MenuDirections

Sunday, February 28, 2016

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Operations

The local angle at MenuDirections

During the past few years, we have documented numerous examples of the whole “locavore” movement, as foodservice operators attempt to reduce their carbon footprints and bring more fresh food to their customers.

Operations

It's A Wrap: MenuDirections 2013 Put to Bed

Well, the dust has settled on what just might be our best MenuDirections conference ever. Despite—or, perhaps, aided by—the less-than-optimum weather in Tampa, our more than 200 attendees said they had a great time learning and networking.

It was my great luck to be in Tampa, Florida, from March 3-5 to attend MenuDirections 2013. This much anticipated conference for non-commercial operators includes a stellar lineup of speakers, workshops, chef demos and more. But I was luckier still to be asked to be one of five judges for the first-ever Culinary Competition.

It’s not a routine conference when the speaker reaches for the severed pig’s head on the counter and lifts off the face, explaining he’d carved it free earlier so he’d have time to saw apart the carcass that’d been parted from the skull (“The brain’s still in there, but that’s okay.”)

The Dine-Around is always one of my favorite moments at MD. My group this year—go Team Blue!—was particularly festive, thanks to July 2012 FSD of the Month Ginnie Dunleavy from Rhode Island School of Design.

Celebrity chef Jet Tila demonstrated the ease of removing calories, fat and salt from popular dishes during a cooking demo at MenuDirections, but not all of his instruction can be revealed here, this being a family blog.

The first day of Menu Directions, FoodService Director’s culinary conference for FSDs looking to offer more-healthful options, provided plenty of food for thought. It didn’t stint on food for the more usual sort of consumption, either.

This weekend, the FoodService Director crew heads to Tampa Fla., for the 11th annual MenuDirections conference. After months of preparation, we're ready to offer more than 130 operators a taste of Healthy Flavors, Healthy Profits.

This year’s Dine-Around will showcase Ybor City, Tampa’s Latin Quarter. We talked to staff from each of the Dine-Around restaurants on this year’s agenda to get the inside scoop on what kind of culinary delights attendees can expect March 3.

Much was said at MenuDirections about spices jazzing up a dish. The same can be said for conferences, as this sampler of flavorful quotes attests. Here they are, delivered without any adulteration.

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