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Archive for June, 2009

Remember When Salsa was a Fancy Food?

Jun 30

Posted by admin in food, life, news

product01That’s right, I remember walking the halls of the Fancy Food Show (this year’s the 55th annual event from NASFT, The National Association for the Specialty Food Trade) and looking at and tasting more varieties of salsa than is humanly possible to distinguish. Then there was the iced tea year when companies decided no one was making iced tea from tea bags anymore and that there was a sizeable market for selling this bottled beverage. Both those products were proven correct and have become lifestyle staples!

Now in this economic downturn, you have to give the specialty food industry credit for not changing the name of the event as so much indicates we are moving away from fancy foods. Maybe it should be called: Realistic Expectations: Foods You’ll See Soon. These products, in the best case scenario for the companies, will be available for purchase in the not too distant future.

So what should we expect to see? More teas as in organic, infused, and natural. Yes, more decaffeinated ones, too. Organics and all-natural remain strong just as long as they can be price-sensitive. Gluten-free products are already making headway and more companies are recognizing the need to expand into this space. Spice blends or so-called rubs are increasing in popularity as a creative marketing maneuver giving the consumer, the home cook, control over meats and fish. Crackerbreads and cheeses remain popular.

With all the attention on the health benefits of dark chocolate and the new found love for sea salt, the continuation of that marriage and its expansion from mere caramel topped treats to fine chocolates was an inevitable jump. Sweets score high in this economic environment when we need to reward ourselves!

Each year they honor food innovations in over 30 categories. Truffle Fudge Bites, dark chocolate pieces with French sea salt from John Kelly Chocolates earned top honors in the chocolate category. Ciao Bella’s (remember I love these treats) newest gelato, Key Lime Graham Cracker Gelato won the Sofi (specialty outstanding food innovation) in the Perishable Category.

Maybe they’re not necessarily fancy but practical, comforting:  Chocolates, cheeses, crackers and desserts.

Those are our specialty foods!

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One Less Bite–Skip It All Together–An Update

Jun 29

Posted by admin in food, health, news

fnp498_120Remember the beef recall, well, that was so yesterday as its reach and impact have been expanded. The recall affects more products shipped to more states. Go to the USDA site for a complete list of products from JBS Swift: We’re talking a lot of different cuts and pounds of meat! Here we are just  a few days from the national grilling holiday, and one common plate special is the simple, basic hamburger. Not so fast, as we say in the food world of recalls. Know where your product comes from. How do grilled veggies sound?

If it were possible to rank recalls, then this one might jump to the top of the list. How can a company, Plainview Milk Products Cooperative, voluntarily recall 2 years worth of milk products for a possible Salmonella outbreak? Easily if an inspection comes up with results that are less than stellar. Suspicion is enough in the world of inspections. Two years! Scary. Who cares about shelf life when something like this can happen? To calm you down, these are instant, nonfat dried milk, whey protein, and fruit stabilizers and gums that were sold to distributors and manufacturers but not directly to consumers. Yes, it is possible that some of it was put into other products that could have reached the consumer. Not a pretty picture!

Sure these are voluntary recalls, but that still leaves me without the warm, fuzzy feeling that I like to have when I think of a food product. No wonder consumer confidence in food safety is so low. We need to know.

Information is the first line of defense.

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Win Me Over–Meet Me in Aisle 4

Jun 28

Posted by admin in Economy, food, life

wegmanswineNo matter how hard we try to work magic and make the fallout from the recession go away and hide forever, we are still deep in its throes. Sure there are some hopeful flickers, but the general feeling is that the depth of the problem needs more than a few band-aids.

Take grocery shopping. Everywhere you turn, at every price point, grocers are saying we hear you; we have adjusted and continue to make adjustments so that you will stay with us. What does this mean: more store brands, fewer items on the shelf, less impulsive shopping, and greater attention to coupons and specials. Sure we want to support everything local and take advantage of organic, but at this time some of those choices may be too costly to maintain.

If you were a regular at a grocery store, you might find yourself getting coupons to encourage you to return. That was my Harris Teeter experience. Whole Foods Market decided to put all its recipes on a free app . Target has expanded its Archer Farms food lineup as it relaunches its store brand with the new title “up & up”. Not sure how I relate to that terminology–a little confusing, sounds like two CB’ers chatting on the open road! Wegmans has always sought out customer feedback in the form of surveys and is in the midst of one called “Shopping Differently in this Difficult Economy?” Let me guess the answers.

We are not talking rocket science here: We are shopping differently. Stores are making adjustments as they champion their ability to make changes, to be good listeners. We are more careful about what we buy, in every aisle; in every store. Paying attention to the consumer should not be a novel approach, but a sign of teamwork that may help put the oomph back into shopping.

We say, Bring on the offers.

The economy needs this two-way arrangement.

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Here’s a Shocker: Panic Over Food Safety

Jun 27

Posted by admin in grocer, health, life

food_technology_dyk2IBM, yes, that IBM, conducted a food safety study and learned that 60% of Americans are concerned about the safety of the food that they purchase. An even higher percentage say they study the label more carefully than maybe they did before the continual rash of food recalls. Another way to look at the significant study: Less than 20% of consumers trust food companies to develop and sell food products that are safe and healthy for them and their families!

IBM figured out that they  could wear a newer, more critical hat that has moved them into food safety and monitoring.

The early June study was conducted in the 10 largest US cities with adult grocery shoppers (once or more a month) and revealed even more about the American consumer:

–83% could name a recent food product recall, with the largest percentage citing the peanut butter recall. Yes, we do love our peanut butter.

–49% said they would be leery of purchasing a product after it was recalled.

–63% said that they have changed the way they shop in the past two years because they want better value for their money. Locavore alert: Almost half define the change as a search for fresher foods; 76% want more information about a product’s origin.

What do all these numbers tell us: The consumer is smarter about his money and is seeking out value and quality with a concern for freshness.

With all the food recalls, we are a worried consumer society reaching out to get the latest information about safety. We have lost confidence in our suppliers.

We want to know and are prepared to act based on the information.

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Who Do I Trust? Let Me Get Back to You on That

Jun 26

Posted by admin in FDA, health, news

imagesNow that we’re getting personal, think it’s appropriate to share my anxiety with you: Hard to trust either the producer or the inspector these days. We all know the FDA has been taxed to the max with recalls flying all over the place. Not enough inspectors out there to accomplish everything necessary. Now we learn that some companies (Nestle) have not been cooperative with the inspectors. Now that’s ugly!

Just last Friday we said Stop, don’t go near the refrigerated Nestle cookie dough. What has puzzled me all week is that it was fear of E. coli (which we most commonly associate with beef products) and not what I would have expected the warning to be: Salmonella. They are both scary, no doubt about that, but I often think of the problems in different space.

Now today we learn that there is a possibility the whole cookie dough debacle could have been avoided if proper inspections had occurred. Fault for this lack: Nestle’s. Bad form; bad decision.

This week’s recall list has been impressive: alfalfa sprouts, but that is a frequent occurrence. I gave up trusting those little sprouts many recalls ago.  I think they are easier to avoid than ingest unless you know the small farmer and trust his methods.

My earlier favorite recall of the week was the California snack supplier who had repackaged and distributed recalled pistachios. Seriously, I do not make this stuff up. How about the latest beef recall? Or the sausage one? Or, the one that will be coming before I finish typing.

We need monitoring, guidance, attention. The system is broken and needs to be fixed,  but it is a two-way street and not a dead end. Cooperation from everyone is essential.

Our lives depend on it.

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You Can Take A Reservation

Jun 25

Posted by admin in dining out, food

reservation-bookRemember that old Seinfeld clip where he shows up at the car rental counter and discovers they know how to take a reservation, but have no idea how to hold a reservation. Watch it–it will bring back memories and explain so much!

The same scenario can be replayed numerous times in restaurants. We have a personal old memory jogger when we showed up as a foursome at a neighborhood Mexican restaurant and tried to move to the front of the long line as we said, excuse us, we have a reservation for 8 PM. The response from most people in the long line was, “we have 8 o’clocks, too.” Turns out the owner was so excited to take a reservation; he didn’t know how to say “come another night, please.”

Yes, I grant you this is before the Open Table universe that makes restaurant reservations so easy, but what happens when you have a large party or want a small private room? Online reservation reservations seldom work for those situations. You need to contact the restaurant directly.

What happens when you make a reservation, receive an email confirmation, call the day before to confirm, but do not hear back from them, then do a day of event phone call confirmation with a half-hour time adjustment, and show up at the restaurant with your large party only to find out you are stuck in a comedic episode (Seinfeld) but do not find any part of this funny?

Your private room has been given to another group. You are stuck with two tables of 8 in the dining room. No private room. No private family celebration.

You are stuck at a vacation destination (Branson, MO) on a busy summer Saturday night (at the Candlestick Inn) without  much recourse. You have chosen a restaurant that gets plenty of online praise; they just flunked the exercise on your special night. There is little you can do–you have nowhere to go. Remember it’s Saturday night, there are 16 of you. You can get huffy, too, or just figure out how to make it work. You are there; they have you.

It is not about taking reservations. It is about fulfilling expectations and honoring what you accept.

Leaving guests stranded with no options never leaves anyone happy.

Irritating 16 people is not what we call good press.

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Check, Please…Please…Today

Jun 24

Posted by admin in life

114141832_fa5494a628So dinner has been wonderful. You were seated without too long of a wait. The menu has lots of choices that seem to please everyone, and the service has been smooth.

Waters have been refilled, food has come out in an orderly, knowing fashion. No calling out–who has the burger? Smooth, professional, tasty.

Then it was time to leave. No one. Not a person in sight. We were not the last four-top in the restaurant. Nor were we in a secluded spot you needed to take an excursion to find. We were just in a back booth, in an area which had received a lot of attention until the check was dropped off.

Maybe they didn’t want us to pay. Probably not the real story. Maybe they had all gone home. Nope; still plenty of other diners.

Now if our server had gone home, fine. If someone would just come to our table without our having to stand and wave as if we saw a stranger from across the room, the meal would have ended on an upbeat note.

No, we did not stand and wave. Just 4 people, 8 eyes, started the room scan waltz. We looked everywhere and found no one. This little annoying game continued for a good 5 minutes before we scored.

Why is it so hard to say goodbye? Service does not end with the dropping of the check.

Follow-though at every part of the meal is critical. Guests should not leave with a bad taste.

It happens too frequently, right?

Check.

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Blondie and Dagwood Said It Best

Jun 23

Posted by admin in dining out, life

722331Have to admit, I’m not a big comics person. Used to be and loved following the soap strips, but somewhere along the way, stopped. OK, an occasional Doonesbury or Dilbert and maybe a glance at Family Circus. It’s easy to glance, these strips reside on my puzzle page! Another strike against newspaper subscriptions, basically the cartoon world has joined everyone else and gone online!

Sometimes your eyes go elsewhere when you’re reading, as if they are calling out to you to look at something important; something you might have missed. Today was one of those mornings. Right above the Scrabble game (good morning all around, did get the 7-letter, double word-wheeee!) was a Blondie comic strip, and it clearly spoke to the issues. Maybe we aren’t so snobby about everything dining out anymore, but attitude still prevails. Whether it’s a server, a chef, or a hostess, it’s time to be kind to the person spending the money.

Dining out is a luxury we want to keep. One we need to combat the ferociousness of daily living. The experience needs to be positive, pleasant, and rewarding. We love those meals that start and end well, where everything falls into place perfectly and the food shines.

That’s the dining out experience we crave.

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Environmental Sense for the Novice

Jun 22

Posted by admin in Environment, news

It seems I have been a real sluggard in upping the environmental ante. There’s so much more I can do besides eliminating over rinsing (wasting water) and using detergents that just do not work. I’m still such a novice in this game.

I can stop running the water endlessly and just turn it on when I really need to rinse a plate. Making major strides with this one!

I can use the garbage disposal a lot less. Seriously, who knew that the garbage disposal was creating more problems than it was solving in the food disposal discussion. I always hated seeing New York apartments which, at one time, were restricted from having disposals. I felt they were so unlucky, but it turns out that was the better environmental solution.

Every time we use the garbage disposal, besides wasting a lot of water making certain everything gets ground up, we are putting a load on the system: The wastewater treatment plants. In our mind we see ourselves shrinking the amount of garbage, but in reality we are creating more harm than good. The impact of our cleansing is so much greater. It’s like a doubling of everything: Stress the system, and we need to build more plants.

If we just put the garbage into garbage cans, it goes to the landfills and reduces the overall water load.

I can continue to research the composter issue until I find one that a) I can afford, b) has the ability to let me churn away, and most importantly, c) does not take up too much room so I don’t have to tangle with my neighbors. My soil will be happy, and I will be able to continue my campaign to be smarter about my decisions.

Easy for me to start composting my coffee grinds, and the rest will be gravy.

I can do better.

What about you?landing_title_pic1

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For a Real Locavore Experience: Hit the Ballparks

Jun 21

Posted by admin in baseball, life, news, sports

image11
OK, there’s the peanuts and CrackerJacks–yes, they still sell Crackerjacks, but you’ll pay. Buckets of cotton candy and plenty of gelato. What about the hot dogs? The burgers? The soft drinks and the lemonade? Can’t forget a cold one. They’re all there!

This is no inexpensive outing, but it’s no fun to walk past the food courts. Also quite hard to do since most parks limit what you can bring into the stadium. Baseball food helps digest the missed balls, the bases loaded strikeouts, and the clumsy catcher that makes the pitcher’s arm ache.

The food options, clearly vary from park to park, but some of the newer majestic halls of baseball have upscaled the experience to make you wonder if you’ll even remember the peanuts. Many entice you with city favorites set in a new horizon. That seems to be the overall trend. Bring in the local guys.

Let’s hit a few parks. New York is blessed with two newbies, and neither has missed the golden opportunity of loaded food courts. There are the Danny Meyer restaurants including the popular Shake Shack and Blue Smoke feeding baseball loyalists in Queens. The new Yankees home in the Bronx bows to local meat merchant, Lobel’s and offers a high-end, as in dry-aged, steak sandwich. We’re talking New York food at the parks!

Hometown kids and neighborhood institutions make good at Nationals Park in DC with Five Guys broiling burgers and Ben’s Chili Bowl showing what a wraparound line looks like waiting for grilled chili dogs and cheese fries.

The Baltimore O’s recognize crab cakes and BBQ as the smoke fills the stadium from Boog’s Bar-B-Q, named after former Oriole Boog Powell.

The new Kauffman Stadium for the Kansas City Royals spells barbecue with two 1,400 pound smokers working their magic.

To taste a city’s best, visit its ballpark! Stadium eating is big business. There’s something about grabbing a dog and a score sheet. Or indulging in a local restaurant’s bases-loaded venue.

Grab the napkins and the ATM card for the extra innings.

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