My Notes on Tuesday’s Lunch, Break & Dinner Menus August 15, 2008
Posted by mintelflavorinsights in Uncategorized.Tags: desserts, dinner, lunch, small bites
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The momentum picked up on Tuesday afternoon as we moved into lunch and the afternoon break. Lunch featured a number of soups and salads, but the sun on the patio was pretty hot to get into something like seafood bisque. My favorite lunch option was the “Bistro Grilled Steakhouse Sandwich” – not too cutting-edge, but still satisfying. (OK, yes, and the “Guinness White & Dark Chocolate Cake”… frosted with marscapone whipped cream.) The afternoon break items shared a “blue” theme – all the dishes were blue in color or… purple. (“Purple Up” soda, “Purple Grape Sorbet”, etc.) I’m a sucker for chips and salsa, so I was pleased to see “Blue Corn Chips with Fresh Pico de Gallo” as an option.
Dinner offerings drew inspiration from various trends in dining and ingredients, including:
Fine Dining Trends: The Kitchen & Bar Connect August 14, 2008
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The following is drawn from a number of different presentations and conversations on both Tuesday and Wednesday during the event. Maria Caranfa deserves a very healthy nod for the bulk of the observations below.
To me, the emerging trends in beverages (cocktails, mostly) seem significantly different than some of the other ongoing developments in fine dining. The new consumer target – Gen Y – is not likely to have much impact here, as many are obviously underage and few are likely in the market for $11+ cocktails. The “renovation” trend may not come into play here either – simply introducing a few new fancy cocktails may not be enough for operators to keep pace, although it would undoubtedly buy time. Finally, the “multi-sensory experiences” trend (the only issue from my “Top 5″ not yet mentioned) does crop up in cocktails – imagine the aroma of a twisted orange rind – but not to the degree as in appetizers, entrees, and desserts. (And I don’t know about you, but I don’t tend to play around with my drinks.)
For one thought on the economy’s effect on trends in beverages scroll down to the end of this post, but here are the two major areas of discussion we heard:
Great Quote (More Updates Coming) August 13, 2008
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The good people who maintain the Flavor Experience website posted all of the presentations from last week. While attendees can access as many files as we like, we can only distribute them internally. Sadly, we can’t share other presentations from the event with partners or prospects. (Mintel folks can contact me for more info.)
As I was looking through some of the presentations, I noticed the following Frank Zappa quote from a session on beverage trends (that I wasn’t able to attend):
You can’t be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer.
We will be posting a few more thoughts here this week, so stay tuned.
ML
“Diversification of Target”: Pulling in Gen Y August 11, 2008
Posted by mintelflavorinsights in Uncategorized.Tags: branding, Gen Y
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Of the sessions I attended during the event, I found the presentation on “Generation Y” by Lisa Strick and Kara Nielsen of the Center for Culinary Development among the most interesting. Also called “Millennials”, the young people that make up the next generation could be an enormous opportunity for marketers. As Mintel has published in reports such as “Spending Power of the Teen Consumer,” the younger generation spends more today on dining out at restaurants and coffee shops. In their presentation, CCD supported their points with findings from both quantitative – of 1000 participants between the ages of 16-28 – and qualitative studies of representative US samples.
Lisa and Kara tried to help the audience understand some of intangibles involved in Gen Y – how they think, what they find appealing, and how restaurant operators can use these insights to attract this challenging demographic. Young people present a puzzle: they value uniqueness yet want to be part of the “in” crowd; they value personalization yet want ubiquitous brands like Apple and Nike; and they are frequently isolated yet constantly communicate (via text messaging, Twitter, IM’ing, Facebook, etc).
My Notes on Tuesday’s Breakfast & “Nosh” Menu Items August 8, 2008
Posted by mintelflavorinsights in Uncategorized.Tags: breakfast, desserts, small bites
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Breakfast
Tuesday morning’s menu offered a wealth of options to attendees from “Beautiful Breakfast Quiches” (two to choose from, including an Applewood Smoked Bacon, caramelized Sweet Onion, and Asiago cheese Quiche and a Vegetarian Quiche with Fire-Roasted Vegetables, Italian Marinated Tomatoes, Spinach, Potato, and Asiago cheese) to a “Strawberry Sunrise Smoothie”.
At this point, I should pause to apologize. I am not much of a breakfast person. Brunch, yes. The (now) rare late-night plate of eggs & bacon? Absolutely. However, to start a long, high-energy day I typically gravitate more toward the coffee & a bagel end of the spectrum.
Recession Proof Strategy & Branding August 7, 2008
Posted by mintelflavorinsights in Uncategorized.Tags: branding, comfort food, economic environment
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“Kathy & Cathy” (Hayden and Holley, respectively) appropriately titled their Tuesday morning presentation “Quick Flavor Development Trends Update”. While they covered a good deal of ground in just thirty minutes, a few points on the recession economic downturn jumped out at me. In particular, I believe they succinctly pointed to a few strategies operators and others can employ to keep their business healthy during tough times, including:
- The use of comfort foods connected, either via flavor or preparation (possibly even in the name of the dish), with a sense of nostalgia and memories of better times.
- “Heightening the humble” nature of food by stressing simple ingredients.
- Encouraging diners to splurge, and defining your brand by positioning your restaurant as a destination, where customers will go to spoil themselves (thus potentially offsetting reduced visits with bigger tickets).
- Employing the “bite & sip” theory by offering a small-plates portion of the menu (which research shows increases the average order value as customers order several small plates rather than sharing a single dish).
I found all of the ideas above interesting, in particular the point about comfort and humility. The former seems to be a popular topic this week, while the latter implies some anxiety about consumer backlash. Which seems reasonable, as many Americans may worry first about how much gas it will take to drive to dinner much less how much to spend on an entree.
More Updates on the Way… August 6, 2008
Posted by mintelflavorinsights in Uncategorized.Tags: renovation
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You might notice that I tagged the previous post with “renovation”. After speaking with a few other attendees, and cross-referencing the “Top Ten Trends” road map assembled by our friends at Flavor & the Menu, I am trying to distill everything I have heard here down to a framework of 5 or so trends. For the most part, this is to help me think about and interpret the proverbial fire-hose of information this week.
One of my personal Top 5 Trends, then, is “renovation” – in other words, an attempt by a food manufacturer or operator to update or refresh a dish, brand, or product to respond to ongoing pressures in the marketplace and from consumers while not investing in a full innovation process or an entirely new product and (again) staying true to the core brand message.
“Outlaws in Food Service” August 6, 2008
Posted by mintelflavorinsights in Uncategorized.Tags: renovation
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Lori Daniel, MC for The Flavor Experience, presented an intriguing recap of “outlaw” foods, ingredients, and issues yesterday morning. Daniel’s delivered her speech in a humorous way – Kevin Bacon came up – but still managed to hit on a number of challenging points. In the course of her fast-forward review, she discussed how the pace of change and the breadth of consumer understanding has influenced the food industry. For example, butter became one of the first outlaws, to be replaced by margarine, only to find out that margarine too was unhealthy (more so even than butter), but then trans-fats were removed from margarine in response to consumers’ concerns, to now when (maybe) olive oil is the new butter.
Yet, there is a new worry – even the healthiest (or maybe we should say, least unhealthy) oils and fats cooked at high temperatures may produce toxins.
Among some of Daniel’s other points, she cited:
Check Back for More Updates August 5, 2008
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Stay tuned – more updates coming this afternoon and tonight!
Thoughts on the Opening Reception August 5, 2008
Posted by mintelflavorinsights in Uncategorized.Tags: appetizers, desserts, locavore
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Tonight’s happy hour event featured a number of tasty hor dourves and interesting cocktails in a great setting (on the patio overlooking the bay during sunset). Of the finger food laid out across the upper and lower levels of the patio, I tried:
- “Mini California Avocado Shrimp Cocktail”, designed by the Hass Avocado Board (a sponsor), and the name pretty much says it all. Served in a mini martini glass and very tasty.
- “Steamed Carlsbad Mussels”, two varieties were served but I only tried the Garlic Butter & Melted Fennel option (compliments of Land O’ Lakes) – also very tasty and locally sourced from Carlsbad, CA.
- The “Salty Strawberry Kisses” looked delicious but I got to talking and (literally) forgot about them. Another local product, dipped in chipotle dark chocolate then “kissed” with a dash of kosher salt (thanks to Cargill and PMA).
The latter two items are good examples of the “locavore” trend we’ve written about in a recent Mintel Report.
For cocktails, I ordered a “Chili Mango Rita” (spicy… served with a slice of jalapeño) and sampled a Tanqueray Rangpur “Cucumber Martini”. The latter was cleverly garnished with a slice of cucumber pinched in a wooden (looked like bamboo) clip.
The reception seemed well attended and everyone was very friendly. I had some interesting conversations on a variety of topics (Bennigan’s came up several times) especially how the slumping economy has impacted menus and marketing tactics. Interestingly, it seems smaller portions are being seen as an attractive choice in that they can be positioned as both potentially healthier and less costly options – particularly in areas like desserts.
ML
