The week in ideas, October 28, 2011
Hold on, Panera, this week somebody else lays claim to coming up with the pay-what-you-want idea. Elsewhere, restaurants get applause for helping out customers with food allergies, a crusading mom gets banned from McDonalds and a chain of gentlemen’s clubs gets an idea from the NBA lockout.
McDonald's Commits to Sourcing Sustainable Palm Oil
OAK BROOK, IL(October 19, 2011 - Marketwire)—McDonald's Corporation announced its membership in the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). This...
Connie Green, who gives herself the title “head huntress,” is a professional forager and the author of The Wild Table (Viking Studio, 2010). In the wee hours of the morning, she sets out from her Napa Valley home to hunt down exotic mushrooms and other wild ingredients for picky chefs and top restaurants. We sat down with Green to find out exactly what a professional forager does.
The inaugural NolaLoyola: Live to Eat, a scholarly symposium celebrating the culture of New Orleans, culminated in a candid restaurant discussion that had the audience laughing. Iconic local food figures Leah Chase of Dooky Chase Restaurant, JoAnn Clevenger of Upperline Restaurant, and Ti Martin of Commander's Palace related their experiences with the wit and straightforward charm one expects from New Orleans restaurateurs.
At every step, a chef controls the flavor of a dish. At the same time, every chef is limited by his or her customers’ expectations and what they are willing to pay. Regardless of what type of budget or kitchen is at the chef’s command, any cook worth his or her salt knows that a mediocre chef can ruin high-quality, expensive ingredients, but a talented chef can turn ordinary or inexpensive ingredients into something fabulous.