Italian quick-service chain Sbarro Inc. will debut 10 test units showcasing new strategic initiatives beginning June 7 in cities around the country.

The refreshed test locations, which will open over a seven-day period, will feature newly reformulated pizza, made-to-order pasta dishes, new equipment and service styles, and some décor changes.

The units will be located in Columbus, Ohio; Raleigh, N.C.; Providence, R.I.; Wellington, Fla.; Chicago; Portland, Ore.; San Diego; Scottsdale, Ariz.; Houston; and Philadelphia.

According to Sbarro’s president and chief executive Jim Greco, the test units will help executives guide the 1,013-unit international chain as it makes the planned transition from the quick-service to the fast-casual sector.

Greco said for two months following the grand rollout of the test units, Sbarro officials will observe the sales impact with customers and get qualitative feedback. "We’ll make changes based on information before going forward,” he explained.

As part of the new initiatives the test units will introduce a new Neapolitan-style pizza that will replace Sbarro’s traditional pie. It will feature a thinner crust, simpler ingredients and whole milk mozzarella. “It will taste different, have a different texture and a somewhat different appearance,” Greco said. “It will have a slightly golden brown color.”

The Neapolitan-style pizza will be prepared in new open-flame ovens that will bake at a higher temperature than Sbarro’s existing ovens do.

Sbarro is planning to roll the new pies out chainwide in September.

The test units also will showcase Sbarro’s new made-to-order pastas, which take less than 45 seconds to prepare, Greco said. Guests will have a choice of three types of pasta — including whole wheat — and three to five sauces, including traditional pomodoro, Bolognese, Alfredo and vodka.

As part of the test, the chain is experimenting with two different pasta preparation systems. One system calls for the pastas to be prepared in sauté pans on induction cooktops, while the other system will use fast boilers set into countertops.

“Visually, the pasta stations will be more attractive for guests,” Greco said. “There will be more theater going on.”

Greco said there will be no price increases for the new pizza and pastas, although as the chain progresses into the year several other menu items like a new handheld savory item and desserts will be added. “They will more likely result in an increase in the average check.”

Sbarro’s average per-transaction check currently runs about $8.50.

EARLIER:
• Sbarro files for Ch. 11
• Sbarro exits Ch. 11

Décor will be refreshed with new front counters, paint and tiles. Greco estimates that it will cost about $70,000 per unit to make the changes.

Sbarro currently generates an average unit volume of about $690,000.

As part of the new push, Sbarro employees are being trained in the chain’s new hospitality initiative. Teams already have begun training at the company’s facilities in Melville, N.Y., where Sbarro is headquartered.

To promote the debut of the new test units, grand opening events will be held in each host city. For example, all of the first day’s proceeds at each location will be donated to local food banks. In addition, each location will host a drawing in which the grand prize will be a Vespa motor scooter.

TV and radio advertising as well as direct mail and point-of-sale items will be used to promote Sbarro’s new brand positioning — “Hands on Italian.”

Longer term, Greco said the chain is planning to rollout a more comprehensive design overhaul later in the year to five existing units.

He said there will be “no big push” for unit openings in 2012. “We’ll open about 70 locations this year — mostly international — while we focus on these new initiatives. Then in 2013 we will escalate the pace of new constructions.”

Contact Paul Frumkin at paul.frumkin@penton.com.

Smith & Wollensky is taking inspiration from classic European salads and appetizers with its summertime specials — including its own versions of gravlax, frisée aux lardons and salade Niçoise — as well as American staples such as crab cakes, surf and turf, and spice-rubbed meat.

RELATED: Smith & Wollensky debuts new fall menu items

The gravlax is part of Salmon Three Ways, an $18 appetizer that also includes salmon pastrami and ceviche. Matt King, the nine-unit Boston-based steakhouse chain’s national director of culinary development, said the gravlax is made by rubbing salmon with a mixture of dark brown sugar, star anise, coriander seed, citrus juice and lime, lemon and orange zest. Rum is poured over that, and the salmon is cured for 48 hours.

To make the pastrami, the gravlax is rinsed off, brushed with molasses, and crusted with a rub of peppercorn, paprika, mustard seed and coriander, and refrigerated for an additional 24 hours.

For the ceviche, the salmon is dressed with red pepper flakes, lime juice, olive oil, red onion, chive, salt and pepper.

“Fairly simple, nice and fresh,” King said.

King has also reformulated Smith & Wollensky’s crab cake.

“We’ve always had a crab cake on the menu, but we tried to really focus on showing the quality of the crab we were using,” King said. Instead of a heavily breaded cake, he said the new version is “almost more of a warm crab salad. It’s loosely held together and lightly dusted with the bread crumb.” The dish sells for $18.

Frisée aux lardons is a popular salad in France, made with chicory greens, warm chunks of salt pork and a vinaigrette, often topped with a poached egg.

Smith & Wollensky uses baby spinach instead, and thick-cut applewood smoked bacon. The salad also has heirloom tomatoes and red onion. It’s tossed in a warm sherry vinaigrette that King said “softens the spinach a little bit,” and topped with a poached egg. It is priced at $15.

Also new to the appetizer menu is a $19 barbecue wild shrimp dish. Colossal-size Mexican Gulf shrimp are marinated with smoked paprika, a house-made Cajun spice blend, lime zest, cilantro, scallion and olive oil. It is then grilled and served with a jícama-mango slaw with cilantro and a citrus dressing. The shrimp is served over a bourbon-chipotle barbecue sauce.

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The shrimp, along with the jícama-mango slaw, is being paired with a 10-ounce filet mignon for Smith & Wollensky’s summertime surf and turf dish. It sells for $52.

A new coffee- and cocoa-rubbed filet is rubbed with coffee, dried porcini mushrooms and cinnamon that are combined in a fine espresso grinder and mixed with cocoa powder. The steak is charbroiled and topped with ancho chile butter made with lime juice and zest, “to make it a little more summery,” King said. It is also priced at $52.

“Coffee rubs have been around for awhile,” he added. “We’ve come up with one that adds a little bit of flavor with the porcini and cinnamon. It all complements the steak really well.”

King said they were also giving some of the rub to favorite guests and thinking of selling it on their website for customers who want to grill steaks at home this summer.

One of the fish specials this summer is a $38 sautéed red snapper served with whipped potatoes with colossal lump crab and chives folded into it, sauced with a tomato-fennel essence.

The essence is made by sweating celery, fennel, Serrano peppers, tomatoes, garlic, and Spanish onion. The mixture is further cooked with white wine and then hung overnight in cheesecloth.

“You get huge flavor,” from the liquid that drips out, King said. The fish is served in a bowl over the potatoes and the essence is poured around it.

Smith & Wollensky served a similar preparation made with halibut last summer, but with Alaska halibut fishing quotas reduced this summer, King said he decided to switch fish.

The new $36 Tuna Steak Niçoise features all of the flavors of a traditional French salade Niçoise. It’s pan-seared and served with fingerling potatoes, green beans, olives and a tomato-caperberry relish. It’s dressed with basil and lemon-infused olive oil.

The chain also has added three cocktails for the summer, priced at $13 or $14, depending on the market.

Several new summer drinks are also featured, including those cocktails. The Hangar Lime Spritzer features Hangar One Kaffir Lime vodka, Smith & Wollensky’s “Private Reserve” Sauvignon Blanc and Lime Juice. The Skinny Rita is made with Ty Ku sake liqueur and tequila, and the Skinny Mojito is made with the same liqueur, Bacardi Limón, mint leaves and club soda.

Returning this year for the summer are favorites from last year, including a $25 lobster mango salad served with applewood smoked bacon, mango chutney, avocado aioli and crispy tortilla.

Seared scallops with a summer vegetable salad and a shooter of tomatillo gazpacho also is being reprised for $15.

Contact Bret Thorn at bret.thorn@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary

A group of former franchisees of the Pat & Oscar’s brand in Southern California have rebranded their nine restaurants to a new concept called O’s American Kitchen.

The move follows the liquidation of the Pat & Oscar’s franchising company, which filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in September 2011, closing the three remaining corporate locations.

At the time, 11 franchise locations remained open. However, four of the brand’s franchise operators have banded together to rework their restaurants into O’s American Kitchen, featuring a similar but upgraded menu of pastas and pizzas, as well as more ethnic flavors and the breadsticks Pat & Oscar’s was known for.

The restaurants are also being redesigned with a new look, updated interiors and logo. Two of the restaurants have been converted and a third is under way, said Ron Camera Jr., one of the owners. The rest will follow this year.

Camera said the group had tried to acquire the rights to the Pat & Oscar’s brand, but were unsuccessful. So the group decided instead to create something new.

“We wanted to keep our core demographic but to give them more quality and something fresher,” Camera said.

Five franchise locations remain open separately under the Pat & Oscar’s name, he said, though some of those franchise operators are expected to make the jump to O’s American Kitchen.

The fast-casual Pat & Oscar’s chain, which was known for its value-positioned combo meals served family-style, once had 19 locations. The chain’s founder Oscar Sarkisian, who opened the first location in 1991, has also reclaimed one restaurant, which he operates as a Pat & Oscar’s. It was not clear Wednesday who holds the rights to the Pat & Oscar’s brand.

The bankruptcy came two years after industry veterans John Kaufman and Tim Foley had acquired the chain in a management buyout lead in 2009. Kaufman and Foley’s group bought the chain from Pacific Equity Partners, which then also owned the Sizzler restaurant chain and KFC franchise units in Australia.

Camera is joined in San Diego-based O’s American Kitchen by other former Pat & Oscar’s franchisees Frank Jiminez, Carlyle MacHarg and Chad Bertagnoli. The group brought back chef Greg Schroeppel, who had also been working with Pat & Oscar’s, to tweak every menu item — even the beloved breadsticks, which Camera said were enhanced.

After going through the horrors of bankruptcy, Camera said the group is enjoying a new sense of having control. “It’s nice that we’re able to do this together. We each have our different strengths we bring and we’re listening to our team members,” he said. “It has given us the opportunity to do something we’ve never really been able to do before.”

The former Pat & Oscar’s operators are among a handful of franchisees that have joined forces following a bankruptcy.

The Ground Round brand was acquired by a franchisee cooperative in 2004, which later developed variations on the concept.

RELATED: Ground Round pays down debt, eyes growth

Bennigan’s was also acquired by its franchise group in 2008, after parent S&A Restaurant Corp., a division of Metromedia Restaurant Group of Plano, Texas, and affiliated companies filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation.

RELATED: Bennigan’s debuts prototype with new logo, design

Contact Lisa Jennings at lisa.jennings@penton.com.
Follow her on Twitter: @livetodineout

Communal-style fixtures are increasingly getting a seat at the table in restaurant design.

These “communal,” “community” or “gathering” tables generally can seat eight to 16 people and have grown more widespread, from hip urban bistros and gastropubs to more suburban chain operations.

Burlington, Vt.-based Bruegger’s Bagels has been adding the tables in new construction and remodeled units since April 2010. Mooyah Burgers & Fries introduced them at new unit in Tyler, Texas, in February. Scottsdale, Ariz.-based True Food Kitchen has one and sometimes two in its four upscale health-oriented casual-dining units.

IN-DEPTH: For a closer look at these communal table implementations, see the May 28 issue of Nation's Restaurant News. Subscribe here.

Chris Dahlander, owner of Snappy Salads in Dallas, has outfitted two of his three Dallas-area locations with all “gathering table” seating. The third is in a mall with food-court seating.

The style of seating has built up camaraderie among guests as regulars start to recognize familiar faces, according to Dahlander. He said he also gooses the interactions by putting only two salt and pepper grinders on each of the tables, which seat 16.

“This promotes community by forcing the diners to ask for the salt and pepper from their fellow diners — just like they would at home,” he said, adding, “My only advice is to make sure that your restaurant can tolerate longer visits from groups that sit at these tables. They purposely promote community, and that community takes more time to dine.”

Panera Bread chief concept officer Scott Davis also offered his advice to those considering adding one or more communal tables to their restaurants.

Read Davis' 5 communal table considerations

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St. Louis-based Panera Bread has been using communal tables for about 10 years, during which the company has gathered some best practices and considerations:

• The table(s) must work with the construction of the dining space.

“You have to consider how it fits into the space,” Panera's Davis said. “The good news for us was that [our communal table layout] was designed as part of the ground-up construction.

"If you are retrofitting one into a space, you have to consider how the traffic flow around it works. Because it is so big, it can easily disrupt your dining room if you’re not careful.”

• Consider how the table(s) will affect other diners.

Larger tables create bigger noise, Davis said. “You’ve got six, eight or 10 people together all talking, that can create its own set of noise that could be disruptive to people on the periphery,” Davis said. “It could be a big negative to the people in booths next to it if there’s a lot of commotion going on. You have to be thoughtful about how the space is set up and positioned.”

• Be sure to determine the proper height of the table(s).

For Panera, it’s regular table height. “At one time we had higher-topped tells, at stool height, that could fit six people, but we tended to find the shorter, more standard table height works better,” Davis said. “It feels more comfortable that bar-height seating.”

• Plan for proper lighting.

“We put specific lighting in for that table,” Davis said. “I’ve seen retrofit tables where lighting wasn’t a match for it.” Experts warn against accidently leaving the big table in a black hole of light.

• Consider whether it will fit into the store’s demographic patterns.

“Our larger footprint, which can handle large lunch volume, can afford a larger space dedicated to a larger table,” Davis said. “If it became 50 percent of our dining room, it wouldn’t work so well.”

Panera units typically have 4,200 square feet and 120 seats, with communal tables usually seating eight to 10, Davis said.

Contact Ron Ruggless at ronald.ruggless@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @RonRuggless

The Marketing Executives Group, one of 10 study groups organized by the National Restaurant Association, held its 2012 spring meeting in Chicago earlier this month with the purpose of challenging the status quo.

More than 250 restaurant industry marketing leaders gathered to learn and share insights on branding, consumer behavior, social media, and strategies and tactics for gaining a marketing edge.

The Chicago 2012 Spring Marketing Executives Group conference was one of the best in recent years. We were provided a unique opportunity for marketing professionals in the restaurant industry to hear from a collection of speakers with topics relevant to challenges we are all facing from consumers in the marketplace. Topics and discussions were well positioned to answer concerns faced in today’s environment and provided a great format for learning.

Throughout the meeting, attendees were able to develop new connections with their industry peers and rekindle old friendships while enjoying the opportunity to learn, challenge, inspire and network across the industry. MEG exists to raise the level of excellence in restaurant marketing by providing leadership and training, as well as encouraging the exchange of ideas among marketing professionals for the betterment of the industry and its member companies.

“The MEG conference is a great opportunity to increase the awareness of the marketing function and its contribution and importance in the foodservice industry,” said Lane Cardwell, president of P.F. Chang’s.

Participants left Chicago armed with actionable strategies and tactics that are sure to transform and enhance their brands in the months and years ahead. Virtually every restaurant professional in attendance expressed their satisfaction with the meeting’s agenda and speakers and indicated their enthusiasm for returning in 2013.

“MEG is a must attend for anyone in the restaurant industry responsible for driving traffic,” said Jennifer Weerheim, vice president of marketing at Yard House Restaurant. She even noted that the October conference is set to be better than the May gathering.

To give you a sense of what MEG produced:

Keynote speaker Shawn Achor, psychologist and author of “The Happiness Advantage,” shared his strategies for achieving the level of optimism necessary to effect positive change in our personal lives and with our brands. Backed by extensive research, Achor showed attendees how happiness fuels success in business. Those who learn to be happier go on to reap the benefits of a more positive mind-set and achieve the extraordinary at work, with related spill-over benefits at home.

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Two speakers from American Express covered several macroeconomic insights and restaurant-specific spend trends. Kathy Benning, executive vice president of marketing for Buffalo Wild Wings, then shared what makes her concept resonate with customers and enables it to cut through the media clutter with a strong and relevant brand voice.

Erik Qualman, professor and best-selling author of “Socialnomics,” described how social media is transforming the way we live and do business. He offered valuable insights into how restaurant marketers can regain control in the perplexing world of modern communications and explained how brands can be strengthened by the proper use of social media.

The first day’s events concluded with an expert social media panel that featured real-life examples and success stories designed to assist attendees in developing compelling social media strategies.

A dinner and after-party at Rockit Bar & Grill was followed the next morning by the first annual MEG “Morning After” 10K and 5K runs. Friday’s sessions kicked off with a “never before seen” special presentation by Red Bull vice president of marketing Amy Taylor, who shared the brand’s unorthodox approach to story-telling in the modern media world. This special behind-the-scenes look at how the Red Bull brand was built over the past 13 years was a crowd favorite and left the room buzzing.

Following a networking lunch, Taco Cabana’s chief marketing officer, Todd Coerver, walked the audience through a case study demonstrating how traditional media, social media and operations can be fully integrated into a successful, long-term marketing campaign. Jon Taffer, chairman of Taffer Dynamics and host of SPIKE TV’s “Bar Rescue,” then wrapped up the formal conference agenda by sharing the nuts and bolts of neighborhood marketing to create a powerful brand makeover for a restaurant.

The MEG tradition continued at a closing reception highlighted by delicious food arrays showcasing menu trends from across the nation along with samplings of craft beers, fine wines and other amped-up beverages.

I invite questions and suggestions, whether about MEG or the topics and goals we set.

Clay Dover is the chief marketing officer, fry cook and cashier at Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers, a Plano, Texas-based chain of more than 125 restaurants in 16 states. Dover also serves as a board member of the NRA’s Marketing Executives Group.
Reach Clay Dover at claydover@raisingcanes.com
Find out more about MEG on Facebook

The Melt soup-and-grilled cheese concept on Thursday said it would add breakfast service to most of its locations starting next week.

The announcement comes as the fast-casual chain plans to ratchet up growth significantly — mostly focused on California — with the addition of another 15 to 17 units, according to Paul Coletta, the The Melt's chief marketing officer.

Founded by Flip Video founder Jonathan Kaplan, The Melt has currently has four locations open in the San Francisco Bay area, with a fifth scheduled to open in Berkeley, Calif., this summer.

EARLIER: The Melt: High-tech pedigree for comfort cuisine

Breakfast will be available at new locations where it makes sense, said Coletta. “It’s the fastest growing daypart in the industry and it’s the most important meal of the day,” he said, noting that The Melt’s use of technology to improve speed of service will appeal to time-starved morning diners.

The Melt is known for its use of online ordering and QR codes that allow guests to skip the line. Customers can place orders via their smart phone, which issues a QR barcode. When they arrive at the restaurant, they can scan the code to avoid standing in line.

Sandwiches are not cooked until the guest arrives in the store, so they are prepared fresh and hot, said Coletta. “Our goal is to serve the best breakfast for under $6 in less than 3 minutes,” he added.

Breakfast menu options will include a line of sandwiches, including a signature Egg in the Hole Breakfast Melt with freshly cracked eggs and complementary bacon by request. Other items include a Banana Maple Waffle or Cinnamon Raisin Bread with Lemon Cream Cheese.

The Melt is also offering slow-cooked steel-cut oatmeal, said Coletta, and the coffee platform is Peet’s Coffee & Tea brand.

Hours vary by store, but typically, breakfast service at The Melt will be available from around 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. The Stanford unit will not offer breakfast because it’s located in a mall that doesn’t open until mid-morning.

Coletta said systemwide sales at The Melt so far have exceeded expectations, though he declined to give specifics.

The addition of breakfast could significantly grow traffic for the brand because it offers both value and speed for morning commuters, he said. Breakfast sandwiches are also among the hottest morning menu offerings among limited-service restaurants.

“People love the value proposition,” he said. “We’re offering something unique: comfort and value.”

In addition to adding breakfast, The Melt has switched to Boylan brand cane sugar-sweetened fountain sodas in an effort to keep the menu all natural and free of high-fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils, said Coletta.

The Melt is funded in part by venture capital firm Sequoia Capital. The firm is chaired by Silicon Valley investor Michael Moritz, who has also backed companies like Google, LinkedIn, PayPal and Yahoo.

Contact Lisa Jennings at lisa.jennings@penton.com.
Follow her on Twitter: @livetodineout

Close your eyes as you taste a lobster from Fourchu and you could be transported to a tiny fishing village on an inlet off the blustery, windswept coast of Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton Island. You could taste the briny waters of that particular section of the frigid North Atlantic. You could be at one with the Scottish settlers who have for centuries made their livings by plying those waters.

But first you’d have to know that Fourchu is, in fact, such a village with such inhabitants.

Back story is important when it comes to high-end specialty products like the lobster of Fourchu, a hamlet with the good fortune of having Dorothy Cann Hamilton as its champion.

Fourchu is the ancestral homeland of Hamilton, the founder and head of the International Culinary Center, formerly known as the French Culinary Institute, in New York, and she has made it her mission to introduce the high-end dining world to her favorite lobster.

She has gone about it intelligently. Several years ago she invited a number of prominent New York chefs to Fourchu to experience the lobster harvest. Cesare Casella of Salumeria Rosi Parmacotta, Dan Barber of Blue Hill, and others took her up on the offer and were sold on the product and what Hamilton calls its “meroir.”

She borrowed that term from artisanal oyster producers, who derived it from winemakers, who extol their products’ terroir, or distinctive characteristics derived from its geography.

“Terre” is French for “land;” “mer” is French for “sea.”

She offered the lobster as a special last summer at the ICC’s restaurant, L’Ecole, just as Fourchu’s government-mandated 10-week season was drawing to a close.

This year, she introduced the lobster at the beginning of the summer season, and it's available now. She has made the ICC’s catering arm the sole distributor of the product, importing 8,000 pounds of it each week. Barber, Casella and other high-end New York chefs, including Daniel Boulud of Daniel (and other restaurants), Gramercy Tavern executive chef Michael Anthony, Dan Kluger of ABC Kitchen, Paul Liebrandt of Corton and Ben Pollinger of Oceana, have said they will be serving it, too.

I’ve tried Fourchu lobster twice — last summer and earlier this week — both times at L’Ecole while dining with Hamilton. She seemed genuinely interested in knowing whether myself and her other guests thought it tasted different from other lobsters.

I think it did. It was possibly sweeter than the average lobster, and its brininess was more nuanced and complex than normal. Whether that had to do with the fact that it’s from Fourchu or that, at least when I ate it this year, it had arrived that morning from Nova Scotia’s capital, Halifax, hand-carried by Hamilton’s importer — a seafood expert — and then prepared by Hamilton’s staff of chefs, I can’t say.

But although Hamilton has a personal affection for Fourchu lobster, she told me her agenda was more on decommodifying lobster as a whole. Just as wine made from grapes from one side of a hill can taste different from wine made from grapes from the other side of that hill, or oysters from one estuary bank can have different qualities from oysters from farther into the bay, so do lobsters from different waters taste different from each other, she said.

By extolling the unique qualities of the lobster of a particular bay, harbor or community, Hamilton said she hoped to help those communities take more control of their own destiny.

Contact Bret Thorn at bret.thorn@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary
 

Since acquiring 80-unit fast-casual chain Salsarita’s nearly one year ago, Phil Friedman has been refining the underlying systems the Mexican brand needs to meet its growth goals, and those changes have yielded near-term sales growth.

Friedman, who most recently had been chief executive of McAlister’s Deli, is chief executive of Mississippi Restaurant Group, which closed on the purchase of Charlotte, N.C.-based Salsarita’s last June 16. He sensed a growth opportunity in the Salsarita’s brand and thought its franchisees could expand if they had a plan for modernizing the concept.

“Salsarita’s had been focused on survival mode … and I saw people who needed a lot of help on fundamentals,” Friedman said. “When I left McAlister’s, I was seeking out small chains that were still led by their founders but needed support systems. Salsarita’s had grown with smaller franchisees, but it didn’t have the concept evolution it needed.”

As the brand has shored up operations and tried to evolve the menu, sales have started to turn around, Friedman disclosed. Through the first four months of 2012, same-store sales were up 8.7 percent. At the flagship Salsarita’s in Charlotte, one of two locations he bought from the chain’s founder to serve as company-owned stores, sales were up 30 percent.

“It’s all about traffic — getting frequency, which leads to good word-of-mouth,” he said. “Our first goal is to really increase frequency, and we’re seeing that. We haven’t had price increases, so it’s been all traffic [gains].”

Those gains in guest counts have resulted from the systems Friedman and chief operating officer Larry Reinstein have refined around franchisor-franchisee relations, operations and food preparation, Friedman said. Salsarita’s also has hired a new executive chef and director of training and is close to adding a director of franchise sales, he said.

The brand formed a franchisee advisory council and adopted new tools to communicate more often with franchisees. Culinary processes were also tweaked, such as preparing the chain’s chicken in the three small batches throughout the day to ensure freshness, rather than having one batch made in the morning and held in heating cabinets.

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In April, Salsarita’s launched its first new product under new management, the CasaRito. An update on the chain’s “wet burrito,” the CasaRito is a “knife and fork” burrito covered in one of three sauce options. The Quesarito variety covers a burrito with a creamy cheese sauce, the Rancharito with a ranchero sauce and the Tomarito with a spicy tomatillo salsa. Friedman said the CasaRito now accounts for 20 percent of all burrito sales.

“We took the ‘wet burrito’ and changed the recipe and the plating and presentation, and we could brand it differently as the CasaRito,” he said. “It already played to our skills, but it’s different and certainly something we can build on.”

Sales growth will have to come in a competitive sector. The fast-casual Mexican segment is crowded with large-scale chains like Chipotle and Qdoba, Friedman said, but fortunately for Salsarita’s, the sector does not have the price wars seen in quick service or pizza.

“It’s about the restaurant concepts being better, rather than undercutting somebody else,” he said. “You can try to differentiate with different taste profiles, service touches and limited-time offers.”

To that effect, Salsarita’s opportunity to separate itself from Chipotle and others is in its menu development, Friedman said.

“I see us fitting into a role where we’re still using the same delivery system, but we provide a little more variety and choice and continue building interest in our menu with new-product evolution,” he said. “We’re looking at new ways to deliver quesadillas, two sizes of our burritos, and new equipment for our Mexican pizzas to do specialty pizzas quicker and better.”

The chain also will experiment with staffing and scheduling to put more people on the restaurant floor to pay more attention to guests, refill orders of chips or drinks, and bus tables.

Another “extra little touch” has been the systemwide implementation of digital menu boards, Friedman said. They are very graphic-intensive so that Salsarita’s can communicate their turnover of new products and limited-time offers. Friedman added that franchisees are embracing the digital menu boards even though they must take on the expense themselves.

Salsarita’s also is rolling out the Coca-Cola Freestyle fountain to more locations and is exploring ways to pair soft drinks with food and market those combinations.

Having achieved traction in same-store sales, Salsarita’s is now targeting franchise groups with multiunit experience to grow in the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest, Friedman said. The ultimate goal is to reach 400 franchised restaurants in five to six years. The brand has units in about 16 college campus restaurants and two high-volume airports and is exploring further growth in on-site locations.

Salsarita’s currently operates in 19 states.

Contact Mark Brandau at mark.brandau@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @Mark_from_NRN

Foodservice operators and association executives slammed New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to ban the sale of large sodas and sugary drinks in the city’s latest effort to address the nation’s health and obesity problems.

Saying “it’s what the public wants the mayor to do,” Bloomberg said he is seeking to establish a 16-ounce size limit on sugary beverages served at restaurants, delis, sports venues, movie theaters and street carts throughout the city. The ban would not include beverages sold in grocery or convenience stores.

According to the proposal, sugary drinks are defined as beverages that are “sweetened with sugar or another caloric sweetener that contain more than 25 calories per 8 fluid ounces and contain less than 51 percent milk or milk substitute by volume as an ingredient.” It would not apply to diet drinks, calorie-free drinks and alcoholic beverages.

The ban, which if enacted could take effect as early as March 2013, would require that restaurants in noncompliance could face fines of $200 following a three-month grace period.

While City Hall officials and health advocates maintain that sugary beverages are one of the biggest contributors to the obesity problem, restaurant operators and association executives maintain that a ban on such high-margin beverages would damage businesses that are just beginning to rebound from the long economic downturn.

Industry associations sound off

Andrew Moesel, a spokesperson for the New York City Chapter of the New York State Restaurant Association said: “We appreciate the mayor’s concerns about public health, but this goes too far. We believe the public is not in support of this measure.”

Moesel said the association would oppose the measure “vigorously." He added, "The mayor has pushed through several other burdensome policies against restaurants … and our members already feel put upon by local government. This measure will only add to their frustration.”

There are about 25,000 foodservice establishments in New York’s five boroughs.

This marks the latest in a series of health-oriented face-offs between the New York restaurant community and Bloomberg. During his three terms as mayor, Bloomberg has banned smoking in public places, outlawed trans fats in restaurants and mandated that chain operators post calorie counts and other nutrition information on their menus and menu boards.

In addition, he has campaigned to get restaurants to cut down on their use of salt and mandated that health inspection letter grades be posted prominently in restaurant windows. He also promoted a New York state tax on soda, but the measure was defeated in Albany.

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Commenting on this latest initiative, Judith Thorman, the International Franchise Association’s senior vice president, Government Relations & Public Policy, warned that the ban “will harm New York City's thousands of small business franchise owners, job creators and their employees at a time when they are still grappling with a slow economic recovery."

She continued, "Limiting the sale of beverages to consumers will do nothing more than force small business franchise restaurant owners to raise prices on other items to account for a loss in sales, or worse yet, consider laying off workers — and neither option is a good option.”

Scott DeFife, executive vice president of Policy and Government Affairs for the National Restaurant Association, criticized the mayor’s decision to ban super-sized beverages. “There is no silver bullet in America’s fight against obesity, and hyper-regulation such as this misplaces responsibility and creates a false sense of accomplishment,” he said.

“Public health officials in New York should put all of their energies into public education about a balanced lifestyle with a proper mix of diet and exercise rather than attempting to regulate consumption of a completely legal product enjoyed universally,” he said.

Restaurant operators hold mixed reactions

Restaurant operators also voiced concerns about the trend toward government over-regulation and the shift toward what some have come to refer to as a “nanny state” mentality. Jim Morgan, chief executive of Krispy Kreme, said the pending regulations won’t really affect the doughnut chain’s business, which operates a handful of units in New York.

However, he said, “The scarier part is the interference with personal choice and business. We all need to be careful about that. Government needs to be very careful with what they regulate and what they don’t.”

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Zane Tankel, the operator of more than three dozen Applebee’s restaurants in New York and the surrounding area, agreed, saying he “doesn’t believe the government should be limiting free choice or business this way. I’m against the idea of the government telling us to do too much. It’s a slippery slope. And how far should the government intrude on personal life?”

However, Tankel admits to being ambivalent about the issue. “I do see some justification for it,” he said. “Obesity is a major problem. Health care costs are going through the roof. And at the end of the day we end up paying for it in taxes.”

He acknowledges, though, that a ban on the selling of large servings of high-margin sweetened drinks would cut into his business. “It won’t have a dramatic impact on gross sales, but it will have an impact on margins,” he said. “Soft drinks are a high-profit item.”

Irwin Kruger, who formerly owned seven McDonald’s franchises in Manhattan — including the high-grossing unit on Broadway — said the ban “would really be a negative. It would impact a [quick-service restaurant] in a variety of ways.”

For example, he said: “You’ll get tourists who have no clue about what a ban on soft drinks is all about. Employees will have to explain to them why they can’t get the same sized drink in New York that they’re used to at home, and that will take time at the counter and possibly annoy the customer. It also will impact the speed of service, and it’s important for [quick-service restaurants] to be able to serve customers quickly.”

Kruger, who is now a Smashburger franchisee on Long Island, N.Y., said the ban likely would affect sales and the bottom line, noting that soda has the highest margin of any product line on the McDonald’s menu.

Others see consumer health more important than business

Bloomberg’s proposal is not without its supporters. Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington, D.C., said obesity “poses enormous costs to society and we need to cut down on the major causes of obesity — and soft drinks are at the top of the list.

“If [the ban] reduces consumption by 5 or 10 percent, it should have an impact on obesity and reduce health care costs in New York,” he said. “I’m sure every other health commissioner in the country is looking at this, and I expect to see more proposals around the country.”

Furthermore, he added: “It’s not the end of the world to have to sell small and medium drinks instead of large. I wish the restaurant industry would just go along with it voluntarily and play their part in reducing this epidemic.”

Contact Paul Frumkin at paul.frumkin@penton.com.
 

The classic Roman dish of pasta alla carbonara is the inspiration for this soup.

“It’s the same ingredients, but they’re in soup,” said Cesare Casella, chef-owner at Salumeria Rosi Parmacotta.

He starts by making a Parmesan broth by cooking the rinds of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese in chicken broth for between 45 minutes and an hour, depending on the rinds’ thickness.

He poaches an egg in that broth and then adds pancetta and prosciutto chips that he makes by drying them in a low-temperature oven. A dehydrator would also work, he said.

He garnishes the soup with grated Parmigiano Reggiano. It is priced at $11.

Contact Bret Thorn at bret.thorn@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary

Carrols Restaurant Group Inc. said it completed the acquisition of 278 company-owned Burger King restaurants, making the Syracuse, N.Y.-based operator the largest franchisee of the quick-service chain in the world.

The deal, which was revealed in March and includes locations in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, gives Carrols a total of 574 Burger King outlets.

Carrols also said it completed a $150 million offering of 11.25-percent senior secured second lien notes and entered into a new $20 million revolving senior credit facility that will be used to fund the $16.2 million cash portion of the acquisition.

In addition, the new credit facility will be applied toward the remodeling of more than 450 Burger King locations over the next three and a half years and the refinancing of existing debt, the company said.

As a part of the acquisition, Miami-based Burger King Corp. received a 28.9-percent equity interest in Carrols. Burger King Corp. North American president Steve Wiborg and chief financial officer Daniel Schwartz have joined Carrols’ board of directors.

The deal also gives Carrols the right of first refusal on Burger King franchise sales in 20 states, for which the company will make payments over the next five years.

“This transaction significantly expands the scope of our operations, adds a number of new markets to our existing footprint and strategically positions us for future expansion,” said Carrols president and chief executive Dan Accordino. “Our near-term focus will be on integrating the acquired restaurants and realizing the considerable opportunities to improve their operating and financial performance.

“Longer term,” he said, “we look to expand and further build shareholder value through the acquisition and consolidation opportunities that we believe are present within the Burger King system. This transaction, along with the close relationship that we have established with BKC, is an important part of this strategy.”

In May Carrols also completed the spin-off of Fiesta Restaurant Group Inc., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary comprising the Pollo Tropical and Taco Cabana fast-casual brands.

Contact Paul Frumkin at paul.frumkin@penton.com.

Dunkin’ Donuts celebrated National Donut Day with a packed Friday schedule meant to spread brand awareness and reward loyal guests.

Executives rang the opening bell of the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York at a ceremony in Times Square, where the chain also unveiled its new digital, interactive billboard. Nasdaq helped celebrate the day by changing its logo temporarily to read “NASDDAQ” with the brand’s signature pink and orange D’s, as well as a doughnut in place of the Q.

Dunkin’ Donuts also executed a systemwide giveaway of a free doughnut with the purchase of any beverage. The brand supplemented those activities with the National Donut Day Twitter Sweepstakes, offering six $50 gift cards to Twitter followers who correctly answered trivia questions about the brand’s history.

The brand will follow up its big one-day marketing push with a steady output of new product introductions and marketing campaigns, executives said.

“We’re always looking for fun opportunities to say thank you to our guests,” said John Costello, chief global marketing and innovation officer for Canton, Mass.-based Dunkin’ Brands Inc., Dunkin’ Donuts’ parent company. “You’ll see a constant stream of innovation on the marketing front and the product front from us.”

Beyond National Donut Day, guests will be invited to take pictures of themselves with Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and baked goods and upload those photos to the brand’s Facebook page. One of those people will be chosen every day as Dunkin’ Donuts’ Fan of the Day and have their picture and name “up in lights” on the Times Square billboard.

Costello said the investment required to make its billboard — which weighs 14 tons and has 1.6 million LED lights — digital and interactive was justifiable given the billboard’s ability to rotate photos of new product introductions as well as its prime location in Times Square, which he called “the crossroads of the world.”

“The digital billboard gives us the opportunity to communicate with guests in the New York area, which is a huge market for us, and the millions of travelers and tourists who visit,” he said. “It’s an iconic location and is featured in movies, TV shows, news reports or just somebody’s family photo.”

In addition to Dunkin’ Donuts products, the billboard also will promote the chain’s tie-in with the new “Men in Black” movie, as well as the Broadway play by Harold Prince, “Prince of Broadway: The Musical of a Lifetime.”

Prince helped chief executive Nigel Travis ring the Nasdaq’s opening bell Friday morning. Dunkin’ Donuts included him in National Donut Day after Prince sent a letter to the chain a few months ago complaining of the blandness of its previous, nondigital billboard in Times Square.

Dunkin’ Donuts operates more than 10,000 restaurants in 32 countries.

Contact Mark Brandau at mark.brandau@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @Mark_from_NRN

McDonald’s Corp. executives Don Thompson and Tim Fenton acknowledged that waning consumer confidence would challenge the burger brand around the world during a meeting with securities analysts in New York this week.

Company executives acknowledged a decline in consumer confidence — which dropped the furthest in May since October 2011, according to recent research from The Conference Board. The private research group's Consumer Confidence Index stands at 64.9, down from a revised 68.7 in April.

“The headwinds we face on both the top and bottom lines, such as austerity measures in Europe, higher commodity costs in the U.S., and slowing growth in Asia, do remain,” Thompson said Wednesday during the Sanford Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference. However, he added, “I’m confident in our ability to navigate these near-term headwinds, because we’ve faced these situations before.”

 McDonald’s will address declining consumer confidence and threats to sales growth in its three global markets with the help of its long-running Plan to Win, company executives reiterated during their presentation at the conference and in a separate meeting with securities analysts Thursday. Part of that plan is finding solutions at the local level and sharing them throughout the system, they said.

“We innovate locally, share winning concepts with each other, and then scale them across our entire global system,” Thompson explained. “The result is a brand that’s relevant globally and locally. It’s the reason we have such a strong global pipeline. Our markets don’t have to invent everything from scratch; they can pull from a pipeline that has more than 160 products.”

Thompson and Fenton will assume new roles July 1 as chief executive and chief operating officer, respectively, but they assured analysts that the change in leadership would not bring about a change in direction.

“We will stay the course with our proven plans and strategies,” Thompson noted. “We remain focused on getting better at the things we’re already doing to stay relevant.”

U.S. system working past April hiccup

Several analysts who met with Thompson and Fenton noted that same-store sales decelerated the last 10 days of April, leading to a 3.3-percent increase for the month, which fell short of the company’s earlier guidance.

“The April comparable-sales shortfall was attributed to a slight softening in industry trends — relative to the first quarter, which benefitted from weather — and transitory issues like some promotions not as effective as envisioned,” wrote David Tarantino of R.W. Baird, who added that those issues “apparently have been resolved in May.”

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Sara Senatore of Bernstein Research concurred, noting that Thompson said the Cherry Berry Chiller, the latest blended-ice beverage in the McCafe lineup, may have launched a few weeks too early. However, the initial sales softness seemed to have recovered in May, Thompson and Fenton told the analysts.

Senatore also noted that McDonald’s did not feel a significant threat to its market share from competitors’ increased promotions, including Burger King’s new menu rollout with products similar to McDonald’s and a $1 smoothie promotion it ran last month.

“[Thompson] stressed that the consistency of value messaging is what ultimately proves successful and that he ‘looked forward to taking competitors’ business when they pulled back from promotions,” she wrote. “Barring a broader macro slowdown, McDonald’s focus on value and new-product introductions should correct recent weakness and protect it from competitive threats.”

Mark Kalinowski of Janney Capital Markets included in his research note that McDonald’s is testing a Clubhouse Angus Burger in its San Diego market. The sandwich has one-third pound of beef, hickory-smoked bacon, white Cheddar and American cheeses, grilled onions, steak sauce and Dijon mustard.

“Our drooling has commenced,” Kalinowski wrote.

Austerity measures necessitate value messaging in Europe

While the consumer environment in Europe is weakening over high unemployment and austerity measures in several countries, McDonald’s faces some bright spots, such as the United Kingdom and Russia, and is readying several new value offerings in other markets.

“The U.K. and Russia businesses for us are very solid, and consumer confidence [there] seems to be intact, although waning a little bit,” Thompson said. “The southern areas plus Germany are experiencing stronger consumer confidence issues. In France, Germany, Spain and Italy — we have to really plus up our value messaging in those areas.”

In France, McDonald’s will focus on its Petite Plaisirs, which is a mid-tier menu similar to the United States’ Extra Value Menu. By contrast, the company will promote its Uno por Uno — which is like the domestic Dollar Menu — more aggressively in Spain. Italy soon will adopt a lower-tier value menu like Spain’s.

Germany has a stronger competitive set, and the German consumer is driven more by value than by brand loyalty, Thompson said.

“Any message that pops out from a price point, they may shift behaviors,” he said. “For us at McDonald’s, it’s not about doing the discount of the month. It’s about a consistent value platform.”

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Tarantino of R.W. Baird said the company’s plan to dial up value messaging across Europe likely could pressure sales over the next few months but should stabilize the business in the long run.

“Heightened emphasis on lower-priced items is expected to gain traction over the next few months,” he wrote. “Management conceded that the emphasis on value could hamper Europe margins in the short run, but the company is prioritizing traffic gains to maintain brand momentum longer-term.”

Building upon success in Asia

McDonald’s will look to continue its accelerated growth in Asia — especially China — via new restaurants, remodels and new sales layers on the menu, said Fenton, currently president of McDonald’s Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa, or APMEA, division.

In China, the brand is ready to venture further out from its five major coastal cities and begin building in tier-two and tier-three markets in China’s interior.

“We decided about three years ago to focus on the core five markets and just really build out our restaurants there versus fragmenting into tier-two and tier-three cities,” Fenton said. “We had so much more leverage on our marketing spend, training costs and real estate costs. We’ve built market share in those cities, and now we’re going from core to more.”

McDonald’s is entering new Chinese markets with a “bird nesting” strategy of opening three restaurants simultaneously to better leverage its supply chain, labor training and marketing spending, Fenton said.

Development in China went from 100 restaurant openings in 2006 to 200 openings in 2011. About 225 to 250 McDonald's will open in China this year, and as many as 300 in 2013.

Double drive-thrus will also start going into more Chinese locations, Fenton said. On the menu, McDonald’s will soon offer a value dinner offering, similar to its popular value lunch offering introduced four years ago.

Elsewhere in APMEA, building remodels focused on increasing capacity in the kitchen and drive-thru would allow the company to accommodate higher average unit volumes, he added.

Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald’s Corp. operates or franchises more than 33,500 restaurants in 119 countries.

Contact Mark Brandau at mark.brandau@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @Mark_from_NRN

The six-unit Fresh Brothers Pizza chain in the Los Angeles area has received an equity investment from Skechers shoe executive Michael Greenberg in a move aimed at ramping up growth.

In an interview with Nation’s Restaurant News, Greenberg on Thursday declined to disclose the amount of the investment, describing it as a minority stake in the Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based restaurant chain. However, Adam Goldberg, Fresh Brothers founder and majority owner, described the investment as “in the millions.”

The investment comes from Greenberg, not Skechers USA Inc., Greenberg noted.

Greenberg said he admires Fresh Brothers for its focus on quality, and he sees the chain as having potential to grow to more than 100 units. Skechers owns and operates about 350 retail locations across the country, he added, and has deep relationships in real estate and marketing that could offer potential synergies.

“I think it could be very rewarding for Fresh Brothers,” he said.

Greenberg has been president of Skechers, also based in Manhattan Beach, Calif., since the sporty shoe company was founded in 1992. He is also an investor in the Zislis Group, a hotel and restaurant company that operates restaurant concepts like Rock ‘N Fish and The Strand House, as well as the Shade hotel.

The fast-casual Fresh Brothers chain was founded four years ago by Adam Goldberg, now chief executive, as a family operation. Adam’s brother Michael Goldberg, who serves as chief operating officer, also holds a minority stake.

Adam Goldberg's wife, Debbie Goldberg, is also a co-founder and serves as chief marketing officer. She introduced the brand to Greenberg after working with Skechers on a fundraising event.

Fresh Brothers is a Southern California spin on yet another Goldberg brother restaurant: Older brother Scott Goldberg founded the single-unit Miller Pizza Company in Gary, Ind., in 1985.

Fresh Brothers’ menu is based on the same recipes. Though rather than focusing on the Chicago-style deep-dish pizza Miller’s is known for, the California chain offers both thin-crust and deep-dish options, as well as a gluten-free crust.

Adam Goldberg said the chain prefers to describe its deep-dish version as “Midwest-style,” so as not so scare off fans of New York pizza.

Fresh Brothers’ menu also includes build-your-own-salad options and baked Buffalo-style chicken wings.

Though the Los Angeles pizza market is becoming increasingly competitive, Fresh Brothers has succeeded by “feeding the entire family,” said Adam Goldberg. Because the chain offers gluten-free and vegan options, the veto vote is eliminated, he said, and the menu offers something for everyone.

Fresh Brothers also uses high-quality meats and cheese, he said, and has focused on building community relationships with philanthropic efforts.

Adam Goldberg declined to give specifics on systemwide sales, but Greenberg estimated that Fresh Brothers locations are earning an average of about $1,250 in sales per square foot. Fresh Brothers locations are typically about 1,200 square feet, so average unit volumes would be roughly $1.5 million.

According to research connected with the forthcoming Nation’s Restaurant News Top 200 census of America’s largest foodservice operators, most large pizza chains, including Pizza Hut, in their latest completed fiscal years had estimated sales per unit from $700,000 to $900,000. A few, such as Papa Murphy's Take 'N Bake Pizza, had estimated sales per unit in the $500,000 to $600,000 range, while others, including regional player Donatos, had estimated sales per unit of about $1 million.

Fresh Brothers looks for high-volume locations in higher-income neighborhoods, Adam Goldberg said. The average transaction is about $23, and units offer dine-in, takeout and delivery options — with delivery accounting for about 50 percent of sales.

Two more Fresh Brothers locations are scheduled to open in 2012.

Greenberg said he hopes to see the chain double within 14 to 16 months, and the company has identified roughly 39 areas within greater Los Angeles where Fresh Brothers could go.

For now, new units will be company operated. Down the road, Adam said, the company may look at franchising.

Skechers has been in the news lately after agreeing last month to pay $50 million to settle class-action lawsuits and charges of making unsupported advertising claims related to the marketing of its Shape-ups toning shoe line.

Alan Liddle contributed to this article.

Contact Lisa Jennings at lisa.jennings@penton.com.
Follow her on Twitter: @livetodineout

Pizza Hut will introduce Monday a new P’Zolo menu item, marking the pizza chain’s return to its competition with the sandwich segment.

While it resembles a wrap more than the chain’s calzone-like P’Zone, the P’Zolo targets the sandwich competition both in marketing and price point.

The three meat-and-cheese-filled offerings are sprinkled with Asiago cheese and priced at $3 for one or $5 for two, positioning it alongside such competitors as Subway’s $5 footlong sandwich.

Pizza Hut said it will offer the P’Zolo in three varieties: Meat Trio with Italian sausage, pepperoni, ham and cheese; Italian Steak with marinated steak, roasted vegetables and cheese; and Buffalo Chicken with white-meat chicken, buffalo seasoning and cheese. Each P’Zolo is served with a choice of ranch or marinara dipping sauce.

The Plano, Texas-based division of Yum! Brands Inc. said the new item aims at “rescuing sandwich-lovers from the doldrums of cold cuts.”

Pizza Hut is taking the comparison with Subway a step further with a planned Chicago “Subway Takeover” on June 7, when it will pass out free P’Zolos at select Red Line El stops in the city. Pizza Hut will announce the giveaway locations on its Facebook page.

The chain is also planning a Facebook “See Ya Subs” game, which it said will allow “Facebook users to test their firing skills to take down subs with an arsenal of P’Zolos.”

Pizza Hut has nearly 10,000 restaurants in more than 90 nations.

Contact Ron Ruggless at ronald.ruggless@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @RonRuggless
 

Moderno, a month-old restaurant in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Ill., pays homage to the traditions of Italian cuisine while judiciously applying modern touches. It is pleasing patrons with signature cocktails like the Tuscan Iced Tea, the Modern ’hattan, and the “bungled” Negroni.

The developer of the cocktail list, assistant general manager Andrew Morgan, favors complex Italian vermouths and bitter herbal liqueurs called amaros over sweeter ingredients in his drinks, softening them a bit to suit the American palate.

“There is a reason the French and Italians and many other cultures have been drinking these products for centuries,” said Morgan. “It really does have a profound effect on the overall experience of the meal, especially if you have had a few too many bites and feel overstuffed.”

One of the popular libations is Tuscan Iced Tea, a medley of the bittersweet vermouth Punt e Mes, an herbal aperitif called Aperol, Italian bottled lemonade, cucumber and lemon. The cucumber is muddled with a dash of bitters, shaken with the liquors, strained over ice and topped with the lemonade. The latter ingredient “lightens it up, adds a nice tartness and slight sweetness, and makes it something you could practically drink by the pitcher,” Morgan said.

He said the low-alcohol libation resembles the Arnold Palmer, the combination of lemonade and iced tea named for the legendary golfer. “In fact, I looked for a famous Italian golfer to name it after, but decided it wouldn’t translate well,” he said.

Riffing on cocktails is consistent with Moderno’s culinary approach. Chef-proprietor John des Rosiers and executive chef Phil Rubino avoid chicken Parmigiana, Caesar salad and other clichés of Italian restaurant fare. They limit dishes to no more than five ingredients in authentic Italian style but feel free to add tweaks that are modern or unique.

Thus blueberries keep company with linguini, English peas, house-made pancetta and sheep milk cheese in one dish, while limoncello and coconut milk are harmonious additions to roasted mussels in another.

“People for the most part are thankful that a restaurant like Moderno has come to the suburbs,” Morgan said.

A favorite of Moderno’s cocktails is a twist on the Negroni, the classic combination of gin, Campari and sweet vermouth. The Negroni Sbagliati — the term means “bungled” in Italian, Morgan said — came about according to legend when an Italian bartender mistakenly poured sparkling wine rather than gin. Morgan uses prosecco in his version.

“It lightens the drink, makes it a little sweeter and invites people to develop the bitter part of their palates,” Morgan said. “I thought it would be a niche cocktail, but actually a wide array of people are enjoying it.”

The Modern ‘hattan is his riff on the traditional Manhattan, made with spicy American rye whiskey, full-bodied Carpano Antica sweet vermouth, Demerara sugar simple syrup and a dash of bitters.

“We serve it ‘up,’ so it doesn’t get diluted over time and it keeps its depth and spice and herbaceousness,” Morgan said. “We’re going for great balance here, nothing extreme.”

Another take on the Manhattan is The Modernier, made with bourbon, Campari, an Italian vermouth-like aperitif called Cocchi Americano, and orange.

Anita Jones-Mueller, M.P.H., president and founder of Healthy Dining, a nutrition-related marketing and consulting firm, interviews Bryan Silbermann, president and CEO of the Produce Marketing Association, about the use of fruits and vegetables in restaurant dishes.

This interview and others can be seen at Healthy Dining’s Restaurant Nutrition News & Insights.

Tell us why we should look for color on our plates.

At this point, it is well known that fruits and vegetables are nutrition powerhouses and are the cornerstone of a healthful diet, offering great benefits to public health. It is the Produce Marketing Association’s (PMA) mission to help more people eat more fruits and vegetables more often. You have probably heard of ‘More Matters.’ More fruits and vegetables on your plate translate to more important nutrients and fiber that you’ll be consuming. And that’s important for overall health and well-being.

I know that Healthy Dining’s dietitians are working with a lot of restaurants that are adding more fruits and vegetables to the plates they are serving their guests. And in such creative ways! What are your insights on that?

Yes, we are in a very exciting time. I think chefs are getting very creative and exploring ways to prepare healthy meals that are full of flavor. Produce is the perfect sensory experience because fruits and vegetables add taste, color and texture to the plate. Plus they give meals flavor and character.

I agree! What do you think has contributed to the growth of produce we are seeing on restaurant plates?

Well, there seems to be a new mindset in the industry. For a long time, produce was viewed as boring or just limited to a side dish. But now, chefs are adding produce in very interesting ways.

I think the attention to world cuisines has created more interest in produce. The global influence has led chefs to experiment more with the cuisines, and many of the cuisines emphasize a wide variety of produce. Also, the advances and increased availability of fresh cut and packaged produce have helped make it easier for more restaurants to incorporate more fruits and vegetables more often. Our partnership with the National Restaurant Association has also helped to increase the amount of produce served in America’s restaurants.

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Yes, the National Restaurant Association has been a great partner to Healthy Dining, too. They have a strong commitment to helping educate the restaurant industry on the importance of offering healthier options. Tell us more about your partnership with the National Restaurant Association (NRA).

We have partnered with NRA to double the amount of produce served in restaurants by 2020. It has been a wonderful two-way street. There is a lot of value in having NRA work with us to help the industry understand the need and value in serving more produce. We are thrilled that NRA is helping to tell the world that the industry is listening and understands it has a role to play.

So what are some other trends you are finding?

There is a growing trend that is reinvigorating home cooking. And chefs are leading this through the cooking shows on television and recipes found on the Internet.

In the last few decades, people have lost touch with how to prepare good, healthy food at home. And I think these cooking shows and the increased recipe searches are helping people try new things at home. And people are trying fruits and vegetables at restaurants that they wouldn’t necessarily buy at the grocery store without trying first at a restaurant.

So chefs can be very instrumental in helping people experiment and try new types of produce. We are finding that many restaurants are on the cutting edge of the growing produce trends.

And what do you think about the new Kids LiveWell Program that was developed by the NRA in collaboration with Healthy Dining?

I love it! It has been my life’s passion to get kids eating more fruits and vegetables. And I know that is a major goal of the Kids LiveWell Program. And it is fantastic to hear it is growing so fast.

Contact Anita Jones-Mueller, M.P.H., at anita@healthydiningfinder.com.

Church’s Chicken has hired Robert Crews as its executive vice president and chief marketing officer, the company said Monday.

Crews most recently led international marketing and product development at The Wendy’s Co. Prior to that, he served in marketing executive roles with Rare Hospitality Inc. and Sonny’s Franchise Company, as well as founding C Results Marketing, which consulted brands like Arby’s and California Pizza Kitchen.

In his new role at Church’s, Crews will oversee marketing, advertising and new product development. He will report to chief executive Jim Hyatt, who joined the brand last September after resigning as chief executive of Così Inc.

“Rob has a proven tracked record of growing sales and developing effective marketing programs that deliver impactful results,” Hyatt said in a statement. “His reputation and skill set will bring a tremendous amount of value to the brand. Rob joining Church’s management team strengthens our commitment to providing the best products and services to all our stakeholders.”

Church’s spokeswoman Bonnie Warschauer confirmed that the chief marketing officer role had been vacant since Anthony Lavely left the brand in 2011, eventually becoming chief marketing officer for Friendly’s Ice Cream LLC.

“I’m very excited to join Church’s and look forward to working with our franchisees, restaurant support teams and value partners to contribute to the success of the brand and drive results systemwide,” Crews said.

Crews has a bachelor of science in economics and a master of business administration degree from the University of Iowa.

Atlanta-based Church’s operates or franchises more than 1,700 restaurants in 22 countries.

Contact Mark Brandau at mark.brandau@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @Mark_from_NRN

Ben Hershberger, head baker of Per Se and Bouchon Bakery in New York, has joined a nonprofit training organization called Hot Bread Kitchen as head baker and instructor.

Hershberger is training low-income and foreign-born women to develop their commercial baking skills with the goal of improving their economic security.

The baked goods they make, derived from their ethnic heritage, include Mexican corn tortillas, Moroccan m’smen and Armenian lavash, and are available at local farmers markets and supermarkets. Hot Bread Kitchen’s first retail location is slated to open this July in La Marquetta in the Harlem neighborhood of New York.

Seagar’s Prime Steak and Seafood in Destin, Fla., has hired two new chefs, Dan Vargo and Johnny Earles, who are collaborating to create “Gulf-to-table” dishes such as pumpkin swordfish ceviche and Crabmeat Louisianne with shiitake mushrooms.

Vargo most recently was executive sous chef of the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Fla. Earles is the former owner of Criolla’s and Paradise Cafe in Grayton Beach, Fla.

Emmanuel Eng has been promoted from chef de cuisine to executive chef of Maverick in San Francisco, four months after he joined the restaurant.

A former protégé of Nancy Oakes of Boulevard in San Francisco, Eng has revamped the restaurant’s menu with items such as roasted porcini mushroom and Tennessee country ham with potato dumplings; pickled cherries and roast pork jus with Dijon mustard; flat iron “carpetbagger steak” with potato shallot cake, creamed spinach, rhubarb steak sauce and oyster-arugula pesto; and lobster bread pudding and smoked cod with mussel chowder, clams, corn and sea bean.

Ivy Hung is the new chef de cuisine at Seven Sisters, a fine-dining restaurant at Black Oak Casino in Tuolumne, Calif.
The former executive chef for Sodexo of City of Hope in Los Angeles, Hung is preparing such dishes as swordfish with Mojito ginger glaze, and tomato bisque with shaved New York Steak.

Mohan de Silva is the new pastry chef at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront. De Silva, who most recently was the pastry chef at the Sofitel Philadelphia, is making desserts such as vanilla panna cotta on lemon jaconde in strawberry sparkling wine soup; opera torte with roasted apricots and apricot lavender sauce; and baked Alaska with pink peppercorn meringue.

Randy Lutz has been promoted from executive sous chef to executive chef of Ame, the restaurant of Lissa Doumani and Hiro Sone at The St. Regis in San Francisco. Before joining Ame, Lutz was chef de partie of Saison, which opened in San Francisco in 2009. On the restaurant’s spring menu are yellowfin tuna tartare kibbe with toasted za’atar flatbread and mint; chawan-mushi of lobster, sea urchin, shiitake and mitsuba sauce; and Berkshire pork tenderloin medallions on a “panzanella” of roasted cauliflower; and Rancho Gordo beans with Monterrey squid, warm chorizo and cuttlefish in aioli.

Contact Bret Thorn at bret.thorn@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary
 

Sonic Corp. estimated Monday that systemwide same-store sales for the fiscal third quarter rose 2.8 percent.

Sonic’s preview of sales for the third quarter, which ended May 31, included an estimated increase of 3.7 percent at company owned drive-ins and 2.7 percent at franchised drive-ins.

Analysts at global investment banking and asset management firm William Blair said the quarter’s preview is a positive sign for Sonic, which had been performing below the quick-service market average.

"Sonic’s comp trends have underperformed the broader QSR market over much of the past year," wrote William Blair analyst Sharon Zackfia in a note. "This could be the first encouraging sign that trends are now keeping pace with the broader space, given new advertising creative and a new promotional strategy emphasizing multiple products across multiple dayparts, both of which appear to be benefiting results.”

New menu items and promotions helped drive sales in the quarter, according to the William Blair team.

“New menu items introduced during the quarter performed well, including popcorn chicken and sweet potato tots, while an ice cream promotion in May (half price shakes after 8 p.m.) helped drive sales in what had been the weak evening daypart,” the team's note said. “As a result, our conversations with management indicate that May was the strongest month of the quarter, in part because May was the easiest comparison.”

Oklahoma City-based Sonic said that on a two-year basis, estimated systemwide same-store sales improved by 6.7 percent in the third quarter.

“This one-year and two-year improvement in same-store sales reflects the effective impact our service, product quality and marketing initiatives have had on our business,” Clifford Hudson, Sonic’s chairman and chief executive, said in a statement.

“We are very pleased with the sales trends we saw in the third quarter, despite economic and some restaurant-level cost challenges,” Hudson added. “We remain confident in our ability to drive consistent sales and leverage other aspects of our multi-layered growth strategy in the near and long term.”

The William Blair analysts said the third quarter’s sales “could be an early sign of a fundamental inflection in the company’s sales trends.

“However, given a few head fakes over the past few years, we are going to stay on the sidelines pending the sustainability of trends into the highly profitable August quarter,” they said, adding that they were reiterating their “market perform” rating.

Sonic owns and franchises more than 3,500 drive-ins.

Contact Ron Ruggless at ronald.ruggless@penton.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @RonRuggless