Food for Thought - June 15, 2003

By The Editors -- Restaurants & Institutions, 6/15/2003

GAO targets school foodservice

Sweet snacks and high-fat foods are competing with efforts by the nation’s schools to improve the diets of U.S. schoolchildren, according to recent reports by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress.

The research studied meal programs at 22 schools in six states during the 1996 through 2001 academic years. The reports note that improvements made through federally funded meal programs allow more schools to offer lower-fat foods, reduced-cholesterol menus, and increased amounts of vitamins and minerals.

However, many meals contained more salt and fat than allowed by federal guidelines and not enough fruits and vegetables, the GAO reports. The typical meal contains 34% fat, higher than the 30% recommended by U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees meal programs that feed 27 million children every school day.

The reports contend that federal and state subsidies have not kept up with escalating meal-program expenses, with costs growing by 22% during the period studied while total revenues increased only 20%. In order to meet budget shortfalls, some schools resorted to serving more prepared, often fatty, snack foods. Additionally, to keep students on campus for meals, school foodservice directors added popular à la carte items such as cookies, candy and ice cream to cafeteria lines and vending machines.

The GAO argues that schools send mixed messages about nutrition when they offer high-fat foods and rely on profits from vending to pay for student activities or items not covered by budgets. As part of any solution, the GAO suggests schools adopt a comprehensive foodservice program that addresses students’ entire dietary environment, providing exposure to nutritious food and information on healthful eating and exercise.

Apple of their eyes

Marcus Samuelsson and Hakan Swahn—partners in New York City’s Aquavit—will turn over a new leaf with Riingo, an American-Japanese restaurant set for a September debut. The 110-seat spot (the name means “apple” in Japanese) will operate inside The Alex, a new boutique hotel in New York.

Samuelsson, executive chef for 2001 Ivy Award winner Aquavit, is crafting a menu featuring modern twists on such classics as Caesar salad and New York strip steak alongside traditional nigiri, sashimi and sushi rolls with unique sauces, flavor combinations and presentations. Johan Svensson—a veteran of New York’s Town and Bond Street and Nobu in London—takes the helm as Riingo’s executive chef.

The restaurant will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner and provide room service for the 220-room hotel. In addition to offering traditional cocktails and an extensive selection of wines by the glass, a 30-seat lounge area will feature infused sakes and a variety of sake cocktails. Servers will welcome guests to Riingo with a tray of amuses-bouches as well as the typical bread basket. Many dishes will be served family style, with an emphasis on sharing.

Menu Focus
The bright, light flavors of raw and semi-cooked fish are gaining menu momentum. In New York City, sushi bars turn up in French bistros while sashimi can be found beyond traditional Japanese restaurants.

BALTIMORE
Four West: Carpaccio of Hawaiian sushi-grade tuna, crème frâiche and lemon-ginger vinaigrette

BOSTON AREA
Blackfin Chop House & Raw Bar: Sashimi, including bluefin toro, hamachi and maguro
Oleana: Seared rare tuna with red-pepper walnut purée
Sage: Duet of tuna tartare and grilled loin with black-bean yuzu vinaigrette

LOS ANGELES
White Lotus: Tasmanian salmon tartare with chile, cucumber and kaffir-lime leaf garnished with yellow bell pepper and yuzu-ginger broth

MIDDLEBURY, VT.
Middlebury College: Seared salmon with cilantro-chipotle butter

NEW YORK CITY
Metro: Seared yellowfin and yellowtail tuna with aji amarillo and yuzu juice
Oceana: Sashimi of kanpachi, water chestnuts, crispy radish, Asian pear and crystallized seaweed

SEATTLE
Dahlia Lounge: Scallop sashimi with yuzu and shiso

SUNNY ISLES, FLA.
Timõ: Seared rare tuna, marinated borlotti beans and artichokes, chilled calamari and black olives

D.C. Sees Red
As part of a quirky public-relations push highlighting its 10th anniversary, Washington, D.C., institution Red Sage is taking to the streets with a convoy of redheaded emissaries.

“Red is a bold, fun color, perfect for representing a celebration. It also mirrors Red Sage’s lively atmosphere and cuisine,” says Dan Mesches, president of Star Restaurant Group.

Dubbed the Red Sage Brigade, these neighborhood ambassadors will patrol streets around the restaurant at lunchtime and during morning and afternoon commute hours every Wednesday through July 28.

Redheads young and old, natural and dyed will distribute Red Sage goodies as well as assisting passersby with heavy packages, opening doors, hailing cabs and if it rains, offering Red Sage anniversary umbrellas. Other activities include vibrant sidewalk chalk art displayed outside the restaurant and the distribution of $10 Red Sage Bucks. Customers can redeem the incentive dollars at Red Sage’s upscale Grill, Nuevo Latino spot Border Café and gourmet to-go shop The Market.

Getting Messy In Texas

Having already blurred the line between convenience store and quick-service restaurant with its expanding line of breakfast foods, sandwiches and baked goods, Dallas-based 7-Eleven is crossing into casual-dining territory for the first time.

Under a new partnership with the Dallas-based Tony Roma’s rib chain, 31 7-Eleven stores in Austin, Texas, now offer five products that use Roma’s branded barbecue sauces. Priced from $2.99 to $4.99, the items include Rib Juniors (smoked beef ribs), Roma’s Ribblers (boneless pork rib meat), a barbecued rib sandwich, a bacon cheeseburger with Roma’s spicy sauce, and chicken strips in Roma’s Original barbecue sauce. The items are available hot and ready to eat or chilled for at-home or in-office preparation.

Separately, the c-store leader is looking at the feasibility of putting drive-thru food pickup windows in new stores where site configuration allows.

No. 1 and Trying Harder

“Disciplined and focused” was the oft-repeated mantra for McDonald’s Corp.’s annual shareholders meeting last month at its Oak Brook, Ill., headquarters. It was the first such meeting chaired by James Cantalupo (below) since he succeeded Jack Greenberg as chairman and chief executive officer in December 2002. Cantalupo addressed immediately but only briefly the potential damages to the QSR leader’s sales posed by the discovery—just days before the May 22 meeting—of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease) in Canada. “McDonald’s has tremendous experience in food safety,” he told shareholders. In a post-meeting session with journalists he added, without elaborating, that the chain “has an action plan for every scenario” concerning food-safety issues.

Cantalupo outlined “McDonald’s Plan to Win,” a five-tier strategy (people, products, place, price and promotions) management insists will reinvigorate the chain’s sales. Strategic initiatives include increased use of e-learning training programs and hospitality workshops for employees, menu enhancements, new store designs, efforts to leverage more-favorable pricing from suppliers, and marketing and advertising that he said will “reconnect with customers and build brand loyalty.”

Asked if McDonald’s recent formation of an Advisory Council on Healthy Lifestyles may result in lower-fat-and-calorie reformulations of existing menu items, Cantalupo said that “could be possible.” The chain in July will begin testing availability of fresh apple slices with its kids meals, something McDonald’s already does in the United Kingdom. The QSR also plans to test again in the United States the McCafé coffeehouse concept it operates in several countries. A two-year test of McCafé in Chicago ended last year.

Ivy Idea

Waiters at New York City’s Montrachet (Ivy ’93) establish the serving sequence for their tables, says Director of Marketing-Partner Tracy Nieporent. “When taking food orders, we identify the host chair as No. 1. That way, servers and runners always know where to deliver the appropriate dish.”

Common Sense

Healthcare foodservice professionals finally are on the same page. Previously, segment operators had been unable to agree upon uniform methodology and language for defining and counting patient meals. That problem recently was solved when Solucient, an Evanston, Ill.-based healthcare benchmarking specialist, and the Washington, D.C.-based trade organization National Society for Healthcare Food Service Management (HFM) agreed to use the same methodology in establishing acute-care data-gathering programs.

“HFM’s goal is to help participants improve operations by establishing uniform definitions and a common counting methodology,’’ says Mike Guiffrida, executive director of HFM, which represents 4,000 independent noncontract foodservice professionals. Talking the same language will make life easier for healthcare foodservice providers, adds Maria DeNicola, HFM president. “Having one way to count [meals] will make doing reports less time consuming and the information much more valuable [for menu planning and budgeting].’’

Working in tandem will raise credibility for both program partners: HFM focuses on foodservice while Solucient provides information services for all healthcare departments. The impact will be far-reaching, says DeNicola. “It’s like changing a dinosaur.’’

Contributors: Scott Hume, Allison Perlik, Margaret Sheridan, Laura Yee.