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Biography

Nancy Kruse

Nancy Kruse is a menu maven and president of The Kruse Company. She is a well known and highly regarded expert on menu trends. Her monthly State of the Plate column provides insight into the trends influencing menu innovation.

Articles by
Nancy Kruse

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Financing

Are restaurants pricing themselves out of the good life?

Sweet & Sour: Columnists Peter Romeo and Nancy Kruse consider if menu pricing has hit the red zone. Someone check with a customer, quick.

Food

Rabbit bounces back on restaurant menus

State of the Plate: RB Menu Trends Columnist Nancy Kruse says this is the Year of the Rabbit on some restaurant menus. But despite the protein's advantages, it will likely remain a niche item.

Operations

Reports of mid-market restaurants' death may be greatly exaggerated

Sweet & Sour: The pandemic has fostered doubts about the viability of mid-priced dining. But isn’t the pandemic fading fast?

Operations

The attacks on ServSafe badly need a scrubbing

Sweet & Sour: Critics are blasting the life-saving program as a con job. They apparently prefer to kill the truth instead of germs.

Food

When a brand you admire drops the ball on customer service

State of the Plate: Restaurants are in the relationship business. But as Menu Trends Columnist Nancy Kruse recently discovered, that connection can sometimes get lost.

Food

How restaurants can make their post-holiday menus more fruitful

State of the Plate: Chefs have a long runway of opportunity to use more fruit in their cold-weather menus, in both sweet and savory dishes.

Food

Red sauce, milkshakes and bologna masks: Nancy and Peter’s 2022 dining adventures

Sweet & Sour: Here’s what the veteran trend spotters say they’ll remember most from the year that's ending. Slice of Spam, anyone?

Food

Restaurants are turning everything into doughnuts

State of the Plate: Menu trends columnist Nancy Kruse examines the rapidly evolving doughnut, as chains big and small get innovative with the humble treat.

Workforce

Call the scrap yard. We have a labor model to be picked up.

Sweet & Sour: The restaurant business has grappled with labor challenges for about 40 years now, but never a situation as trying as the current one. It’s time to rethink the very nature of restaurant work.

Food

Filipino cuisine finally gets its day in the sun

State of the Plate: Filipino cuisine has long been predicted to be the "next big thing." RB's menu trends columnist says it finally may be happening.

Food

Horchata follows churros onto restaurant menus

Nancy Kruse: This month's look at restaurant menu trends examines the popularity of the plant-based beverage, which also shines in more sophisticated items like cakes.

Food

Want to find top cooking talent? Here's one place to look

Nancy Kruse: The CNIC Culinary Competition showcases top cooking talent from the U.S. Navy, which could be a fertile ground for restaurants looking for people experienced in a high-volume, high-pressure environment.

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