger sliders
alongside Summit beer—and tickets
only cost $40. Essentially it’s exactly
what I pictured, but with 12 burgers
instead of two.
Jim Buron, the man behind the Twin
Cities Burger Battle, was born and
raised on Minnesota burgers and is
back after organizing events in New
York City for the past seven years. One
event included the New York Wine
and Food Festival, encompassing more
than a hundred events during a week
in October—everything from wine
tastings to sushi samplings to, most
importantly, a burger cook-off. This
spurred Buron’s idea to bring the same
cook-off concept to Minnesota.
Jim Buron
“Seeing the event a couple of times,
it rang a bell. Minnesota restaurants
cook the best burgers so why not bring
this idea to Minnesota,” Buron said. His
goal is to make this first official burger
battle an annual staple.
The event will bring in expected
burger dynasties like the 5-8 Club
and the Nook, along with some new
contenders, including the Red Cow
and My Burger. Restaurants accepted
the invitation after being chosen by a
team of expert burger researchers who
might just have the best job ever.
Note the magnitude of accepting
this challenge. It’s one thing to make a
great burger during a busy dinner rush.
It’s an entirely different task to make
an award-winning burger on the grill
provided in a park on a hot May day for
1,500 hungry ticket holders, looking
to get the most out of their $40 with a
pint of Summit in hand.
Each restaurant will serve only one
creation. The slider can be something
brand new or a favorite item off their
menu. Then a panel of judges will
review the creations based on taste,
preparation, creativity, juiciness and
something else. These burger experts
will be non-competing local chefs, a
celebrity judge, and hopefully me. The
Burger Battle Champion will receive a
trophy and some true burger bragging
rights, with proceeds going to the
Sanneh Foundation. Started by St.
Paul native and former professional
soccer player Tony Sanneh, the
Sanneh Foundation focuses on youth
development for at-risk kids in the Twin
Cities.
Attendees will also vote on their
favorite burger to decide which
restaurant wins the people’s choice
trophy, which Buron said is gigantic,
with an even larger burger on top.
Buron’s favorite style of burger? The
Juicy Lucy, which both the 5-8 Club and
Matt’s Bar in south Minneapolis claim
they created. Only the 5-8 Club will
be participating in this year’s Burger
Battle, though Matt’s Bar is a definite
contender in its own right.
Even though it’s not featuring
burgers clad in boxing gloves fighting
one-on-one, the Twin Cities Burger
Battle promises to be just as heated.
With live local music, Summit beer and
burgers, I don’t think there could be
a disappointed person in attendance.
Chef Peter’s
Take on Pork
Executive Chef
Peter Christenson
Woolley’s Steakhouse
Flavor and universal appeal are a couple pluses
to utilizing pork as a menu option. On our
sandwich menu we have several pork items that
are best sellers. We also have other items we have
dressed up with pork that sell well and are good
conversation starters. For example: a chicken
sandwich and burger that we dress up with “Chicken
Fried Bacon” - delicious and easy to prepare.
On our current menu we have added a frenched
bone-in pork chop with peppered bacon and maple
glaze over sweet corn succotash. It is one of our
best sellers.
However, my favorite cut is a
Pork “Porter House”; a thick
cut T-bone pork chop grilled
with my own seasoning
(Plump Chef Original).
For more information on utilizing pork in
foodservice: www.porkfoodservice.org or call
Minnesota Pork Board at (507) 345-8814.
9
Wage Hike | from page 1
closings aren’t predicted, no one can rule
out the possibility of restaurants reducing
hours, cutting staff or making changes in
service delivery. Some restaurant owners
and industry advocates are looking
toward the 2015 legislative session as a
time to make needed changes in how
tipped workers are compensated.
The minimum wage legislation was
watched closely this session by the
Minnesota Restaurant Association (MRA)
and its umbrella group Hospitality
Minnesota, as well as other industry
groups. In March about 270 Hospitality
Minnesota members descended on state
offices and the capitol. They asked that
any wage increase be approached in a
thoughtful manner that wouldn’t hurt
businesses.
Hospitality Minnesota Executive
Director Dan McElroy made it clear the
industry doesn’t oppose an increase
in the minimum wage. But there were
objections to simply indexing wages to
inflation, something McElroy views as
risky. The need to recognize tips was
another issue raised.
“We need to recognize that tips are
important income,” said McElroy.
“We do appreciate that some
exemptions were made, but there
are still concerns about the minimum
wage language that was approved,” he
continued. One key issue is competition
with border states. “All of the states
around us will have lower minimum
wages. Some of them will be substantially
lower.”
McElroy also raised the issue of changes
to the restaurant experience. Servers
could be replaced with order kiosks,
tablets or iPads. Patrons would pay at
the counter and have food brought out
by a runner. “It’s a different experience.”
Restaurateurs Talk Effects of Increase
David Burley, CEO of
Blue Plate Restaurant Co.,
and MRA president:
“Long term, if something isn’t done
to mitigate this issue, the results will be
dramatic, far-reaching and irreversible.
In my opinion the middle full-service,
casual dining segment will ultimately
disappear. Price increases will push
diners to QSR.
High end restaurants will sustain,
but yes us in the middle, we will have
to adapt to the new reality. Chili’s,
Buffalo Wild Wings and others are
already testing new models that
reduce servers. We’ll see the rise of
a new, modified QSR segment that
has no or limited service; think World
Street [Kitchen], Yum, French Meadow.
They have little or no service—or
often you’ll have different models for
different day parts (counter by day,
table service at night).”
Legislation details include:
• $8 minimum hourly wage for
businesses with gross sales of at least
$500,000 in August 2014, $9 in August
2015 and $9.50 in August 2016;
• $6.50 minimum hourly wage for
businesses under $500,000 in gross sales
in 2014, $7.25 in August 2015 and $7.75 in
August 2016;
• The $7.75 minimum wage rate would
apply for large businesses with the
following circumstances: 90-day training
wage for 18- and 19-year-olds, all 16and 17-year-olds and employees working
under a J1 visa;
• Starting in 2018, all wages would
increase each year on January 1 by
inflation measured by the implicit price
deflator capped at 2.5 percent;
• The indexed increase could
be suspended for one year by the
commissioner of the Department of
Labor and Industry if leading economic
indicators indicate the potential for a
substantial downturn in the economy.
The suspension could only be
implemented after a public hearing
and public comment period. During
better economic times, the suspended
inflationary increase or a lesser amount
could be added back into the minimum
wage rate in a subsequent year. The law
would cap the increases at 2.5 percent,
or about a quarter an hour for the first
bump. During a significant economic
downturn, the state could halt the
10
Kim Bartmann, owner of
Bryant-Lake Bowl, Barbette,
Red Stag and others:
“I already pay a living wage. I also
automatic increase for a year.
Results from a statewide MRA survey
of restaurant owners and managers
shows that restaurants, their employees
and customers would be negatively
impacted by a minimum wage increase
that does not account for tips.
The survey of 115 members found
that if a minimum wage increase passes
without considering tips as income, 90
percent of restaurants would increase
menu prices, 77 percent would reduce
staff hours, 69 percent would postpone
making investments in their restaurant
and 59 percent would hold off on hiring
additional staff.
The MRA advocated for an alternative
minimum wage proposal it said would
protect well-paying tipped jobs, reduce
the pressure to increase prices, and
continue the viability of table service
restaurants. The proposal would
establish a new tipped employee
minimum wage tier, which will be the
focus in 2015.
Both House and Senate debate on
the minimum wage bill split largely
believe not having a tip credit is absurd.
It will hurt my business, no doubt
about it. …Now instead of eating out
four times a month at Bryant-Lake
and Brasa and Alma and Corner Table,
you’re just going to downgrade your
going out to a cheaper place, because
make no mistake, menu prices will go
up.
I’ve also been paying employee
health insurance for 20 years, so that
doesn’t affect me, but other owners
who now have to do both, it’s going to
be very difficult.”
along party lines. The House voted for
the package 71-60 April 10, with some
opponents contending that passage
was tied to support of plans for a new
legislative office building. The Senate
approved the minimum wage package
35-31 April 9.
Rep. Ryan Winkler (DFL-Golden Valley)
sponsored the legislation along with
Sen. Jeff Hayden (DFL-Mpls). “Raising
the minimum wage will increase
the spending power of hundreds of
thousands of Minnesotans and inject
hundreds of millions of dollars into our
state’s economy,” Winkler said.
But Rep. Pat Garofalo (R-Farmington)
called the proposal “disgraceful” and “a
bargain among thieves; this for a Senate
building.” Winkler and other House
supporters denied that connection.
House Majority Leader Erin Murphy
(DFL-St. Paul) said, “When I think about
what we’re doing today, I know that
when this becomes law this will mean
relief and hope. … If we don’t raise
the minimum wage, people won’t get
ahead.”
Doug Sams, owner of
D. Brian’s Deli in Minneapolis:
Young adults will be “frozen out” of
entry-level jobs as more competent,
often older workers start applying. “I
have 100 employees now and I have
given literally hundreds and hundreds
of young adults their first job. Most
of my openings are entry-level jobs.
The unintended consequence of an
excessive lift to the minimum wage is
that it will be heads of households who
will come in for my entry-level jobs.”
Other restaurant news
and notes:
Burning Brothers Brewing, 1750
Thomas Ave., St. Paul, has opened.
Burning Brothers, which is owned by
Dane Breimhorst and Thom Foss, is one
of the nation’s only gluten-free brewers.
St. Paul’s East Side is now promoting
itself as the Eat Side, with an April 23 pub
crawl and a map of people, places and
things. The marketing effort spotlights
the community’s new restaurants and
attractions, and is a project of the East
Side Area Business Association.
A Korean-influenced diner called Cook
St. Paul is moving into the space formerly occupied by Serlin’s Café on the
city’s east side. Co-owners Charles Cook
and Eddie Wu will serve familiar breakfast dishes and lunch, along with signature items such as Korean pancakes
and bi bim bop. They’re also focusing on
local sourcing from places such as Hope
Creamery and Flat Earth Brewing.
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11
Restaurant
design
Best in Bathroom
A visit to these Twin Cities restaurants proves there’s more to a restroom than a pretty faucet
By Joey Hamburger
A
good restroom can truly
be a work of art. Some have style
but lose their allure with a lack of
upkeep. Bars or clubs sometimes have
restrooms befitting a nuclear explosion
but for reasons unknown are quite suited
to their environment. There is no singular
key to success for a great restroom, but
here are a few examples of what I’ve seen
from the best restrooms in the Twin Cities.
Before I share this list please keep
in mind these examples are from my
personal reviews. With water bottle in
hand I walked from place to place and
asked to see their restrooms. When I
was told they were for customers only, I
replied I was not going to use them, but
merely review them.
I started by brainstorming places I had
been before and taking suggestions from
my barista at the Urban Bean, a coffee
shop in Uptown. It just so happened I was
in a coffee shop containing a hidden gem
of restroom design.
Urban Bean’s restroom is painted black
with one wall covered entirely in different
black-and-white cartoon drawings.
Similar to bathroom graffiti, these
drawings remind you to have a good
day while expressing previous bathroom
personalities, but with a more dignified
sense of artistic integrity.
Then I noticed the shadows on the wall.
They were shadows of skulls from steers
of the Wild West. These shadows were
coming from a chandelier on the ceiling
constructed with transparent amber
skulls. Inside a clean, intricately designed,
single-person bathroom, I think I can say
the day started on a high note.
Detailed design is what separates
restroom from restroom. This can be seen
in accessories and décor establishing tone
or by different messages like one on the
floor at Ike’s downtown reminding you to
“P-Nice.”
I found another great design in
downtown Minneapolis at The Newsroom.
This restroom had wallpaper made of
old newspaper clippings with famous
headlines from the past century to keep
in line with the restaurant theme. This
bathroom also had three personal sinks
that were divided by an open triangle of
mirrors, which gives you a front, left and
right glimpse of yourself.
Newspapers are fitting wallpaper in the restrooms of The Newsroom in downtown Minneapolis.
Ornate mirrors are an essential feature
of a restaurant restroom. There is nothing
better than heading back to your table
assured that you look great. Not to
mention full-length-mirror-great, which
is exactly what I found at Coup d’etat,
which opened in Uptown in January.
This beautifully designed restroom, in a
beautifully designed space, had a large
full-length mirror next to its exit to see
how your suit fits from shoe to hem
to belt to coat. There’s also a massive
mirror covering the entire wall behind the
communal sink.
This communal sink is another popular
fixture at some of the best restrooms
in the Twin Cities. These large handwashing stations are not in the toileted
facilities themselves but just outside.
This seems like a modern aesthetic-only
approach at first glance, but with further
contemplation the communal sink is a
brilliant idea in terms of hygiene. We all
know one of the worst things is having to
touch that doorknob after washing your
hands.
The Varsity Theater and Loring Pasta Bar
in Dinkytown are also home to communal
sinks. Owner Jason McLean designed
these restrooms—a symbiosis of Alice in
Wonderland and The Hobbit, with shower
nozzle sinks amid a gnome sanctuary. The
restrooms are so fancifully designed that
using them during a concert or while at
Loring’s Sunday brunch can be one of the
best parts of the experience. It is safe to
say these two neighbors have the best
restrooms in the Twin Cites.
Restroom design can range anywhere
from unique mirrors to waterfall sinks to
wash cloths instead of paper towels. These
seemingly minor details can influence
the total restroom—and restaurant—
experience. Despite the initial tonguein-cheek nature of my research, it’s worth
noting restaurants with exceptional
restrooms often double as hot dining
spots in the Twin Cities. These notable
designs mentioned will start with five-star
reviews when Help hits the app markets.
This will happen right after I learn how to
actually design an app.
A view of the restroom seating
at the Varsity Theater.
Shower nozzle sinks placed amid the gnome sanctuary that is the
restroom at the Varsity Theater.
12
For a
grea t lay
Foods er
-o ut, re
vic e news
ad
magazin
e!
61
2-767-3
20
0
Th in
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the W he re’s
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13
industry
News
Photos by Laura Michaels
Spring Showing
Reinhart draws a crowd to spring food expo
C
hefs
and
foodservice
operators perused more than 300
booths April 15, sampling new
products from brands such as Cobblestreet
Market, Eagle Ridge and Katy’s Kitchen,
during Reinhart Foodservice’s spring
show in St. Paul.
Morey’s Seafood promoted its oceanraised farmed salmon from Verlasso, which
local account director Ross Bredesen said
received a “good alternative” buy ranking
from the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s
Seafood Watch program. Each fish is
tagged with a QR code that buyers can
scan with a smartphone to see when,
where and how the fish was caught.
Burnsville-based The Dough Shop
debuted several new pizza crusts,
including its Caputo Italian Flour
Dough, which is ideal for Neapolitanstyle pizza and high heat ovens.
Reinhart will host its fall show at
the Minneapolis Depot on Tuesday,
October 7.
Kevin Mitchell of Kemps ready to scoop ice cream
samples.
Connie Fite of Armanino Foods offers a selection of pesto spreads.
Maple Leaf Farms introduces its new duck bacon line
during the Reinhart show.
Specialty salads from Mrs. Gerry’s in
Albert Lea.
1. From The Drunken Goat, a semisoft goat cheese bathed in red wine.
2. Chef Douglas Allen, a corporate
consultant for Sterling Silver
Premium Meats, samples a new pork
product available through Reinhart.
3. The Pillsbury Doughboy welcomes
show attendees at the General Mills
booth.
1
2
3
4
4. Ross Bredesen of Morey’s Seafood
explains a new QR code fish tagging
system to culinary students from
Hennepin Tech.
Appert’s Expo Royale
Distributor does its food show Vegas style
N
ew product ideas and
plating suggestions brought
hundreds
of
foodservice
operators and chefs to St. Cloud last
month for Appert’s spring food show.
Held at the River’s Edge Convention
Center, the Vegas casino-themed
Expo Royale showcased products and
ingredients from more than 160 vendors
and gave attendees the chance to win
Appert’s credit by playing the slots or
trying their hand at blackjack.
Cinnamon Cobbler Bread from
Minneapolis-based Great Northern
Baking Co.
Nestle’s Josh Diekman showcases
several sauce choices during the
Appert’s expo.
14
Pepsico’s Angie Parker details
nutritional changes to several
products, including Doritos.
BakeMark sales manager Kevin
Sperbeck entices attendees with
Easter themed donuts.
SERVE YOURSELF UP
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Call an energy efficiency specialist at 1-800-481-4700 and get more information at xcelenergy.com.
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14-XCL-00433-D_CIPDSM_MN_FoodService_Serve_9.75x14_4C_FNL.indd 1
4/9/14
AM
May 2014 • Foodservice
News10:4115
industry
News
Restaurant Industry Outlook
Experts examine economic and demographic issues during WFF’s executive forum
By Laura Michaels
T
hough
still
fr agile,
consumer confidence is gradually
improving, but those same
consumers are increasingly deliberative
in how they spend their discretionary
income.
“The real competition going forward
is getting that consumer to spend that
money in foodservice versus other
industries,” said Hudson Riehle as he
addressed executive attendees during
a special session at the Women’s
Foodservice Forum’s annual Leadership
Development Conference in Dallas
March 24.
Hudson Riehle
In his restaurant industry forecast
Riehle, senior VP of the National
Restaurant Association’s Research and
Knowledge Group, noted economic
health and unemployment varies widely
from region to region, with Arizona,
North Dakota, Texas, Florida and
Colorado projected to post the fastest
restaurant sales growth in 2014. In
Minnesota, restaurants are projected to
register $8.5 billion in sales and account
for 260,800 jobs.
Restaurant operators would be wise to
shift some marketing focus to tourism,
Riehle said, as $1 out of every $4 spent in
foodservice is tourism generated. He also
called attention to local sourcing, locally
grown produce and gluten-free cuisine,
which came out as top menu trends in
the NRA’s 2014 Culinary Forecast. (See
the industry sidebar for more forum
takeaways.)
The global consumer base is growing,
said Herb Meyer, as each year between
50 million and 100 million people cross
the line out of poverty—meaning they
have enough food to eat, children are
inoculated against common diseases, at
least one adult in the family has a job and
spend money,” Meyer said. “That’s why
we can’t get out of the recession …
we’ve never been so old and old people
don’t spend.”
Business opportunities exist, however,
for affluent services that target aging
populations. In foodservice, Meyer
explained, that means older diners
are willing to pay more for more
nutritional, better quality food and
restaurant operators should give more
consideration to that consumer group in
their strategic plans.
Herb Meyer
has some amount of disposable income.
“The total customer base of everything
you’re selling is growing at a rate of
50 million to 100 million people every
year,” the former special assistant to
the director of Central Intelligence told
executives, noting the “emergence of a
global middle class” is the biggest news
story not being told.
Meyer, also the former vice chairman
of the CIA’s National Intelligence Council,
used World Health Organization numbers
to frame his presentation, which also
focused on the aging U.S population and
its affect on the restaurant industry.
Putting it bluntly: “Old people don’t
spend money the way young people
Industry Fast
Facts
•Restaurant sales will reach $683.4
billion in 2014, a 1.2% increase when
adjusted for inflation
•Tableservice remains the largest
sector, with $212 billion in sales
•The quick-service sector will
continue growing as more QSRs add
alcoholic beverages to their menus
• By 2024 the restaurant industry
will employ almost 15 million people
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The Monitor
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Restaurant Finance Monitor
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industry.
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16
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17
Culinary
Curosities
What’s the origin of the picnic?
From the fine spreads of rich nobles to more casual gatherings, the picnic’s place is outdoors
By Julie Brown-Micko
T
he grand tradition of picnics
has been around for centuries.
Whether as simple as “A Jug of
Wine, a Loaf of Bread—and Thou” as
famously described in The Rubaiyat of
Omar Khayyam, or as extravagant as a
multi-course Victorian outdoor feast,
picnics are a popular respite from the
everyday meal. But how did the picnic
as we know it begin? And why is even
the humblest picnic a source of delight?
The word “picnic” originally referred
to a potluck-style casual gathering in
which everyone would contribute a
dish, money or some entertainment. It
was only later that the picnic began to
evolve into an outdoor meal. The word
itself comes from the French “piquer” (to
pick or peck at something) and “nique”
(something negligible, or of little worth).
“Pique-nique” was used in France as far
back as the late 1600s and morphed
into the universal “picnic” over the next
century. Medieval hunting feasts were
some of the earliest outdoor meals,
providing refreshment and relaxation
for the hunting party. Soon menus,
growing increasingly complex, evolved
for shooting parties, sporting events
and the like. The Victorians embraced
the idea of the picnic as a release from
some of the strict social mores, but
still maintain a specific etiquette and
expectation of fine china, crystal, silver
and servants sent ahead to unpack the
elaborate fare.
Mrs. Beeton, in her famous Book of
Household Management (an 1861 go-to
guide for Victorian housekeeping),
gave advice on how to properly hold
a picnic for forty. In addition to joints
of beef, shoulder of lamb, several roast
fowl and meat pies, plentiful fruits and
breads needed packing along with
dozens of fruit turnovers, cheesecakes
and biscuits. Niceties such as “a stick
of horseradish” and “a bottle of mint
sauce, well corked” could not be left out.
As for libations, she recommended, in
part, several bottles of ale, sherry, claret,
brandy and “champagne à discrétion.”
“Water,” she advises, “can usually be
obtained so it is useless to take it.”
While the rich nobles and wealthy
merchants could put on a fine spread,
there is a definite democratic aspect
to the modern picnic. Perhaps it
goes back again to the French, who,
after the revolution, opened the
royal parks to the public. Picnicking
outdoors became fashionable and
beautiful grounds were available to
all. Americans, naturally, have made
the egalitarian ideals of the picnic a
central part of summer traditions and
patriotic celebrations such as Memorial
Day, Independence Day and Labor Day.
Nowadays picnics focus on simpler,
often cold foods that are easy to
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18
transport such as cold fried chicken,
sandwiches, cheeses, potato salad and
pies. The picnic basket in its current
form, with its compartments and
straps to hold dishes and cutlery as
well as food, appeared in the early
20th century. Food storage has also
made incredible strides in portability
and temperature control, allowing
picnickers to enjoy grilled foods, hot
dishes and cold beverages far from the
kitchen.
But what really makes a picnic
something special? Clearly, people
have been eating outside for millennia.
It’s more than the menu, the basket,
the red-and-white checked tablecloth
or the bottle of wine. It’s even more
perhaps, than the outdoors since a
fine picnic can be had inside, on the
floor, on a rainy or snowy day. I would
argue that it’s a sense of community, a
shared enjoyment of leisure and ease
that makes a picnic a picnic. To share a
meal, with friends and family, in a spot
made beautiful by nature (even some
dandelions in a jar), heightens our
connections, or pleasure and our joy.
To borrow yet again from the French:
Vive le picnic!
Julie Brown-Micko was raised on sugar cereals
and lots of hamburger casseroles, but survived
and thrived in a Le Cordon Bleu culinary program. A sometime writer, candy maker and
pastry chef, she’s happiest combining her love
of food and writing. Her work has appeared in
restaurants such as The Bayport Cookery and
publications such as Minnesota Monthly and
Foodservice News.
Hospitality
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19
multi-unit companies
Staking out Naples | from page 1
be a neighbor to D’Amico’s existing
Campiello in Old Naples.
“We may do a steak and seafood
(concept) in Minneapolis given the
right situation,” Richard says adding,
“It’s not like we have real estate out
looking for us.”
The Twin Cities shouldn’t take it
personally. The brothers also looked at
doing a restaurant in Miami, but after
completing their research, decided it
was a different market and one they
didn’t want to pursue.
The Continental will be a 240-seat
restaurant with wood charcoal-fire
grills; more grades and cuts of meat,
including grass-fed; and chef-driven
versions of sides. It’s in a garden setting
with leather and marble touches. There
is competition, Richard admits, most of
which is stale.
“The steakhouse is Richard’s project,”
Larry says. “He’s in love with it.”
While the brothers collaborate on
most projects, they have divided the
businesses. Richard took over the “big”
restaurants, which includes Campiello,
Lurcat, Masa and Parma 8200, while
Larry is in charge of their catering
business and D’Amico & Sons, an early
pioneer of the upscale fast-casual
phenom. Richard lives in Naples; Larry
in the Twin Cities.
In addition to Continental, D’Amico
received the contract for a café at the
botanical gardens and will be starting
up a catering company—all in Naples.
Minneapolis is home to a handful
of companies that have chosen to
concentrate on multi-brands, rather
than multi-units. While there are
common denominators between
D’Amico’s concepts—good service;
a food focus, stressing both taste
and presentation; and good people
involved—the “big” restaurants are
more like distant cousins than siblings.
The brothers stay fresh by traveling,
online research, looking at competitors
and reading books. “Every time we
go out to eat, one way or another it’s
research and education,” Larry says.
For instance, while conceptualizing
Masa, they traveled to Mexico. “If we’re
going to open a French restaurant, it’s
Montreal and France,” Richard adds.
And, yes, they try to experience their
own restaurants as a guest, and how
Renderings of the Continental,
a new steakhouse by D’Amico
& Partners in Naples, Florida
the experience turns out depends on
how the night is going. “Sometimes it’s
painful, sometimes a joy,” he says.
Getting casual fast
D’Amico & Sons was born years after
conceptualization. In the late ‘80s, the
D’Amicos were visiting the restaurant
scene in San Francisco, Los Angeles
and New York and seeing a lot of pasta
on the menu, as well as thin-crusted
pizzas. This was the birth of Wolfgang
Puck’s Spago, with gourmet pizza.
Another opportunity came up and the
idea for D’Amico & Sons went on the
back burner.
In 1994, they had an opportunity
to buy a building. It wasn’t suited
for Campiello, because of a lack of
parking, so the new concept became
front burner. “We wrote the menu the
day before (opening),” Larry says. They
started with salads and sandwiches
and started tweaking. “It takes a year to
open a place,” Richard says, referring to
the amount of trial and error that goes
into an outstanding restaurant.
Plans for the Twin Cities, includes
remodeling the Eden Prairie Campiello
and someday opening a D’Amico &
Sons in Woodbury and Maple Grove.
The brothers have been serving
upscale food for around three decades
and yet, neither one is ready to toss in
the dish towel. “I love what I’m doing,
it keeps me young, keeps my mind
working,” Larry says.
“I don’t feel like I have a job,”
Richard echoes. To which Larry adds,
“When you live life, you don’t think
about going on vacation.” Your work
is your vacation. It’s all about trying
new things—and then executing them
extremely well.
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cream on the market today. Schroeder’s gourmet Heavy Cream is
produced using a gentle, vat-pasteurization process that preserves the
natural strengths of milk solids and protein structures. This
vat-pasteurization process also creates a higher performing, better
tasting, and a more fully textured whipping cream.
20
Foodbridge Inc.
763.449.0688
[email protected]
Made in
Minnesota
Value-driven Growth
Owning seven restaurants is a means to a sustainable end for Minneapolis’ Kim Bartmann
By Laura Michaels
A
ligning her businesses with
her personal value system is
of utmost importance for Kim
Bartmann. Why else would she own
and operate six—soon to be seven—
Minneapolis restaurants?
“That’s part of why I have multiple
units is to have the capacity to
engage and explore how not to have
a restaurant that’s the most energyusing, resource-wasteful business in
America,” explains Bartmann. “Being
able to do that meant expanding my
businesses so I could access more
resources and collaborate on a bigger
level.”
Bartmann’s business isn’t just
restaurants. It’s sustainability, which
means buying locally, implementing
energy-efficient
practices
and
investing in recycling and composting
programs. Her Red Stag Supperclub
became the first restaurant in the
state to earn Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design (LEED)
certification, and Pat’s Tap, which
Bartmann opened in 2010, is nearing
LEED Gold certification. Even the skeeball machines at Pat’s serve a higher
Cafe
Wyrd
purpose: proceeds are donated to local
nonprofits serving the homeless and
hungry.
Then there’s Tiny Diner, opening
in the Powderhorn neighborhood
later this month. It’s a restaurant, yes,
paying tribute to diner towns across
the country using local foods, but it’s
also a permaculture demonstration
site, an urban farm and it produces its
own solar energy thanks to a specially
equipped patio roof.
Bartmann calls it “engaging in the
food system in a creative way.”
That creativity also drives Bartmann
as she grows her other restaurants,
including Bryant-Lake Bowl, which
celebrated its 20th anniversary last
year, Barbette, Bread & Pickle and
GiGi’s Café. Earlier this year she also
helped develop and open a sustainable
sushi restaurant Kyatchi in south
Minneapolis.
“I like projects. I’m on the creative
end of the spectrum so it’s an outlet for
me,” she says of her various locations.
All are different, but still feel inherently
Bartmann.
“I helped...open a place called
Peggy’s in Appleton, Wisconsin, and
people would go in and say, ‘this
reminds me of Bryant-Lake Bowl’…
and those two spaces could not have
Minneapolis restaurateur Kim
Bartmann at Pat’s Tap, one of her
seven restaurants.
been more different but there was the
same feeling,” Bartmann says. “It’s not
intentional. We just want our spaces to
be really welcoming.”
Calling herself “very space driven,”
Bartmann also makes a point of
choosing locations in neighborhoods
she knows. It’s for that reason she
19 9120 01 20 03 20 07 2010
2 0 11 hasn’t gone outside Minneapolis.
“I haven’t really been able to imagine
opening a restaurant in Bloomington
or something,” she says. “I want to be
able to know the neighborhood and be
a genuine part of the neighborhood.”
The different concepts also allow
Bartmann to engage with smaller farms
in different ways. She purchases whole
cattle from Peterson Limousin Beef in
Osceola, Wisconsin, for example, and
can sell the steaks at Barbette and use
ground beef for burgers at say, BryantLake.
Having cooked in several Uptown
restaurants early in her career, Bartmann
has long been the main driver of her
restaurants’ menus, drawing inspiration
from her travels to Northern California
and Portland. But while she maintains
her “quaint belief that restaurants are
about food,” she realized she didn’t
have the time necessary to focus on the
food programs and so hired her first
executive chef, T.J. Rawitzer of Masu
Sushi and Robata, in December. She
also brought on Mo Moore, who’d been
with Axel’s Bonfire, as her operations
director.
Through all the growth and with
annual revenues at about $12.5
million, Bartmann keeps returning to
what she calls her “triple bottom line
perspective: people, planet, profits.”
“When you pay more attention to
people and the planet, the profits are
there.”
2 0 11 2 014
Cafe Wyrd
becomes
ACF news
Mystery Meal
Local chefs test skills in ACF competition
W
ith their game faces on,
several chefs from Minneapolis’
ACF chapter took to the demo
kitchen at Reinhart’s spring show April
15 for an ACF-sanctioned mystery basket
competition. Two-person teams were
tasked with preparing a four-course
menu using select ingredients: kangaroo
loin and foie gras from Reinhart Gourmet
Direct, Gold’n Plump Just Bare chicken,
pistachio oil, potatoes and apples, and
Verlasso salmon from Morey’s.
ACF judges Roland Schaeffer, Albert
Imming and Stephen Miller critiqued
each dish and awarded the following
teams: First place, Chris Dwyer and
Fernando Monica; second place, Scott
Parks and Nick Aldridge; third place,
Emily Slaughter and Daniel
Cleary; fourth place, Tony
Lipp and Rick Frazer. Yes
Distributing donated all the
kitchen equipment. To see
what the chefs created visit
FoodserviceNews.net.
ACF judges are joined by
members of Reinhart’s
executive team during
the chef competition.
Left to right: Roland
Schaeffer, Paul Bailey,
president of Reinhart’s
Twin Cities division, Gib
Rowe, Reinhart’s director
of sales, Albert Imming
and Stephen Miller.
21
Minnesota Multi-Units
Entrepreneurship is alive and well in Minnesota, as this
year’s curated list of multi-unit restaurant companies
illustrates. A focus on independent, local ownership
influenced the inclusion of these companies and all
have at least three locations.
Blue Plate Restaurant Group,
St. Paul
D’Amico & Partners,
Minneapolis
Founded: 1993
Owners: David Burley and
Stephanie Shimp
Locations: The Highland Grill, Edina
Grill, Longfellow Grill, Groveland Tap,
Scusi, 3 Squares, The Lowry, The
Freehouse
Founded: 1987
Owners: Larry and Richard D’Amico
Locations: D’Amico Catering, D’Amico
& Sons (12), Campiello, Café Lurcat,
Masa, Parma 8200, Gather
Break Bread Hospitality,
Minneapolis
Founded: 2008
Owner: Bob Tinsley
Locations: Bacio, Zelo, Zelino, Vivo
Kitchen
Bryant-Lake Bowl Restaurant
Group, Minneapolis
Founded: 2003
Owner: Kim Bartmann
Locations: Bryant-Lake Bowl,
Barbette, Red Stag, Bread & Pickle,
Pat’s Tap, GiGi’s Café, Tiny Diner
Cara Irish Pubs, Minneapolis
Founded: 1994
Owner: Peter Killen (and partners)
Locations: Kieran’s, The Local, The
Liffey, Cooper
Davanni’s, Plymouth
Founded: 1975
Owners: Ron Schelper, Bob Carlson
and Mick Stenson
Locations: 21 throughout the Twin
Cities
Green Mill Restaurants Inc.,
St. Paul
Founded: 1975
Owner/CEO: Paul Dzubnar
Locations: 27 franchise Green Mills in
MN, WI, ND, KS. Dzubnar also owns
Twisted Fork, Crooked Pint and Sweet
Peas.
Hemisphere Restaurant
Partners, Minneapolis
Founded: 2003
Owners: Hadi Anbar and
Anoush Ansari
Locations: Atlas Grill, Tavern Grill (3
locations), Flame Rotisserie Grill, Good
to Go, Mission American Kitchen
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22
Jacob Restaurant Group,
Plymouth
Pizza Luce, Minneapolis
Founded: 1998
Owners: Rob and Tony Jacobs
Locations: Nye’s Polonaise Room,
Jake’s City Grille (5 locations)
Founded: 1993
Owners: Joe Baier and J.J. Haywood
Locations: Minneapolis (3), Duluth,
Hopkins, Richfield, St. Paul
Jester Concepts, Minneapolis
Punch Neapolitan Pizza,
Minneapolis
Founded: 2008
Owners: Brent Frederick and
Jacob Toledo
Locations: Maple Tavern, Borough/
Parlour, Coup d’Etat
Kaskaid Hospitality,
Minneapolis
Founded: 2007
Owner/CEO: Kam Talebi
Locations: Crave (9), Union, Figlio,
Urban Eatery, Boneyard, Muse Event
Center/Catering
Nova Restaurant Group, Eden
Prairie
Founded: 1996
Owners: John Soronno and
John Puckett
Locations: Minneapolis (3), St. Paul
(2), Eden Prairie, Wayzata, Woodbury,
Maple Grove
Superior Concepts, Inc.,
Falcon Heights
Founded: 1997
Owners: Bob Gillen and Kevin Schleif
Locations: Chianti Grill (2),
Porterhouse Steak & Seafood (2),
Stout’s Pub
Sushi Avenue, Minneapolis
Founded: 2004
Owners: Patrick Woodring and
Scott Foster
Locations: Hazellewood Grill,
Chester’s Kitchen, Pescara, Tavern
4&5
Founded: 2004
Owner: Nay Hla
Locations: Masu Sushi and Robata
(2), One, Two, Three Sushi (2); plus
270 retail locations
Parasole Restaurant Holdings,
Edina
Turtle Bread Company,
Minneapolis
Founded: 1977
Owners: Phil Roberts and
Pete Mihajlov
Locations: Manny’s, Mozza Mia,
Uptown Cafeteria, Burger Jones,
Chino Latino, Salut (Edina & St.
Paul), Pittsburgh Blue Steakhouse,
Muffuletta, Good Earth
Founded: 1996
Owner: Harvey McLain
Locations: Turtle Bread (3), Café
Levain, Pizza Biga, Trattoria Tosca
23
business
focus
When Stars Align
Timing, shared values prompt Birchwood pop-up
By Laura Michaels
I
t seemed almost like fate.
Tracy Singleton needed a kitchen to
keep her Birchwood Café cooking while
the restaurant underwent a major kitchen
renovation and dining room expansion.
David Duckler needed a tenant at Verdant
Tea to help cover his rent. Both were
looking at the same time, which made the
next step inevitable.
In an extended version of the pop-up
restaurant, Birchwood spent just over a
month from March to early April serving
classics like its Savory Waffle, along with a
menu of specially created northern Chinese
dishes, from nearby Verdant Tea’s Seward
tasting room. Ironically, the collaboration
was in the works for more than a year, but
neither owner knew it.
“We were just bursting out of our space
at Birchwood,” chef Marshall Paulsen said,
explaining why he and his cooks started
using a commissary kitchen that would
later become part of Verdant Tea, back
in 2012. When Duckler and his wife Lily
opened the tea shop, Birchwood’s lease
there ended and Singleton said she had
“visions of popping up all over the place”
during Birchwood’s construction before
realizing the prohibitive nature of the cost.
Then the wheels started turning.
“During that time I got to know David
and Lily and learn about how they source
their teas, they’ve got those same values of
working with local farmers,” Singleton said
of Verdant’s direct sourcing from five tea
farmers in northern China.
Duckler was thinking the same thing
about Singleton’s use of local, sustainable,
organic ingredients. “We really liked what
Birchwood did because they’ll do whatever
they can to get the best. It’s the same with
Verdant. We both support innovation and
want to drive the industry in a positive
direction.”
And so a pop-up was born. But the
collaboration became more than shared
space. Duckler cooked for Paulsen what
he described as a “crude approximation”
of dishes he and his wife were served
by Chinese farmers during their travels.
Paulsen then created dishes, such as
Chinese-style crepes with shiitake
mushrooms and pickled root vegetables,
savory sausage meatballs, and “Youtiao”
(Chinese doughnuts) with green tea
powdered sugar. Duckler styled tea
pairings for each item, which Paulsen said
exposed Birchwood customers to what
Verdant has to offer and vice versa.
“[The pop-up] introduced us to a lot of
people who never would have come in
here for just tea,” Duckler said. “It brought
David Duckler (center) sits with Birchwood’s Marshall Paulsen and Tracy
Singleton inside Verdant Tea, where Birchwood offered a pop-up breakfast/
lunch.
a lot of new customers in, and likewise
Birchwood was able to still have a presence
in the neighborhood.”
The pop-up helped keep some of her
Birchwood staff employed during the
restaurant’s closure, Singleton said, and
allowed her to still buy ingredients from
her farmers.
Though the pop-up experience is
over, Birchwood’s presence lingers as
Duckler continues his food program with
knowledge and training gleaned from
Singleton, Paulsen and their team. He’s
hired several line cooks to continue a
foodservice component and called the
experience “really inspirational.”
“We’re a better place for it at the end of
the day,” Duckler said. “Before the popup we never thought of ourselves as a
restaurant.”
It would seem Singleton has helped
create a competitor to her own business,
but the longtime owner doesn’t see it that
way. “The whole idea of competition, it
just doesn’t get you anywhere,” she said.
“We want more food businesses in our
community. It just makes Seward more of a
destination.”
Birchwood’s
Savory Waffle at
Verdant Tea.
Pork sausage
meatballs and
scallion sweet corn
pancakes from the
pop-up menu.
C E L E B R AT I N G 2 9 Y E A R S O F G I V I N G
NNoeow
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24
Commodities report
Price Inflation Remains
Porcine virus continues to affect pork production, Chinese importing elevates dairy prices
David
Maloni
T
here have been a few surprises
in recent months that have
propelled us to change our tune
on various commodities. The first
surprise has been the building intensity
of the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus
(PEDv) with the U.S. hog herd. Although
the USDA is pointing toward pork
production slightly above year-ago
levels in the coming months, private
sources are indicating output could
be smaller. And the fact that the USDA
has lowered its 2014 pork production
forecast consistently during the last
five months by a whopping 750 million
pounds leads us to believe these
private sources may be right. Thus,
the pork markets are expected to trade
much closer to 2013’s inflated levels in
the coming months. As of this writing,
BEEF-Prices are by the pound and based on f.o.b. Omaha
carlot.
3/27/142/27/14Difference 3/21/13
Ground Beef 81/19
2.45 2.34 0.11
2.10
168 Inside Round (ch.)3.06 2.56 0.50
2.04
180 1x1 Strp (choice) 6.59 4.39 2.20
4.66
112a Ribeye (choice) 6.89 5.62 1.27
6.20
189a Tender (select) 10.53 9.84 0.69
8.65
189a Tender (choice) 11.30 9.96 1.34
8.90
Veal Rack (Hotel 7 rib) 8.68 8.65 0.03
8.28
Veal Top Rnd(cp. off) 15.03 15.03 -
14.93
OIL AND RICE-Prices per pound based on USDA Reports.
3/27/142/27/14Difference 3/21/13
Crude Soybean Oil .396 .387 0.009
.479
Crude Corn Oil
.430 .430 -
.475
Rice, Long Grain
.288 .283 0.005
.285
DAIRY-Prices are by the pound and based on USDA
reports.
the USDA pork cutout was setting new
record highs.
The second major surprise has been
the support in the dairy markets. China
continued to import record volumes
of dairy products during the fall and
winter, which is keeping international
dairy prices elevated. Further, the cold
weather in the Midwest has limited
milk output this winter and tightened
domestic dairy supplies considerably.
These factors helped CME cheese
blocks achieve a fresh record high this
spring. Thus, dairy prices are expected
to mostly trend above 2013 this year,
PORK-Prices are by the pound and based on f.o.b.
Omaha carlot.
3/27/142/27/14Difference 3/21/13
Belly (bacon)
1.88 1.39 0.49
1.40
Spare Rib (3.5& down)1.95 1.66 0.29
1.43
Ham (23-27#)
1.10 0.79 0.31
0.57
Bbybck Rib (2-1.75#) 2.80 2.45 0.35
2.02
Tenderloin (1.25#)
2.86 2.55 0.31
2.63
POULTRY-Prices are by the pound except for eggs
(dozen) and based on USDA reports.
Chicken
3/27/142/27/14Difference 3/21/13
Whole Birds (2.5-3#) 1.06 1.05 0.01
1.02
Wings
1.341.27 0.07 1.78
Bone In Breast
1.04 0.98 0.06
1.11
Bnless Skinless Breast 1.92 1.79 0.13
1.69
Eggs
Large
1.351.49 <0.14> 1.29
Medium
1.151.20<0.05>1.07
Miscellaneous
Whole Turkeys (8-16#) 1.03 1.00 0.03
0.97
Whole Ducks (4-5#) 2.07 2.07 -
2.03
Cheese
3/27/142/27/14Difference 3/21/13
American
2.412.20 0.21 1.78
Cheddar (40#)
2.49 2.21 0.28
1.99
Market information provided by David Maloni of the American
Mozzarella
2.632.35 0.28 1.83
Restaurant Association Inc. The American Restaurant Association
Butter(AA)
Inc. publishes the “Weekly Commodity Report,” and provides
One pound solids
1.97 1.78 0.19
1.70
food
commodity market information to over 200,000 food service
Class II Cream
professionals. For more information call 1-888-423-4411, email at
Cream
2.422.13 0.29 2.01
[email protected] or on the Internet at
www.AmericanRestaurantAssociation.com.
although a top has likely been made.
Beef supplies have been tight this winter, which is no surprise. However,
the persistent demand that has sent
many beef markets to new records has
been surprising. We knew it was going
to be a tough year for beef buyers.
Unfortunately, it looks like this may
persist into 2015.
The chicken markets have been surprisingly deflated throughout most of
this winter, but buyers beware. Various
chicken markets have started to firm as
of late.
PRODUCE-Prices are by the case and are based on USDA
reports.
3/27/142/27/14Difference 3/21/13
Limes (150 ct.)
73.00 39.00 34.00
33.00
Lemons (200 ct.)
22.35 23.35 <1.00> 14.28
Cantaloupe (18 ct.) 11.98 5.45 6.53
15.45
Strawberries (12 pts) 12.00 15.50 <3.50> 19.00
Avocds (Hass 48ct.) 37.25 35.75 1.50
30.75
Idaho Potato (70 ct.) 9.75 8.50 1.25
4.63
Yellow Onions (50 lb.) 16.83 14.75 1.58
9.67
Red Onions (25 lb.) 16.33 13.91 2.42
22.44
White Onions (50 lb.) 32.83 28.11 4.72
24.88
Tomatoes (5X6-25lb.) 17.20 10.95 6.25
12.95
Roma Tomatoes
11.09 8.84 2.25
10.29
Green Peppers
26.75 16.42 10.33
10.70
Iceberg Lettuce
6.09 5.90 0.19
33.89
Leaf Lettuce
6.25 5.99 0.26
9.10
Romaine Lettuce
8.85 6.00 2.85
29.08
Broccoli (14 ct.)
8.88 5.87 3.01
6.42
*Covered party (as defined below) shall not be liable for any
direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages of
any kind whatsoever (including attorney’s fees and lost profits or
savings) in any way due to, resulting from, or arising in connection
with the Monthly Commodity Report, including its content,
regardless of any negligence of the covered party including but not
limited to technical inaccuracies and typographical errors. “Covered
Party” means the American Restaurant Association Inc. and the
employees of. © 2013 American Restaurant Association Inc.
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25
Mecca’s
musings
‘Chef?’
Musings on a short title with big definition
Mecca
Bos
G
ordon Ramsay walks into
a kitchen to assess the state of
things. He goes red in the face,
looking as though the top of his head
might pop off like the lid on a pressure
cooker. Anthony Bourdain lights a
cigarette at the back door of a kitchen, but
not before popping off some profanitylaced, jamissing-liner, culled from too
many years under pressure. Our own local
Stewart Woodman hurls a young cook’s
prep into the trash can, screaming that
she shall do it again, and properly this
time—before the tickets begin spitting
out of the chit machine with unstoppable,
high-speed intensity.
The hot-headed, potty-mouthed, easily
enraged chef. A red-faced Ramsay-esque
caricature is almost synonymous with the
title of “chef” and while we all seem to
love to hate “that” guy, have we ever
stopped to wonder how it got that way?
Made-for-TV histrionics aside, the
passion of the dedicated, yet delicate
artist is certainly not relegated to the
kitchen. Examples exist within every
art form, from rumors of Prince firing a
guitarist on the spot for missing a single
note, to the well-known melodramatics of
the likes of musician Beethoven and artist
Van Gogh.
Arguments about artistry vs. craft vs.
trade aside, the chef is arguably the most
time-pressured creator in our midst, with
the crush of the hungry dining public
sure to arrive by 5 p.m. sharp, nightly.
And unlike music or painting, the patron
is going to put said creations into his
mouth.
Thanks to the mis-education of food
television, the public at large has the
mistaken impression that a chef is the
person at the helm of each plate—every
pot, every tweezer-placed microgreen,
every grain of sel gris. When the
competitors of “Top Chef” gather to
dazzle us with their abilities, they unroll
their knife kits and get to cranking it out;
their every brilliant idea from synapse to
hand to plate. And yet in all but the tiniest
of restaurants, nothing could be further
from the truth.
When you peer into the open kitchens
of today, do you see some tall-toqued,
whites-enrobed chef operating the robot
coupe and the VitaMix? No. More often
than not, what you see is a team of baseballhat clad Ecuadorian or Mexican cooks,
racing against the clock. There are tattedup white boys too, and the occasional
scrappy girl, most of them under the age
of 30. Where is the chef? If things are
running smoothly, he (and sometimes she)
is out of sight, usually parked in front of a
computer, on the phone, meeting with a
purveyor, or crunching numbers, and most
probably all of the above, simultaneously.
And what if the chef does happen to be in
the kitchen? Well, there is a good chance
he’s stressing—and letting everyone know
just how stressed he really is. Loudly.
Because even a small, 50-seat bistro
can’t operate, night after night, at the
hand of one man alone, so a chef must
assemble a team. If he’s lucky, he will have
culled this team after years of cooking,
and the lot of them will be of like mind. In
this case, he’s got less yelling to do. If he’s
less lucky, he will be at the mercy of the
general employment pool.
In his classic tome “The French Laundry
Cookbook,” Thomas Keller recalls a
stint he did as a young man under a
classical French chef, where he says he
was “almost stabbed” because he didn’t
know how to truss a chicken. “There I
was, this American kid who thought of
himself as a chef...Pierre told me to truss
the chickens. I wasn’t going to tell him
I didn’t know how. I fumbled around.
I had no idea what I was doing. Pierre
watched me. He couldn’t understand. He
started screaming at me… He became so
enraged he threw a knife at me…What
that taught me was that if I was going
to be a chef somewhere, I’d better be
prepared to teach people everything they
needed to know to run that kitchen.”
Which brings me, finally, to my point.
The term “chef” gets annoyingly bandied
about in our chef-obsessed culture with
so much regularity that anyone who has
set foot in a kitchen—any old kitchen—
for even a night, seems to think they
are one. I’ve spent the better part of a
decade correcting friends, family and
even a few industry folks, that the simple
fact of my professional cookdom did not
in fact make me a chef.
Well then. What is a chef? Ask a
thousand people and you’ll probably
get a thousand answers. But this is my
column and here is what I say.
A chef is a boss, yes, a person who has
risen through the ranks and taken a lot
of knocks and garnered an education
and is now in a position to manage. But
moreover, a chef is a teacher. A chef is
the kind of person who can take the
thoughts swimming around in her head,
the creativity, but more importantly the
accumulated wisdom of the years, the
techniques, and somehow impart that
information to others—to her team.
Because how does a chef measure
success? When her apron is clean,
her face isn’t reddened, her vision is
executed through the hands of others,
she’s not throwing knives, and she can
spend more than 60 seconds at a time
with the fish purveyor.
Mecca Bos is executive chef of Minnetonka’s
Glen Lake Cafe. Mecca has been cooking, eating
and drinking around the world and especially
the Twin Cities for the better part of 15 years.
She is a cheesemonger, caterer, server, former
Food Editor of Metro Magazine, product
spokeswoman for The 0ilerie Twin Cities, and
occasional volunteer farmhand. She currently
writes about her obsessions for Food Service
News and VitaMn.
Disposables | equipment | Furnishings
Design | supplies | ChemiCals/Janitorial
1203 33rd St. S • St. Cloud, MN 56301 • 320-252-2977 • 800-892-8501
w w w. s t r a t e g i c e q u i p me n t . c o m
26
Common foodsense
The Replacements
What can we learn from a dead mammoth? How about scarcity
Jonathan
Locke
C
itrus greening, pig virus, and
drought in the Central Valley. Lime
trucks hijacked by drug cartels.
Pecan rustling in Georgia. Beef sold in
salons where you are buzzed in the door
by a security guard wearing a tuxedo,
white gloves and a paper butcher’s hat.
Restaurants that check your Equifax
score before you can order a margarita.
Lordy, the times are hard if you want to
sell food.
When you think about it, though, this
isn’t too far from normal. Since the end
of the Depression, the West, at least,
has been living through an unusual
period of abundance, with practically
everything available from practically
anywhere. Now the curtain is lifting a
little, and letting us see a future that
more closely resembles the past.
Let’s review our history for a moment.
When Ogg and Oggetta opened Café
Neander around the end of the last
Ice Age, their menus were less marketdriven than product-driven. This was
a conscious decision: notwithstanding
the importance of demographic
research (How many days, on average,
does our customer go between meals?
Does our target client still possess at
least three functional teeth?), the most
important economic consideration was
the unpredictability of the commodity
supply. If, for example, you had the
good fortune to knock over a woolly
mammoth, you were going to be serving
mammoth for the next month. You might
adjust your recipes to serve a shifting
customer base—certain subspecies
of humans have stronger jaws and
prefer to crack the bones at the table;
others prefer something softer, such as
half-fermented liver—but
you’re serving mammoth.
And if your mammoth purveyor ever
had a momentary lapse of attention,
you were going to be serving lichen
salads until you found his replacement.
And if your mammoth
purveyor ever had a
momentary lapse of
attention, you were
going to be serving lichen
salads until you found his
replacement.
These originators of the paleo diet
understood a simple dictum: You serve
what you can get. In an economy built
upon scarcity, variety is achieved not
by changing the raw materials but by
changing the way in which the materials
are manipulated: mammoth head
cheese, mammoth meatballs, braised
mamm shank, mamm and eggs. On
the other hand, in an economy built on
abundance, variety is achieved through
the supply chain: The more tendrils it
has, the greater the number of products
it can reach.
So which is better? I hate questions
like that, so I’ll pretend I didn’t ask it.
The answer, of course, is both. Scarcity
teaches you innovation in production;
abundance teaches you innovation
in sourcing. It’s easy to let the teetertotter dip too far to one side—you
can specialize to the point where your
customer following is too small to
support you, or you can load your menu
with so much junk that your inventory
sinks your profit margin. Having both
skill sets is a nice survival tool.
That said, we are likely in the near
future to see development activity
moving in the direction suggested by
scarcity. You can already find evidence
of it on bartender forums—there are
long comment threads where people
offer their suggestions for lime
substitutes, lime enhancers and the
best luggage for lime smuggling. With
beef prices heading north and pork
waddling eagerly after, we are likely to
see the rehabilitation of off-cuts, the
use of meat as a flavoring partner rather
than a soloist, and a greater interest in
rabbit and (insert heavy sigh) chicken.
I’m OK with this—at least, we’re likely
to see a return to a more nimble style
of menu-planning. It’s much more
fun for the culinary staff, too. I still
fondly remember the morning sessions
at Faegre’s when all the cooks trooped
into the walk-in to figure out what the
hell we were going to make that day,
and a few years earlier, when my fish
guy called me from the dock in San
Francisco to tell me what he’d caught
last night. For the larger organizations,
where there’s a bit more time involved
than responding to last night’s catch,
it’s time to do war-game planning: What
can we do if hamburger hits $4 a pound?
What replaces an avocado salad?
What can we make from pork ears?
For inspiration, there is huge worldwide
repertoire of recipes developed in
response to scarcity. This has been the
human condition, more often than not.
Seriously, would you eat pancreas—
sweetbreads—if you could have a
steak? But when Ogg and Oggeta were
out of cutlets, it was either develop the
recipe for Ris de Mammouth Laineux, or
go back to lichens.
Jonathan Locke has been a restaurant chef
for more than 20 years, heading restaurants
in Minneapolis and San Francisco. In 1995 he
joined forces with Susan Rasmussen to form
FoodSense, a restaurant-consulting firm. He
has written extensively for trade and consumer
publications, and was KARE-11 TV’s Health Fair
chef from 1995-1997. He can be contacted at
[email protected] or at 612-724-9824
Food for Thought
e
See us at th
on
st
o
B
SNA ANC in
6
-1
July 13
Booth #783
Taste the difference. Ask for the Catallia brand.
For more information on our complete line of premium tortillas including our new
S.M.A.R.T. tortilla go to catalliafoodservice.com or call 651-647-6808.
LeveL 3
27
hangin’ with klecko
Poetry in Mojo
There’s an art to working a trade show booth, where there’s even iambic pentameter in the air
Klecko
F
riends and Foes,
Recently I was working on a project
that needed answers. My deadline
was getting close, stress was mounting
and for a brief moment I began to wonder
if it was realistic to meet my objective.
Usually when I am in need of answers, I like
to get them from somebody I know who’s
in the know. But it was one of those days.
Everybody I called was unavailable, so like
most of you, and everybody half my age, I
took the easy way out.
I turned to Google.
To be honest, I’m not even certain what
the question was, but I do remember when
the corresponding links were listed, the
first thing that came up on the search
engine was an advertisement for the 2013
IDDBA’s Dairy-Deli-Bake Show.
When I noticed the event took place
in Orlando, my curiosity peaked. Florida
is one of nine states I have never visited.
Just as my mind began to shift into some
vicarious gear, I stumbled across the
keynote speaker.
Brett Favre was scheduled to attend the
convention. In fact, he would be pairing up
with one of the washed up ESPN anchors
who would be reading questions flashed
up on an overhead screen.
The site informed us that if we were
registered attendees at this trade show, we
could personally submit up to 10 questions
each.
OMG—were these people asking for
chaos?
Just think how envious defensive
tackles would be seeing how vulnerable
old No. 4 appeared standing on a stage,
defenseless while liquored-up salesmen
and women tried to dispel myths on
topics that didn’t involve dairy-deli or
baking…if you know what I mean.
If you’ve never been lucky enough to
pimp product in the hospitality world,
you might think the scenario I’ve just
presented is unrealistic or surreal at
best. Let me tell you, sister, wherever
there’s a buck to be made you’ll see the
most unlikely people come out of the
woodwork.
I didn’t get to question Brett Favre,
but here are some of the most enjoyable
experiences I have had at trade shows.
And just to raise my journalistic street
cred, this month my observations will be
delivered in poetic form.
What You Learn Working a Trade Show
Booth Next to a Baker*
She’s won more blue ribbons
Than anyone on the planet
Because every corner of her oven
Has its own thermometer
It wasn’t too upsetting
When Ringo Starr refused to eat her
cookie
But one can sense it made her annoyed
That he returned it to the plate after
touching it
Sure she’s become best friends
With Leno and Wayne Brady
But Hollywood has never captured her
heart
Instead she dreams of Japan
Recounting the memories
Of where her marriage started
*Marjorie Johnson – Blue Ribbon Baker at
the Minnesota Fair
What You Learn Working a Trade
Show Booth Next to a Beauty Queen*
Nothing beats winning Miss Minnesota/
USA
In your first attempt
Judges seem to prefer contestants
From small towns
When you win your state’s competition
People you’ve never met offer you
$10,000 worth
Of free dental work
Nothing is more demoralizing than losing
A nationally televised pageant to a
woman
Named Shandi who goes on to become
A sideline reporter for a CBS tournament
blackjack series
If you wear your tiara through the Taco
Bell drive thru
Chances are you will get your burrito for
free
*Jessica Dereschuk - Miss Minnesota USA
What You Learn Working a Trade Show
Booth Next to a Munchkin*
At 18 he appeared in shows with Mae
West
While under contract with MGM he went
to school with Judy Garland and Mickey
Rooney
It was Garland who actually invited him
onto the Oz set
He marched as a Munchkin soldier and
was the candy-striped fiddler
That escorted Dorothy down the yellow
brick road toward Emerald City
After retiring he worked charities to
raise money for the St. Louis Police
Department
This is where he met Cardinal slugger
Mark McGwire, the two men became
friends
When asked if calling him a Munchkin
was politically incorrect
He responded, you are what you are
And I am a Munchkin
*Mickey Carroll – Munchkin from Oz
Until Next Month …
Dan “Klecko” McGleno is the CEO at Saint Agnes
Baking Company in St Paul and can be reached
electronically at [email protected], at
the office at 651-290-7633, or on his cellular
device at 651-329-4321.
news briefs
Retail to restaurant; Mystic hosts industry night
Lund Food Holdings opened Lunds
and Byerly’s Kitchen in Wayzata this
spring. A deviation from its grocery
stores, the 17,000-square-foot space
offers everything from made-to-order
sandwiches, sushi and a hot food bar, a
salad bar and a charcuterie. A chef-driven
restaurant area has a menu of burgers,
pizzas, seasonal entrées and weekly meat
and seafood flights. A wine and beer
bar features local craft beers on tap and
wines from around the world. Customers
can place orders and pay using iPads at
each table. Chef Greg Johnson, who’s
now opening Public Kitchen in St. Paul,
consulted on the menus.
Mystic Lake added a Service Industry
Night to its lineup in April and is
continuing it on Mondays through June
30 at The Meadows Bar and Grille. Guests
who show a valid service industry paystub
or employee badge will receive coupons
for limited time offers including drink
and restaurant specials, free slot play, and
hotel, spa and gift shop discounts. Service
industry guests are also invited to take
advantage of $10 dinner specials.
US Foods’ new spring product line
features culinary creations that pack a
spicy punch. From fiery Glenview Farms
Smoky Ghost Pepper Jack Cheese Slices
to Hilltop Hearth Hot and Spicy Buns and
Spicy Secret Sauce from Metro Deli, the
new offerings feature bold flavors that
will delight the taste buds of any spice-
28
seeking diner. In its Scoop publication,
the company introduces more than 30
products all geared toward celebrating
dining outdoors once the relentless
winter weather breaks.
Fiery foods have become more
popular than ever with diners over the
last year. With inventive new dishes and
products that feature spicy notes of flavor,
spicy food appears on nearly 70 percent
of today’s restaurant menus.
For a sweet end to spring meals,
there are two new premium cheesecake
desserts from Devonshire made with
decadent ingredients, such as Greek
yogurt and ricotta cheese, and salted
caramel ice cream from Chef’s Line. fundraising focus
For more photos visit the
Foodservice News Facebook page.
Busy Bees
Local honey business, pastry chefs work to protect pollinators
By Laura Michaels
G
uests buzzed from table to
table—not unlike the honeybees
the event was celebrating—to
sample a selection of sweets prepared
by a dozen local pastry chefs for the
Dandelion Honey Pastry Chef Challenge.
As a way to gain support for their
Healthy Bees, Healthy Lives campaign,
Beez Kneez owners Kristy Lynn Allen
and Erin Rupp invited pastry chefs and
bakers from Spoonriver, Restaurant
Alma, Lucia’s, Good Life Catering, Treat,
Seward Co-op, Mademoiselle Miel,
Gigi’s, Open Arms, Anodyne, Mason’s
and Birchwood Café to compete for best
dessert featuring dandelion honey from
northern Minnesota’s Bar Bell Bee Ranch.
Lucia’s dandelion honey panna cotta
won the overall title, which included
a Beez Kneez beehive in Longfellow
Garden will be named after the
restaurant. Gigi’s Café came in second,
Dressed as a dandelion and a honeybee, Zoe Michael (left) and Bess Boever
of Anodyne Coffeehouse offer their Bee Sting Cake.
Restaurant Alma took third.
Allen and Rupp, who in 2010 started
delivering honey on bicycles and
hosting in-hive education classes
around the Twin Cities, are working to
protect honeybees and other pollinators
vital to agricultural health. They’ve
partnered with local community leaders
and are pushing for the passage of
state legislation that would give local
governments the authority to regulate
non-agricultural uses of pesticides, one
of the causes of the colony collapse
disorder that’s threatening the bee
population.
“We are so proud to have such strong
advocates,” said Rupp after Rep. Jean
Wagenius told attendees about bills
being considered that would require
pesticide companies to reimburse
beekeepers for losses related to
pesticide applications. “Call everyone
who’s a representative or a senator and
tell them that you support bees.”
Restaurant Alma pastry chef Carrie Vono (right) and Ngia Xiong, who took
third in the challenge, plate their cocoa sponge cake with honey sabayon.
Foodservice News® would like to thank you for making the
selling Desserts show a success.
www.foodservicenews.net • www.sellingdesserts.com
29
ACF news
services directory
Minneapolis Chapter
Kids Café
Wednesday, May 7; 3 p.m. arrival
Perspectives Family Center: 3381
Gorham Ave., St. Louis Park, MN.
Though not necessary, chefs are
encouraged to create ethnic meals
for the kids to try. Contact Chef Dan
at 952-926-2600 ext. 2518 with your
planned menu and to go over the
nutrition guidelines. Visit the chapter
website, www.acfmcc.com, for more
information and to register.
Education Seminar
Sunday, May 18; 1-3 p.m.
St. Agnes Bakery: 644 Olive St., St. Paul,
MN.
Dan “Klecko” McGleno will lead
Artisanal Bread Making 101, where
chefs will learn how to choose the
right breads for their establishment,
proper bread pairings with meals
and more. Sign up online at
www.acfmcc.com.
Kids Café
Tuesday, May 20; 3 p.m. arrival
Perspectives Family Center: 3381
Gorham Ave., St. Louis Park, MN.
Contact Chef Dan at 952-926-2600
ext. 2518 with your menu and to go
over the nutrition guidelines. Visit the
chapter website, www.acfmcc.com, for
more information and to register.
installation • Parts • service
Committed to quality. Committed to Customers.
Service
Commercial
Kitchen
Services
Monthly Meetings
The May meeting is scheduled for
Tuesday, May 27. Meetings are held on
the last Tuesday of every month. Visit
www.acfmcc.com for information and
signup.
www.commercialkitchenservices.net • 651-641-0164
Award Night
Congratulations to Sole Mio Ristorante
and executive chef and owner, Angelo
Montes, on receiving a regional
Achievement of Excellence Award from
the American Culinary Federation.
Sole Mio, located in Woodbury, was
one of 12 operations to receive the
award during ACF’s Central Regional
Conference. The award recognizes
foodservice establishments that
exemplify a commitment to excellence.
Criteria: being in operation for at least
five consecutive years; nomination by
an ACF chapter, member or individual in
the foodservice profession; and being a
recognized industry leader.
Montes was born and raised in Italy
and experienced first-hand the cuisine
and tradition of Italian culture, bringing
this with him to America in 1999. Before
opening Sole Mio, Montes served as
corporate executive chef at both Chianti
Grill locations in Roseville and Burnsville.
Montes donates his time to charities
and culinary schools in his community.
In 2010, the ACF Minneapolis Chef’s
Chapter awarded Montes Chapter Chef
of the Year.
Several ACF Minneapolis chefs
gathered April 1 at Sole Mio to present
the award to Montes, who was unable
to attend the conference in St. Louis.
events calendar
May 6
May 19
Upper Lakes Food Show
DECC in Duluth, MN
9 a.m.-4 p.m.
FMI: Upperlakesfoods.com
Women Who Really Cook
Sue Zelickson Scholarship Event
Roth Distributing, Minnetonka, MN
6-8 p.m.
FMI: www.wwrc.info
May 7
Performance Foodservice Expo
River’s Edge Convention Center
St. Cloud, MN
10 a.m.-3 p.m.
FMI: 800-328-8514
August 3-6
MSNA Annual State Conference
Rivers Edge Convention Center,
St. Cloud, MN
FMI: www.mnsna.org
August 11
May 8-9
MSNA Industry Conference
Arrowwood Resort, Alexandria, MN
FMI: www.mnsna.org
May 17-20
NRA Show
McCormick Place, Chicago, IL
FMI: 312-580-5410;
www.restaurant.org
MN Valley Country Club
Bloomington, MN
12 p.m. tee off; 5 p.m. social hour;
6:30 p.m. dinner
For more information, contact:
Andrea Gustafson; 952-594-4046
www.acfmcc.com/Toby
Food Manager Certification
May 13, May 15, June 18
Contact Connie Schwartau for times and locations;
507-337-2819, [email protected]
Or visit http://www2.extension.umn.edu/workshops
ACF Minneapolis board member Scott Parks (left) presents
the regional Achievement
of Excellence Award to Chef
Angelo Montes, who’s joined
by his wife, Theresa.
Visit our website for updates on the local news on foodservice.
All ACF chapters are invited to send event listings and story ideas to
[email protected].
The news and information source for restaurants and the foodservice industry.
Restaurant Brokers of Minnesota, Inc.
d.J. sikka has been representing clients in the the buying and selling
restaurants since 1981. He and his highly qualified staff of experts
specialize in restaurant sales, leasing, tenant representation, site
acquisition, business appraisal and franchise sales. If you are looking
to buy or sell a restaurant in Minnesota, or need expert financial advice
on restaurants, talk to D.J. first!
d.J. sikka
Restaurant Brokers of Minnesota
952-929-9273
30
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