Omnivorous Chefs Experiment With Plant-Based Charcuterie
It would be easy to dismiss certain culinary trends as a simple “veganizing of the American diet,” says BBQ chef Steven Raichlen. But some of the most popular dishes recently have been created by omnivorous chefs applying classic techniques of charcuterie to vegetables that take well to salt, smoke, and fermentation. Will Horowitz, the chef and co-owner of Ducks Eatery in Manhattan, is well known for his smoked goat neck tacos, but watermelon ham is the dish that went viral. He serves it on a vegetable charcuterie plate with radish prosciutto. “We use the same ancient techniques of meat charcuterie — salting, curing, drying, fermenting and smoking,” Mr. Horowitz said. “The trick is finding the right cocktail for each vegetable.”
Jeremy Umansky is chef and co-owner of Larder Delicatessen & Bakery in Cleveland, which was a semifinalist in the 2020 James Beard awards. The co-author of Koji Alchemy: Rediscovering the Magic of Mold-Based Fermentation, Umansky is well-versed in meat curing techniques. Lately, though, he has been pushing the forefront of vegetable cookery by approaching plant-based dishes as charcuterie made with vegetable flesh. His chewy cured burdock jerky shares the menu with house-cured pancetta, pastrami and coppa ham. Umansky is in talks with a Japanese koji manufacturer about creating a company that will sell his koji-cured vegetable charcuterie in the U.S.
Vegan chefs have also been pushing the boundaries between techniques of meat cookery and vegetable cookery. In Philadelphia, Chef Rich Landau and his wife, pastry chef Kate Jacoby, put plant-based fine dining on the culinary map when they opened Vedge in Philadelphia. At Fancy Radish, their newest spot near the Capitol in Washington DC, a vegetable charcuterie board is the signature dish. Landau, who is vegan, likes using words reminiscent of meat, such as mushroom “bacon” and tofu “ham.” In his plant-based charcuterie board, crispy smoked shiitakes are scattered among pastrami-spiced carrots, deviled kohlrabi, and fire-charred Chioggia beets. “Our goal is not to replicate meat, but to give vegetables some of the flavors that carnivores love,” says Landau. “Our menus may be vegan, but 95 percent of our clientele are omnivores.”
Meet The Pitmasters In Netflix’s Chef’s Table: BBQ
The upcoming season of Netflix’s popular food documentary series Chef’s Table is dedicated to barbecue and the pitmasters who prep, smoke, and craft it. The new season’s first episode focuses on Tootsie Tomanetz, the 85-year old pitmaster at famed Snow’s BBQ in Lexington, Texas. Next up, Lennox Hastie of Firedoor in Sydney, Australia, shows how they do barbecue down under. The third episode is all about whole hog barbecue with Rodney Scott, pitmaster of Rodney Scott’s BBQ in his hometown of Charleston, South Carolina and in Birmingham, Alabama. The final episode features Rosalie Chay Chuc, a pitmaster in Yaxunah, Mexico, who shows viewers how she keeps the thousand-year-old outdoor cooking traditions of the Mayans alive. .
Seniors Increase Digital Restaurant Ordering By 428%
According to the NPD Group, digital restaurant orders skyrocketed 135% in June compared to a year ago. NPD found that the greatest increases were among adults age 65 and older, who ramped up their digital ordering by 428%. Adults age 55 and older also increased digital ordering by 200%. Older adults often dine out but they are also a demographic at risk of the coronavirus, driving them toward the convenience and safety of digital ordering. Over the past decade, older adults have also increased their e-commerce in other sectors. According to the Pew Research Center, 73% of adults age 65 and older now use the Internet regularly, an increase from 14% in 2000. More than half of that age group also owns a smartphone, and NPD found that since the start of the pandemic, use of third-party services has doubled among buyers who were new to the services six months ago. Like other segments of the population, older adults tend to order from quick-service restaurants, including menu items such as burgers, fries, Mexican foods, sandwiches, and pizza, reports NPD.
Chef Dan Barber Departs From Michelin-Starred Blue Hill Restaurant That Made Him Famous
In 2019, Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, New York, earned two Michelin stars. But in 2021, its chef, Dan Barber, will no longer be in the kitchen. Barber, who runs the restaurant along with his brother and sister-and-law, is pivoting to a chef-in-residence program focused on diversity. Plans are still developing, but they aim to welcome four chefs next year, one per season, to run the restaurant under the visiting chef’s name. “The kitchen and the cuisine will be theirs,” says Barber. Both Blue Hill at Stone Barns and the Blue Hill location in Greenwich Village will not use the “Blue Hill” name throughout 2021. While the chef-in-residence program had been in works prior to the pandemic, “This came about because we have been reflecting on this moment in time and where a restaurant belongs in our culture,” Barber said. The new program will take effect when the restaurants reopen for full dine-in service in 2021, and the team has not determined who will run the kitchens afterward.
Influential James Beard Chef & Restaurant Awards Canceled Until 2022
Last week, the James Beard Foundation (JBF) announced that it will not issue its prestigious chef and restaurant awards this year due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The foundation has also suspended its awards for 2021 for similar reasons as well as to allow time to restructure the awards by removing “systemic bias” and increasing the diversity in its pool of candidates. The 2020 JBF food media award winners were announced online in May. The chef and restaurants winners were chosen in June and scheduled to be announced this September. Instead, the foundation will broadcast a live Twitter event, celebrating previously announced honorees in categories including America’s Classics, Lifetime Achievement, Humanitarian of the Year, Design Icon, and Leadership. “The uncertainty of this time for our industry is already a hard reality and considering anyone to have won or lost within the current tumultuous hospitality ecosystem does not in fact feel like the right thing to do,” James Beard Foundation CEO Clare Reichenbach said. “In short, an honor which we know is held in high regard, at the moment, feels minor when compared to the dire situation we are in. As we strive to provide an awards program with the highest ethical standards, one that is fair, equitable, and reflective of the industry which we serve, we know that the right move is to step back and take stock of the nominees’ and honorees’ achievements.” .
Chili’s Parent Company Bets Big On Virtual Restaurants
As Chili’s begins to return sales to pre-pandemic levels, the popular chain’s parent company Brinker International has been investing more in virtual restaurant concepts. Brinker’s first virtual venture, It’s Just Wings, is now generating sales at an annual rate of over $150 million, according to CEO Wyman Roberts. With a whimsical menu and recipes, says Roberts, “we created this business overnight.” Wings, curly fries, fried Oreos and other specialties at It’s Just Wings are currently being offered for delivery-only from more than 1,000 Chili’s units around the country. After analyzing customer data, Brinker discovered that 70% of It’s Just Wings’ customers had never ordered delivery from Chili’s. Although Roberts recognizes the opportunity to drive delivery customers to Chili’s, he stressed that It’s Just Wings should not compete with the core brand. Other concepts are in the works as Brinker plans to build a portfolio of virtual restaurants offering different cuisines.
Dickey’s Barbecue Pit Launches Nationwide Ghost Kitchen Network
Dickey’s Barbecue Pit based in Dallas, Texas, is the most recent restaurant chain to join the ghost-kitchen movement. With more than 500 units, Dickey’s is the nation’s largest BBQ chain and its new network of ghost kitchens will include virtual restaurants to expand its reach in Chicago, Houston and Orlando, as well as to enter a new market using only ghost kitchens in Providence, Rhode Island. Five ghost kitchens are opening during this initial stage of the launch, and Dickey’s confirmed there are “90 other agreements for this model down the pipeline.” The ghost-kitchen network is being marketed as a fast and cheap alternative for Dickey’s franchisees to grow their store portfolio or to allow new franchisees to enter the business without investing as much time or money as they would in a typical brick and mortar store. Dickey’s is incentivizing potential ghost kitchen franchisees by offering a discount and other benefits for existing and new operators. The chains system-wide same store sales have gone up 7.4% this July with over a third of sales from digital platforms. From February to July, the average number of digital checks per store also went up 333%.
In Pandemic Pandemonium, Restaurants Become Both Guinea Pigs And Scapegoats
When states began to lift lockdowns a few months ago, restaurants became the nation’s reopening guinea pigs. Each state navigated its own reopening rules, instituting only partial reopenings after months of financial losses suffered by restaurants struggling to get by with only takeout and delivery. As COVID-19 cases began to rise again, restaurants and bars were labeled as hotspots for community outbreaks, and they closed again. According to Louisiana state data, about one-fourth of the state’s 2,360 cases since March that originated outside of nursing homes and prisons have been linked to bars and restaurants. In Maryland, 12% of newly reported cases last month were traced back to restaurants. Though it’s unclear how many cases are being contracted from employees, workers have seen spikes as well. Since late June, restaurants in Nashville, Las Vegas, Milwaukee, and Atlanta have been forced to close temporarily due to COVID-19’s presence among employees. Bars in Texas and Florida have closed due to employee infections as well. Epidemiologists say that the bulk of new COVID-19 cases come from indoor settings, and that the risk of contracting the virus is far less likely outdoors. “As of recently, we still hadn’t traced a major U.S. outbreak of any sort to an outdoor exposure,” said Lindsey Leininger, a health policy researcher and clinical professor at Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Along with delivery and takeout, outdoor dining has kept several restaurants from closing permanently. Though some states are now allowing restaurants to resume indoor dining at 25% indoor, the sustained lack of sales and whiplash effect of opening and closing with little financial relief has mostly devastated the nation’s 1 million restaurants.
Pitmaster Rodney Scott Shares Secret Ingredient In His Famous Smoked Ribs
Rodney Scott, an award-winning South Carolina chef and pitmaster, recently teamed up with Today to share the secret ingredient that makes his famous Carolina-style smoked ribs great. “It may be a controversial ingredient, but I unapologetically use MSG in my seasoning rub. It is a flavor maker!” said Scott. “All the savory and hot spices and seasonings in my famous rub and sauce make these tender ribs unbelievably delicious,” he added. Monosodium glutamate, MSG, is the sodium salt of glutamic acid. Though glutamic acid is found naturally in many common foods such as cheese and tomatoes, the ingredient has been misunderstood and the subject of controversy over the years.
Michelin Inspectors Return To Evaluate NYC’s and DC’s Starred Restaurants
In the past five months, New York City and Washington D.C. restaurants have suffered enormous economic losses due to the pandemic, indoor dining bans, high food delivery fees, and even thunderstorms that cancel outdoor food service. Under these conditions, Michelin has returned to judge the best restaurants in both cities. “Inspectors have resumed restaurant visits in some areas, including establishments in the New York selection,” said a Michelin North America spokesperson. Many feel the inspections are surprising, given the restaurant industry’s current state of disarray. “We thought maybe this year [the Michelin guide] wouldn’t be released,” says Ellia Park, co-owner of 2-starred Atomix. “I don’t know if it’s going to be fair or not because some restaurants do delivery and some restaurants can’t do anything,” she says. “We are always trying our best here, but now we’ll be worried about [the inspectors] as well,” adds TJ Steele, chef-owner of Claro, a Oaxacan restaurant in Gowanus, Brooklyn. The Michelin organization has publicly acknowledged the unique situation for this year. “Our inspection team is fully committed to support and promote restaurants by being flexible, respectful and realistic as recovery takes shape,” says Michelin’s North American chief inspector.
