R&I Insider - May 15, 2006

By The Editors -- Restaurants & Institutions, 5/15/2006

A Close Family
Craig Huse and his father, Steve, co-owners of Indianapolis’ St. Elmo Steak House, have spent four years seeking the right location for a second restaurant. Ultimately, the best site turned out to be next door to the 104-year-old landmark, which did $12.3 million in sales last year, and Harry & Izzy’s is expected to open there by year-end.

Opening a second St. Elmo outside the city was considered and then rejected. “St. Elmo has lasted as long as it has because it’s unique. Could you transfer Tavern on the Green to another place?” says Craig Huse. Instead they opted to create a new restaurant concept worthy of its connection with St. Elmo while offering a different experience. Huse expects Harry & Izzy’s dinner check to be about $15 to $20 below St. Elmo’s $75 average and the new restaurant will serve lunch (with a $20 to $25 average check).

A new concept opens the door to menu options never available with St. Elmo’s classic but limited steakhouse fare. “We’ll get to offer a lot of items that we’ve seen and loved elsewhere—including a garbage salad—or that customers have asked us for,” says Huse. While St. Elmo offers just one appetizer (a signature shrimp cocktail), Harry & Izzy’s (honoring Harry Roth and Isadore Rosen, who owned St. Elmo from 1947 to 1986) will have several first-course options, such as seared tuna with orange-chile glaze and wasabi cream, as well as the shrimp cocktail. Pastas, pizzas and seafood will augment steaks and chops. Executive Chef Dave Foegley will move next door to run the new concept’s kitchen. “When we’re booked up, we always refer people to other restaurants in town,” says Huse. “It will be nice to be able to send them to our other restaurant.”

Take It to the Bank
It doesn’t take a concept the size and muscle of Starbucks to explore site-selection channels. Hampton Coffee Company recently opened a third unit, inside a newly constructed branch of Bridgehampton National Bank in Westhampton Beach, N.Y. The location is the result of two years’ discussion and planning with the bank.

The 12-year-old coffee company’s 700-square-foot Bridge Café can be visited through the bank or via a separate entrance and includes seating for eight inside plus another eight on a patio. In addition to its own coffee (roasted at the chain’s Southampton, N.Y., headquarters), the morning menu includes fruit smoothies as well as bagels, croissants, muffins and scones, all baked daily on premise. Wraps, panini sandwiches and salads prepared by a local caterer are available for lunch.

Menu Focus
Sweet, juicy pineapple brightens recipes across courses as grilled or roasted slices, or mixed into sauces, salsas and compotes.

ATLANTA

• Pacific Kitchen: Pacific Kitchen Teriyaki Burger with grilled pineapple, sprouts, tomato, onion and sweet-potato fries

CHICAGO

• Green Zebra: Coconut risotto pudding with roasted pineapple and marinated avocado

LAS VEGAS

• Nobhill at MGM Grand Hotel and Casino: Herb-crusted filet of veal with matsutake mushrooms and pineapple vinaigrette

MULTIPLE LOCATIONS

• Chartwells School Dining Services: Polynesian Pizza with diced pineapple, onions, green bell pepper and ham with sweet-and-sour and barbecue sauce (shown)
• Pick Up Stix: Sweet-and-sour chicken (crispy white-meat chicken with vegetables and pineapple in sweet-and-sour sauce)

NEW YORK CITY

• BED New York: Mango-and-pineapple soufflé in Swiss meringue with rum-pineapple compote

PHOENIX

• Padre’s Modern Mexican Cuisine: Pan-seared fish of the day with guajillo-honey glaze, iceberg lettuce and pineapple relish on flour tortillas

Table Turns

• Kerrii Anderson (r.) was named interim chief executive officer of Wendy’s International, Dublin, Ohio, and James Pickett was named its chairman following the retirement of Chairman-CEO Jack Schuessler. Anderson had been executive vice president and chief financial officer; Pickett is a member of its board of directors. Additionally, David Near, a Wendy’s franchisee and son of past Chairman-President-CEO Jim Near, was named to the new post of chief operations officer. ...
• Aramark Corp., Philadelphia, named Andrew Kerin president of its domestic food, hospitality and facilities division. He had been president of its healthcare and education unit. ...
• Eric Cartwright (r.) was named executive chef, a new post at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He had been a sous-chef at the university. ...
• Eldorado Hotel & Spa in Santa Fe, N.M., hired Paul Wade as its executive chef, with responsibilities for all foodservice at the resort. Most recently, Wade was at the Four Seasons Hotel Houston. ...
• Rebeca Johnson was named chief marketing and brand officer for Dallas-based Brinker International. She had served as executive vice president of marketing and brand development since June 2005. ...
• Heather Gardea takes on additional duties as vice president of marketing while continuing as vice president of food and beverage at Catalina Restaurant Group, Carlsbad, Calif., which operates the Carrows and Coco’s family-dining chains. Joining Catalina’s management team were Karen Rogers, vice president of quality assurance; Thomas Jaehne, director of operations and finance; Kathleen Sorensen, senior director of lease administration; Alan Gaswith, controller; and Rebecca Walsh, deputy general counsel. ...
• The Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa welcomed Matthew Rinehart as new food-and-beverage director. Previously he directed F&B at Boulders Resort and Golden Door Spa in Scottsdale, Ariz. ...
• Restaurateur Tom Catherall’s Here To Serve Restaurants opened Strip Steaks & Sushi in Atlantic Station, Atlanta’s newest upscale retail/condo development. David Silverman, previously at Here to Serve’s Prime, is chef at the new restaurant. ...
• Following the closing of his Chilpancingo in Chicago, Chef Geno Bahena has opened Malverde Restaurant in Lynwood, Calif.

Chopping Block
At the end of this school year, Columbus (Ohio) Public Schools (CPS) officials say they could be short 50 foodservice employees but $1.5 million better off. Layoffs and using remaining food inventory until the end of the year are expected to help curb spending and keep the district’s $24 million budget on track, according to Greg Viebranz, CPS director of communications.

Columbus Board of Education President Terry Boyd says “cuts in the district are being made because we need to right-size the organization because student counts have decreased.” Earlier this year, the board announced plans to close 12 schools and eliminate more than 200 teaching positions. Foodservice also is adapting to price increases for fuel, plastic products and fruits and vegetables, according to Viebranz. During the past year, lunch packaging and plastic utensils costs increased as much as 20%, he says.

“We know that the cost of everything is increasing,” Boyd says. “A lot of our foodservice revenue is tied to the federal government.” The cutbacks are planned even though the district has realized some unexpected benefits from subsidies this year. “We expanded free breakfast to all schools this year,” Viebranz says. “That has produced additional funds because federal reimbursements are greater than the actual cost to produce, ship and distribute those meals.”

Charlie Palmer Checks In
In an era when nearly every celebrity chef worth his top-shelf sea salt has opened a Las Vegas outpost, star chef Charlie Palmer is poised to one-up the competition. The chef-entrepreneur recently announced plans to launch an eponymous condominium hotel in mid-2008 boasting not one but three restaurants: a fine-dining concept, a modern take on the 24-hour hotel coffee shop and his first sushi bar.

For Palmer, already an established hotelier with the 5-year-old Hotel Healdsburg in Healdsburg, Calif., the $400 million Las Vegas project is the latest stride on an ambitious growth path. The Adam Tihany-designed Charlie Palmer Hotel will enjoy a prime location one block west of the Strip, with 400 residences as well as a nightclub, event venue, cigar bar and sky lounge within its 35 stories. There will be no gaming, but other high-end amenities include a full-service spa, pool, hair salon and personalized sommelier service.

T IS for Test
Casual-dining chain Ruby Tuesday is the latest concept to think smaller. Ruby T’s, a downsized version of the original concept, opened May 3 near the chain’s Maryville, Tenn., headquarters. The 100-seat restaurant serves about 40 items, aiming for more eclectic fare than that found on Ruby Tuesday’s 100-item menu. Ruby T’s focuses its menu on fresh ingredients, serving Spicy Typhoon Shrimp, Chicken Fresco with Parmesan cream sauce, and a jumbo lump crab cake. It also has an expanded beverage menu.

Max Piet, Ruby Tuesday vice president for execution and innovation, says the location serves as a test site for new foods. If a menu item is successful at Ruby T’s, the company will offer it at additional locations and possibly introduce it systemwide. He says there are no plans to open any more locations under the Ruby T’s moniker, but “if it goes over well, you never know.”

Pub Grubbin'
It’s not quite a wine bar. It doesn’t “do” small plates. But so-called gastropubs are finding a sweet spot among discerning diners. A British trend beginning in the early 1990s, food-focused pubs arose from the need to make forgettable fare more than palatable. Now the concept is popping up in U.S. cities.

Paul Kahan of Blackbird in Chicago is opening one this year; the Red Drum in Charleston, S.C., already uses the descriptor; and one gastropub, The Spotted Pig in New York City, has even received a Michelin star.

A fine line separates these venues from a bistro, trattoria or cafe. Menu items often pay more homage to French, Italian and Asian cuisines than British classics and many serve more wine than beer. But they all have one thing in common: comfort. Dress codes and reservations are nonexistent, and operations often remain open into the wee hours. Like a pub, guests are free to eschew food for drink. Yet not all operators are embracing the British term. Philadelphia’s Standard Tap has been preparing upscale food for six years, but Chef Carolynn Angel would rather not be called a gastropub. “We’re just a neighborhood bar that serves really good food,” she says.

OnTrend
R&I tracks the latest menu introductions at operations across the country ...

BEAR ROCK CAFE, multiple locations: The bakery-cafe chain has added three sandwiches, all served on organic bread. Choices include Chicken & Roasted Veggies, Sonoma Smoked Turkey and Beef & Gorgonzola.

HARDEE’S, multiple locations: The St. Louis, Mo.-based chain’s new Philly Cheesesteak Thickburger tops a third-pound burger with thinly sliced steak, two types of cheese, green peppers and onions (shown).

McDONALD’S, multiple locations: The Oak Brook, Ill.-based chain’s Asian-salad entry offers orange-glazed chicken (fried or grilled), Mandarin oranges, edamame, snow peas, red peppers and almonds atop mixed greens with sesame-ginger dressing.

PLANET SMOOTHIE, multiple locations: New “Extremely Far Out Flavors” from the Atlanta-based company include Groovy Granny Apple, Way Out Watermelon and Outa Sight Orange.

SPIAGGIA, Chicago: Chef-partner Tony Mantuano celebrates the history of balsamic vinegar with a menu showcasing several varieties. Choices include wood-grilled, prime-aged strip steak with balsamic-braised oxtail and Parmigiano-Reggiano with balsamic jelly.