Food

Food trends and recipes to keep menus fresh

Food

What customers are saying about the BK Minis

The introduction a few weeks ago of Burger King’s mini-sandwiches was relatively low-key, perhaps a reflection of the limited-time options not being completely new.

Food

Seasonal platings

Greg Atkinson was buying and promoting local foods long before it became the routine thing to do for top chefs. The former chef of Seattle’s Canlis then took time off from cooking in restaurants to teach culinary arts and write about food. Now Atkinson is back at the stove in his newly opened Marché on Bainbridge Island in Winslow, Wash., where he’s again preparing the most indigenous ingredients he can get his hands on.

August is a happy month in Minnesota, especially if “local and seasonal” is your mantra. “We have a short but very vigorous growing season, and August is when it peaks,” says Paul Lynch, chef at FireLake Grill House & Cocktail Bar at the Radisson Blu, Mall of America in Minneapolis.

A lot of places don’t bother with hot drinks because they can be difficult to execute, but it’s something we embrace,” says Bob McCoy, beverage programs liaison at Eastern Standard Kitchen & Drinks in Boston. “Not only do we offer five or six hot specialty drinks seasonally, but we are ready to prepare anything a guest might call for.”

Ethnic-inspired ingredients are stars of small plate and appetizer menus, and opportunities to expand on these popular offerings will continue into 2014, according to the “What’s Hot 2014 Culinary Forecast” compiled by the National Restaurant Association.

Forget carbs and cholesterol—“gluten” may be the dirtiest word among today’s health-conscious diners. Here’s a look at the ways operators are incorporating gluten-free options into their menus today.

As protein prices continue to climb, operators are taking a closer look at pasta to help balance food costs.

To offset beef prices, chefs are turning poultry into a center-of-the-plate signature.

A bunch of chef-driven upstarts intend to introduce Nashville’s unique style of fried chicken to consumers who’d welcome something better than the heat-lamped fast-food variety.

As chicken concepts proliferate, here’s how some operators are riffing on the standard chicken sandwich—whether by ruffling feathers at breakfast, adding an ethnic edge or stepping outside of their usual offerings.

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