This week on Menu Talk, Restaurant Business Senior Menu Editor Pat Cobe and Bret Thorn, senior food and beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News, share their take on some recent happenings in the world of food and drink.
Bret recently moved from one Brooklyn neighborhood to another, and the culinary scene is very different. He’s surrounded by Turkish food and already tried a Turkish breakfast specialty that’s currently trending on TikTok but has been served in mom-and-pop restaurants forever.
Pat shares a virtual taste of three memorable pizzas she enjoyed with colleagues at Pizzeria Bianco while in Phoenix, which sparks a lively discussion of pizza styles.
We also comment on clips from podcasts recorded at the recent Restaurant Leadership Conference. Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises’ Christopher LaBarbera talks about the appeal of hotels for restaurant locations. Then LEYE’s Kelly Clancy, managing partner with RPM Restaurants in Chicago, describes the sustainability initiatives she’s implemented, including a wide-ranging composting program. She also shares how the kitchen at RPM Steak reduces meat waste by making beef butter—a flavor-rich topping for steak—and repurposing the trim into tartare and burgers.
Ricky Richardson, CEO of breakfast-lunch chain Eggs Up Grill, also joins Menu Talk this week. The daytime cafe is in the process of upgrading its coffee program, adding espresso drinks and specialized equipment to a number of restaurants with the plan to roll it out systemwide.
Eggs Up Grill also launched a new menu item called Scramblers, which takes some pressure off the kitchen during busy brunch periods. Instead of ordering customized omelets, which can bog down service, guests can choose one of three Scramblers: a Crab-Acado Scrambler, Chorizo Scrambler or Veggie Scrambler. They use many of the same flavors and ingredients as the omelets but go a long way in easing execution.
Menu Talk is a collaboration between Restaurant Business Senior Menu Editor Pat Cobe and Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality. You can subscribe to it wherever you listen to podcasts.
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