Category: Food

Ingredients, cooking, cuisine, restaurants and all things related to Food.

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Frank Bruni leaves a void at the Times

food criticPrior to moving to New York 5 years ago, I didn’t read the Times regularly, and when I did, it was usually the Business or the Market sections; I never subscribed to it. Really I still don’t but my neighbor had a subscription that he over paid a year for and has never changed the delivery address after moving, so I’m fortunate to have a free subscription by proxy.

I’ve always been a “foodie” but haven’t had the “disposable” income to explore great restaurants until that move to New York. I use “disposable” lightly because I could have very well cooked at home more and become more financially liquid, however, this isNew York, one of the greatest dining cities in the world; there’s no way I’m going to pass up eating quality, unique and worldly food.

I have 5 years personal in restaurant experience as either a waiter or a chef, and local eating experiences at Bay Area, Central Coast or Santa Monica joints. I never really read restaurant reviews or reviewed my own (Yelp) until my move to NY. I was then introduced to the world of restaurant reviews with my subscription to Time Out NY and then expanded it to include reviews from Frank Bruni, eater.com, Gael Greene, and of course person-to-person reviews on Yelp.

This week Frank Bruni will be leaving the Times and has added a few parting thoughts comparing his favorites in and around New York. He notes some of my favorite restaurants in NY, including the Spotted Pig, Momofuku Ssam Bar, Prune, Minetta Tavern, Locanda Verde, Five Points, DBGB, Public, and PDT, and he’s given me a few more suggestions now for my next restaurant exploration. Give his last column a read.

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Rooftop, Weber, and Grilled Meats on a Stick – Sweet

I have always owned a BBQ grill. Living with my parents when I was younger, I grew up summers cooking food over the fire while camping and through out the years grilling in the back yard or in the streets with the neighbors. When I moved out, I bought a grill and had owned one in South Bay, Central Coast, and in Southern California, finally selling it on craigslist before moving to NY.

It’s probably the primary form of cooking I miss the most, so when I hear even a whisper of a BBQ, I’m either invited or finding a way to get invited to cook and enjoy some grilled meats. This summer, we had the opportunity to grill on the roof deck of several friends in NY and I hope that doesn’t end anytime soon…

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Why Americans love Olive Garden

Fast Company has an interesting post about Why American’s are addicted to Olive Garden….

It speaks to their success that the employee is as much a part of it as the customer experience. The “waiter, interacting with customers, shaping their dining experience, and getting rewarded for it” is integral to the dining experience at OG and it’s not far off from the reality of quality Fortune 500 companies. The Olive Garden brand is built around the notion that guests are treated like family, but Pickens knows that isn’t likely to happen unless employees feel like family too.

Customer feedback and market intelligence is another key to their brand strength They’re constantly polling their customers to get a touch for how the market changes and leveraging technology at every point in their operation to get real time visibility into sales, growth and inventory numbers to keep their operations business running at optimum.

Over the past two years, Darden has reduced unplanned hours by more than 40% and trimmed excess food costs by 10%. “We don’t want zero waste,” says White, “because we don’t want to run out of anything on the menu.” The goal is no more than 9% waste, and the system tells each restaurant how it’s doing.

Noted in this piece is that, today, the average American has 79 sit-down meals in restaurants per year, 16% fewer than 15 years ago, according to analyst Harry Balzer of market-research firm NPD Group. Meanwhile, the number of casual-dining restaurants has grown at roughly twice the rate of population. This is about 1.5 per week, and I just recently learned that San Francisco has the highest numbers of restaurant patrons of any city in the US. I’m sure NY is not far behind.

There was a minimal focus within the article about the food, except for the last statement “Red Lobster may be serving more grilled salmon and less fried flounder. But no one is messing with the cheese biscuits.” Sure those biscuits are great, but still not enough over take m desire for fresh pasta and Italian food or seafood from my favorite local spots over this chain.