Restaurant menus demand differentiation, authenticityRestaurant menus demand differentiation, authenticity

Bret Thorn

Menu developers have had a busy year responding to consumers’ shifting habits and a growing desire to have a personal connection with their food, speakers at this week's Menu Trends & Directions conference said.

Much of the discussions among the 165 attendees centered on approaches that help their food stand out in the crowded foodservice field. The 2011 Menu Trends & Directions conference is produced by Nation's Restaurant News, The Kruse Co. and Technomic Inc.

Menu trend expert Nancy Kruse, president of The Kruse Co., and a contributing editor to Nation’s Restaurant News, in her annual State of the Plate presentation, said the country’s 250 largest chain restaurants added more than 3,100 permanent menu items and nearly 2,800 limited time offerings in the past year. Many of them were tweaks on comfort food, with a particular focus on bread — and an unusual uptick in waffles — but adjustments also were made to decommoditize their offerings by focusing on their unique qualities.

Those included highlighting how they were prepared — grilled, fried, toasted, etc. — mentioning where their products came from, with farm-to-table items continuing to spread, especially at noncommercial operations, and using atypical products such as heirloom tomatoes, Alaskan crab or farro.

“The best [menu] successes have included items with a focus on the cooking techniques that create the best flavors,” Dan Kish, vice president of food at Panera Bread, said.

Authenticity of menu items or offerings was another driver of success, according to Bob Okura, vice president of culinary development and corporate chef at The Cheesecake Factory. Consumers today demand — and have knowledge of — authentic menu items, he said.

“A lot of foods that are popular are comfort foods from around the world,” Okura said. “When we do recipes, we need to do the research to get our arms around what authenticity demands … If we can’t maintain a minimum of what is required then we’ll walk away.”

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Consumers also are showing continued interest in food that does more than merely nourish them.

Kruse pointed to “Wired Waffles,” a caffeinated toaster waffle available in supermarkets and containing 2.5 times the amount of caffeine as an energy drink.

David Henkes vice president of restaurant research firm Technomic, in reporting on beverage trends, pointed to the many antioxidant-rich ingredients such as açaí in new beverages, as well as probiotics, such as the iced tea drinks launched by Red Mango that contain Ganeden BC30, a strain of bacteria promoted as being beneficial for digestive health.

He also said “anti-energy” drinks — which have ingredients reputed to have calming effects, such as chamomile and melatonin — are gaining ground, although penetration of those items is still very low.

Food and beverage pairing, beyond wine, was on the rise, he added, as were drinks that helped people “support their lifestyle,” he said. That included vodka mixed with energy drinks that helped millennials to party all night.

Product enhancement was on the minds of many of the chefs who shared their ideas during the conference:

•Panera’s Kish said the bakery café chain was rolling out a French onion soup that was more true to its French origins.
•Oona Settembre, T.G.I. Friday’s corporate chef, said the casual-dining chain had launched a successful “Chipotle Yucatan Chicken Salad,” made with roasted chicken breast, garlic, oregano and blackening spices on mixed greens, tossed with avocado, cheese, and crisp tostada pieces, served with avocado vinaigrette and chipotle cream.
•The Cheesecake Factory’s Okura warned about getting too adventuresome for you clients, noting that his Saigon chicken sandwich, a variation on the Vietnamese Banh Mi, didn’t resonate with customers.

But to get a glimpse of what might be on future menus, Kruse in her State of the Plate presentation highlighted some inventive food trucks, and NRN Southwest bureau chief Ron Ruggless interviewed local celebrity chef Stephan Pyles about his plans to open an as-yet-unnamed “Modern Texan” restaurant, that will feature the Southwestern cuisine that Pyles helped invent, augmented by modern techniques such as sous-vide cooking, and equipment ranging from high-tech ovens to liquid nitrogen.

Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary

Sarah Lockyer contributed to this report