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Starbucks VIA Ready Brew Flavored Coffee Now Available in US and Canada
Beginning today, Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) VIA Ready Brew Flavored Coffees are available in Starbucks stores throughout the U.S. and Canada. To celebrate the newest addition to the Starbucks VIA portfolio, Starbucks invites customers to come in and discover their favorite flavor. For a limited time, October 6 – 9, customers will receive a free tall (12 fl. oz) beverage of their choice when they purchase any of the four new flavors — Vanilla, Mocha, Caramel, or Cinnamon Spice — at participating stores in the U.S. and Canada.
“Starbucks VIA Flavored Coffees are inspired by some of our most popular beverage flavors and are the perfect balance of arabica coffee, natural flavor and sweetness,” said Annie Young-Scrivner, Starbucks chief marketing officer. “We believe our customers will soon find their favorite on-the-go flavor once they taste the smooth sweet vanilla, rich mocha, buttery-smooth caramel, or the aromatic cinnamon spice blend.”
Starbucks is the first company to offer a nationally branded instant coffee in the U.S. that uses only natural flavors and cane sugar — no artificial ingredients. Unlike other flavored instant coffees, Starbucks VIA Flavored Coffee consists of a blend of 100 percent natural roasted arabica coffee, sugar and natural flavors. Available in 6-packs $6.95 USD (six 8 fl. oz servings) and $7.95 CAN (six 8 fl. oz servings); each packet makes a wonderfully balanced cup of coffee and is ideal for life-on-the-go.
They’re toasting with instant coffee down at Starbucks HQ.
Ten months after the debut of the company’s VIA instant coffee, sales for that product have hit the $100 million mark.
VIA was trotted out in the middle of the worst recession in recent history, a lower-cost product meant to protect the coffee giant from competitors that focus on a lower-end market.
Starbucks sells the slender packets of instant coffee in boxes at its cafes. VIA is also available at some grocery stores and general retailers, such as Target.
Coca-Cola’s Freestyle soda fountain machine can blast out 106 different drinks in untold thousands of permutations, using touchscreens and super-strong concentrate in packs that look vaguely like VHS cassettes. It pours drinks at temperatures just above freezing.
No question, the technology provokes oohs and aahs. Now to the bigger question: Will restaurants be impressed enough with the gizmo to help Coca-Cola meet its ambitious goals of covering the country with the machines?
Coca-Cola plans to put 2,000 Freestyle machines in about 15 markets this year, up from about 120 machines in use now. About 20 Freestyle machines are built every day. The machine has reached restaurants in Atlanta, Dallas and southern California. Coming soon: Chicago, Orlando and cities yet to be announced.
New Orleanians take their seafood seriously. So seriously, in fact, that it was front-page news last month when the French Quarter’s P&J Oyster Co., a large supplier of Louisiana oysters in the U.S., shut down its oyster-shucking operation because of the oil spill.
The oil that began to spew after the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig about 120 miles southeast of New Orleans has not directly affected the city, except emotionally. But local chefs are scrambling to find new sources of oysters and other seafood as old ones close, then open, then close.
Eating is a big part of New Orleans, both for locals and visitors: Local restaurants have annual sales of as much as $2.8 billion, said Wendy Waren, vice president of communications for the Louisiana Restaurant Assn.
It took nearly 10 years and roughly $250,000 in startup costs, but Juan Pacheco, 45, finally has a product he hopes will revolutionize the restaurant industry.
Called the FlatwareSaver, it’s a flip-top container lid that fits over a standard industrial-size trash can and is embedded with small metal detectors. When busy busboys or waiters dump a plateful of food into the tray, the sensors emit a loud beep, alerting them that silverware, serving dishes and other items are among the trash, Pacheco said.
“Restaurants in the U.S. spend about $500 million on lost silverware and ramekins — which are the small serving dishes used to hold sauces,” Pacheco said. “The first time I heard a restaurant supervisor call it ‘the cost of doing business,’ I knew I was onto something.”
It’s no surprise that Coke keeps coming up with innovations that help the brand continue its domination of the beverage world, and protect its 70% share of the U.S. soft drink market.
The latest trick the beverage giant has up its sleeve is called Freestyle. It’s a fountain drink dispenser that resides in fast food restaurants, but it’s hard to believe what it does. This high tech gadget actually allows customers to mix their own flavor concoctions from more than 100 Coca-Cola drink brands.
Coca-Cola unveiled Freestyle to awe-struck attendees at the National Restaurant Association show that ended yesterday, but the company has been test marketing the device for months; in fact, Freestyle has been in the development stage for five years.
Coffee chain Starbucks Corp. plans to revamp its Seattle’s Best brand, expanding its availability through franchises and a big expansion at other retailers.
Starbucks said Wednesday it will to increase availability of the brand from 3,000 locations to 30,000 by the end of the year.
That includes a new agreement with AMC Theaters, which will serve Seattle’s Best Coffee in 300 AMC Theaters nationwide beginning in July.
Seattle’s Best will also be offered at all Burger King restaurants by September.
Coca-Cola Co. hopes a new high-tech soda fountain will add some life to listless soft-drink sales by letting restaurant-goers mix up 104 different drinks, creating inventions such as Caffeine-Free Diet Raspberry Coke.
The soda fountain has been the touchstone of Coke’s business since 1886, when a pharmacist John Pembertoncreated the secret-recipe syrup and mixed it with carbonated water. But the technology hasn’t changed much since the 1950s, as a line of nozzles spit out big-name sodas.
Coke’s new Freestyle machine is housed in a curved metal shell created by the designers of Ferrari race cars, and features a touch-screen menu. Inside, technology common in measuring tiny doses of chemotherapy drugs is used to release digitally-controlled amounts of concentrate flavor from dozens of plastic cartridges.
But the Freestyle’s complicated technology and expense—Coke charges 30% more for it than traditional fountains—have slowed its way into stores. Five years after the company began developing the Freestyle, it’s still only in tests in a handful of stores. Coke declined to say how much it charges for the machines or how much it has spent on the project.
Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc. (Southern), the nation’s largest wine and spirits distributor with current operations in 29 states, today announced the appointment of Gerald P. Rivero, Jr. as the new Executive Vice President, General Manager of the Company’s emerging statewide operation in Indiana. Mr. Rivero’s appointment is effective May 1st.
Wayne E. Chaplin, President and Chief Operating Officer, Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc., said, “As part of our long-term strategy, we are now focused on building a strong and highly-experienced statewide management, sales and operations team for Indiana. Gerry’s appointment is a key part of our unceasing commitment to bring the highest levels of talent to our markets of operation, ensuring superior brand-building excellence, customer service and operational efficiency to our supplier and customer partners across the State of Indiana.”
Brad Vassar, Executive Vice President, General Manager of Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc., said, “Gerry is an extremely capable and savvy Southern GM, and he will begin immediately to recruit the best and brightest sales, marketing and operations personnel for our new statewide enterprise in Indiana. Gerry’s proven leadership skills and record of professional achievement have been honed throughout his career. He showed business acumen and competitive grit in various on- and off-premise sales positions in Southern’s Tampa, Florida operation early in his career. To these qualities, he added vision, disciplined management and personnel motivation skills after his move to Miami in 1999 into the leadership role of VP, General Sales Manager for Southern Wine & Spirits of Florida. All these experiences and capabilities make Gerry the ideal candidate to manage our entry into Indiana and oversee the establishment of a world-class organization there. We are confident he will build a truly-second-to-none operation staffed by a local team of talented, experienced professionals.”
Mr. Vassar added, “We are now focused on total success in Indiana—success in recruiting the best and brightest; success in expanding our valued supplier relationships; and, most importantly, success in delivering world class sales and service support to Indiana’s retailers. Immediately, we will begin initiating our recruiting and hiring, and we will communicate the details about the process, which will include live and web-based applicant assessments (www.southernwine.com).” Mr. Vassar concluded.
Prior to Mr. Rivero’s appointment in Indiana, he served as Vice President, General Manager for Southern Wine & Spirits of Florida’s Coastal Wine & Spirits selling division. Mr. Rivero was promoted to this position in 2004. Mr. Rivero earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Montevallo in Birmingham, Alabama—where he attended school on a full, four-year baseball scholarship.
As previously announced, Southern has retained the commercial real estate powerhouse Cassidy Turley to provide site selection services and real estate expertise in the State of Indiana. The soon-to-be-selected, Indiana-based property will serve as the preferred location for Southern’s next state-of-the-art distribution facility. Details for the planned 200,000+ square foot office and warehouse distribution center are not yet finalized but site definition and facility design are underway.
About Southern Wine & Spirits of America:
Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc. is the nation’s largest wine and spirits distributor, with current operations in 29 states. The multi-state distributor currently operates in: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia—as well as the additional seven states of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Utah through the Southern-Odom/Spirits West partnership. Southern also holds operating licenses and permits in Indiana, Nebraska and Texas. In Minnesota, Southern recently announced the establishment of a joint venture with J.J. Taylor Distributing Co.; the partnership becomes effective pending regulatory approvals. On a national basis, Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc. employs more than 11,000 team members. For more information contact: www.southernwine.com.
It can be a bit embarrassing at a restaurant to say that you’d like to take your leftovers away with you. That’s probably why people the world over often ask for the food to be put in a “doggy bag,” whether or not they have a hungry pooch waiting at home. The cute expression also helps them to avoid looking mean.
Remarkably, though, the Japanese language never came up with an equivalent to describe a container for leftover food — and without there being a word for something, how can it exist?
That’s why Tokyo-based nonprofit organization Doggy Bag Committee (DBC) has set out to popularize the English term. By encouraging diners in Japan to take their leftovers home, DBC plans to try and reduce the nation’s annual 5-to-9 million-ton mountain of food left on people’s plates or discarded by shops after its sell-by date.
“A ‘doggy bag’ is not a bag in which to carry a dog in, nor is it one that’s shaped like a dog,” Yasuhiro Kubota, a DBC official, explained in all seriousness as he addressed a Tokyo symposium on March 5. “It’s a bag for putting leftover food in.”
Six months after Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) introduced Starbucks VIA® Ready Brew
“Starbucks VIA® continues to excite customers and represents a significant opportunity for the company to expand our reach through a broadened coffee portfolio,” said Starbucks chairman, president and ceo Howard Schultz. “Consumers have quickly adopted Starbucks VIA® as their coffee while on the go. Whether it is brewed as a single cup before leaving the house, while traveling, or at the office, customers have found it is a convenient solution.”
Global Expansion Begins with U.K. and Japan
The nationwide U.K. launch of Starbucks VIA® on Monday, March 8, builds on the successful pilot in London and will introduce the U.K.’s 31 million coffee drinkersi to a high-quality instant and microground coffee. This launch comes on the heels of a successful local-market trial conducted in London; recognition in a survey by Allegra Strategies which voted Starbucks VIA® as the “Most Innovative New Product” in 2009; and the availability of Starbucks VIA® on all easyJet routes in early 2010.
Also this week, Starbucks Coffee Japan met with media, shareholders and partners (employees) to reveal that Starbucks VIA® Ready Brew will be available in all of Japan’s 870 Starbucks stores on April 14 under the name Starbucks VIA® Coffee Essence. The introduction of Starbucks VIA® Coffee Essence provides Starbucks the opportunity to create a new premium category in the Japanese home-use coffee market.
In its first year, Starbucks VIA® has helped Starbucks claim a larger piece of the overall global coffee market. Instant coffee makes up a majority of coffee purchases in many of the international markets where Starbucks has a retail presence, and represents 63 percent of total coffee sold in Japan and more than 80 percent of coffee drunk at home in the U.K. Together, these two markets account for more than $4 billion in instant coffee retail sales annually.ii Globally, instant coffee represents 40 percent of coffee sales, which translates into an annualized $21 billion and growing market.
Innovation and Expansion Continue in the U.S. and Canada
On March 9, Starbucks VIA® Ready Brew Decaffeinated Italian Roast will be available in Starbucks stores throughout Canada. It was introduced in the U.S. market late last year in response to customer requests. Starbucks VIA® is now available through more than 15,000 locations in the U.S. and Canada, including Company-operated and licensed locations, Costco, Target, REI, Omni Hotels & Resorts and online at Amazon.com, cooking.com, and officedepot.com. Additional channels are planned in the coming year.
Recognition for Online Sales and Product Review
Backpacker magazine recently named Starbucks VIA® Ready Brew as a recipient of the 2010 “Editors’ Choice Award.” Given annually to products in recognition of their outstanding innovation in design, materials and performance, the Editors’ Choice Award honors the best new gear and essentials for outdoor enthusiasts. In keeping with the belief that one should never be without great coffee, editors of Backpacker recently tackled the Swiss Alps with Starbucks VIA® in their packs. Even on a strenuous and remote 100-mile route, editors were able to enjoy the same high-quality Starbucks® coffee found in a Starbucks store. Backpacker Editor-In-Chief Jonathan Dorn and his staff of editors and testers presented the award to Starbucks on January 21 at the annual Outdoor Retail Winter Market in Salt Lake City, Utah.
In addition, Amazon.com recognized Starbucks VIA® Ready Brew
Many fast casual brands started off 2010 with the launch of new products designed to appeal to health-conscious consumers. Feeling a dose of frugal fatigue, consumers are eager to try something new and have indicated they won’t give up taste for value.
Smart fast casuals will use their new menu launches to further reflect the brand, many of which have lost loyal customers, and need to have a spot-on product launch to bring them back, said Dana Leo, director of product development for The NPD Group.
“Our recent environment with all these promotions has reduced loyalty overall because people just cross hop on a coupon or on a deal,” Leo said. “And that’s been happening throughout this past year.”
Things used to be so simple. When it came to franchise locations serving delicious frozen refreshments your choices were pretty much Dairy Queen or Baskin Robbins. They were really the dominant players in the 60s and 70s.
Dairy Queen is considered to be one of the early pioneers of food franchising, starting with 10 stores in 1941. By 1947 there were 100 stores. Their soft serve formula was developed in 1938 by J.F. “Grandpa” McCullough with some help from his son, Alex McCullough.
The Baskin-Robbins ice cream parlors started as separate ventures from Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins. Burt opened Burt’s Ice Cream Shop and Irv Robbins opened up Snowbird Ice Cream in Glendale, Ca. They were actually brother-in-laws, and merged their operations in 1953.
In the 1980’s, frozen yogurt appeared on the scene in force, and made a strong showing. TCBY was the dominant player back then, and at one time, had 1,582 franchises across the US. Times were pretty good. Mickey Rooney was the pitchman, and reportedly the folks at TCYB headquarters were getting almost 500 franchise inquiries a week.
The barbecue recipe at The Fifty/50, a bar and grill in Chicago, pulls from a few traditions. Ribs (full rack $24, half rack $18), which are the 140-seat restaurant’s best-selling entrée, are dry-rubbed and slow-smoked, then glazed before taking a turn on the grill. The final glazing, says co-owner Scott Weiner, is nontraditional, as is the sweet sauce that’s thicker than a traditional Texas tomato-based sauce.
What’s going on at Fifty/50 points to a melting-pot trend in barbecue. Barbecue used to be closely associated with different regions—thick, sweet sauce in Texas, vinegar sauce in the Carolinas—but for some restaurants, those rules are falling away like meat from a rib bone.
The respected American Academy of Paediatrics is calling for sweeping changes in the way hot dogs are designed and labelled to minimise the chances of youngsters dying.
Every year food-related choking kills up to 77 children in the US and up to 15,000 more are treated in emergency rooms.
About 17 per cent of the food-related chokings are caused by hot dogs, according to a report by the academy.
It wants to see the shape of hot dogs “redesigned” to stop them lodging in children’s throats.
It’s not a mistake made in the kitchen if your Burger King Whopper arrives minus the usual two slices of tomatoes.
Burger King restaurants across the country have been running out of tomatoes sporadically for the past week, and that’s likely to continue in the wake of the freeze that devastated Florida’s tomato crop last month. The freeze hit growers at a time when the state normally would be supplying tomatoes for the majority of the Eastern seaboard.
The shortages have left fast-food chains, supermarkets and restaurants scrambling.
So far the tomato shortage is having limited impact on the consumer, but that could change in coming weeks as competition for scarce tomatoes heats up.
Italian food lovers can take a flavorful visit to Italy using a different kind of passport this spring. Carrabba’s Italian Grill has introduced the Viaggi del Gusto dining passport, a limited time program that includes special offers on many of the restaurant’s most popular dishes. With each visit to Carrabba’s, passport holders will be whisked away on a tasty journey to some of Italy’s most exciting regions.
The Viaggi del Gusto tour of Italian cuisine begins in Campania, a region known for its Limoncello liqueur. Passport holders will savor a complimentary Limoncello Bread Pudding, the perfect ending to a delicious meal. The trip continues with a visit to Tuscany, which includes a free quartino of house wine to complement the region’s fare. Customers that visit Carrabba’s with their passport receive an opportunity to experience the unique flavors of a new Italian region – a journey of taste any food lover will appreciate.
“Everyone should be able to take a trip to Italy, and Carrabba’s is helping customers do just that by introducing them to the varied and delicious cuisine of Italy’s different regions,” said Steve Shlemon, president of Carrabba’s Italian Grill. ”Our Viaggi del Gusto passport provides a true journey of taste, with mouthwatering specialties from some of Italy’s most intriguing locations.”
For two lucky Carrabba’s customers, the journey continues even after dinner is finished – Carrabba’s is giving away a trip for two to Italy this summer. Customers can enter to win by visiting Carrabbas.com. Passports are available at every Carrabba’s location and distributed by mail in select U.S. cities. The Viaggi del Gusto passport program and contest run through April 15, 2010. For more information, visit Carrabbas.com.
About Carrabba’s Italian Grill
Johnny Carrabba and Damian Mandola founded the first Carrabba’s Italian Grill in 1986 in Houston, Texas. Today, there are 232 Carrabba’s Italian Grill locations around the country, run by passionate local proprietors focused on delighting guests with fresh, made-to-order Italian cuisine and the ultimate dining experience. Carrabba’s serves dinner seven nights a week in a casual environment that pairs innovative dishes and a complementary wine list with abundant hospitality. For on-the-go guests, Carrabba’s also offers convenient Carside Carry-Out. To learn more about Carrabba’s, please visit www.carrabbas.com.
What makes a wine unlike any other? To start, consult your Master Sommelier. Next, produce an original blend from top-quality grapes, limit the production and adorn the bottle with a label featuring an original work of art chosen through a national competition. As a final touch, donate a portion of the proceeds from each bottle sold to fight hunger in America.
From March 14 to April 25, The Capital Grille — the nationally renowned fine-dining restaurant known for its dry aged, hand-carved steaks, fresh seafood and award-winning wine list — will offer an unparalleled Cabernet Sauvignon as the inaugural wine in its Artist Wine Label Series. The wine will be available exclusively at all 40 locations of The Capital Grille, and the company will donate $25 from the sale of each limited bottle to Share Our Strength® and its mission to end childhood hunger in America.
Hand-selected by The Capital Grille’s Master Sommelier George Miliotes, the highly allocated wine was made with the choicest grapes from the world-class winemaker Thomas Peffer of Atalon Vineyards in Napa Valley. The vineyards’ high elevation, rugged terrain and proximity to San Pablo Bay create the perfect conditions for the intense, dark fruit flavors of this custom wine, blended solely for The Capital Grille. Only 7,620 bottles of The Capital Grille Artist Series Cabernet Sauvignon will be produced.
“We are committed to providing a distinctive, accessible and personal wine experience,” said Miliotes, one of only 168 Master Sommeliers in the world. ”We created The Capital Grille Artist Series Cabernet Sauvignon to give our guests an incomparable opportunity to experience a magnificent vintage with bold fruit flavors, prominent tannin and the complexity and balance expected of a fine Cabernet.”
To match the work of art inside the bottle, The Capital Grille invited wine lovers, label enthusiasts and artists to create an original label for the Artist Wine Label Series. Wisconsin-born artist Dean J. Baer submitted his “At Peace” painting, which reflects the pastoral serenity of the Napa Valley. Baer’s winning label will appear on every bottle of The Capital Grille Artist Series Cabernet Sauvignon.
“In addition to supporting our national charity, Share Our Strength®, we are proud to recognize and celebrate talented artists like Dean Baer,” said John Martin, President of The Capital Grille. ”As always, we look forward to bringing our guests an exceptional and unique wine and dining experience. We’re especially pleased when those experiences help support a worthy cause.”
The Capital Grille Artist Series Cabernet Sauvignon will complement The Capital Grille’s award-winning wine program, which is routinely recognized by Wine Spectator magazine. Featuring more than 325 Old and New World selections housed in floor-to-ceiling, temperature-controlled wine kiosks, The Capital Grille also offers a Captain’s List of 125 collector wines. Guests also have the opportunity to lease a wine locker, personalized with an inscribed brass nameplate.
About Artist Dean J. Baer
Native of Wisconsin, nationally recognized artist Dean Baer has lived and studied throughout the US and Europe. He defines himself as an Expressionist/Abstract painter, one who prefers to express himself outside the boundaries of the conventional. A sculptor at heart, he strives to incorporate form, as many human landscapes emerge during the creative process. He relies entirely on inspiration, and has been sought out by many philanthropic causes to portray the essence of their own unique missions. His own life remains a mission, to challenge and remove barriers that often constrain the artist. If you would like to know more about Dean Baer and his artwork, please visit: http://www.deanjbaer.com .
About Share Our Strength®
Share Our Strength® is the leading national organization working to make sure no kid in America grows up hungry. By weaving together a net of community groups, activists and food programs, Share Our Strength catches children at risk of hunger and ensures they have nutritious food where they live, learn and play. Working closely with the culinary industry, Share Our Strength creates engaging, pioneering programs like Share Our Strength’s Taste of the Nation®, the nation’s premier culinary benefit; Share Our Strength’s Great American Bake Sale®, a national grassroots effort; Share Our Strength’s A Tasteful Pursuit®, a touring dinner series; Share Our Strength’s Great American Dine Out ®, a week-long program involving thousands of restaurants nationwide; and Share Our Strength’s Operation Frontline®, a cooking-based nutrition education program. Visit Strength.org and learn more about our goal of ending childhood hunger in America by 2015.
About The Capital Grille
The Capital Grille owns and operates 40 locations nationwide. The restaurant is known for its dry aged steaks, award-winning wine list and professional service in an atmosphere of relaxed elegance. Routinely recognized by Wine Spectator magazine, The Capital Grille recently received the American Culinary Federation’s “Achievement of Excellence Award.” The Capital Grille offers more than 325 New and Old World wine selections, including a Captain’s List of some of the world’s most highly allocated and sought-after wines. The restaurant also offers a variety of elegant private dining spaces for meetings and group events. For additional information, please visit www.TheCapitalGrille.com.
On February 22, Hooters will roll out a seasonal menu featuring a Blackened Mahi Sandwich, Steamed Shrimp, Daytona Style Shrimp and also introduces a new wing flavor option with Lemon Pepper Wings.
“We take a lot of pride in our wings, so bringing in a new flavor option is a big deal to us,” stated Scott Kinsey, Director of Research and Development for Hooters of America, Inc. ”The Lemon Pepper wing seasoning scored very well in consumer testing, so much so that we added it along with the blackened mahi sandwich to our permanent menu.”
The limited time offer menu will run for 6 weeks and aligns with basketball season and Lent. Featuring basketball analyst and Hooters long-time spokesperson Dick Vitale, this spring-time menu traditionally offers many seafood items to cater to customers that observe Lent.
The menu includes a Blackened Mahi Sandwich, a blackened mahi filet served on a ciabatta roll; Daytona Shrimp, fried shrimp smothered in Hooters Daytona Sauce and finished off on the grill; steamed shrimp, peel and eat shrimp served with cocktail sauce and butter and Lemon Pepper Wings, Hooters world famous wings shaken in a zesty lemon pepper seasoning.
Hooters of America, Inc. is the franchisor and operator of over 450 Hooters restaurants in 42 states and 26 foreign countries. The first Hooters opened in 1983 in Clearwater, Florida. Hooters is well-known for its brand of food and fun, featuring a casual beach-theme atmosphere, a menu that features seafood, sandwiches and Hooters nearly world famous chicken wings, and service provided by the All-American cheerleaders, the Hooters Girls. For more information about Hooters visit www.hooters.com.
Steve Marks is perfectly content choosing the cable company’s budget package and will pass on spending $300 on a pair of designer jeans. But plunking down a few extra bucks for a tricked-out doughnut? Sold!
During a recent brunch with friends at Nightwood Restaurant in Pilsen, the 28-year-old persuaded his companions to spring for a $4 bacon and butterscotch doughnut as a starter.
“It was the concept of having bacon on a doughnut that made it so exciting,” said Marks, a human resources consultant from Wicker Park. “The combination of sweet and savory made it really unique, and if you’re spending $3 on a single doughnut, you might as well swing for the fences.”
Move over, cutesy cupcakes. The doughnut’s reputation has undergone an overhaul from Homer Simpson’s chocolate- and sprinkle-covered breakfast of choice to become the latest trend in the pastry scene.
Bakers in Chicago and beyond are experimenting with gourmet flavor combinations and unorthodox ingredients in doughnuts-everything from jelly beans to pomegranate and even sweet potatoes.
With a Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts within any two-block radius and McDonald’s offering its new McCafé line of premium coffee and espresso, there are more than enough options for Chicagoans in need of a caffeine fix. But followers of locally-owned Intelligentsia Coffee Co. have found a haven for the hot stuff that, in their eyes, those other chains simply don’t deliver.
“It’s by far the best coffee in the city,” said 57-year-old Simon El Hage, as he sipped his post-dinner cup at Intelligentsia’s hipster-esque Broadway Coffee Bar. A senior vice president at Draft FCB, El Hage and his wife trek to Lakeview from their Andersonville home four or five evenings a week for this coffee.
But a small cup, eight ounces, starts at $3. That’s more than at most coffee spots, where a standard 12-ounce small usually runs about $1.50. And with by-the-cup brewing, you can forget free refills.
“Price is no issue when you have the best coffee – period,” El Hage said.
“I wouldn’t mind paying $10,” said his wife, Consuelo. “And I would walk. Any distance!”
Others there and downtown echoed these convictions, raising the obvious question: what’s the big deal?
Some food stories beg to be launched with lapidary prose and the gentle ladling of descriptive passages, maybe with a French phrase thrown in for good measure.
Gentle reader, this is not one of those stories.
So we’ll cut to the chase: Do you think you have the guts — or gut — to eat an 11-pound pizza, crust and all, in two hours or less? Could you down — and keep down — a burger consisting of 5 pounds of ground beef topped with a pound of cheese and another pound of bacon? How about a 7-pound burrito?
Maybe it’s the altitude. Maybe it’s the recession. Maybe it’s just some weird paradox about living in what is purportedly the fittest state in one of the world’s fattest nations.
Whatever the reason, Colorado is awash in belt-busting food challenges.
One of the latest entries in the stomach sweepstakes is the “Hugilio” offered at Virgilio’s Pizzeria in Lakewood.
The concept is simple: Devour the entire 28-inch, 11-pound combo pizza in under two hours, and you win $1,000 plus a few other goodies. Fail, and you pay the $65 tab. Yes, you sign a waiver.
Adding an extra pickle slice or two to a burger and calling it customization just won’t cut it today. Burger customization now encompasses protein choice, bun style, toppings and more. Just-the-basics burger joints are making way for build-your-own burger bars that boast countless combinations.
These choose-your-elements restaurants range in price from classically trained chef Hubert Keller’s three Burger Bar locations (where meat choices include a $16 American Kobe beef patty) to 23-unit The Counter, which claims to offer 312,120 burger-topping combinations.
Tim Goodell saw the customization trend developing and wanted to tap it because he saw it as an affirmative expression. “People want the freedom to choose rather than be told what they should eat,” he says. “It’s liberating.”
The president of Domaine Restaurants, Goodell and his wife, Liza, have operated several upscale West Cost restaurants, including Aubergine, Troquet and, currently, Red Pearl Kitchen and Dakota. In 2006, they opened 25 Degrees in Los Angeles’ Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The name refers to the difference between a medium-rare and a well-done burger, hinting at a sassy style that extends to fuchsia wallpaper and retro leather-upholstered booths.
Jack in the Box restaurants will offer a free Grilled Sandwich with the purchase of any large drink on Tuesday, Feb. 23, to drive trial of the new premium product launched earlier this month.
Jack in the Box offers two varieties of Grilled Sandwiches, each served on grilled artisan bread: Turkey, Bacon & Cheddar, which features roasted turkey, two slices of cheddar cheese and two bacon strips topped with a sundried tomato sauce; and Deli Trio, which features Genoa salami, sliced ham, roasted turkey, two slices of provolone cheese and two pickle fillets topped with a creamy Italian sauce. Grilled Sandwiches are available at participating Jack in the Box restaurants for $3.99 each, plus tax.
“Our new Grilled Sandwiches have been very popular, especially among guests looking for something different than the traditional fast-food fare,” said Tammy Bailey, division vice president of menu marketing and promotions for Jack in the Box Inc. “This is an innovative menu item for a major fast-food chain, with a distinctive blend of high-quality, flavorful ingredients, like the new grilled artisan bread. As word spreads about the February 23 promotion, we want to drive trial of our new Grilled Sandwiches and attract consumers who might not typically visit a fast-food restaurant to introduce them to the many other innovative menu items that differentiate Jack in the Box from our competition.”
Jack in the Box serves its full menu all day, every day, so the free Grilled Sandwiches will be available from the time restaurants open on February 23 until the close of business that day or Midnight if the location is open 24 hours.
[Grilled Sandwiches are not available at restaurants in Yakima, Wash., Twin Falls, Idaho, nor in the Texas markets of Austin, Beaumont/Pt. Arthur/Lake Charles and Waco.]
About Jack in the Box Inc.
Jack in the Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK), based in San Diego, is a restaurant company that operates and franchises Jack in the Box® restaurants, one of the nation’s largest hamburger chains, with more than 2,200 restaurants in 18 states. Additionally, through a wholly owned subsidiary, the company operates and franchises Qdoba Mexican Grill®, a leader in fast-casual dining, with more than 500 restaurants in 42 states and the District of Columbia. For more information, visit www.jackinthebox.com.
As London Fashion Week kicks off tomorrow, it’s not just the designers who will be putting the finishing touches to their collections. An army of caterers, drafted in to provide perfect bite-sized morsels for the fashion crowd to nibble upon, will be busily finessing their menus. In recent years at least, the business of making canapés has been elevated to an art form – each small mouthful a chance for the chef to exhibit limitless culinary trickery. It has, it seems, all come a long, long way since the dark old days of pigs in blankets and cheese and pineapple on a stick.
“It’s amazing to think that 10 years ago people didn’t really know what a canapé was,” says Victoria Blashford-Snell, caterer and author of three canapé recipe books. “We’ve been through many incarnations in a very short space of time. First, they got a bit a too clever and ironic; then they became incredibly over-fussy and complicated. Now I think we’ve come to realise the best are the ones that are fresh, clean and honest, that look brilliant, and in one bite taste absolutely stupendous.”
One catering company that has its work cut out for it this Fashion Week is Nomad Food and Design, which, tellingly, was set up by a fashion photographer-turned-restauranteur, Martin Phillippe. Nomad opened in Paris in 1999 and it wasn’t long before its ability to create canapés which perfectly reflected the various aesthetic demands of a brand had lured in many of the big names, including Dior, Louis Vuitton, Yves Saint-Laurent, Hermes and Chanel. Business became so brisk that a second kitchen, headed by chef Tomasz Adamowicz, opened in London in 2005.
“One of the key things that Martin set out to do was to create something that was very different to the bog-standard French catering company,” says Nomad’s events director, Michael Namock. “It may sound quite hard to believe but when it comes to outside catering, Britain is way ahead of France. In France it’s all very traditional and French. Martin set out to create a company that could create food to match any brief.”
Burger King Corp is taking a page from the playbook of McDonald’s Corp and pulling a slice of cheese from its $1 double cheeseburger.
Starting on April 26, the fast-food chain will sell a “BK Dollar Double” with two burgers and one slice of cheese, Burger King said on Wednesday. That’s six days after the company raises the price of the $1 double cheeseburger to a suggested $1.19.
Burger King and McDonald’s have successfully used $1 burgers to lure diners into stores. McDonald’s raised the price of its popular double cheeseburger to a suggested $1.19 from $1 in December 2008.
The National Restaurant Association has announced the recipients of this year’s prestigious Kitchen Innovations™ (KI) Award and the ionator EXP™ from Activeion Cleaning Solutions is on the list of standout innovations. The awards program recognizes the most innovative and revolutionary commercial kitchen equipment from around the world.
The ionator EXP is a revolutionary cleaning and sanitizing tool that converts tap water into ionized water, a powerful dirt-removing and bacteria-killing agent. To see how the ionator EXP works, click here.
“Products like the ionator EXP from Activeion make restaurants run faster, smoother and more efficiently, which will result in better customer service and higher quality food,” says Ira Cohn, convention chair for NRA Show 2010 and president of ARAMARK Business and Industry Group. ”Selecting the right equipment for a restaurant kitchen is crucial to creating and serving safe, nutritious and delicious meals.”
“The ionator EXP is great for restaurants and food service operations. When applied to a surface, the ionized water cleans and kills harmful bacteria without chemicals, even H1N1, while leaving nothing behind — zero residue,” says Todd Schaeffer, vice-president and general manager, Activeion Cleaning Solutions. “In fact, the ionator EXP is one of the only cleaners in the world without a chemical-related health warning label, providing an excellent alternative for cleaning — and a good choice for humans, animals and the environment. It’s easy on the budget too — just fill with tap water and you’re ready to clean and sanitize.”
The Kitchen Innovations Awards are judged by an independent panel of restaurant, foodservice and lodging industry leaders, and sponsored by the National Restaurant Association.
The ionator EXP, along with the other Kitchen Innovations winners, will be showcased at the 2010 National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show®, from May 22-25 at Chicago‘s McCormick Place, the largest single gathering of restaurant, foodservice and lodging professionals in the world. For more information, visit www.restaurant.org/show.
Both the ionator EXP and a smaller consumer version, the ionator HOM™, are available now at www.activeion.com.
Activeion Cleaning Solutions, LLC, headquartered in Rogers, Minn., is a privately held cleaning technology company created to revolutionize the cleaning industry through the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of advanced cleaning technologies and products. Addressing the ever-growing need for sustainable cleaning, Activeion’s ionized water technology solutions — including the ionator EXP and ionator HOM — are ideal for restaurants, offices, hotels, hospitals, schools and private residences, and have been featured on Forbes.com, The Doctors, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. For more information, call 866.950.4667 or visit www.activeion.com. © 2010 Activeion Cleaning Solutions. Patents Pending, Activeion Cleaning Solutions and Tennant Company.
