Side Ways
New breed of side dishes adds more flavor, fun and focus to center of plate
By Dana Bowen, Special to R&I -- Restaurants & Institutions, 8/15/2004
Let’s face it: Few diners ever rave about a side of steamed broccoli, and plain old mashed potatoes rarely inspire oohs and ahs. But at swanky new Barbuto in New York City, one of Chef Jonathan Waxman’s $5 add-ons has single-handedly launched an unprecedented cauliflower craze.
“We’re going to have to keep it on the menu forever,” says the chef, referring to his oven-roasted florets flecked with black olives and blanketed with herbed breadcrumbs. “If I took it off, I’d get murdered.”
|
Standout side dishes are popping up across the country, pushing the bland, the steamed and the simply tossed aside. And it’s no wonder: Customer cravings for bolder, fresher, more-healthful ingredients are hardly confined to the center of the plate.
Chefs such as Waxman cite many reasons for newfound excitement on the sidelines, from the small-plate phenomena to new dietary concerns. Menus also are becoming increasingly à la carte, giving diners a hand in designing their meals.
At Barbuto, for example, simply prepared proteins—wood-grilled diver scallops, oven-roasted chicken, black bass with lemon—cost $17 to $19 and arrive with little more than a glorified garnish of well-paired, seasonal vegetables. Guests supplement those dishes by ordering multiple side dishes, such as cheesy polenta, sautéed broccoli rabe and, of course, cauliflower, to pass around the table.
Outside the Box
From fine dining to fast food, side dishes are becoming less
of an afterthought, and more of a sales boost. Operators call
on international and seasonal ingredients to add intrigue to
their regular rosters of sides, and in doing so, complement
flavors at the center of the plates.
At Boston Market, where customers choose among 13 to 17 hot and cold sides to pair with main dishes, the new Seasonal Menu program offers worldly and seasonal alternatives to favorite regional sides, such as squash casserole.
“The motivation was variety, to take current trends and incorporate them, giving guests ability to choose from new flavors,” says Bob Karisny, vice president of research and development at the Golden, Colo.-based chain, which operates 630 locations in 28 states. September’s rollout of sesame broccoli—steamed and tossed in a light sauce of soy, sesame oil, ginger and garlic, and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds—is a case in point. “Asian flavors are very much in demand,” he says, adding that the new seasonal sides “have been perceived very well.”
Side dishes are becoming more international on campuses too. At Fresh Food Company, a retail brand managed by Philadelphia-based Aramark, side options on Clemson University’s vegetarian station suffered until they received a more worldly makeover.
“In years past, the stigma surrounding the station was that it was all grass and vegetables with no flavor or excitement,” says Aramark representative Kate Moran. But after adding dishes such as flavored hummus, potato pancakes, spinach Napoleon and Indian flatbreads, the station experienced a 50% increase in traffic. Gobi masala, a spicy Indian cauliflower dish marketed as a low-carb alternative to potatoes, has been the most popular side dish thus far.
Side Tips
Agua Verde, a paddle club and Mexican cafe in Seattle where kayakers
enjoy casual cafeteria-style lunches and sit-down dinners, is
well known for all-natural foods. Every item on the menu, from
ceviche to yam tacos, is made fresh daily, and that includes
some of the city’s most creative sides.
|
Guests can order hominy stew, corn-and-cactus salsa, creamy chile potatoes, green rice with chard, and smashed black beans sprinkled with cotija cheese as $2.25 side dishes. But for $5.95, they can sample three of them with the added bonus of three fresh tortillas. By grouping sides, a sharable appetizer, or customized main dish, is born.
“The people who have been here once or twice know to share the three sides with tortillas and each will get a taco dish of their own,” says owner Bill Stewart, noting how well three sides, rather than one, improves his bottom line. “And that’s about a $15 lunch right there.”
Healthy Asides
When it comes to grab-and-go operations, customers routinely
complement main-dish choices with a little something extra. “With
salads and sandwiches, it’s instantaneous that folks will
grab chips or a salty snack,” says Holly Smith, director
of marketing for Café a la Carte, a Gaithersburg, Md.-based
Sodexho USA retail brand in more than 100 campuses and hospitals
across the country. “What we’re trying to do is position
some healthy alternatives.”
Enter cheese cubes, celery and carrot sticks, and fresh fruit cups, the latest promotion planned for this grab-and-go concept. “When students come back to school this fall, this will be running as a promotion with window clings and promotional banners.”
Operators across the country are appealing to customers’ healthy inclinations with fresh, good-for-you alternatives to fries, chips, and other indulgent sides. Richard Reilly, executive chef at independently operated Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, Calif., for example, has been garnering praise for the kind of side dishes you’d expect to find at a farmers market cafe, not on a hospital tray.
“We have an herb garden in our courtyard with chervil, tarragon, mint, red sage,” says the chef, who annually oversees 60,000 to 80,000 meals at the 420-bed facility. “We clip from it daily and that’s where we get most of our flavors in our side dishes, whether starch or vegetables.”
By using these fresh, seasonal flavor enhancers, the chef finds his sides don’t need as much butter, oil or salt. Sautéed mushrooms with fresh herbs and white wine; roasted beets and dill; red cabbage with caraway and apples; and fresh mashed potatoes with herbs are all cooked as close to ordering as possible.
“They’re just not sides, they’re an important component to the meal,” says the chef, who often receives written positive feedback from his patients. “People who might not even be hungry are drawn to the dishes because they have great presentation and wonderful flavor profiles.”
Side Show
What are diners’ favorite side dishes? Ask them. Louisville,
Ky.-based KFC is doing just that with its Search for America’s
Favorite Side Dish Recipe Contest. Consumers are asked to submit
an original side-dish recipe and photograph of the prepared item.
Dishes are being judged on originality, fit with KFC’s
menu and quality of presentation and appearance. The chain is
accepting entries through Dec. 20 by mail, via its www.kfc.com
Web site or in person at its KFC Live & Cookin’ Tour,
which stops at summer fairs and festivals around the country.
Do the Math
If you’ve ever wondered why steakhouses offer such an abundance
of sides, just ask Peter Chimos, co-owner of four Frankie and
Johnnie’s Steakhouse locations in New York and New Jersey.
“Sides are very important because it’s the only way you can make money. You can’t make money on steak right now when you’re paying more than $10 a pound,” says the restaurateur, speaking from his Times Square location.
That explains why Chimos serves potatoes eight different ways. “A lot of people like the thin cottage fries, and the potato pancakes are unique. But the Lyonnaise potatoes, with fresh onions, have a very nice flavor,” he says, chronicling his destination-worthy roster of sides.
These classic recipes always have been big sellers that benefit the bottom line, but Chimos admits to the occasional update: “Garlic mashed potatoes is the only one that’s new. All the rest have been here for 60 years.”
Steakhouses aren’t the only concepts that bank on sides dishes’ favorable margins. “The profit is a lot greater on a side, which allows us to keep the other menu items lower priced,” says Bill Stewart of Agua Verde in Seattle. “So things like halibut tacos, which we have to pay more for, are offset by the profit we gain on sides.”
View All Blogs
