Food
Food trends and recipes to keep menus fresh
Food
Pairings that please
Pairing food and beverages these days isn’t as clear cut as it once was. Recent reports find that consumers are looking beyond wine to beer, cocktails and even non-alcoholic options to pair with menu items. And the menu items that beverages are paired with today go well beyond steak and seafood—bar snacks, appetizers and vegetable entrées are also now prime pairing options.
Food
Delighting in dynamic duos
Given the array of Japanese whiskies and cocktails available at TanakaSan, a Seattle-based Asian-American concept, it’s no wonder that customers are brainstorming new food and beverage tandems. Interspersed among groups of eclectic dishes like Chilled Fish and Noodles are clusters of drinks like Sake Slushies and Shochu, inviting guests to enjoy food and beverage together.
Bison promoters like entrepreneur and rancher Ted Turner and restaurant executive George McKerrow Jr., co-founders of the 44-unit casual dining chain, Ted’s Montana Grill, are putting bison in the spotlight. Out to show that bison is a premium protein that tastes great, Ted’s menus specialties such as bison nachos, chili, burgers, short ribs and meatloaf.
A major topic of conversation in the restaurant industry over the past 18 months has been the continued rise in commodity prices, especially for proteins. In 2012, beef prices rose 9.9 percent and chicken prices had a double-digit increase. These trends have continued in 2013, with the beef price pressure continuing a trend that started in 2010.