When it comes to the word, “artisanal” and what actually qualifies something as such can be up to much debate. Artisan, itself, refers to something created by a skill craftsperson. Some people have their own standards, for instance, on what artisanal bread should consist of and how it is prepared (mainly limited ingredients, and baked in small batches). Our recent experience at a Southern California bakery has been stirring up a bread craze since ’08.

85°C Bakery

A long line that spans out of the door is usually a good sign at a restaurant.

Let’s take a look at 85°C bakery. No, don’t whip out your thermometer; we’re speaking of the utterly popular Taiwanese bakery/café chain (also known as the “Starbucks of Taiwan”) that has a whopping 607 locations around the globe. In the U.S., however, there are only two store locations (Irvine, California and Hacienda Heights, California). This relatively unknown (to Americans) behemoth was founded in 2004 by tea shop owner Wu Cheng-Hsueh and operated by Gourmet Master Co., Ltd., grosses an estimated$200 million in annual revenue.

So, is this just an Asian version of Starbucks? No, not really. And this differentiation can contribute to most of their success. They don’t just sell coffee, a small selection of baked goods and the featured CD of the month (sound familiar?)– they sell a vast assortment of freshly baked breads (their specialty), savory and sweet, an variety of teas and coffee as well as desserts. We are  suckers for their Hawaiian pizza bread -a moist, buttery bread with melted mozzarella cheese, pineapples, and moist chicken. At their Irvine location, there are an impressive 2689 reviews and 1146 photos posted and counting on Yelp! It’s not unusual to see people loading up their trays to the max with these goodies and lines that stretch out the door.

Why the massive popularity? Again, their vast selection of goodies from coconut bread and sweet taro bread, to beverages like almond milk tea and their famous sea salt coffee, offers guests different, exciting flavors and some familiar favorites like garlic bread, cream cheese brioche and mocha cake.

Best of all, the prices are very fair. Their beverages run about $2.50 for a medium size and nearly all of their bread offerings are only $1.00 – $3.75. And those long lines? Well, thanks to a big staff and efficient process (for large crowds, a staff member allows a few people in at a time where guests grab a tray, some tongs and pick out what they want, buffet style and off to pay they go. Plus there are two separate lines, ones for drinks and the other for food), on most non-high traffic days and hours (i.e. lunch time or the weekends), you’re likely to wait just 10 minutes to start selecting your food. Even in spite of the varying wait times, people keep coming back for more.

We recommend trying a few of these favorite menu items from 85°C Bakery:

Breads

• taro bread
• cream cheese brioche
• milk pudding bun
• garlic cheese bread
• green onion roll
• tuna danish
• maple syrup toast
• red bean bread
• coconut twist
• berrytale blueberry bun
• chocolate bread loaf
• cherry pinwheel

Cakes and desserts

• creme brulee cake
• mango panna cotta
• tiramisu cake
• blueberry cheesecake
• egg custard
• walnut tart
• fruit tart
•  mango blossom

Beverages

• grapefruit iced tea
•  sea salt coffee
• sea salt jasmine green tea
• almond milk tea
• hot caramel milk tea
• passion fruit black tea

Have you tried 85°C yet? Do you find there’s real quality there or do you think it’s all overhyped? Leave us your comments!

There are numerous reasons people choose to pass on milk – plant-based milks are great replacements for those with milk allergies, lactose intolerance, genetic disorder PKU (phenylketonuria), vegan lifestyles, or those seeking overall healthier choices (good nutritional value with no hormones or antibiotics sometimes found in cow’s milk).

Almond milk, for example, is rich in protein, omega fatty acids, calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium and zinc while containing no cholesterol or saturated fats.

“Currently, the most commonly known and popular of the commercial plant milks is soymilk. Following in consumer recognition and consumption are almond milk, rice milk and coconut milk, in that order of preference. Additionally, hemp milk, oat milk, hazelnut milk, flax milk, sunflower milk and multigrain milk are available at the retail level, although they enjoy only a very minor market share.”Read the rest here.

These alternative milks have made their way into recipes as well. Not only are they great to drink but excellent in cooking, even baking!

Coconut milk

You are probably used to seeing cartons of soy, rice and almond milk in the refrigerated section of your favorite grocery store, but have you checked the international foods or Asian aisle yet? You’ll likely find canned coconut milk though it’s generally not meant as a dairy drink substitute. Very popular in Asian cuisine, coconut milk (which is the juice derived from grated coconut meat), is used in a number of popular dishes like curry, for instance. It is a ubiquitous ingredient found in dishes from countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysian, Philippines, Burma, India, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and even Brazil, Caribbean islands, Polynesian islands and Pacific islands.

In terms of nutrition, coconut milk contains high levels of saturated fat (actually, it is rich is medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs), which the body processes differently than other saturated fats and is known to promote weight maintenance without raising cholesterol levels) and calories. This is mainly true for the canned variety, however, these days, there are newer coconut beverages with better nutritional profiles, like the So Delicious® Coconut Milk Beverage.

Check out this video tutorial on cooking Panang curry (Thai traditional dish) featuring the use of Aroy-D brand coconut milk. Looking for some other uses of coconut milk? Run a YouTube search query for cooking with coconut milk and you’ll see how popular this ingredient is, with nearly 2,800 video results!

With these current trends, it is highly advisable to incorporate milk alternatives into your restaurant menu in order to accommodate your guests’ differing needs.

Happy New Year!

By now all of you must be hunkering down to see what the next year will bring, whether you embrace the view of some that we’re still stuck in the economic doldrums, or that the situation is finally taking a turn for the better.

One thing’s for certain: Mobility, as in on-the-move cash registers and iPad-based menus, will be more important than ever in the coming year, as our technology guru Michael Reynaga explains.

And the fast casual segment will continue to drive both growth and innovation of a kind we’re only just beginning to appreciate. Take a look at some of the companies we’ve showcased in Fast Casual Concepts to Watch.

And we’ve also got the second installment of Joan Lang’s Top 12 Trends for 2012, covering more of the leading-edge developments including Urban Rusticity, American Taverns and Next-Wave Mexican. One of the most intriguing trends, to our way of thinking, is the way restaurant creators are researching into the past (see History Repeats Itself) to create concepts, décor, service styles and menus, proving that everything old is new again—and there is something new under the sun.

To your success,

Dean and Danny

Food Trends: 12 for ’12, Part II

By Joan Lang

In last month’s newsletter, we presented the first six of our Top 12 Trends for 2012, from better burgers, hot dogs, pizza and sandwiches to artisan meats and the gluten-free craze. This month: the final six.

7. Rustic is the New Sophisticated

Barn-board walls and dry-aged ribeyes, communal tables and housemade pickles, spit-roasted meats and top-of-the-line cocktail programs: the common thread is urban-rustic. Brooklyn’s new Buschenschank is a case in point, with its Tyrolean tavern atmosphere and its menu celebrating the hearty, comforting fare of the out-of-the-way Alto Adige (fondue, oxtail stew, the bread dumplings known as speckknodel) region of Italy. It’s all part of the anti-upscale restaurant revolution that’s no less attractive to the foodie populace for its lack of apparent sophistication. Many of these restaurants are, not surprisingly, farm-to-table or ethnic or both, bringing a folksy local/sustainable ethos to the world’s indigenous peasant cuisines. Around the country there are restaurants opening like Cotogna, Michael Tusk’s “celebration of rustic Italian cuisine” in San Francisco and Tavernita in Chicago. And Brendan Sodikoff, the chef/owner of Au Cheval, also in Chicago, proudly describes the restaurant as “rough around the edges” and “the opposite of modern,” with a menu that will include bacon steak, potato hash as a bed for the likes of duck-tongue confit, and even a fried bologna sandwich.

8. Retail-Segment Blurring

As if the competition weren’t vicious enough between restaurant concepts, retailers are coming on strong with their own designs on the away-from-home food dollar. Recent research from Technomic, in fact, suggests that consumers no longer see much difference between meals picked up at fast food outlets and those from convenience stores. Small wonder that c-stores and grocery stores are pouring efforts into prepared foods, including Spartan Stores with its $3.99 packaged school lunches and The Empire Hy-Vee in Sioux Falls, which hired a fulltime chef this summer to not only develop recipes but also oversee food displays, conduct demos, teach cooking classes and act as a general resource to shoppers. Meanwhile, City Provisions in Chicago may have the formula to strike back with a concept that combines a retail deli with catering, supper clubs and a dine-in menu.

9. The New American Tavern

Is it a bar or a restaurant? Call it a draw, this newest iteration of the gastropub/bar- and-grill that places equal emphasis on food and beverages, aiming to be a casual neighborhood gathering spot for repeat visits and multiple locations. Often characterized by lots of beer and wine-by-the-glass, serious mixology, and a food menu of small plates and shareables—plus a name that recalls the classic British tied-house—these new-wave “locals” are popping up all over the place:
• The Beagle and Jones Wood Foundry, New York City
• Plan Check, Los Angeles
• Blokes & Birds, Chicago
• The Nose Dive, Greenville, SC
• Monk’s Kettle, San Francisco
• Back Bay Social Club, Boston

10. Next Wave Mex

First it was Sonoran, then Tex-Mex, followed by upscale or “modern Mexican,” and now finally the hipster taqueria and tequila bar has arrived to show gringos what it’s all about: not sloppy enchiladas but sophisticated street-style antojitos (filled with the likes of carnitas and suckling pig) and top-shelf spirits. Richard Sandoval, who along with Rick Bayless helped to pioneer the acceptance of Mexico as a haven for serious cuisine, has Zenga Zenga in Snowmass Village, CO. The northern foodie town of Portland, ME, has not one but three new places for tacos and tequila: El Rayo, Zapoteca, and Taco Escabar. Tacolicious and Mosto recently opened in San Francisco to showcase tacos, tamales, and dozens of different kinds of tequilas. Cantina Feliz and La Calaca Feliz are doing the same in the Philadelphia area. And “Top Chef” Mike Isabella is working on Bandolero in Washington, as we reported in last month’s newsletter.

11. American Regional: Southern and Barbecue

Way down south there’s flavor, comfort and authenticity, all things that are welcome just about everywhere. Thus the wave of openings in traditional barbecue and soul-food wastelands like Boston and San Francisco, which has seen a regular boom of Southern/BBQ restaurants in recent months, from Tupelo and Southpaw to the upcoming Dancing Pig and Hops & Hominy. “Top Chef” fave Tiffani Faison has had an instant hit in Boston with her new Sweet Cheeks Q, with roves the barbecue belt with ribs, brisket, pulled pork, classic sides like hush puppies and broccoli-cheese casserole plus a whole shelf full of small-batch bourbons. Other winners in the Southern hit parade on menus all over the country include pimento cheese, shrimp and grits, fried chicken (with or without waffles), pork belly, sweet tea, oysters, muffaletta sandwiches, gumbo and fried green tomatoes.

12. History Repeats Itself

Whether it all started with research into Speakeasy-era cocktails or authentic regional American foods, one of the latest-wave food trends is a look back at the classics with an eye to a contemporary twist. One of the most high-profile by far is America Eats Tavern in DC, José Andrés’s painstakingly researched paean to the history of American food, from “Vermicelli Prepared Like Pudding, Philadelphia, 1802” to “Shrimp in Grapefruit Cocktail, Irma Rombauer, Joy of Cooking, 1931”; if you only follow one link in this article, click on this. The brand-new Saloon in Somerville, MA, is styled as a pre-Prohibition-style tavern with small plates, brown drinks and old-timey atmosphere. And in New York City, there’s One Mile House, paying tribute to the days when the Bowery was a jumble of saloons (pre Prohibition that is), with such immigrant-chic fare as pierogies, matzo balls, and schnitzel sliders, plus scads of cocktails and interesting tap beers. And the owners of Torrisi Italian Specialties, which has already broken ground with its reverential Italo-American paesano pre-fixe menu, spent hours poring over the New York Public Library’s extensive collection of historic menus preparing to morph their original restaurant into an Olde New York mashup.

If you need help keeping your menu on-trend, contact Synergy for more information.

Technology: Going Mobile in 2012

By Michael Regynaga, Senior Project Manager

Ah, 2012! If sci-fi movies have taught us anything, it’s that the future we once dreamed about is finally here—give or take a flying car and personal jetpacks.

But don’t let the lack of flying cars bring you down; in fact, everyone in the hospitality industry should be excited, because the industry as a whole has never been quicker to adapt to advances in technology.

For the past decade we’ve had the luxury of being able to get information when we wanted it, no matter where we were, thanks to mobile devices. We could book airline flights, order a pizza, or even send Grandma a bouquet of flowers all from the screen of our smartphones. And now the restaurant industry has adopted mobile devices as a viable option to replace current versions of the common POS system.

Many restaurants are experimenting with using mobile devices as menus and cash registers. In addition there’s an influx of third-party mobile platforms that work in conjunction with standard POS systems. These systems can be used to “dress up” tableside ordering devices to highlight menu items through the use of interactive graphics. Some restaurants, including Stacked, use an iPad as an interactive menu to allow guests to customize their food. At Stacked, guests can “drag & drop” toppings onto burgers to create their own culinary masterpiece, and then send their creation straight to the kitchen when they’re ready to order. The result is an increased check average and a speedier throughput for the restaurant.

Using technology isn’t just limited to increasing sales. Systems like the ISISPOS are an example of how a little innovation mixed with current technology can help reduce startup costs as well. Using an iPad as the primary terminal device, ISISPOS will allow staff to clock in/out, place orders, and carry out transactions with an easy-to-use interface. In addition to the mobility of using an iPad to carry out daily functions, the ISIS back-office system runs on a hosted web-server that can be accessed from anywhere there’s internet access. This allows mangers to view real-time sales information, conduct payroll, or perform a void from anywhere through their smartphone or computer. Currently being used in more than 150 restaurants, ISISPOS has helped restaurants lower their IT start-up costs by 60-70% over traditional systems.

Although we’re standing at the forefront of a digital revolution within the restaurant industry, one thing will remain certain: Technology, no matter how amazing, can never replace the genuine hospitality that a person can provide. Technology should be used as an amendment to service, not a replacement.

For more information on how you can incorporate technology to help your restaurant’s business please contact Synergy Restaurant Consultants.

Fast Casual Concepts to Watch

By Joan Lang

It’s no secret that there’s a lot of action in the fast casual segment right now, as upscale quick-service chains like Five Guys, Chipotle and Panera grab the growth away from more traditional fast feeders like Burger King, Taco Bell and Subway. In fact, while many experts expect a still-moribund restaurant economy for 2012—Technomic forecasts 2.5 percent nominal growth and zero real growth in 2012—the fast casual arena is predicted to be a lone bright spot.

Fast casual is also the segment that defines some of the most interesting menu and design concepts, from healthy, eco-conscious formats like LYFE Kitchen to Pizza Inn’s new Pie Five Pizza Co., which promises custom-made, “handcrafted pizza in less than five minutes.”

Here are some other nascent fast casual chains we’re singling out, for creativity, promise or both:

Fresco Wood Fired Italian Kitchen – Trading off the popularity of rustic Italian cooking, Beautiful Brands (best known for the 84-unit Camille’s Sidewalk Café) is launching Fresco Wood Fired Italian Kitchen, where handcrafted, chef-inspired food meets fast-casual convenience. Designing the concept around the woodburning oven brings a distinctive touch to both the décor (which features and open design and exhibition prep) and the menu, which will include such made-from-scratch pastas as Pasta Santa Caterina (spaghetti with fresh chopped tomatoes, oregano, parsley, garlic, basil, and grated Parmesan); Marinated Chicken Panini with oven roasted tomatoes, arugula, lemon, and Asiago; and Fresco Wood Fired Pizza with pepperoni, Italian sausage, fresh rosemary, and crushed red pepper.

Meatballs – Star-chef Michel Richard may not be the first person to double down on this new-wave comfort food classic, but he’s certainly one of the most high-profile. The toque behind Citronelle has opened the new meatball-centric eatery in Washington, DC, as both an affordable destination (the menu offers lamb, beef, chicken, crab and lentil balls with a choice of sauces and served on hoagie rolls or in pastas and salads, accompanied by the tater-tot-like “spuddies”) and a future franchise vehicle. The counter-service restaurant features an open kitchen and urban-chic dining room with bentwood chairs and marble tables, so it’s a good step or five nicer looking than standard fast food.

Steak ‘n Shake – Another burger place, even in burger-crazy Manhattan? Well, this time it’s Steak ‘n Shake, the iconic Midwestern diner , going fast-casual for the Big Apple. In addition to its signature Classic Steakburgers with “Wisconsin melted butter,” the new flagship counter-service version will feature beer and wine and upgraded offerings like burgers made with ribeye and NY Steak. It should be enough for the irony-loving hipoisie to embrace

Umami Burger – Among the legion of “better burger” concepts that have sprung up in recent years, this seven-unit California-based is one of the hippest, showcasing the DYI gestalt by grinding its own meat, pickling its own vegetables, and even processing its own cheese. Burgers are seriously gourmet (Port & Stilton Burger, anyone) and there’s wine by the glass or bottle and lots of trendy craft and draft beers. The sleek, one-of-a-kind quarters and such amenities as espresso and great desserts make Umami Burger even more appealing. No wonder GQ’s Alan Richman called it The Burger of the Year.

Wow Bao – Lettuce Entertain You’s five-unit “hot Asian buns” concept may not be a high-speed growth vehicle, but it’s become a cult phenomenon thanks to its smarty-pants Twitter avatar, @BaoMouth. As the voice of Wow Bao, @BaoMouth monitors the web for fans and reaches out to them directly, with offers for free bao dumplings, news about the company and even general observations—like whether or not an Emmy award winner’s shoes match her dress. Wow Bao’s brilliantly viral social media strategy also includes online ordering via Facebook (thus ensuring that each customer’s friends also know about the order); check-in giveaways; and a secret-word-of-the-day feature that gets fans back to Wow Bao’s Facebook page every Wednesday in search of deals. In addition, there’s an iPhone app; mobile gift cards; a roving bao truck; electronic ordering kiosks; and even a rotating onsite QR code program good for free samples of the traditional steamed dumplings known as bao.

Zoës Kitchen – The vaunted Mediterranean diet goes mainstream via this 38-unit, Birmingham, AL, franchise, which touts “Simple. Tasty. Fresh.” Food based on such wholesome staples as fresh vegetables, chicken, olive oil and feta cheese. Zoës menu offerings include convenient takeout tubs, Dinners for Four, and boxed lunches, as well as soups, salads, pita and roll-up sandwiches and other light fare. A new program adds gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian offerings to its heart-healthy roster.

Tip of the Month

Many chefs and operators today are taking their inspiration from historic and regional cookbooks and old menus. If that’s a route you want to consider, here are some resources worth considering.

The New York Public Library maintains an extensive collection of old menus, cookbooks, gastronomy guides and recipes

“Old Recipe Books for Basic Home Cooking” is the theme of this intriguing website

Jan Whitaker has spent years researching restaurants throughout history, with results collected in her blog Restaurant-ing Through Histor

These two sites—History Cookbook and hearthbook.com—organize content by era, from Prehistoric to modern times

Taco bell had hired Lorena Garcia, one of the country’s leading Latina chefs, to revamp the menu. Read more on Taco Bell here.

In many cases, repositioning your restaurant starts with the menu. Have you analyzed what your menu offers with regards to your target market? How do you feel your menu is performing amongst your competitors? If you’d like your menu assessed, contact Synergy.

Most notably, these ancient grains are revered for their great nutritional benefits. Quinoa is particularly high in protein and also contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans.

While working with LYFE Kitchen, we wanted to incorporate these healthy grains into a flavorful gourmet dish. The result is Tal’s Ancient Grain Bowl, which has been a hit amongst seekers of healthful and tasty food. Containing stir-fried gardein* tips and vegetables over whole grain farro and quinoa with sweet chile-ginger sauce, Tal’s Ancient Grain Bowl is just 559 calories and 646 mg of sodium – a truly wholesome and delicious choice.

Want to read more on the healthy benefits of ancient grains? See this article here.

LYFE Kitchen: Tal’s Ancient Grain Bowl

Have you had a great experience  at LYFE Kitchen? Please share it with us!

When we walked into LYFE, the energy in the restaurant was beautiful and peaceful. There was a nice size crowd, it was decorated with comfortable couches and or love seats and chairs. The space was open. Everyone was smiling and laughing. There is a beautiful herb garden growing there by the register/ordering area. The kitchen is open and you can see them cooking. There are inspiring quotes printed on the walls. The whole place just makes you want to take a deep breath and really in-joy “LYFE”. Read the whole post from this LYFER

What’s the difference between a flex-casual restaurant and a fast-casual restaurant? The main difference is that a flex-casual restaurants main objective is to provide guests with the convenience of counter ordering by day and full service at night, whereas fast-casual typically only offers counter ordering. In other words, you can think of “flex-casual” as a cross between fast-casual and casual dining.

At flex-casual restaurants, a busy executive pressed for time can grab a quick lunch,or a couple seeking a more intimate setting may choose the same restaurant for a nice dinner that evening. This dining strategy presents an opportunity for restaurants to capture both economical-minded guests at lunch while profiting from higher priced dinner menus.

The Wolfgang Puck Bistro, Mama Fu’s and Russo’s New York Pizzeria have modeled their dining category after this concept.

Mama Fu’s Brand Overview

Gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches are all the craze right now in New York. At Artisinal, you can indulge in “The Frenchie,” a sandwich of melted bried, mushrooms and black truffles for $19.50. Or perhaps you’d like to try Little Muenster’s grilled cheese made with French sourdough, gruyer, chevre, leek confit and pancetta, for $8.75.

Not your everyday, run-of-the-mill grilled cheeses, spots like Balthazar and Breslin have tapped into the upscale grilled-cheese niche. The Mark’s Croque madame, a grilled cheese variation, is an impressive $18.

But there are even restaurants that have dedicated their whole menu to this favorite comfort food niche. Little Muenster in New York City tagline is “super fancy grilled cheese.” and their menu certain reflects that. According to this NY Post’s article on the grilled cheese craze, Little Muenster sells about 200 – 300 of their sandwiches per day on the weekend, an impressive for a smaller operation.

Read more here.

How much would you be willing to pay for a gourmet grilled cheese?

The Grilled Cheese Truck at UCLA – the cravings aren’t just in New York!

National chains such as like IHOP, Applebee’s and yes, even Dairy Queen and Baskin-Robbins, are offering their guests low-cal menu items.

According to the Center for Disease Control, one-third of Americans are obese. With menus like “Simple & Fit” (IHOP), “BRight Choices frozen yogurt line” (Baskin-Robbins), and “Wok Smart” options (Panda Express), many consumers looking seeking a healthier alternative will now be met with more selection.

Read more here: Restaurants roll out low-cal menu items

Greetings!

The end of the year is upon us, and that means all the annual wrap-ups, best-of’s and best guesses for next year are being published. With this month’s and next month’s newsletter, we’ll be sharing some of our collective thinking on what the important food trends will be in the coming year, based on what we’ve been seeing, hearing, tasting, and drinking in the last few months. The list runs from the ongoing importance of menu items like burgers and pizza to the new fascination with nose-to-tail sourcing.

And we’ll continue with more trends next month. In addition to food trends, we’ve also got some ideas for increasing your beverage sales at a time when many customers are saying “Just water, please.” Creative nonalcoholic beverage items can represent a significant source of incremental sales and lasting customer satisfaction. And if you care about your corporate culture—and you should—make sure to read out colleague Morreen Bayles’s article on how to create a good one.

Wishing you all a safe, healthy and profitable holiday season.

To your success,

Dean and Danny

Food Trends: 12 for ’12, Part I

By Joan Lang

This is the time of year for reflecting on what’s happened in the past 12 months, and looking forward to the possibilities for the next 12. For many of our peers, that means predicting what some of the food trends will be for 2012. Here are Synergy’s.

The Big Three: Burgers, Dogs and Pizza These value-laced favorites have proven themselves to be blank canvases for the creativity of operators—and the seemingly unending craving of consumers.

1. Burgers: As stripped-down “better burger” franchises like Five Guys and Smashburger continue their march across America, new players are keeping the pressure on.  B.A.D. Burgers/Breakfast All Day charges into Manhattan with its huge and trendy menu (Chicken-and-waffles! Five kinds of burger patties! Dozens of a la carte sauce and toppings options!). Coal Burger in Scottsdale bases its burgers on the coal-fired ovens that made parent company Grimaldi’s Pizzeria famous. Not to be outdone, established chains are ramping up their burger offerings: witness Whataburger’s new Green Chile Double, which ran systemwide as an LTO earlier this year.

2. Hot Dogs and Sausage: Where hamburgers go, hot dogs follow, joined by sausages reflective of the growing interest in charcuterie and other housemade meat products. Brats, bangers, even bologna are getting the handcrafted treatment: Kupersmith, on Manhattan’s Lower East Side—a project of eight School of Visual Arts students—emblemizes the trend with a mix-and-match menu  of housemade sausages and crafty suds.

3. Pizza: Neapolitan, Provencal-style, grilled, wood-fired, coal-fired, round, square, deep-fried. Topped with everything from fried eggs and Benton’s bacon to handmade mozz and heirloom tomatoes, artisan-style pizzerias are sprouting up everywhere there’s 00 flour and a customer base. Serious Eats’ exhaustive/obsessive weblog Slice is getting a real workout staying up with the volume.

4. Sandwich Generation Hasta la vista, ham and cheese: You’ve been edged out by everything from Vietnamese banh mi and Italian porchetta sandwiches to gourmet grilled cheese and media noche panini. The sandwich category is attracting serious chefs with ambitious culinary philosophies who want to make their food more accessible to time- and wallet-challenged food lovers. Take Charles Kelsey of Cutty’s in Brookline, MA, who has channeled his CIA education and 12 years of experience working at upscale restaurants into a quick-casual concept that dispenses the likes of the Spuckie (a muffaletta-like mélange of fennel salami, hot capicola, mortadella, mozzarella, and olive-carrot salad on ciabatta) and the Ham Pimento (Niman Ranch ham, Southern-style pimiento spread and sweet pickles and baguette).

5. Butchers Get Star Status

The whole nose-to-tail cooking thing (housemade salumi, heritage pigs, and crispy pig tails) has reached its natural next step in the whole “craft butcher” movement, in which many of the meat cutters are or were chefs. The new Butcher and Larder in Chicago, for instance, is run by husband-and-wife chefs whose resumes include some of the Windy City’s finest restaurants. In New Orleans, John’s Besh’s Cochon Butcher not only supplies his other restaurants, but also serves as both a retail and restaurant profit center in its own right. In a reverse move, Prather Ranch Meat Co. is opening a restaurant adjacent to its shop in San Francisco’s Ferry Building. And the uber-hip Marlow & Sons in Brooklyn has begat not only an onsite general store, but also the nearby Marlow & Daughter for grass-fed beef, humanely raised pigs, and all kinds of sausage—the skins are even sent to a tannery to be turned into sustainable leather tote bags.

6. Gluten-Free Gets a Jolt A recent article in the New York Times entitled “Should We All Go Gluten-Free?” shows just how mainstream the disinclination to eat gluten has become—a trend that savvy restaurant operators have not failed to note. In fact, according to Technomic, menu items billed as “gluten-free” increased by 61% between 2010 to 2011. Nowadays, many independents and chains alike sport special menus for celiac sufferers and the gluten-averse, including pizza and pasta concepts like Biaggi’s. Bakeries specialize in gluten-free cupcakes, websites like glutenfreetravelsite.com list restaurants around the country appealing to the gluten-sensitive, and with sales of such products topping $1.6 billion last year, according to Mintel, there’s no doubt that consumers will learn to expect this option more and more when they dine out. Get busy and get the wheat out.

Be sure to check our newsletter in January for Part II of the Food Trends article.

Pour Profits, Instead of Just Water

By Joan Lang

The recent “Beverages at Foodservice” study released by the NPD Group put numbers to a trend that many operators have known implicitly for quite some time: In an attempt to hold the line on expenditures, many consumers are ordering water instead of soda and brewed coffee. In fact, according to NPD, while traffic declined a relatively moderate 1% over the past five years, sales of these profitable but discretionary beverages are down a more significant 6%, representing more than 2.7 billion servings. And that’s some real coin.

The concurrent relative growth of other nonalcoholic categories, including smoothies, specialty coffee and even tried-and-true iced tea, indicates a targeted solution to the problem of customers saying: “Just water please.”

As Synergy’s Dean Small states in this article from Fast Casual, “When a guest buys lunch, they want a beverage, and if you don’t have a creative beverage strategy, they’ll not buy one or trade down to something basic.” That thinking is even more true today as the languid economy struggles into its fourth year.

If you haven’t branched out past the standard-issue beverage offerings of coffee-tea-or-cola, then you’re not doing your part to leverage a powerful source of profits and customer satisfaction. And remember that some people order tap water because they are avoiding calories and caffeine, so you need to take that into account as well when you offer options.

Iced tea and coffee, juices, flavored lemonade, and espresso-based specialties are obvious choices for building beverage sales, but here are some additional ideas for turning on the tap—for profit opportunities.

• Housemade sodas – Remember the old soda fountain? At their simplest, carbonated beverages are nothing more than fizz and flavor, and many clever operators are taking advantage of that fact by utilizing their soda gun or a cartridge-based carbonation system to create their own housemade sodas. At one sixtyblue in Chicago, the extensive beverage list includes housemade sodas flavored with the likes of cara cara orange, pineapple and elderflower, priced at $5. Making sodas in house opens up a range of flavor frontiers, from familiar root beer and chocolate to more exotic products like fennel-cardamom, many of which are designed to be more food friendly than standard cola or lemon-lime.

• Local and regional specialties. The age of artisanship has led to a revived interest in local and small-batch bottled sodas and other beverages, whether traditional favorites or newly minted. At American Eats Tavern, José Andrés’s newest creation, in Washington, DC, the selection of nonalcoholic possibilities includes Moxie from Maine, North Carolina’s Cheerwine, Boylan’s cola and diet cola from New Jersey, and other old-fashioned regional favorites that fit with the restaurant’s American-heritage menu format.

• Seasonal beverages. The possibilities for seasonal offerings go beyond hot beverages in cold weather and coolers in summer. Coffee specialists like Dunkin’ Donuts display considerable genius with hot and cold options that tap into seasonally popular flavors like Gingerbread or Iced Peppermint in December and Tropicana® Orange & Blue Raspberry in the summer. The fact that these season-sensitive beverages respond so well to promotion is absolutely no coincidence.

• Special-teas. The world of tea is, if anything, even more prone to geekdom than coffee, with hundreds of different varieties that tea lovers are rushing to sample. From the fairly standard categories of black, green, and oolong to super-specialized products like exotic flowering white tea, chai (a category of spiced tea beverages), rooibos and other herbal teas, tea-like infusions like hyssop, matcha (a finely milled green tea popular in Japan), and lapsang souchong (smoked tea), this is a category that can educate and delight for a lifetime.

• Customized specialties. A recent SmartBlog on Restaurants post heralded the age of customer specification for beverages, just as build-your-own pizza and mix-and-match sandwiches have put food menus in the consumer’s hands. If you have syrups, juices, bitters and other flavorings on-hand for specialty coffee, these increasingly available products can also be offered as add-ons to other types of beverages, from steamed milk and hot chocolate to lemonade and old-fashioned phosphates. In addition to providing more flavor for the customer, these additions can support premium or a la carte pricing.

• “Healthy halo” beverages. Tea has long been considered a health-giving elixir, and juices and smoothies are another natural when it comes to tapping in to healthy messaging for beverages, but there are other options as well. Natural sweeteners like agave syrup, honey and stevia are supplanting sugar and sugar substitutes in a variety of different refreshers, and fruits and vegetables with purported anti-oxidant powers—like pomegranate and acai—have also become more popular. At LYFE Kitchen, a healthy-foods concept that Synergy Restaurant Consultants helped to develop, the beverage menu includes a variety of healthy beverages both bottled and housemade, including coconut water, pomegranate-cranberry juice, and the Cucumber-Mint Cooler (purified water with slices of fresh cucumber, mint and lemon).

Need help making your beverage menu more interesting and customer-friendly? Synergy Restaurant Consultants can provide a free evaluation.

How to create culture

By Morreen Rukin Bayles, President, Creative Restaurant Solutions

Culture: It’s one of those concepts that is so hard to define because it’s not tangible like an employment application, a training manual, or a performance review.  Culture is not something you can touch, but it certainly is something you can feel, whether it is present or absent.  It’s the fiber that weaves together a team and it’s exhibited in the way managers and employees interact with one another and with the guest or customer they serve.  It’s the energy, attitude, and support evident in these interactions.

Creating a productive, effective culture takes time, focus, and consistency.  Because culture sets you apart from your competition, it’s critical to take the time to thoroughly define it and thread it through all aspects of the employment life cycle.  To create a distinctive culture, use the following tips:

• Start with your organization’s mission, purpose, and value, then define the behaviors required to deliver them 100% of the time.

• Determine the energy and “feeling” for your concept from the perspective of the managers, employees, and consumer.  How will you be different from your competitors?  What unique behaviors must occur to provide this differentiation?

• Identify, by position, the actionable tasks necessary to provide the desired level of service, and include those behavioral components in the job definitions.

• Create hiring tools that identify the type of person who can perform the required tasks while naturally exhibiting the desired behaviors.  This is essential because it’s easy to train the tasks required for the job, but nearly impossible to train the behaviors.  For example, many companies conduct pre-hire assessments that test for their desired behaviors.  Others conduct behavioral interviews where you ask the candidate to imagine themselves in realistic scenarios and see how they would react. Provide training to the professions using the hiring tools to ensure they use them consistently and appropriately.

• Conduct an orientation that exemplifies the culture with every new employee.  Make sure the orientation involves interaction, activities, and introductions to all other team members.  At the end of the orientation day, if new employees don’t feel inspired and welcome, you can guarantee they will turnover quickly.

• Provide training heavily weighted toward hands-on practice and involvement with other team members.  Validate the effectiveness of training with hands-on demonstrations and activities.  Make it as “real-life” as possible.  Allow for flexibility in the number of hours required for training based on the team member’s ability to demonstrate the behaviors and tasks.

• Create an environment based on acknowledging positive behavior.  Recognize and reward managers and employees who foster the culture.  Rewards can be as simple as a shout out at a pre-shift meeting, to a hand-written thank you note, to a small gift card.  It doesn’t have to be much, but it should be given publicly to motivate others to strive for the desired behaviors. How can you identify these people?  Just look at their results.  In an environment where culture is strong and delivered consistently, retention and sales are usually up, while costs and complaints are down.

• Incorporate cultural components into performance reviews and make them just as important as the numeric results.

• Provide advancement opportunities to those who uphold the culture and get the results.

• Conduct culture surveys periodically to assess the reality of the day-to-day execution and perception of your organization’s culture.  Getting feedback from those who have to uphold the culture everyday is priceless.

Yes, all this takes time and effort.  But incorporating these suggestions is invaluable to the organization’s results and retention.  Paying attention to your culture will help to position  you for more profit and long-term success while creating a more enjoyable environment for the people you serve.

Tip of the Month

Have you decided to ramp up your selection of tea offerings? Congratulations: You’ve picked a subject that has kept people fascinated for thousands of years. Tea connoisseurship is every bit as specialized as the fields of wine or coffee, so you’ll need a few resources to get you started: Teausa.org represents the U.S. tea industry through the combined resources of The Tea Association of the USA, Inc., The Tea Council of the USA, and the Specialty Tea Institute.  Learn-About-Tea provides a good basic starting point for learning about the world’s many kinds of tea, their history, characteristics and benefits.

In Pursuit of Tea is beautiful retail site that includes ample information about the culture of tea, its health benefits and brewing tips.  This article on Tea Flavor Profiles from About.com takes a more flavor-based approach to tea selection, and includes links to more detailed entries.