Brooklyn-based biscuit vendors, Treva and John Chadwell, are aiming for a spring opening at 743 Driggs Avenue. Beehive Oven, the acclaimed biscuit vendors at Smorgasburg, will announce plans to serve beer and wine at tomorrow CB1 Brooklyn meeting.
Smorgasburg Vendor, Beehive Oven, Opening Brick-and-Mortar Eatery
February 11, 2014 by Leave a Comment
California’s Homemade Food Act Creates 1,200 Jobs
February 11, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Nearly 1,200 jobs have been generated since the California Homemade Food Act passed in August 2012, reports Serious Eats. This bill allows small business owners who produce “cottage foods” from their home kitchens to sell their goods at farmer’s markets, to retailers and from home. Products containing meat, dairy or seafood are not permitted in the bill, and producers must first pass a food safety class before they can sell. The foods that can be sold include breads, jams, candies, nut butters, mustards and more. Several other states are hopping on the “cottage food” bandwagon as well.
The Challenges of Earning an A
February 10, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Since the Health Department’s grading program launched in 2010, restaurateurs have been feeling the additional pressure of earning and maintain an A, reports the Wall Street Journal. Further increasing the stakes is the public’s accessibility to restaurant grades. A smartphone app that gives a break-down of restaurants’ letter grades, scores and health violations, introduced by the Health Department in 2012 has been downloaded 44,000 times and maintains a database of 24,000 restaurants.
Pressure from the heavy value the public places on the letter grades restaurants earn has some restaurateurs turning to restaurants consultants who will perform mock health inspections ranging typically from a $250 one-time fee to thousands of dollars for yearly contracts.
A 2012 Quinnipiac University study found 82% of survey participants support the use of letter grades to evaluate restaurants and 67% consider letter grades when deciding where to eat.
Often, consultants end up in the position of informing restaurant owners about the ironies of the system. The presence of mice may not cause a restaurant to lose its A rating, however not having a person on site with a food-protection certificate, awarded by the city after completing a 15-hour course, will likely greater risk.
Fine Dining in Bergen Hill’s 3 ft x 5 ft Kitchen
February 7, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Carroll Gardens’ Bergen Hill may lack an oven, only have a few induction burners and a sandwich press and measure 3 feet by 5 feet; however, that doesn’t stop Chef Andrew D’Ambrosi and Sous-Chef Anthony Mongeluzzi from churning out delicious, inventive Italian fare. One of the many popular dishes is a squid “tagliatelle”, or squid that’s been shaved into ribbons to resemble tagliatelle, cooked to al-dente perfection. D’Ambrosi and Mongeluzzi honed their culinary sleight at Le Cirque; while the ambiance may be less stuffy at Bergen Hill, the standards are equally high. Both men have taken a humble approach since the restaurant’s opening in September, as Mr. D’Ambrosi contributed to the creation of the Mediterranean-tile tabletops. He has no problem shoveling snow off the restaurant’s threshold as well.
‘Inoteca Closing This Weekend, Needs Help Consuming Remaining Wine
February 7, 2014 by Leave a Comment
‘Inoteca management has announced the tapas restaurant will be closing forever this weekend. Guests are invited to help finish the remaining 1,300 bottles of Italian wine by Sunday morning at 4am. Steep discounts of up to 80% have been applied.
Fast-Casual Restaurants Lead Traffic Growth in 2013
February 6, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Nation’s Restaurant News reports that the fast-casual segment lead traffic growth for the fifth consecutive year. Market research firm, the NPD Group, discovered that total customer visits to fast-casual restaurants increased 8 percent in 2013 compared with flat traffic overall for all restaurant segments.
“Overall, restaurant customers are trading down, foregoing some of their visits to full-service places while increasing the number of visits made to fast-casual restaurants,” justified Bonnie Riggs, The NPD Group’s restaurant industry analyst. “Fast-casual concepts are capturing market traffic share by meeting consumers’ expectations, while midscale and casual-dining places continue to lose share.”
The check average for fast-casuals was $7.40 during the twelve months that ended last November. The quick-service segment’s average was at $5.30 and casual dining’s $13.66.
SWEETGREEN: SALAD ENTERPRISE
February 6, 2014 by Leave a Comment
1164 Broadway between 27th Street and 28th Street (NoMad) • 646.449.8884
sweetgreen
Their Success… Rain or shine, sleet or snow, patrons are willing to form queues out the door for sweetgreen’s delicious and nutritious made-to-order salads and wraps. The food and interior design reflect sustainability. Sweetgreen’s fare is organic, local and sustainable, and any scraps are composted in the kitchen. Even the packaging and serviceware are 100% plant-based and compostable. Reclaimed materials comprise the store structure, and energy efficient LED and Fluorescent lights illuminate the space. Five core values, displayed on their site and in-store, echo sweetgreen’s “culture, spirit and dedication to doing what’s right.” These values speak to the importance of company-guest-community symbiosis, sustainability, authentic food and relationships, meaningful connections and making an impact. Sweetgreen, however, does not just talk about forging strong and persified community ties— they actually do it.
Sweetgreen introduced “sweetlife” in 2010, an original approach to unite fans with a meaningful cause. Sweetlife is an annual music and food festival hosted by sweetgreen that celebrates “flavorful music, wholesome food, and thoughtful living.” Sweetgreen donates all proceeds from sweetlife to “sweetgreen in schools.” “Sweetgreen in schools” is a collaborative initiative with DC Farm to School in which students learn about healthy habits, sustainability, local sourcing and food origins through an eight-lesson interactive program.
The successful salad chain lauds their local purveyors. Prominently displayed chalkboards that hang just above the communal seating pavilion illustrate the vinculum between ingredient, purveyor and region. The transparency in acknowledging those who have contributed to sweetgreen’s success through the supply of their produce resonates well with origin-concerned guests. Furthermore, the bold presentation promotes increased foot traffic and speedier lines by thwarting the “where does this ingredient come from?” dance with languid guests next-in-line.
Volunteerism and giving back to the community encompass key cornerstones in sweetgreen’s culture. Through mobile app payment, 1% of purchases are donated to City Harvest to support nutritional education and food rescue programs. The company’s internal volunteerism demonstrates an unwavering spirit. According to Head Coach Greg LaFauci, sweetgreen’s internal volunteer program with the Bowery Mission proved so successful that despite there only being a handful of spots available for staff to fill, literally dozens of employees volunteered to give up their Friday night plans without any incentives.
LaFauci said it best, “You can’t be successful in an unsuccessful community. Having staff aligned with the mission of giving back is tied in with their success”
Take Aways…Forging strong and diversified community ties extends beyond just an essential core value— it creates meaningful connections internally and externally.
Chipotle Invests $10 Million in Mobile Payments
February 4, 2014 by Leave a Comment
In an effort to maximize throughput and eliminate the time-consuming steps involved in cash and credit card transactions, Chipotle is investing a few hundred dollars per location in adding mobile payment technology to its ordering app. This isn’t about staying current with the latest technology trends for co-CEO Steve Ells, but rather a worthwhile investment to ameliorate guest convenience and foot traffic for the long-run. The updates to Chipotle’s current ordering app will process payments through a bar code scan or Bluetooth connection.
Sweetgreen Expanding to Williamsburg and Tribeca
February 4, 2014 by Leave a Comment
The sustainable and local salad and wrap chain, Sweetgreen, will be making its way to Williamsburg at 162 North 4th St and to Tribeca in the former Il Mattone space this summer. Co-owner Nicolas Jammet said in regards to the upcoming Brooklyn location: “Sweetgreen was born to live in Brooklyn and we could not think of a more perfect neighborhood than Williamsburg.”
$1.6 Billion Invested in Food-Related Tech and Digital Media in 2013
February 3, 2014 by 1 Comment
From 2012-2013, over $2.8 billion was invested in the food/tech/media realm. In 2013, over $1.6 billion was invested into U.S-based private companies through 148 investments– up from $1.2 billion and 136, respectively, in 2012.
The industry continues to grow rapidly. Restaurant-related technology won the most attention from both investors and acquirers with 54 percent of the investments (representing $453.1 million across 76 deals), and 51 percent of M&A activity.
Food and Tech Connect’s infographic illustrates the presence of food in the tech and media industries in 2014.
paigepapers.com 