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June 2008: NRA 2008
Flying from the UK to take in the delights of the National Restaurant Association (NRA) show in Chicago proved to be all that it promised. For four days it provided every opportunity for getting a real understanding of the culinary scene in Chicago, and America in general, through the exhibition, the educational sessions, back of house tours and some of the best eating experiences ever.
More than 71,500 visitors from 115 countries made it to the show to see what exhibitors had to offer and learn more from the education programme put on by the organisers. This year’s programme included 72 sessions, 18 culinary demos, a keynote address from Jim Skinner, vice chairman and chief executive officer of McDonald’s Corporation, as well as an appearance from the Republican candidate for president John McCain who spoke at the show.
All the sessions were presented by well known experts in their respective fields on priority issues, including recruitment and retention, cost control, technology integration, beverage alcohol and menu development, while the culinary demonstrations were presented by top chefs and restaurateurs from around the world.
Skinner’s speech gave an insight into the challenges foodservice operators are facing – particularly the rising cost of food. He said in the current economic climate it was impractical to preserve margins by simply raising prices, and it was important to find alternative ways. A key element of the fast food chain’s recent success had been its offer of ‘everyday affordability’: “It’s the most important thing right now with our customers, and you all know it. You have to find other areas of efficiencies than passing it on to your customers.”
He said the global situation for food supply and demand may be changing, with production unable to meet the basic levels of sustenance in some areas of the world, but that the problem could be eased by heightened attention to sustainability.
He stressed that McDonald’s had already committed its operations to sustainability, suggesting it was part of his mission to boost the public’s trust in the brand. But, in an apparent acknowledgement of the burger giant’s advantages of scale on green issues, he observed that “trust might look different for each of us”.
He said the challenge required collaborative thinking. “We’re all restaurateurs,” he said. “We all know the poetry of a well run kitchen. We all know the excitement of the rush at lunch. Competition is a fact of the business but none of us is as good as all of us.”
There were rumours flying around that the show may shift from Chicago to Las Vegas in the future and in response Greg Kirrish, NRA’s vice president sales and marketing, confirmed the contract for the show was up for grabs in 2011.
But he says there are only two other areas that could handle it – Orlando and Las Vegas. He thought the latter could hold it but believed there were concerns about the show being in a gambling environment. For now, he said, it was doing fine in Chicago and already there were more than 70 stands booked for 2009.
What was made abundantly clear at this year’s show was the huge shift towards green issues such as sustainability, organic and all natural, as well as many time saving initiatives designed to make life better, quicker and easier in the kitchen. There were still products designed to ease the age old obesity issue such as fat replacement technology and zero trans fat products, but the hottest trends included ‘green’ equipment, organic and sustainable food and beverages, and interactive technology.
There was even a Green Restaurant Association – dinegreen.com – and banners carrying slogans such as ‘up with flavour, down with gluten’. Five new products caught the eye of American TV – sake flavoured sorbet, an automatic pasta cooker and dispenser, a wireless waiter paging system, a talking menu and a wine ‘doggy’ bag – but there were many that could cross the pond to the UK (see page 78 for more NPD news).
When it came to sampling the city’s fine dining, Zed 451 in North Clark Street, Chicago, had only been open for a couple of weeks but had already made its mark. Based in the River North neighbourhood, it offers a fixed price concept allowing diners to have complete control of their meal from what they eat to when and how much.
People behind Zed 451 include the president of Tavistock Restaurants Brian Lockwood, who is based in San Francisco. Its British silent partner said it was the last restaurant he was going to do so it would be ‘Z’ something – the 451 came from the temperature of the meat in the kitchen.
This is the first launch of the restaurant concept, and the first in Chicago. Inspired by Brazilian style dining but expanding the menu with other ingredients such as game and even bear, food is served in contemporary surroundings and music is important – comfort sounds to go with comfort food, explains general manager Douglas Wickard. “I have to make sure all the senses are engaged – sight, sound and taste.”
Over two floors and the roof, the restaurant has the potential of seating 500 customers. The team of between 12 and 20 chefs not only cook the dishes but also bring them to your table. The international menu highlights fish, beef, chicken, lamb, pork and game prepared with speciality rubs and marinades and grilled over an open charcoal fire.
For $49 you can eat as much as you want. But if diners just want to eat from the Harvest Tables, it will cost only $24. The Harvest Tables is a feature that offers homemade soups and sauces specially created daily to compliment the salads, charcuterie, artisan cheese and bread, and these are divided into east and west side dining but the offering on both sides are the same.
Head chef Eric Wicklund is one of the people responsible for the recipes for the restaurant opening, and all the sauces that went with the individual salads were his creations. The most popular ones will stay on the menu but the menu will next change in July, he says. The mains are brought to the diners when they remove pebbles from a plate on the table and put them by their plate. This alerts the chefs to bring dish after dish to you until you’ve had enough.
These included slow roasted beef with horseradish sauce, parmesan encrusted pork loin, rump steak, citrus encrusted salmon, sirloin that had been marinated in buttermilk over night, seasoned and then cooked over hickory fire.
A reasonably new concept for Chicago is meat on large skewers and this has become a common sight at Zed 451. Cocktails such as cucumber, sage martini are infused in house, and the beverage director responsible for the cocktail blends changes the menu with the seasons. The restaurant even makes its own tonic water and, just as in London, Chicago has its own “tap project” whereby water is triple filtered and offered as either still or carbonated water.
One trend the restaurant has sparked is a roof garden environment, a very unusual feature in Chicago but one that has done wonders for Zed’s business attracting young, local professionals for drinks and upmarket nibbles. Next on the agenda is to have sidewalk seating that will increase capacity by 40, who will be served a bar menu.
Another plus is you can even be collected and taken home by its people carrier service with its bright slogan: Zed redefining in dining from A to Z.
Chef Shawn McClain owns three restaurants catering for fish, meat and vegetarian diners respectively. Custom House, which he opened in 2005, is very much the meat restaurant. Located in a historic, boutique hotel setting in Chicago’s Printer’s Row, it is a modern interpretation of the classic mid west steakhouse focusing on artisan meat, although there are some fish dishes on the menu.
There are five to six chefs producing the food under chef de cuisine Richard Camarota. Meat is served raw, cured, marinated, braised, roasted and slow cooked. The kitchen cures bacon and pancetta in-house, and creates its own terrines and pâtés. First courses range from baby octopus and white anchovies with oven dried tomatoes and capers, to sweetbreads with glazed bacon, white polenta, and button mushrooms, and foie gras brûlée that included rhubarb, brioche and macadamia nuts.
Main courses feature many local meat suppliers’ names such as Slagel Farms pork belly, and the dishes include popular bone in short rib with horseradish cream puffs and veal cheeks with tomato anchovy preserve and bone marrow crostini. Fish and seafood dishes are also sourced with an eye to local produce such as Maine scallops with fennel mascarpone ravioli and spring pea compote, and mahi mahi with homemade bacon, caramelised fennel, saffron sauce and pine nuts.
Elegant eating is the signature of Sixteen, the Trump International Hotel & Tower’s restaurant located on the 16th floor of a magnificent building with fabulous views of the Wrigley Clock Tower, the Chicago Tribune building and Lake Michigan. As part of tycoon Donald Trump’s hotel collection, no expense has been spared to show the restaurant off to its best advantage. Subtle gold, bronze and cream colour the room, enhanced by a huge Swarovski crystal chandelier.
Plates are custom made and compliment the menu that offers seasonal produce at its best. Aussie executive chef Frank Brunacci is the genius behind the modern American menu using European and Asian culinary techniques. Dinner dishes include peeky toe crab dumplings with artichokes and Perigord truffle mousse, and a pork trio with calvados sabayon and chanterelle risotto crisps. For the adventurous diner there is a $135 10 course chef’s blind tasting menu where the dishes are chosen by Brunacci, and wine can be matched with each dish by wine director sommelier Kairos Cuilann des Rosiers.
Crab, duck and scallops are trademark ingredients and among the courses that just keep coming are: watermelon soup with coriander, fennel and apple; juicy scallops dressed with a thick tomato ketchup; delicate Italian beef tortellini; and for dessert toasted meringue and ice cream with a port reduction sauce; and rum baba with a twist.
Back of house tours included trips to two very different eateries in downtown Chicago – House of Blues and The Gage. House of Blues is one of 11 branded clubs now owned by Live Nation and the one in Chicago is the essence of the blues scene. The venue caters for up to 1,300 people.
It has a dark, smoky feel, with walls adorned with American folk art and images of artistes as the backdrop for the live music every night in the music hall. Food is served there and in the restaurant, and for private parties in the Foundation Room.
Executive chef Bob Capogreco is responsible for the southern style food served in the music hall and the main restaurant – Cajun smoked turkey and shrimp file gumbo, baby back ribs with Jim Beam barbecue sauce, Creole shrimp jambalaya with green onions and a corn bread muffin served with maple butter, and key lime pie to name but a few.
“The menu is southern inspired but as we develop our menus we are changing to become more international, particularly as we expand into places such as the UK,” he says. The Foundation Room already has a more contemporary feel.
The room has been broken up into different sections for eating and social gatherings, and caters for private parties of up to 70 people. Chef Matt Castro assembles special menus for this room that include local ingredients as much as possible, but with a twist, such as baked white truffle macaroni with aged Wisconsin cheddar and tomato jam; crispy veal sweetbreads with garlic cream, roasted cippiolini onions and red wine syrup; and caramelised Maine diver scallops, English purée, red pearl onions and mint oil.
Not bad for a chef with no formal training in cookery, says Capogreco, and it means he is working from a clean sheet. Castro researches the menu and tries to bring in new ingredients such as wagyu beef, and he looks at food that he grew up with and gives it a twist.
Visiting The Gage is like visiting a typical British gastro pub. Owned by Irishman Billy Lawless, it is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner and being ideally situated on the busy Michigan Avenue opposite the Millennium Park, has attracted a constant stream of customers since its launch mid 2007. Casual dining is its forte and its dining rooms cater for 150 diners, while its bar can accommodate up to 80.
The menu assembled by executive chef Dirk Flanigan (pictured below) is based on “creativity and old school classics”. Snacks range from Scotch eggs to elk ragout, curd cheese and chips, while mains include locally made sausages, mussels vindaloo, 48 hour roasted Angus belly pot au feu with micro greens and barbecue consommé, as well as Guinness battered fish and chips and an assortment of soups and salads. Meanwhile the bar stocks a range of drinks from craft beers and wine to a selection of Irish whiskeys to help wash it down.
Flanigan says the place is high end but on the gastro pub side, having more of a rougher edge to it than a normal restaurant but designed to be easy on the eye. “The thought process around the menu was to make it similar to a gastro pub. The concept is awesome food in a casual way; looking at what goes well with beer.”
Flanigan admits he borrowed Heston Blumenthal’s recipe for the fish batter mix but adds his own twists to enhance it. Sourcing ingredients isn’t a problem and a lot of it is local. Chicken sandwich is made from the chicken wing, which he says is very American. There is a lot of long slow braising of meat and he says he likes to use different parts of the animal – loin or rib eye – that give a lot of flavour.
From his kitchen – a quarter of the size of the restaurant – staff work well together. Helping him is executive sous chef Michael Reynolds, who is supported by two sous chefs. There are plans to eventually make the kitchen paperless, with information taken straight from a screen. Lawless is also already expanding the business by taking on the premises next door, which will be smaller – just 60-80 covers, and is planning seating for up to 30 outside The Gage.More than 71,500 visitors from 115 countries made it to the show to see what exhibitors had to offer and learn more from the education programme put on by the organisers. This year’s programme included 72 sessions, 18 culinary demos, a keynote address from Jim Skinner, vice chairman and chief executive officer of McDonald’s Corporation, as well as an appearance from the Republican candidate for president John McCain who spoke at the show.
All the sessions were presented by well known experts in their respective fields on priority issues, including recruitment and retention, cost control, technology integration, beverage alcohol and menu development, while the culinary demonstrations were presented by top chefs and restaurateurs from around the world.
Skinner’s speech gave an insight into the challenges foodservice operators are facing – particularly the rising cost of food. He said in the current economic climate it was impractical to preserve margins by simply raising prices, and it was important to find alternative ways. A key element of the fast food chain’s recent success had been its offer of ‘everyday affordability’: “It’s the most important thing right now with our customers, and you all know it. You have to find other areas of efficiencies than passing it on to your customers.”
He said the global situation for food supply and demand may be changing, with production unable to meet the basic levels of sustenance in some areas of the world, but that the problem could be eased by heightened attention to sustainability.
He stressed that McDonald’s had already committed its operations to sustainability, suggesting it was part of his mission to boost the public’s trust in the brand. But, in an apparent acknowledgement of the burger giant’s advantages of scale on green issues, he observed that “trust might look different for each of us”.
He said the challenge required collaborative thinking. “We’re all restaurateurs,” he said. “We all know the poetry of a well run kitchen. We all know the excitement of the rush at lunch. Competition is a fact of the business but none of us is as good as all of us.”
There were rumours flying around that the show may shift from Chicago to Las Vegas in the future and in response Greg Kirrish, NRA’s vice president sales and marketing, confirmed the contract for the show was up for grabs in 2011.
But he says there are only two other areas that could handle it – Orlando and Las Vegas. He thought the latter could hold it but believed there were concerns about the show being in a gambling environment. For now, he said, it was doing fine in Chicago and already there were more than 70 stands booked for 2009.
What was made abundantly clear at this year’s show was the huge shift towards green issues such as sustainability, organic and all natural, as well as many time saving initiatives designed to make life better, quicker and easier in the kitchen. There were still products designed to ease the age old obesity issue such as fat replacement technology and zero trans fat products, but the hottest trends included ‘green’ equipment, organic and sustainable food and beverages, and interactive technology.
There was even a Green Restaurant Association – dinegreen.com – and banners carrying slogans such as ‘up with flavour, down with gluten’. Five new products caught the eye of American TV – sake flavoured sorbet, an automatic pasta cooker and dispenser, a wireless waiter paging system, a talking menu and a wine ‘doggy’ bag – but there were many that could cross the pond to the UK (see page 78 for more NPD news).
When it came to sampling the city’s fine dining, Zed 451 in North Clark Street, Chicago, had only been open for a couple of weeks but had already made its mark. Based in the River North neighbourhood, it offers a fixed price concept allowing diners to have complete control of their meal from what they eat to when and how much.
People behind Zed 451 include the president of Tavistock Restaurants Brian Lockwood, who is based in San Francisco. Its British silent partner said it was the last restaurant he was going to do so it would be ‘Z’ something – the 451 came from the temperature of the meat in the kitchen.
This is the first launch of the restaurant concept, and the first in Chicago. Inspired by Brazilian style dining but expanding the menu with other ingredients such as game and even bear, food is served in contemporary surroundings and music is important – comfort sounds to go with comfort food, explains general manager Douglas Wickard. “I have to make sure all the senses are engaged – sight, sound and taste.”
Over two floors and the roof, the restaurant has the potential of seating 500 customers. The team of between 12 and 20 chefs not only cook the dishes but also bring them to your table. The international menu highlights fish, beef, chicken, lamb, pork and game prepared with speciality rubs and marinades and grilled over an open charcoal fire.
For $49 you can eat as much as you want. But if diners just want to eat from the Harvest Tables, it will cost only $24. The Harvest Tables is a feature that offers homemade soups and sauces specially created daily to compliment the salads, charcuterie, artisan cheese and bread, and these are divided into east and west side dining but the offering on both sides are the same.
Head chef Eric Wicklund is one of the people responsible for the recipes for the restaurant opening, and all the sauces that went with the individual salads were his creations. The most popular ones will stay on the menu but the menu will next change in July, he says. The mains are brought to the diners when they remove pebbles from a plate on the table and put them by their plate. This alerts the chefs to bring dish after dish to you until you’ve had enough.
These included slow roasted beef with horseradish sauce, parmesan encrusted pork loin, rump steak, citrus encrusted salmon, sirloin that had been marinated in buttermilk over night, seasoned and then cooked over hickory fire.
A reasonably new concept for Chicago is meat on large skewers and this has become a common sight at Zed 451. Cocktails such as cucumber, sage martini are infused in house, and the beverage director responsible for the cocktail blends changes the menu with the seasons. The restaurant even makes its own tonic water and, just as in London, Chicago has its own “tap project” whereby water is triple filtered and offered as either still or carbonated water.
One trend the restaurant has sparked is a roof garden environment, a very unusual feature in Chicago but one that has done wonders for Zed’s business attracting young, local professionals for drinks and upmarket nibbles. Next on the agenda is to have sidewalk seating that will increase capacity by 40, who will be served a bar menu.
Another plus is you can even be collected and taken home by its people carrier service with its bright slogan: Zed redefining in dining from A to Z.
Chef Shawn McClain owns three restaurants catering for fish, meat and vegetarian diners respectively. Custom House, which he opened in 2005, is very much the meat restaurant. Located in a historic, boutique hotel setting in Chicago’s Printer’s Row, it is a modern interpretation of the classic mid west steakhouse focusing on artisan meat, although there are some fish dishes on the menu.
There are five to six chefs producing the food under chef de cuisine Richard Camarota. Meat is served raw, cured, marinated, braised, roasted and slow cooked. The kitchen cures bacon and pancetta in-house, and creates its own terrines and pâtés. First courses range from baby octopus and white anchovies with oven dried tomatoes and capers, to sweetbreads with glazed bacon, white polenta, and button mushrooms, and foie gras brûlée that included rhubarb, brioche and macadamia nuts.
Main courses feature many local meat suppliers’ names such as Slagel Farms pork belly, and the dishes include popular bone in short rib with horseradish cream puffs and veal cheeks with tomato anchovy preserve and bone marrow crostini. Fish and seafood dishes are also sourced with an eye to local produce such as Maine scallops with fennel mascarpone ravioli and spring pea compote, and mahi mahi with homemade bacon, caramelised fennel, saffron sauce and pine nuts.
Elegant eating is the signature of Sixteen, the Trump International Hotel & Tower’s restaurant located on the 16th floor of a magnificent building with fabulous views of the Wrigley Clock Tower, the Chicago Tribune building and Lake Michigan. As part of tycoon Donald Trump’s hotel collection, no expense has been spared to show the restaurant off to its best advantage. Subtle gold, bronze and cream colour the room, enhanced by a huge Swarovski crystal chandelier.
Plates are custom made and compliment the menu that offers seasonal produce at its best. Aussie executive chef Frank Brunacci is the genius behind the modern American menu using European and Asian culinary techniques. Dinner dishes include peeky toe crab dumplings with artichokes and Perigord truffle mousse, and a pork trio with calvados sabayon and chanterelle risotto crisps. For the adventurous diner there is a $135 10 course chef’s blind tasting menu where the dishes are chosen by Brunacci, and wine can be matched with each dish by wine director sommelier Kairos Cuilann des Rosiers.
Crab, duck and scallops are trademark ingredients and among the courses that just keep coming are: watermelon soup with coriander, fennel and apple; juicy scallops dressed with a thick tomato ketchup; delicate Italian beef tortellini; and for dessert toasted meringue and ice cream with a port reduction sauce; and rum baba with a twist.
Back of house tours included trips to two very different eateries in downtown Chicago – House of Blues and The Gage. House of Blues is one of 11 branded clubs now owned by Live Nation and the one in Chicago is the essence of the blues scene. The venue caters for up to 1,300 people.
It has a dark, smoky feel, with walls adorned with American folk art and images of artistes as the backdrop for the live music every night in the music hall. Food is served there and in the restaurant, and for private parties in the Foundation Room.
Executive chef Bob Capogreco is responsible for the southern style food served in the music hall and the main restaurant – Cajun smoked turkey and shrimp file gumbo, baby back ribs with Jim Beam barbecue sauce, Creole shrimp jambalaya with green onions and a corn bread muffin served with maple butter, and key lime pie to name but a few.
“The menu is southern inspired but as we develop our menus we are changing to become more international, particularly as we expand into places such as the UK,” he says. The Foundation Room already has a more contemporary feel. The room has been broken up into different sections for eating and social gatherings, and caters for private parties of up to 70 people. Chef Matt Castro assembles special menus for this room that include local ingredients as much as possible, but with a twist, such as baked white truffle macaroni with aged Wisconsin cheddar and tomato jam; crispy veal sweetbreads with garlic cream, roasted cippiolini onions and red wine syrup; and caramelised Maine diver scallops, English purée, red pearl onions and mint oil.
Not bad for a chef with no formal training in cookery, says Capogreco, and it means he is working from a clean sheet. Castro researches the menu and tries to bring in new ingredients such as wagyu beef, and he looks at food that he grew up with and gives it a twist.
Visiting The Gage is like visiting a typical British gastro pub. Owned by Irishman Billy Lawless, it is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner and being ideally situated on the busy Michigan Avenue opposite the Millennium Park, has attracted a constant stream of customers since its launch mid 2007. Casual dining is its forte and its dining rooms cater for 150 diners, while its bar can accommodate up to 80.
The menu assembled by executive chef Dirk Flanigan (pictured below) is based on “creativity and old school classics”. Snacks range from Scotch eggs to elk ragout, curd cheese and chips, while mains include locally made sausages, mussels vindaloo, 48 hour roasted Angus belly pot au feu with micro greens and barbecue consommé, as well as Guinness battered fish and chips and an assortment of soups and salads. Meanwhile the bar stocks a range of drinks from craft beers and wine to a selection of Irish whiskeys to help wash it down.
Flanigan says the place is high end but on the gastro pub side, having more of a rougher edge to it than a normal restaurant but designed to be easy on the eye. “The thought process around the menu was to make it similar to a gastro pub. The concept is awesome food in a casual way; looking at what goes well with beer.”
Flanigan admits he borrowed Heston Blumenthal’s recipe for the fish batter mix but adds his own twists to enhance it. Sourcing ingredients isn’t a problem and a lot of it is local. Chicken sandwich is made from the chicken wing, which he says is very American. There is a lot of long slow braising of meat and he says he likes to use different parts of the animal – loin or rib eye – that give a lot of flavour.
From his kitchen – a quarter of the size of the restaurant – staff work well together. Helping him is executive sous chef Michael Reynolds, who is supported by two sous chefs. There are plans to eventually make the kitchen paperless, with information taken straight from a screen. Lawless is also already expanding the business by taking on the premises next door, which will be smaller – just 60-80 covers, and is planning seating for up to 30 outside The Gage.