FOODSERVICE NEWS

Call it kismet. Restaurateur Michael Mina is coming home. Less than a month after Bacchus management 86ed a deal to take over Aqua, San Francisco's famous but floundering seafood restaurant, Mina stepped in. He has signed a lease to take over the space where he first made his name. Mina was chef at Aqua 252 California St. - first under George Morrone, then on his own - during the restaurant's heyday, but left in 2002 to found his own group, including his eponymous restaurant in the Westin St. Francis. But the venue has always held a special place in his heart.

The food and beverage industry is mobilizing against Mayor Nutter's proposed tax on sweet drinks, with a rush of activity that has City Hall bracing for a "madhouse." Lobbyists are buttonholing City Council members. Trade groups and the unions have locked arms. Industry ads are sprouting on the air and in print extolling the good corporate citizenship of soft-drink companies. The public has weighed in with hundreds of calls and e-mails. All of this one week after the mayor proposed a 2 cents-per-ounce tax on all sweetened drinks as a way to raise revenue for the 2011 budget, and to combat obesity.

Military cooking has come a long way since "Surprise on a Shingle" (creamed chipped beef on toast) or Spam and eggs. Joseph Parker, a 2000 graduate of Haines City High School with a culinary degree from Johnson & Wales University in Providence, R.I., is a team captain in the largest culinary competition in the nation, the U.S. Army's Culinary Arts Competition at Fort Lee, Va.

"I am not drinking any [darn] merlot!" Ah, yes, the oft-quoted line from the 2004 movie "Sideways." It is credited for the demise of worldwide sales of merlot-based wines. The not-so-subtle implication is that merlot is too pedestrian and insufficiently sophisticated for Miles' palate. Lemminglike wine drinkers in America followed Miles' lead, turning up their noses at the suggestion of drinking oh-so-boring merlot. Or at least that's the story we're supposed to believe.

The owner and chef of a high-end sushi restaurant in Santa Monica, California, are facing criminal charges for allegedly serving illegal whale meat, local reports said Wednesday.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced approximately $1.9 million in grants to five State agencies to increase enrollment in school meal programs through direct certification and verification processes. Direct certification allows States and local educational agencies to automatically certify children enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Program (TANF) for free school meals without the need for household applications.

The annual Harris Poll that has measured key health risks - smoking, seat belt use, weight and obesity - for the last 28 years, provides both good and bad news. It is bad news that obesity has increased in every five year period since we started measuring it. The good news is that the proportion of adults who are obese has not changed significantly since 2006.

Hospitality and tourism employers should greet news of a favorable Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision with joy and a big sigh of relief. In Cumbie v. Woody Woo, Inc., the court confirmed that the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) allows employers that do not take a tip credit against the federal minimum wage to pool tips and allow all hourly employees - not just those who have in-person interaction with guests - to receive a portion of the "tip pool." The opinion brings clarity (and much needed legal support) in an area where confusion as to the rule of law and expensive litigation had caused uncertainty and reticence.

Food director Jackie Anderson didn't get word last month until it was too late -- after students in the Arlington (Texas) Independent School District already had eaten tacos filled with beef that should have been destroyed. None of them got sick, but the meat was among 5.8 million pounds of beef recalled since January by Huntington Meat Packing. Federal inspectors found that the Montebello, Calif., company had made the beef under unsanitary conditions and concluded that some of the meat could contain potentially deadly E. coli O157:H7 bacteria.

The burger scene in Atlanta is gearing up for a serious makeover this year. Consider: Chef Shaun Doty of Shaun's will open Yeah Burger this spring in White Provision. Little information has been released about the concept, other than the name that brings to mind the Usher hit song. But with Doty behind the wheel, there is a lot of anticipation building.

Most Americans struggle to consume the five to seven fruits and veggies nutritionists say we need daily for good health. Arnell Burghorn has that paltry amount down the hatch first thing in the morning. Burghorn teaches cooking classes based on the popular "Eat to Live" plan at Nature's Food Patch in Clearwater, Fla., and elsewhere around the area. She and her family start every day with one of the plan's "green smoothies": kale, carrots, flaxseeds, a banana, blueberries, strawberries, pomegranate juice, water. She drinks about a quart of this brew and says she's good for four hours. "It's got a lot of staying power," she said.

The beer, it is a-changin'. There's no better evidence of that than the fiasco that erupted last week when a phalanx of State Police barged into three local bars known for their beer selection and found themselves mouthing the words on an incomprehensible variety of strange labels with unpronounceable names. You can just imagine Officer Krupke trying to pronounce "Cantillon Cuvee Des Champions."

U.S.-based fast-food franchise Subway aims to have 500 stores in mainland China within five years and will start by adding 35 to 50 stores this year, Reuters reported yesterday.

The Brewers Association today released 2009 data on the U.S. craft brewing industry. In a year when other brewers saw a slowdown in sales, small and independent craft brewers saw volume increase 7.2 percent and sales dollars increase 10.3 percent over 2008, representing a growth of 613,992 barrels equal to roughly 8.5 million cases. Overall, U.S. beer sales were down approximately 5 million barrels (31 gallons per U.S. barrel) in 2009.

OAK BROOK, Ill., March 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- McDonald's Corporation today announced global comparable sales growth of 4.8% in February. Performance by segment was as follows:U.S. up 0.6%Europe up 5.4%Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa up 10.5% "Our worldwide results for February show that we're satisfying the needs of our customers around the world by giving them more choice and variety, unbeatable value and the convenience they're looking for given today's busy lifestyles," said McDonald's Chief Executive Officer Jim Skinner. U.S. comparable sales increased in February supported by strong consumer demand for core favorites, including an Olympic-themed Chicken McNugget promotion, the Breakfast Dollar Menu and McCafe beverages.

Jamba Juice announced today the debut of its Jamba Catering, Goodness on the Go catering program, offering full-service delivery of its great-tasting, high-quality food-and-beverage options to businesses, community organizations, events and schools. The Jamba Catering, Goodness on the Go service offers a full menu of items, including Jamba popular smoothies, Grab-n-Go food, Fruit Tea Infusions and slow-cooked steel cut oatmeal.

They might not have hit the soup lines, but consumers suffering through the worst recession in decades certainly weren't splurging on restaurant meals, either. Through the end of December, the restaurant industry suffered through six straight quarters of traffic declines, according to the NPD Group. The good news is that the rate of decline is slowing. In the quarter ending in December, year-over-year traffic fell 2.9%, better than the 4% drop in the three months ending in September.

Arctic Circle, the Utah-based hamburger chain that can trace its roots back almost as far as McDonald's, turns 60 this year. Leaders of the restaurant group have launched a major ad campaign and are planning a number of celebrations to commemorate turning the big six-oh. But to really give the fast food outfit its due, the governor needs to designate an Arctic Circle Day. On that day, at high noon, every Utahn should stop what they're doing, select the french fry of their choice and dip it in some fry sauce.

When Paula Yardeni was teaching her daughter, Raquel, how to say her name, "Kiki" was all that came out. Now, 35 years later, it's still her nickname and the name of her mother's well-known restaurant in Central El Paso. "I was looking for something to do, and my husband's the one that found the business for sale," Yardeni said. "When we got it, it was kind of like a pool hall --full of pool tables and beer and a jukebox and even video games.

Gainesville's equal opportunity office will be notifying bar owners that "ladies night" drink specials violate a city ordinance banning discrimination. A letter drafted by the city's equal opportunity director, Cecil Howard, cites specials giving ladies two-for-one drinks and admitting them into bars free before 11 p.m. as violations. Gainesville Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan said the letter will be sent in an effort to get bar owners to drop such specials.