Entries categorized as ‘business’
Posted by Jennifer Heigl
Food author and activist Michael Pollan, author of ‘In Defense of Food’ is visiting the Twin Cities this week to talk food. Local newspaper, The Star Tribune, had a chance to speak with Pollan yesterday regarding his food activism.
Here are a few of my favorite bits from the interview:
Q: With the recent contamination scares, people may be feeling a sense of security in processed foods, which are exactly what you argue against. How do you respond?
A: A lot of people think processed food is safer because it’s so sanitized, but that really means that everything’s been killed. It’s dead. There’s definitely a fear coming of food grown in the soil, which is really sad. A lot of the problem with produce comes in the processing.
People are relying on companies washing fresh lettuce and putting it in a bag with an 18-day shelf life instead of doing it themselves. The consumer should assume that whenever they outsource food preparation, there’s a certain amount of risk involved. Not that you’re always going to get it right yourself, but the scale of the problem is a lot smaller.
Q: With people looking to stretch their food dollars, is the message to eat organically and locally, which often means more expensively, losing steam?
A: I’ve heard contradictory things. I know Whole Foods is struggling, but I’ve also talked to people who make organic food, and they’re doing just fine. This spring, we’ll see what happens in the farmers markets.
You can read the rest of Pollan’s interview here!
Concerned about your food safety? Check out my tips for keeping yourself, and your family, safe from food contamination.
Categories: books · business · economy · food · green
Tagged: daily blender, dailyblender.com, farmers markets, food activist, in defense of food, Michael Pollan, minnesota, organic, the star tribune, whole foods
Posted by Jennifer Heigl
Oy! The food writing world is all a-twitter with the upcoming opening of super chef Daniel Boulud’s DBGB Kitchen & Bar in NYC!
Grub Street gave us a full look at the menu after a recent foodie preview. Dubbed as a ‘Pan-European brasserie’, the menu includes a great selection of seafood bites, burgers, and sausages, with the occasional veal tongue (take it from me – don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it!). A full ice-cream cart rounds out the dessert options.
Despite early rumors about the menu, Boulud recently batted down the idea that DBGB is a burger joint. Our friends at Zagat have the video to prove it!
Originally slated to open in late April, Gothamist tells us we should expect an early June opening of the highly-anticipated space with a ‘kitchen supply’ feel, complete with pots and pans donated by fellow master chefs. Eater NY has a great selection of pics of both the menu and the space!
I can’t wait for a visit to DBGB in the fall while I’m in NYC for the 2009 New York Wine & Food Festival! Yay!
Categories: bars and clubs · business · celebrity chefs · food · food & drink blogs · restaurants
Tagged: burger, Daniel Boulud, dbgb, gothamist, grub street, sausages, Zagat
Posted by Jennifer Heigl
Hot on the heels of new legislation in Multnomah County (where Portland resides), the Oregon House of Representatives recently approved a new menu-labeling bill that would affect food service operations statewide. The proposed bill, similar to ones already passed in King County, Wash., New York City, N.Y., and Philadelphia, Penn., would require restaurants to display calorie counts for each of their food items, with fines up to $2000 for restaurants who do not comply.
New York Governor David Paterson also recently proposed that the city’s menu-labeling law be extended statewide. The New York legislation ‘would require chain restaurants, supermarkets, convenience stores and mobile vendor operations with 15 or more units nationwide to post calories on menus and menu boards at the point of purchase. Restaurants would also be required to post calories on drive-thru menus.’
“More than half of American adults are overweight or obese and the rates of obesity have tripled in children and teens since 1980,” Paterson said. “This legislation will help New Yorkers make better decisions about what they eat and will encourage more healthful choices, which will have a significant impact in reducing obesity.”
Similar legislation is being considered in Oklahoma, Indiana, Florida, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, and South Carolina.
Personally, I’m curious whether the menu-labeling will negatively impact restaurant business (‘Oh my! Look at the calorie count on that dish!’) and/or whether it will impact a diner’s decision.
Would the new laws change the way you eat?
Categories: business · food · government · restaurants
Tagged: david paterson, food service, law, menu changes, menu labeling, multnomah county, New York, oregon, portland, restaurants
Posted by Jennifer Heigl
Food writer Ruth Reichl was up in arms last week over a recent New York Times article noting that many food companies are now placing the responsibility of food safety on their consumers.
According to the Times article, companies like ConAgra, who experienced a recent food recall with their Banquet pot pies, have essentially resorted to wiping their hands of food safety responsibility by adding new ‘food safety’ instructions to their packaging. Other food manufacturers, such as Nestle and the Blackstone Group, are taking the same route, conceding that they cannot guarantee food safety in their products.
Consumers, as well as those within the food industry, are outraged by the passive take on food safety.
Dr. Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, said companies like ConAgra were asking too much. “I do not believe that it is fair to put this responsibility on the back of the consumer, when there is substantial confusion about what it means to prepare that product,” Dr. Osterholm said.
Surprisingly, much of the difficulty in ensuring food safety lies within the food production industry itself. While there has been discussion about developing a stronger ‘food passport’, ensuring food safety at each level of production from harvest to final distribution, some groups within the industry, such as the Grocery Manufacturers Association, feel as though the production information is ‘unnecessary’ and often ‘not practical or possible to provide.’
No wonder Reichl was appalled at these recent developments! It’s absolutely outrageous to assume that it’s the consumer’s responsibility to ensure food safety! Shame shame, big companies.
Be a savvy consumer! How can you ensure food safety within your home?
- Boycott companies that can’t guarantee the safety of their food products, like ConAgra, Nestle, and others!
- Utilize locally grown organic and natural food products within your home.
- If you don’t own one, purchase a food thermometer, and become familiar with food temperature requirements, from storage to cooking.
- Become an educated food advocate! Learn where your food is produced, how it’s produced, and how you can ensure food safety for yourself and your community!
Categories: business · food · government
Tagged: blackstone group, boycott, conagra, daily blender, food recall, food safety, grocery manufacturers association, nestle, new york times, organics, ruth reichl, sustainability
Posted by Jennifer Heigl
Looking for a job? Jose Andres is hiring!
Not your average job posting! Thanks to MediaBistro.com, we’ve discovered that celeb chef José Andrés is in search of a new Executive Assistant! The available position is located in Washington, D.C. with the ThinkfoodGroup, his restaurant management company with restaurateur Rob Wilder.
Interested? Make sure you have three years of senior level administrative experience, an understanding of Microsoft Office, and a fluency in both Spanish and English. The position does require an average 45-55 hour work week, with occasional nights and weekends – but, come on! José Andrés! Get those applications in to jobs at thinkfoodgroup.com.
Categories: business · celebrity chefs · food
Tagged: daily blender, food, jobs, jose andres, thinkfoodgroup
Posted by Jennifer Heigl
A few of our favorite weekly foodie newsbits:
Oy! Whatever will we do without Bruni? In case you missed it, the big food news of the week is regarding New York Times and Diner’s Journal writer Frank Bruni. According to the Times announcement, after five years at his regular post, Bruni is leaving to focus on personal writing projects, like his upcoming memoir, and settling into more of a writer-at-large role for the Times’s Sunday magazine. Needless to say, food blogs across the interweb are all a-twitter, not only with the announcement but as to who will be replacing the revered reviewer. It’s a Bruniocalypse, according to Eater New York!
Mega-company PepsiCo announced the launching of a new website to assist restaurateurs in growing their business during these difficult economic times. According to Restaurant News Resource, GrowMyRestaurant.com was developed ‘to assist foodservice operators…by providing information and tools via a one-stop shop that address an operator’s most pressing needs — such as driving traffic, growing average check, managing employees and understanding their customers and competition.’
What could be better than reading Bon Appetit? Having them buy you dinner! The Bon Appetit Now website is currently running a sweepstakes where one lucky winner will win a $250 dinner-for-two gift certificate at the restaurant of your choice! I suppose it could be a dinner for one, or even four, depending on how much you (or your companions) can scarf down! Good luck!
Categories: business · economy · food · food & drink blogs · fun food links · web
Tagged: bon appetit, bon appetit now, Diner's Journal, eater new york, frank bruni, growmyrestaurant.com, new york times, pepsico, recession, restaurateurs, slashfood, sweepstakes
Posted by Jennifer Heigl
What a weekend indeed! So many wonderful people, so much wonderful food, so many wonderful cocktails! It’ll be hard to top in 2010, but I’m willing to check it out.
My last few pictures and notes from the 2009 Vegas Uncork’d event:
Chef Carlos Buscaglia
1) I had a great time at Friday’s Culinary Workshop: A Passion for Pasta with Executive Chef Carlos Buscaglia of FiAMMA in the MGM Grand. Chef Buscaglia demonstrated a whole host of fabulous pastas, including gnocchi with a black truffle crema, short rib raviolini, and a yummy panna cotta. The pasta buffet and matching wines were outstanding. My only complaint? That I had to leave most of my food uneaten in order to run to the next event!
Chef Joel Robuchon
2) I couldn’t wait for the Celebrity Chef Blackjack Tournament at the Wynn/Encore, and it definitely did not disappoint. Though most of the celeb chefs were eliminated in the first round, it was quite the sight to see such big names, including Colicchio, Flay, Bartolotta, and Joho, trying their hands at a little 21. Master chef Joël Robuchon took his post at the tables very seriously. Recent James Beard Award winner, Paul Bartolotta, won the whole shebang, for the second year in a row!
3) Finally, you know it’s a party when the Travelocity gnome makes an appearance at every event. Who knew that he actually traveled as much as he does! What a job!
Many thanks to Bon Appetit magazine, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, R&R Partners, and all of the many hotels and participating chefs! I can’t wait for Vegas Uncork’d 2010!
Chef Tom Colicchio
Chef Guy Savoy
Chef Paul Bartolotta
Chef Daniel Boulud
Categories: business · celebrity · celebrity chefs · food & drink festivals
Tagged: 2009 vegas uncork'd, bobby flay, bon appetit, carlos buscaglia, celebrity chef blackjack, Daniel Boulud, fiamma, jean joho, Joël Robuchon, Las Vegas, las vegas convention and visitors authority, MGM Grand, paul bartolotta, r & r partners, tom colicchio, travelocity
Posted by Jennifer Heigl
Famed master chef, and owner/executive chef of El Bulli, Ferrán Adrià, has decided to venture into the pizza-making business! According to the Los Angeles Times, Adrià, along with his brother and collaborator, Alberto Adrià, are in the process of developing a new pizzeria to be located in Barcelona. Known for his avant-garde style of cooking, more commonly referred to as ‘molecular gastronomy’, Adrià hopes to create an ‘honest interpretation’ of the popular food.
“We’ll learn to make it well, this national dish of yours,” Alberto told La Stampa, the daily newspaper in Turin, during his recent visit to the city in the northwestern region of Piedmont.
For traditional Italian pizza makers, or pizzaioli, the feelings are mixed on the famed chef attempting his own version of the revered dish.
Giulio Ferrari, owner of Pizzeria La Cozza, said he was thrown by the news of Adrià wanting to get into pizza. “I hope he’s not going to deconstruct it too much and turn it into a foam,” he said.
Some are also concerned about the use of additives in the new pizza creation, noting Adrià’s support of a European Union project to promote synthetic food chemicals.
You can read the complete article from the Los Angeles Times here.
Categories: business · celebrity · celebrity chefs · food · international
Tagged: avant-garde, El Bulli, Ferran Adria, italy, molecular gastronomy, pizza, alberto adria, barcelona, pizzaioli
Posted by Jennifer Heigl
As an organic advocate, I was very interested in attending the recent ‘Farm to Table’ panel at the Vegas Uncork’d festival. Top chefs, including Bellagio Executive Chef Edmund Wong and sustainability advocate Rick Moonen, discussed the importance of supporting local and sustainable farms by designing menus that feature those food items. However, during the panel discussion, Bon Appetit’s Restaurant Editor, Andrew Knowlton, posed a great question: If you had the choice to purchase organic asparagus from another country or locally grown asparagus, which would you choose? Hands down, all four participating chefs opted for the local option, with BA’s Editor in Chief, Barbara Fairchild, noting that we needed to ‘get people to buy fresh and local’.
The New York Times had an interesting article about companies who are starting to use the appeal of local food production to sell more products. The article highlights the Frito-Lay company and their utilization of local potato producers for their potato products. With the interest in local markets, Frito-Lay announced the launch of a new marketing program specifically noting their use of local food producers.
“Local for us has two appeals,” said Aurora Gonzalez, director of public relations for Frito-Lay North America, which is owned by PepsiCo. “We are interested in quality and quickness because we want consumers to get the freshest product possible, but we have a fairly significant sustainability program, and local is part of that. We want to do business more efficiently, but do it in a more environmentally conscious way.”
‘Locavore’ advocates, however, have difficulty adopting this new drive for ‘local’ promotion. While companies are promoting the use of local farms, the producers are generally local to wherever the food product is manufactured, and not necessarily local to the consumer, leading to what some consider misleading advertising.
“The ingenuity of the food manufacturers and marketers never ceases to amaze me,” said Michael Pollan, the author of “In Defense of Food” and a contributor to The New York Times Magazine. “They can turn any critique into a new way to sell food. You’ve got to hand it to them.”
While I’m certainly encouraged by the growing use of local food producers, I’m concerned as well about possible ‘greenwashing’, or ‘localwashing’ – the practice by some companies of utilizing key terms, like ‘local’, ‘green’, ‘organic’, ’sustainable’, or ‘natural’ to merely sell more food products.
To ensure that you’re not being ‘localwashed’, become an educated consumer. Ask where your food stuffs are produced. Inquire as to whether the production is sustainable, organic, and/or natural. Best of all, don’t believe everything you read. Sometimes, it’s just for the sale!
Categories: business · food · green
Tagged: 2009 vegas uncork'd, andrew knowlton, barbara fairchild, bellagio, bon appetit, edmund wong, frito-lay, green, greenwashing, in defense of food, local food production, localwashed, locavore, Michael Pollan, natural, new york times, organic, pepsi, potato, rick moonen, the new york times magazine
