Join top hospitality and culinary leaders featured on Shari Bayer’s popular Heritage Radio Network podcast, All in the Industry, for an all-day, interactive and educational conference for, and about, the dynamic hospitality industry. Our inaugural summit, taking place Monday, January 27, 2020 at The William Vale in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, will feature informative panels, one-on-one interviews, and inspiring speakers — creating a forum for the exchange of ideas, innovation and networking opportunities. Attendees will enjoy outstanding food and drink throughout the day – including an energizing closing reception!

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Please click here to see more.

https://paigepapers.com/2019/11/15/17643/

NYC Officials Are Looking Into Grubhub’s Reviled Restaurant Fees

New York City government officials are now diving into the Grubhub debacle, in which several restaurants have accused the food delivery app of slyly charging fees for customer phone calls that never resulted in actual delivery orders.

City Council’s Committee on Small Business will hold an oversight hearing to investigate those fees, as well as others charged by similar apps like like DoorDash and Uber Eats — an act that could eventually lead to more government regulation.

The hearing will go down on June 27, giving local restaurateurs a chance to voice their concerns. City officials will specifically focus on how these fees and other policies are affecting NYC restaurants, especially small mom and pop shops, the Post reports.

“If we see there is abuse, or if there is a manipulation here, then it could certainly be referred to the legal authorities,” Bronx Councilman Mark Gjonaj tells the Post. The hearing’s findings could eventually lead to the involvement of the Public Advocate, the city Comptroller, or the state Attorney General, he says.

Read more here.

The Culinary Institute of America Is Starting a Scholarship in Anthony Bourdain’s Name

“The Culinary Institute of America announced it will start a scholarship in the late Anthony Bourdain’s name. It will go to one or two students a year, helping pay — fittingly — for their studies abroad. The late author and television personality graduated from the school in 1978, and worked in restaurants for decades after, a life he documented in Kitchen Confidential.

As the New York Times reports, the C.I.A. was approached about doing the scholarship by Eric Ripert, Bourdain’s close friend. He came up with the scholarship — “I thought it should be a celebration of Anthony Bourdain,” he tells the Times — after discussing ways to honor Bourdain with José Andrés, another friend of Bourdain’s, and Bourdain’s estate. After discussing the idea with the institute’s president, Dr. L. Timothy Ryan, they created the Anthony Bourdain Legacy Scholarship. How much money the scholarship will provide has not yet been determined, as the fundraising has only just begun. Ryan tells the paper of record that he hopes there will be enough money for the scholarship to be an endowment fund.”

Read more here.

Bed-Stuy Gains a Mediterranean Wine Bar Serving Lesser-Seen Wines in NYC

“An ambitious wine bar is now open in Bed-Stuy with a list that covers Mediterranean territory lesser explored by New York City’s wine programs.

Five Italian friends opened Speakvino at 1063 Bedford Ave., between Greene and Lexington avenues, focusing on wines from Bosnia, Macedonia, Croatia, Morocco, Albania, Greece, Turkey, and Lebanon. There are more ubiquitous offerings too, like wines from Italy, France, and Spain.

As for food, the cuisine skews Italian with touches of Spanish and other Mediterranean cuisines. Most of the menu is comprised of preserved foods served in jars, like anchovies ($9), baby artichokes ($8), and mixed Italian mushrooms ($8). There are some small plates, too, including burrata ($14), a little gem salad with avocado and Castelvetrano olives ($11), and octopus served with gigante beans, peperoncino, and celery leaves ($13). On the more substantial side, there is a simple potato gnocchi with sage, cheese, and butter ($12), as well as a thinly sliced pan-roasted strip loin with yuzu koshu and lime ($18).”

Read more here.

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DOT is also seeking proposals for food, beverage and/or merchandise concession in the Café Building at Fordham Plaza. The Request for Proposals for the Café Building is found here: https://a856-cityrecord.nyc.gov/RequestDetail/20190402014. Prospective proposers are encouraged to consider applying to as many of these RFPs as they are interested in.

TERM

In each Kiosk RFP, DOT is seeking a kiosk concessionaire for one (1) five-year term with three (3) five-year renewal options, exercisable at DOT’s sole discretion. No longer term will be considered. This concession will be operated pursuant to a license agreement issued by DOT; no leasehold or other proprietary right is offered.

SITE VISIT

There will be a strongly recommended on-site proposer meeting and tour of Fordham Plaza. The tour will take place on May 15, 2019 and will include a tour of the Café Building starting at 10AM and a tour of the kiosks at 11AM. We will be meeting at Fordham Plaza under the canopy at the Café Building doors in the northeast corner of the plaza near the corner of Fordham Road and Third Avenue. If you are considering responding to this RFP, please make every effort to attend this meeting and site tour. DOT will view favorably proposers that attended the site visit.

PROJECT MANAGER

The Project Manager for this concession is Brandon Budelman. All RFP questions and/or inquiries should be directed to him. He may be reached at:

Phone: (212) 839-9625

Email: concessions@dot.nyc.gov

You are receiving this email because you are on the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) mailing list for Food and Beverage or Merchandise solicitations.

https://paigepapers.com/2019/05/31/17621/

Burgers still America’s favorite sandwich, chicken gaining ground

Image result for Burgers still America's favorite sandwich, chicken gaining ground“Burgers have been a top item ordered at U.S. restaurants for decades, but chicken sandwiches have come on strong over the last several years, according to The NPD Group receipt-harvesting service, Checkout, which tracks the same buyers’ purchasing behaviors over time. It found that although chicken sandwiches were still behind burgers in the sandwich pecking order, they were gaining ground. Over the 12 months ending February 2019, chicken sandwich orders were up 4% at 4 billion serving, but burger orders were flat at 8.6 billion ordered.

By the numbers, the average number of times a customer purchased a burger at a restaurant over the same period was 14.7 times, and the customer purchase frequency of chicken sandwiches was 8.7. Burgers also have the upper hand when it comes to menu importance or the percentage of all restaurant orders that include one. Burgers were included in 14.1% of all restaurant orders and chicken sandwiches were included in 6.5% of orders.”

See more here.

Why Teriyaki Madness CEO is confident about 500-unit growth strategy

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“Claiming to double your restaurant unit count in one year may seem pretty gutsy, but Teriyaki Madness CEO Michael Haith isn’t afraid to say it aloud.

Founded in 2003, the Las Vegas-based concept now based in Denver started 2019, with about 40 units but will end it with more than 80. The growth plan doesn’t stop there, however, as the chain will hit 500 by 2026. And that’s a “minimum,” said Haith, who purchased the brand in 2016, from the founding brothers, who still own five locations.

“500 is not our goal as much as it is a conservative forecast for the next five to seven years,” he said in an interview with FastCasual. “It is the number we will be at as a benchmark towards our 10-year goal.”

Since taking over, Haith — who came to Teriyaki Madness from Maui Wowi and Doc Popcorn — and his team have implemented processes and systems to focus on growth. And that team includes several industry veterans:

  • VP of Marketing Jodi Boyce, who worked for Quiznos and Smashburger.
  • CFO John Miller, Chipotle’s former CFO.
  • VP of Operations Janice Branam, whose tenure includes Smashbuiger and Quiznos.
  • Joe Gordon, who worked for Noodles and Co., is VP of Supply Chain.
  • COO Erin Hicks, formerly of Maui Wow.
  • VP of Real Estate Peter Harding, who came from Einstein Bros.
  • VP of Real Estate Hank Janik of Schlotzsky’s. (…)”

Read more here.

New York Restaurant To Host Nine Michelin-Star Chefs In A Special Dinner Series

Chefs Club

“For those looking for a unique and intimate dining experience, there’s now a special dinner series to consider.

Between May 13 and June 18, Val Cantu (Californios), Carrie and Rupert Blease (Lord Stanley), Erik Anderson (Coi) and five other chefs of Michelin-starred restaurants in the San Francisco and Bay Area will take over Chefs Club in Soho—celebrating the key ingredients, cooking and cultural influences Northern California has to offer.

This is the first New York 4×4 dinner series hosted by the Michelin Guide and Chefs Club—a restaurant group that has hosted nearly 200 world-acclaimed chefs on a rotation basis at their Manhattan, Aspen and St. Regis locations since 2012. Running four times each year, each dinner series will see renowned chefs bringing a combined rating of four stars to every table. (…)”

See more here.

Joaquin Baca’s Teo and Günter Seeger NY Both Close After Short Runs

“(…) Short-lived restaurants don’t get the same treatment, for obvious reasons, but it’s still unfortunate when ambitious places from established players fizzle out fast. There are all kinds of reasons why these closings happen. But it’s still a bummer to hear that Bushwick’s Teo has closed after just five months of serving cast-iron-skillet okonomiyakis.

The closing came out of nowhere, given what the restaurant had going for it. It wasn’t a rookie chef’s project. The owner was Joaquin Baca, who was David Chang’s first employee at Momofuku Noodle Bar and helped right the ship at Ssäm Bar after a rocky start. Baca helped shape Momofuku in its earliest years before going on to open Williamsburg’s the Brooklyn Star, which closed in May after nine years in Williamsburg. He’s a talented chef who was cooking food people want to eat; short rib over kimchee fried rice, oysters coated in cornmeal and then fried, a confit duck-leg ramen. The news was announced on the restaurant’s Instagram and website, but no reason was given.

Read more here.

Simply Cooked Seafood Turns Luxurious at Taverna Kos

“An important omission on the menu at Taverna Kos in Astoria, Queens, is the enormous plate of feta you may see passing your table en route to a smarter party of people. Heaps of the imported cheese, which the restaurant buys in 28-pound containers, come flecked with dried oregano and slicked with olive oil, and act as a soft, creamy condiment for fried or broiled seafood, or dainty lamb chops.

The off-menu cheese course, which anyone can ask for, will remind you that feta can be just as slouchy as any washed-rind French cheese, as long as you buy the right stuff and put it on something hot. You could also just order a plate of feta fries, in which the crumbles melt into the soft, fresh-cut potatoes like a tangy, higher-quality Cheez Whiz.

Taverna Kos has been open to members of the Pancoan Society, a private club with which it shares a building, for 11 years; in 2016 the restaurant opened its doors to the public, and last summer began serving on weekends. There’s a lightly celebratory air about the place: String lights abound, tangled into the trees outside and lining the ceiling of the enclosed patio, where televisions play a constant stream of poppy Greek music videos.”

Read more here.