Each week, Modern Restaurant Management magazine compiles restaurant industry headlines in MRM News Bites. This week, we have news about a wine education program, restaurant technology partnerships and a “serendipitously delicious” election promotion. Send items of interest to Content Director Barbara Castiglia at bcastiglia@modernrestaurantmanagement.com.
Mangia worked with Mucca Design to create a refreshed logo mark and brand architecture that is clean, uncluttered and modern, with up-to-date functionality and rich content. “We are thrilled to evolve our website into the 21st Century without diminishing Mangia’s original mission, namely to provide New Yorkers and tourists alike with delicious and fresh Italian farm-to-table fare, artfully presented,” stated Sasha Muniak, Founder of Mangia.
Food shots by photographers Evan Sung and Cody Rasmussen, such as the one posted at the top of this article, and bright, rustic graphics are seen throughout the site in an effort to heighten the crave-ability quotient for both Mangia’s retail and catering/special events businesses, as well as to showcase the high-quality food the venerable brand has been crafting for the past 35 years. Moreover, the new website will be updated on a daily basis with new content such as daily specials, upcoming events and promotions, blogs, recipe posts and videos in an effort to make the site “sticky” and maximize engagements and return visits.
“Our new website — featuring heightened transparency, easy navigation and, importantly, a new e-commerce portal — will enable the brand to grow exponentially in new directions and engage audiences who currently might not have considered Mangia,” said Edward Slezak, Chief Executive Officer and General Counsel of Mangia.
Slice, the platform that connects people with authentic local pizzerias, launched a new ordering experience and iOS app.
Ilir Sela, the founder and CEO of Slice, launched the company, originally called MyPizza, in 2010 in Staten Island to help local pizza shop owners publish their menus online. He eventually signed up more than 3,000 independent pizzerias to tackle their biggest challenge: competing with big pizza chains that were moving faster with mobile ordering technology. After bootstrapping the company and establishing a business model focused on loyalty and fair pricing, Ilir sought venture funding to accelerate Slice’s growth and build the first nationwide mobile ordering platform specifically for pizzerias.
Customers can find pizza near them, place an order, and check out with a stored payment method or Apple Pay, making the process as quick as possible. Never again call in a pizza order, re-enter credit card info, or run to the ATM to get cash — Slice takes the best mobile ordering technology and applies it to the galaxy’s best food: pizza. Slice is designed to empower independent pizzerias to grow their business and increase average order volume by expanding their customer reach online. Slice offers fair pricing and eliminates the high fees and demanding contracts that other food delivery services require, while providing pizzeria owners with 24/7 support to ensure all orders are successfully processed.
To make it easier to get to know people in the workplace, Elior Group has entered into a new partnership with the start-up Never Eat Alonewhose application helps organize lunches between colleagues. Launched just a year ago, Never Eat Alone has enjoyed considerable success and is now looking to step up growth both in France and abroad. Its application connects office employees and company neighbors at lunch time. The aim is not only to foster meetings and bring people of similar tastes and interests together but also to encourage intra-company collaboration.
This partnership comes with an equity stake in the start-up and is in line with the Life4 innovation program laid out in the Elior Group 2016-2020 strategic plan. Within the context of this program, the Group seeks out, supports and promotes FoodTech talent. With the backing of mentoring and equity investment, start-ups can try out their innovations in Elior Group client restaurants and gauge their feasibility in the real world. For Elior, accompanying these fledgling enterprises is a way of contributing to the development of an ecosystem which will benefit the whole of the catering sector.
Pingup, a local services transaction platform launched the OrderNowfood ordering bot in the Bot Shop of Kik Interactive. Through this partnership Kik users can order food for delivery or pickup from over 100,000 local restaurants.
The OrderNow bot will allow users to choose their food category (such as pizza, sushi, thai, etc.), select a local restaurant, and order their food for delivery or pickup. The bot is available nationally.
Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits established the industry’s first national wine team dedicated to providing top quality wine education and certification for their employees across the country. The team, which includes one of only 23 female Master Sommeliers® in the world, is made up of eight of the industry’s most highly-trained experts who hold certifications including Master Sommelier® (MS), Master of Wine (MW), or Certified Wine Educator (CWE). They are being led by Eric Hemer, MS, MW, CWE and Senior Vice President and Corporate Director of Wine Education for Southern Glazer’s.
In addition to overseeing wine education at Southern Glazer’s, Hemer teaches at The Southern Wine & Spirits Beverage Management Center at the Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Florida International University in Miami, and is involved in lecturing and examining nationally with the Court of Master Sommeliers® (CMS), the Institute of Masters of Wine (IMW), the Society of Wine Educators (SWE), and the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET.) He was the fourth person in the world to ever to be awarded both the MW and MS qualifications.
There are only 147 Master Sommeliers® in North America and 14 of them work for Southern Glazer’s.
Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits has operations in 44 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, Canada, and the Caribbean, and employs more than 20,000 team members.
Dinova, which focuses on connecting expense account diners to quality restaurants nationwide, added P.F. Chang’s to the marketplace.
“Farm to Wok™ has been our food philosophy since the day we opened. Many guests don’t know that every one of our restaurants has a scratch kitchen. This means our chefs are preparing food fresh every day – chopping vegetables, hand rolling sushi and crafting handmade cocktails from fresh squeezed fruits. Farm to Wok™ is allowing us to share the stories of the people who make it possible and we are excited to share this experience with guests in the Dinova dining network,” said Dwayne Chambers, Chief Marketing Officer for P.F. Chang’s.
With the recent growth of its marketplace to $5 billion in dining spend influence, Dinova continues to add increasingly diverse restaurant concepts to its more than 14,000 restaurants nationwide.
Lockehouse Retail Group (LRG) launched the Lockehouse Restaurant Group to meet the comprehensive real estate needs of young emerging restaurant brands as well as other food service concepts as a whole. Russell Friend joined the Lockhouse team to lead the new Restaurant Group headquartered at the company’s new southern California office, based in Irvine. Friend recently served as Chief Development Officer for wildly-successful restaurant chain, The Habit Burger Grill. He spent nine years with the company, where he headed up real estate, design, development, construction and property management during the company’s initial expansion phase — leading the fast casual concept from 18 to over 150 company-owned locations.
“Not only is Friend one of the most well-respected leaders in this industry, he is also eager to invest his restaurant development expertise into Lockehouse projects at all levels — significantly bolstering Lockehouse’s unique offerings and value to current as well as future property owners and restaurant clients,” said Steve Cutter, Founder of LRG.
Lockehouse is able to chart the course for many growing and established retailers, as they bring the knowledge and expertise necessary to plan, identify, and meet the real estate requirements of its clients — from top level consulting to identifying the people and infrastructure to successfully execute the current and long term goals for its clients. Cutter noted that Lockehouse has always grown organically, not wanting to force fit any move or potential opportunity. The entire LRG team is confident that after finding the right partner in Russell Friend, the timing could not be more right for integrating a highly specialized corporate restaurant expertise into its existing retail services.
Lockehouse currently serves a variety of major tenants throughout California, and lists several million square feet of premium retail real estate. Exclusive restaurant clients and tenants include Paul Martin’s American Grill, Tacolicious, Lemonade, Pieology, Charcoal, Poke House, Super Duper Burgers, Dos Coyotes Border Café, Veggie Grill, and Umami Burger.
Alto Bajo is Portland’s newest modern Mexican restaurant, opening early 2017. Situated at 300 SW Stark St., inside the historic Oregon Pioneer Building and adjacent to the highly anticipated Hi-Lo Hotel, Alto Bajo offers its guests an opportunity to experience traditional Mexican flavors in a modern way. The kitchen will be helmed by Michelin starred Moto alum Chef Chip Barnes and features a menu developed in collaboration with famed Oaxacan Chef Iliana de la Vega.
Located in the heart of downtown Portland, just steps away from the future site of the new James Beard Public Market, Alto Bajo will help shape the future of Portland dining. With the vision of Executive Chef Barnes, Alto Bajo will live up to its mantra: embrace tradition and expect atypical.
The menu delivers a balance of classic Mexican cuisine with the accents of contemporary style and Oaxacan influences. The beverage program will showcase and highlight both tequila and mezcal, offering pairings that are a fresh take on traditional Mexican cocktails. The restaurant will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week, as well as weekend brunch.
Chef Barnes developed the menu drawing on his love for authentic Mexican cuisine while integrating the bounty of fresh local products available in the Pacific Northwest. During menu development Chef Barnes travelled to Austin, Texas to collaborate with celebrated Chef, Iliana de la Vega (Restaurante El Naranjo – Oaxaca, Mexico and Austin, Texas).
“My approach to food is heavily influenced by my time in Chicago and Charleston. I focus on quality ingredients, and enjoy highlighting lesser known or overlooked ingredients in order to open people up to the vast range of things that are edible and delicious. I am excited to be in Portland because there is a wide variety of these off-the-wall ingredients to play with,” said Chef Barnes.
Chef Barnes career highlights include Moto Restaurant where he served as Executive Sous Chef under the tutelage of Chef Homaro Cantu. While at Moto, Chef Barnes added wine knowledge to his culinary palette, acquiring his Court of Masters Sommelier Level One certification. After leaving Moto, Barnes further developed his skills at several of Chicago’s best restaurants including Next, Acadia, and Graham Elliott, receiving recognition for helping all three win Michelin Stars. He has spent the last two years working with James Beard Chef Jose Garces at Rural Society, learning wood-fire cooking techniques and Latin flavors.
Chef de la Vega, who is an instructor at the Culinary Institute of America, has been featured on the cover of Bon Appetit and is frequently asked to make national appearances to chime in on various aspects of Latin American cooking and to help people understand Mexican food beyond tacos and Tex-Mex.
Breakfast, lunch, brunch? Breakfast Table ensures your morning and mid-day meals are no longer a second thought to dinner. A local alternative to chain restaurants in the Granville and Broadway area, Breakfast Table is now open, located at 1481 West Broadway, Vancouver.
The West Coast fusion menu combined with a casual diner environment is set to attract locals and travelers alike. With many culinary influences, George’s main focus is on quality, with some Southern, West Coast and Asian influences. Presenting food in a thoughtful and tasty way, George finds inspiration in all cultures and will add some unexpected creations to the menu along the way. Aiming to surprise patrons with unexpected combinations is what this little diner is all about. Breakfast Table brings a little fine dining flair to the menu and all ingredients are free range, without hormones and provincially local. With the menu focused on sustainable foods, local vendors for juices, teas, coffee and other ingredients have been selected. Using free range, bacon and sausages from Haggard Farm in Cache Creek, the menu also calls for free range chicken without GMO, cage-free eggs and all seafood on the menu is selected based on sustainability.
RATIONAL has made enhancements to its SelfCookingCenter® line of combi ovens. In addition, the company introduced a new, compact-size SelfCookingCenter® XS Model 6 2/3.
At only 21.85 inches deep, 25.79 inches wide and 22.32 inches high, the XS Model 6 2/3 is the smallest unit in RATIONAL’s SelfCookingCenter compact unit family. The unit features an integrated fresh steam generator—the only unit in North America with this offering—and intelligent professional power, according to RATIONAL. The 100 percent hygienic fresh steam guarantees maximum steam saturation, even at low temperatures. The steam generator is automatically descaled during the cleaning process, reducing the need for expensive water softening measures.
The unit’s control panel is placed on the left side next to the door for ergonomic and technical reasons. This reduces the risk of injury from escaping steam during operation. At the same time, the electronics are protected from long-term damage caused by escaping steam.
Efficient CareControl, the automatic cleaning and descaling system.
The completely new LED lighting provides optimal illumination of the cooking cabinet and of every single tray, from top to bottom and back to front.
Thanks to the energy consumption display, users will always know how much energy an individual cooking process requires and how much energy per day has been consumed. The data is visible on the display and can also be downloaded.
A blinking light signals which tray needs to be loaded or unloaded and when. This further simplifies the use of the SelfCookingCenter and provides even more support for kitchen staff to safely and quickly unload finished food.
Sodexo is making major reductions in both waste and carbon emissions at the facilities, cafés, sport and leisure venues and other food service sites where it operates. The integrated facilities management and food service operations organization manages more the 32,000 client sites worldwide, which means its commitments can have a major impact. By 2025, Sodexo estimates it will have reduced carbon emissions at food service and facilities management sites by 34 percent through simple changes, such as using energy efficient HVAC systems at worksites or repurposing used cooking oil as biodiesel.
Throughout North America, Sodexo sites have embraced the culture of sustainability, with more than 7,200 sites recycling aluminum and paper and 8,640 recycle cardboard. The company’s efforts to encourage sustainability have added benefits to health. One hundred percent of its cafés offer plant-based choices and 49 percent of menu options are vegetarian or vegan. Not only nutritionally sound, these meal choices can reduce a person’s carbon footprint by nearly half that of a meat-based diet.
Serving more than 4 million guests every day, Elior Group pays particular attention to the impact of its business on the environment and society. In a context of global mobilization around the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined by the United Nations, Elior Group has launched its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy, the Elior Group Positive Foodprint PlanTM .In a bid to leave a positive footprint on the planet, the Group has made a commitment to achieve the 4 sustainable development objectives where it will have the most effect by 2025, namely: public health issues with poor diet as a contributing factor, environmental problems caused by agriculture, the increase in food waste, and employment-related issues (unemployment, inequality in the workplace and the need for decent jobs).
For 70 percent of Group’s managers to come from internal promotions, contributing to personal advancement and diversity.
Serendipity 3 takes a bipartisan stand on the election by creating an ice cream concoction for each candidate. The restaurant known for creating Frrrozen Hot Chocolate and the Guinness World Record, Golden Opulence Sundae, is bringing both parties together for a battle of the ice cream sundaes.
Presenting the Donald Trump “Make America Great Again” Sundae. An unprecedented slice of nostalgic Big Apple Pie with a not so conservative scoop of vanilla ice cream, covered in a windfall of caramel sauce, topped with a mountain of whipped cream flying an American flag and surrounded by a “wall” of chocolate. The GOP adds a sprinkling of patriotic red, white and blue star candies and a “Make America Great Again” sticker!
Presenting the Hillary Clinton “I’m With HER” Sundae. A jubilant slice of New York style Crème de la Crème Cheesecake coupled with a polarizing scoop of vanilla ice cream ignited by a sea of hot fudge, with a liberal sprinkling of crumbled Aunt Buba’s Sand Tarts, and ovation of whipped cream topped with red, white and blue candy stars flying a miniature “Old Glory” and a “I’m With HER” sticker.
Each sundae is available until Election Day at $17.50 each and will come with a ballot to vote for your favorite sundae.
The Carolina Inn welcomed Brandon Sharp, as its new Executive Chef of their signature restaurant, Crossroads Chapel Hill. Sharp, a North Carolina native and Tar Heel Alum, returns to his southern roots to command the kitchen operations for the restaurant, banquet and in-room dining programs.
Chef Sharp returns to N.C. bringing more than 15 years of fine dining experience to The Carolina Inn, after a recent decision to leave Solage Calistoga Resort and Spa in Calistoga, CA. It was at Solage Calistoga where Chef received his first Michelin Star for the locally inspired Solbar, and under his guidance and creative leadership, Solbar went on to receive seven consecutive Michelin Stars throughout his tenure. Before his decorated career at Solbar, Chef honed his skills working with some of the nation’s most innovative and talented culinary minds, including Thomas Keller, John Besh and Gary Danko. At the outset of his training, Sharp worked in kitchens of the Michelin-rated Restaurant Gary Danko in San Francisco, CA, the highly revered Restaurant August in New Orleans and at the iconic, three Michelin star French Laundry in Yountville, CA.
“We could not have found a chef better suited for this role than Brandon Sharp as he is the full package and offers outstanding talent, fresh and innovative ideas and has a deep connection with The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and the state of North Carolina,” said Mark Sherburne, General Manager, The Carolina Inn.
Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants said Kathleen Reidenbach will assume the newly created role of Chief Commercial Officer. Most recently, Kathleen was Kimpton’s senior vice president of marketing.
In her new role, Kathleen will oversee both the Sales & Catering and Marketing departments, which together make up Kimpton’s commercial division. As the brand continues to evolve and scale globally, this role helps fortify Kimpton’s competitive edge by aligning key commercial functions, including digital, guest marketing, brand, communications, revenue and distribution, and corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Since joining the company in 2002 as a business analyst, Kathleen has held a series of increasingly prominent roles. In 2013 as Kimpton’s senior vice president of marketing, Kathleen’s vision led the brand’s evolution from a collection of individual properties to that of a leading boutique operator with more than 60 hotels and 70-plus restaurants nationwide and several global openings on the horizon. Under her leadership, Kimpton has sharpened its digital presence, elevated its social media efforts, refined the company’s charitable giving initiatives, and launched its unique loyalty program, Kimpton Karma Rewards – accomplishments that have helped drive both performance and category growth.