NEW YORK Olive Garden and Burger King chains, is preparing to open a casual, Mediterranean-style concept in Brooklyn, N.Y., early next year. —Recognizing customers’ growing demand for healthful, innovative food served inexpensively, Brad Blum, a former head of the
Called Green Canteen, the 3,000-square-foot, 74-seat restaurant would be the second concept from Blum Enterprises LLC, following its recent Manhattan debut of a gourmet hot dog place featuring grilled asparagus. Blum’s Brooklyn restaurant would focus on seasonal ingredients and offer 60 menu items, including ready-to-serve antipasti, salads, flatbreads and hummus bowls served with lamb, pork or chicken and organic vegetables. The restaurant also will offer health-oriented shakes that are “high in energy but not in sugar,” he said. —Recognizing customers’ growing demand for healthful, innovative food served inexpensively, Brad Blum, a former head of the
Blum, who initially made his reputation as a brand-marketing savant in the retail food industry during stints with General Mills and its Betty Crocker arm before joining Olive Garden when General Mills spun off its eateries to create Darden Restaurants, said the idea for Green Canteen was more personal, stemming from his own dietary and health habits. He cites the low glycemic values of Mediterranean diets as an inspiration. —Recognizing customers’ growing demand for healthful, innovative food served inexpensively, Brad Blum, a former head of the
“I’ve been working on this really for about a year and a half,” he said. “This is one that has been on my mind for a while. The premise of this restaurant comes from the belief I have that we should be able to savor the great taste of delicious food and feel great afterward. That’s why we’re taking into account a combination of Mediterranean food coupled with innovative but classic items.” —Recognizing customers’ growing demand for healthful, innovative food served inexpensively, Brad Blum, a former head of the
A recent study by the NPD Group research firm substantiates Blum’s intuition. NPD found that a growing number of consumers think being healthful means including better-for-you foods in their diets, versus being on diets or eliminating harmful substances or ingredients from their diets, such as cholesterol or sodium. The number of products Americans consume per day with a label indicating a perceived health benefit, such as organic, light or whole grain, has increased every year for the past four years, from 1.75 such products in 2004 to 2.5 products in the year ended in February 2008. NPD also found that nearly 3 percent of all visits to restaurants in 2007 were motivated by the desire for something healthful or light to eat. —Recognizing customers’ growing demand for healthful, innovative food served inexpensively, Brad Blum, a former head of the
Green Canteen’s menu will feature items low in refined carbohydrates that will be either grilled, roasted or baked, but not fried, Blum said. No butter or cream will be used either. He also indicated that everything would be priced under $10 and per-person checks would average less than $20. —Recognizing customers’ growing demand for healthful, innovative food served inexpensively, Brad Blum, a former head of the
“This food is what we classify as clean and wholesome,” Blum said. “There will be no antibiotics, nitrates or preservatives in it. Another core aspect is that it will be featuring seasonal items, which if done well, taste better and are less expensive.” —Recognizing customers’ growing demand for healthful, innovative food served inexpensively, Brad Blum, a former head of the
In Brooklyn, he added, portion sizes will be “ample but not huge.” —Recognizing customers’ growing demand for healthful, innovative food served inexpensively, Brad Blum, a former head of the
Green Canteen is scheduled to open in the Williamsburg section of the New York City borough. —Recognizing customers’ growing demand for healthful, innovative food served inexpensively, Brad Blum, a former head of the
In addition to developing Green Canteen, the former chain executive, along with Mike Hewitt, chief operating officer of Blum Enterprises, also opened a fast-casual concept called Dogmatic Gourmet Sausage Systems last month. It specializes in gourmet grilled sausage sandwiches served with high-end toppings and sauces. It evolved from a cart into a 1,200-square-foot, 20-seat restaurant near Union Square Park in Manhattan. Each sandwich contains no more than 500 calories, Blum said. —Recognizing customers’ growing demand for healthful, innovative food served inexpensively, Brad Blum, a former head of the
The 2.5-ounce sausages are made from smoked beef, pork, turkey, chicken or lamb and are served on baguettes that are hollowed out like a cylinder and toasted on heated spikes. The sausages are then topped with the customer’s choice of sauce. The sandwiches, which are inspired by a version Blum enjoyed during a trip to Europe some years ago, are priced at around $5. —Recognizing customers’ growing demand for healthful, innovative food served inexpensively, Brad Blum, a former head of the
Green Canteen’s portion sizes will be integral to the concept’s health orientation, Hewitt said. —Recognizing customers’ growing demand for healthful, innovative food served inexpensively, Brad Blum, a former head of the
“We’re really trying to eliminate the highs and lows,” said Hewitt, who before joining Blum worked in an executive capacity for the Houston’s upscale dinner-house chain and in the music-recording industry. “My goal is I don’t want to see anyone walking out with a doggy bag. I want the portion sizes to be just right.” —Recognizing customers’ growing demand for healthful, innovative food served inexpensively, Brad Blum, a former head of the
Blum used his own capital to finance the restaurants, and he indicated he has been working on both concepts since 2006. He plans eventually to expand both, albeit slowly. —Recognizing customers’ growing demand for healthful, innovative food served inexpensively, Brad Blum, a former head of the
“We want to be humble in that we walk before we run,” he said. “We think [these concepts have] a lot of potential and could and should be expandable. Right now we’re focusing on New York. For Dogmatic we’re already starting to look for a second location outside of New York, but we don’t want to go to too many isolated areas.” —Recognizing customers’ growing demand for healthful, innovative food served inexpensively, Brad Blum, a former head of the
Hewitt further noted that the two also have discussed the possibility of expanding the Dogmatic concept to such on-site foodservice territory as college campuses and heavily trafficked travel plaza locations. —Recognizing customers’ growing demand for healthful, innovative food served inexpensively, Brad Blum, a former head of the
Blum said he would eventually entertain the idea of franchising his two concepts, but not just yet. —Recognizing customers’ growing demand for healthful, innovative food served inexpensively, Brad Blum, a former head of the
“They will remain company owned in the early stages,” he said, because “we want to get it right before we start bringing in outside financing.” —Recognizing customers’ growing demand for healthful, innovative food served inexpensively, Brad Blum, a former head of the