“We’re many many many different types of restaurants. We’re not only degustation menu restaurants or QSR restaurants or cooking schools. … It opens our eyes to how extraordinarily diverse this business is,” said Norman Van Aken as he accepted his induction into the MenuMasters Hall of Fame.
He was addressing a crowd of 400 people in the Drake Hotel’s Gold Coast Ballroom. The attendees were, indeed, being fêted by chefs at restaurants with only tasting menus; by chains showcasing their award-winning burgers, sliders and fondue; by school foodservice operators offering Thai green curry and Brazilian seafood stew; and by Van Aken’s own lamb chops with sugarcane moonshine chutney, paired with an Old Fashioned cocktail.
Van Aken dedicated his award to the dishwashers and bussers of the industry. A self-taught cook, he said that’s the level at which he started, working with people who were generous in sharing the culinary backgrounds of their own cultures and inspiring him to create New World Cuisine, which was a fusion — a term he coined in the 1980s — of the flavors of the different communities of South Florida and the French techniques of traditional fine dining.
Chicago restaurateur and club operator Billy Dec was master of ceremonies of the award gala, presented by Nation’s Restaurant News and sponsored by Ventura Foods.
“It’s so inspiring to see these amazing chefs and restaurateurs put their heart and soul into everything they try,” Dec said as he introduced the winners.
David Barzelay, chef and owner of Lazy Bear in San Francisco, was named Innovator of the Year for his restaurant that operates like a dinner party, serving two sittings each night of 40 people each who start with cocktails in a lounge before sitting together at communal tables for a degustation. Barzelay told the crowd that he strived to break down the “church-like atmosphere,” of traditional fine dining to make excellent food fun.
The crowd was wowed by his whipped scrambled eggs with bacon, maple and housemade hot sauce, paired with prosecco, that he served in hollowed-out eggshells.
Slapfish taps "superhero" menu item
Slapfish, a six-unit chain trying to democratize seafood while also being mindful of the need to do that sustainably, was named Trendsetter of the Year. Founder and CEO Andrew Gruel served the chain’s Clobster Roll, made with equal amounts of crab and lobster, which he said was the chain’s superhero.
“It’s going to be played by Ben Affleck in a movie soon,” he joked.
The sandwich was paired with Lagunitas India Pale Ale.
Gruel thanked Nation’s Restaurant News for the award, saying the publication was “not just a resource and platform we follow religiously, but I do believe that it is the North Star in terms of what’s happening daily in restaurant news.”
Stanford University Dining won the Healthful Innovations award for Jamie Oliver’s Cook Smart Program, which aims not only to feed students nutritiously but to teach them how to cook the food themselves. They served green chicken curry with fluffy rice, micro greens and snap peas — a recipe Oliver developed — paired with Matanzas Creek Sauvignon Blanc.
David Iott, Stanford’s culinary educator and training executive chef, said in accepting the award, “One of the most important things I can do as a chef is teach people how to eat.”
The award for Best New Menu Item went to Jack in the Box for its Classic Buttery Jack — paired at the party with Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Jeff Zwally, vice president of culinary innovation for the quick-service burger chain, said the sandwich was the chain’s most successful launch in 20 years, and that they had to pull advertising in some markets so they wouldn’t run out of product.
Arby’s saw similar success with the sliders the chain launched last year, and proceeded to sell 29 million of them in their first month — earning them the award for Best Menu Line Extension.
“This really is the gateway drug to get people to try the meats on our menu,” vice president and corporate executive chef Neville Craw told the audience. The jalapeño roast beef, pit-smoked ham and Buffalo chicken sliders were paired with a Columbia Winery Merlot.
The Melting Pot, whose Dip Into Summer promotion earned them the award for Best Limited Time Offer, treated attendees to samples of their barbecue brisket cheddar fondue, paired with a Jade Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. President Mike Lester said his restaurants are places where people create memories, but with this promotion they tried to play on their customers’ own memories of fun times in the summer and evoke a sense of nostalgia.
Sodexo won the award for Best Menu Revamp with its Crisol Latin Kitchen menu, a pan-Latin menu introduced at Stony Brook University that replaced a more standard Mexican menu. They served a Brazilian shrimp stew, which was paired with a Silver Palm Chardonnay.
Jennifer Schmalz, director of brand management, echoed many of the winners in accepting their awards by thanking her staff.
“Without the culinary solutions team we would be nothing,” she said.
Correction: May 22, 2016 An earlier version of this story misspelled David Barzelay's name in a caption. It has been corrected.
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected]
Follow him on Twitter: @foodwriterdiary
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