Not just coffee

Archive for April, 2009

What's Old is New

Apr 20

Posted by admin in Advertisers, news

post_recipe_r42132v0e_tnMy favorite news of the food world this week was the announcement by Post Cereals that Shredded Wheat is just that–its wheat, its shredded–it’s a product that has not changed and will not change. Their new ad campaign says they do not need to add any super ingredients or spice up the vitamin count, they are what they are, and that is excellent.

They have taken the posture that no change is needed, and they celebrate the fact that they represent non-innovation with a headline: “Innovation is not your friend.” They tout the fact that their product, “with one honest ingredient,”  has not changed since 1892!

They might just have it right as we continue to look for the next super food that promises longevity and good health. That we continue to buy products with fortification such as juices with calcium and D. According to their logic, we have forgotten the basics. Their only concession to modernity is to offer flavored wheats such as frosted or honey nut.

To lend support to their theory that no change is necessary, they created a humorous selection of YouTube videos at www.thepalaceoflight.com. The tagline says it all: Progress is overrated. That in itself offers a double entendre message as the modern world communicator, the Internet marries the old and the new.

Go get milk.

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Who Cares?

Apr 19

Posted by admin in life, news

When someone posts a note that shouts out danger, why do we ignore the information? That seems to be what is happening with a number of food recalls. Latest news indicates we “ho hum” the info and continue down our merry path of personal decision-making. There are so many possibilities for food-borne illnesses that it takes two government agencies to oversee recallfoodsafetyicon02s.

If you know that something will make you sick, why eat it? The pistachio recall has been greeted with more shrugs than returns. Consumers seem to believe it is just one more nutty outburst. Maybe the peanut butter scare poisoned the spirit and turned buyers into cynics. We seem to hear about a recall but do little about a recall–we call that a Seinfeld moment. The Rutgers Food Policy Institute calls it reality.

Maybe we are just skeptical that so many products can have so many deficiencies or we just figure it is to be expected with so many products available for purchase. Whatever the reason we seem to be overloaded with recalls and appear to be shouting-ok, ok, I know there are inherent dangers in food.

Maybe we believe the likelihood of salmonella from a little taste is minuscule. When a major supplier contacts the government and voluntarily submits to a recall, maybe we should listen. The company has upped its game and its web information about the possibility of salmonella. This particular recall has now spread into every conceivable kernel and includes numerous suppliers and producers. It does not seem to be disappearing.

Maybe we should care.

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Good Work Dining

Apr 17

Posted by admin in dining out, life

300px-coturnix_coturnix_eggsYou gotta love Danny Meyer, New York restaurateur extraordinaire. He defines the business, yes, the business of hospitality. After all a restaurant has guests and as every host knows, guests need to be taken care of. Meyer has written a book that shares his passion about the restaurant business. His drive seems endless as he is about to add to his empire with an Italian restaurant at a five-star New York hotel.

It was not that long ago when the clever chicken promotion was offered in his restaurants, and now as an answer to the proverbial chicken-egg issue, we have springtime and the egg promotion. We’re not talking scrambled eggs out of a shaker container. We are talking creative egging. Each of the chefs in the Union Square Hospitality Group (see, it is not a restaurant group, but a hospitality group) has created a specialty dish. For instance, at Eleven Madison Park offers a slow poached organic egg with green asparagus and Parmigiano Reggiano. You can download all the recipes, and practice your chef skills at home.

Chicken soup was a true winner for the diner and City Harvest whose coffers were supplemented by 20,000 lbs of food. This promotion which runs until June 20 will again benefit the non-profit hunger organization. For every egg dish ordered, the restaurant group will donate $2 to City Harvest. Yes, not everyone can afford to eat out, but in Meyer’s world those who can should help others.

So let’s raise our forks to Mr. Meyer who once again demonstrates that dining is a communal experience we can share with those less fortunate.

Make mine the egg special, please.

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Not Your Mother's Salt

Apr 16

Posted by admin in food, life

salt_rocksIt’s hard to be a more ubiquitous product these days than sea salt. It’s the magic ingredient popping its shaker into a wide range of products. It’s not strictly limited to sprinkling on sizzling pans or as the preferred “table” salt. The possibilities of taste run the gamut, and the sea salt market has grown significantly.

There are also products that now tout their perceived upscale value by proclaiming, “now with sea salt.” What does that mean exactly, and why should we be excited?

Look at containers of Planter’s Mixed Nuts that promote sea salt, not just salt. What’s so special about sea salt that enables it to be its own headliner? I bought them; I tried them, and they taste just like the last container of Mixed Nuts, minimally salty. You do remember that fresh nuts are critical to my well-being.

Maybe manufacturers and suppliers can concentrate too much on the importance of the various high-end salts. Is that market still filling its carts with $15 salts? We have to have learned something from Balducci’s decision to close some stores and retire the family name in New York City. Its latest announcement says they are now part of an investment group. Maybe they had too much shelf space devoted to products that the recently unemployed or those fearful of that fate no longer purchase. I could have told them that. Who’s next with the wake-up call? If we are all culinarians at heart, can we find other ways to jazz up our meals?

Maybe Morton Salt always had it right: “When it rains it pours.” Wait, they make a sea salt, too, and to muddle matters further they were recently sold to a German fertilizer company!

Aha, that’s what salt of the earth means: we need to go back to our roots.

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The Fine Art of Dining

Apr 13

Posted by admin in dining out, life, news

waiterThe old tuxedo-clad waiters in candlelit dining rooms have become a legend; as much a part of history as the Wild West. The world has changed, and tuxedoed waiters are now part of an old world, a life that has been forever lost to many people. The formality of a restaurant’s dining room has given way to a jeans, t-shirt crowd that is looking for excitement, not staid dining.

Just this week the Willard Room at the Willard Intercontinental Washington bid the “jacket suggested” environment a fond adieu. This was no ordinary spot, with its Pennsylvania Avenue address, its book of history, and its proximity to the White House. The dining space will now be primarily used for private events and weekend brunches. No more dinners, no more fancy French chefs, no more Willard Room as it was.

In that same squeeze of economic dining outrageousness, star chef  Yannick Cam has bitten the bullet again. This time it’s his restaurant Le Paradou that is closing. The rumor mill says he is suburban bound for a restaurant that more closely aligns to his first, more relaxed Washington restaurant, the mid-town Provence. It was a great, fun restaurant that could be modified to today’s world.

In New York it’s the Lever House restaurant. In Southfield a Detroit suburb, Il Posto Ristorante appears to be on permanent holiday. Maybe too much of an air of a world that has no place in our current economic environment. Waiters don’t know it all; they just need to understand that the diner is the one paying the bills.

Name a city, and there’ll be a fancy restaurant that is no more. One that has folded its arms to the times and will either be a space that gets reinvented as a more moderate alternative or will be forever enshrined in dining history. Maybe the people have spoken.

In its place are moderate restaurants that are trying to show they can be that go to place, down a notch from high expectation. Benihana, which can be quite expensive with all the umbrella cocktails, has decided to offer a Twilight Tastings menu, Mondays through Thursdays during its first seating when an entree with soup, salad, vegetable, rice and green tea is $14.25 plus tax. That even includes the knife show; definitely tamer than the circus, but a lot of fun.

A restaurant like Boulder’s The Kitchen understands change. To celebrate their 5th anniversary, they just introduced a new shared plates menu and established community hour, a daily afternoon time with special food and drink prices. They get it: The world has changed and restaurants need to be adaptive to the new, more cautious diner.

It’s about value-price: the two have to function together.  Lousy service will bring ‘em all down. We are all about being smart diners.

Snooty is out; practical is in.

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It's Not All Taxing News

Apr 12

Posted by admin in life, news, Uncategorized

To find something positive to celebrate on that dreaded of dreaded days: Tax Day, April 15th, a number of restaurants are planning good news promotions.

We’ll no doubt need coffee. Seattle’s Best Coffee has a 39th birthday celebration which continues until the end of the month for any 39-year old coffee drinker. P.F. Chang’s China Bistro is matching the calendar date with a 15% off discount of the entire bill. Most McCormick & Schmick restaurants are turning the dreaded 1040 tax form into a $10.40 menu of specials with accompanying reduced priced tax-themed drink specials including a Deduction Draft , a pint of Samuel Adams Boston Lager. Diners will also receive a “Tax Relief Dining Certificate” for $10.40 off future dining at the restaurant.

Zola, a Washington, DC restaurant, is inviting diners to visits its bar that day for the IRS Raspberry, a specialty cocktail or any number of wines by the glass. Zola pays the taxes on the 15th. It plans to offer a fixed priced $10.15 lunch and a $35.15 dinner menu of appetizer, entree, and the all-important dessert. As a special act of kindness, the restaurant will have calculators and envelopes nearby to help last-minute filers. Guests who complete their forms at the bar by 11 PM can forego postage anxiety as the restaurant will mail the tax forms and pay the postage.

The Daily Grill plans to cover the sales tax for all guest checks on that fateful Wednesday. To calm nerves even further, the restaurant plans an all-day Happy Hour Menu with special appetizers and drinks.

Sweets cannot be ignored: Mall-based Cinnabon stores plan an evening (5-8 PM) giveaway: The Classic Bites.  Maggie Moo’s entices with a free scoop of ice cream as part of its e-cone-omic ice cream stimulus package.

Check out your local restaurants as the day draws near, and the reality of a good promotion adds up.irslogo

So many offers, so little time, the IRS is waiting.

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Restaurateurs: Listen Up

Apr 5

Posted by admin in dining out, life

winesThe days of expensive wine lists may be over or at least limited in acceptance. I now recoil with disappointment when I go to a moderately priced restaurant and am handed a book, literally pages of impressive labels and high price tags. Why should one rejoice at the impressive list when there is little under $50 a bottle?

If a restaurant’s mark-up is 2-3 times retail, then the starting point is way too high. The dining public has taken a strong stand against expensive wine lists. That’s why half-price wine nights are scoring such success and gaining a following all over the country.

Here’s a plan: Focus on great wine-growing regions that still have a minimal presence on many lists. Then every night can be special. Many great, affordable wines come from Chile, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. No one says ignore the American wines, just change the price point. Be a little more adventuresome and find great wines with great flavors at great prices. Not all wine comes from California! The breadth of choices might surprise you.

Restaurateurs: Start at the beginning and rethink the list. Do blind tastings; let the taste buds make the decisions rather than the fear of labels or price tags. For years we have been hearing wonderful reports about Malbec (Argentina), Carmenere (Chile), Pinotage (South Africa), Shiraz (Australia), and Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand). All of these countries have multiple award-winning wines at a range of price points. Many of these wines excel in other wine-growing regions, too.

Don’t ignore France’s Rhone Valley, Sicily’s Nero d’Avola, or the Tempranillo from Spain, or a Vinho Verde from Portugal. American wineries, stop, don’t scream at my suggestions. These are all just taste teasers. There are so many possibilities that the reach into the expensive wine stratosphere feels out of place; wrong. It’s all about taste and value–a palate-pleasing approach to reality.

There are many wonderful wines under $20; some hover closer to $10–these are the wines restaurants need to be adding. Find a taste master, a sommelier if you are lucky, and create a new list, an affordable one, and watch wine sales improve.

Surprise yourself with the excitement a new list can evoke.

Sales will reward you.

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I Wonder: When Is A Deal An Omen?

Apr 4

Posted by admin in food, news

1404top-loin-steak-bnls1When your in-box gets stuffed with so many good offers from the same company, you start to believe something is amiss. That’s how I’m starting to feel about The Palm restaurant. Everyday, a new idea, and often with a comment implying other great promos will be coming. Too much; too many–makes me wonder how bad business really is?

Today’s offer focuses on a new business lunch menu. Earlier this week it was a steak and lobster dinner promo that was extended, followed by a wine discount. Mind you I like The Palm a lot. I am a red meat eater and regularly crave a good hunk of steak, but now I’m becoming concerned. This is a little like Starbucks from a month or so ago when everyday there was a new promotion to help us get over the price tag and fall into the arms of the new cost-conscious company. It might be working for Starbucks. Can it get The Palm through the downturn?

When a major steak player which has relied heavily on its corporate business and dealmakers now turns to the general public to wow them with specials, you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to suspect a very slow environment. I have nothing against a 3-course $22 business lunch menu which includes the famous half and halfs (half cottage fries and half fried onions). My objection is to the continual reinvention–figure it out, recognize price points, and celebrate your flexibility!

That same email offers a 14 oz filet mignon dinner for $39 with a starter and a side. Good price point for a high-end restaurant, but a low-end marketing tactic: coupon must be presented before ordering. Bad karma.

It’s time for The Palm to understand itself.

Until they figure it out, join their mailing list so you can take advantage of the evolving restaurant!

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One Nut Too Many

Apr 3

Posted by admin in food, news

pistI was so excited to stop at one of the new Safeway Lifestyle stores and take advantage of a modern market. Hurried over to the nut counter, a real counter with a staff person, to get some warm, fresh nuts. Love the concept; frightened by the experience.

I’ll have a half-pound of salted, deluxe mixed nuts, please, I said to the woman at the counter. As she’s scooping, I noticed a few tiny green nuts. Excuse me are those pistachios? I asked. She cheerily replied yes, as in aren’t you the lucky one that our mixed nuts contain pistachios! After all there are numerous versions without the little green kernels.

Then I bombarded her with questions: Don’t you know there’s a major pistachio recall? Why are there recalled nuts in the mix? Where do you get your nuts? None, not a single query resulted in an answer. She was totally confused. I said I couldn’t buy them, and she asked do you NOT want them?

What’s going on here? How clueless can Safeway be? We’re not just talking packaged nuts, which were all over the place, but staff training and corporate responsibility. Here was a staffer who had no knowledge of what was becoming a significant health concern. Being ready to scoop is not enough. Knowing what to scoop is critical. I had to buy pomegranate fruit jels. Not bad.

How many people may get sick because of the pistachio/potential salmonella issue? Where does the responsibility of information lie? With the consumer or the merchant? Who’s in charge here?

We are a smarter universe of consumers, but we can’t be responsible for all knowledge. Think back on how smart machines can be as they stop us from making purchases. All merchants need some type of fail-safe system like this.

No nuts; not now.

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So What is this thing called STIMULUS

Apr 2

Posted by admin in dining out, life

knifeforkIf locavore was the word of the year in 2007, I recommend stimulus as the word of the year in 2009. Sure it got a little jumpstart at the end of ’08 but nothing like its current buzz; it gets attached to everything as a way to get us out and about.

Restaurants are all over the concept. If they add the word “stimulus” to the evening’s specials or to advertised events, they feel confident that customers will recognize value and plan their day around stimulus dining. We’ve seen wine specials called stimulus busters and prix-fixe menus as part of the game. Everywhere. All over the country. No one wants to miss this bandwagon.

When do we decide that it’s reality therapy and nothing stimulus about it? The world is different now than it was just a few short months ago. Restaurants all over the dining dollar map are making changes. In Washington, DC the uber-luxurious Mandarin Oriental Hotel decided too much luxe for the dollar and is changing its beloved Cafe Mozu into more of a neighborly, welcoming  presence named “South by Southwest,” a reference to its geographical corridor. Less of the fancy and more of an emphasis on lower-priced entrees and American classics. The change will not occur until summer so we can watch it evolve.

High-end dining has become a phrase that fits The Great Gatsby era rather than our current environment. We’ve already received a barrage of email specials from The Palm. Now Morton’s advertises that its special has been “extended and enhanced.” They’re not fooling around with a short visit into reality-pricing; they’re now offering this until the end of June. Maybe reality will set in.

No one wants to display wealth and fancy accouterments. It’s all about the stimulus.

We pay you to dine at a price point we hope you’ll take advantage of.

Please.

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