Floored! NRA Show 2008 News

Exhibitors exalt ‘humble tuber’

As rice, corn, wheat and soybean prices soar across the globe, the United Nations is calling attention to an age-old staple. By naming 2008 the International Year of the Potato, the UN hopes what it calls the “humble tuber” will ease food-price inflation and help feed more people.

From the Idaho Potato Commission to vodka companies, NRA Show exhibitors this year showed many uses for potatoes. “Potatoes are one of the most nutritious vegetables you can eat,” says Nancy Schlegel, food safety/human resources manager, Sterman Masser Potato Farms. “They’re full of potassium and vitamin C, and they keep you full.”

In fact, one medium-sized potato contains half the recommended daily dose of vitamin C and a fifth the daily recommended dose of potassium, according to the UN. Potatoes also are rich in carbohydrates and have the highest protein content of all root vegetables and tubers.

Plus, potatoes are extremely versatile. They take the flavor of spices and sauces and go well with meat, fish and cheese, says Schlegel, of the Sacramento, Pa.-based potato-packing company.

The people of the Andes have been growing and eating potatoes for 8,000 years and introduced them to the Spanish in the 16th century. The Spanish took potatoes back to Europe, and the crop’s popularity spread quickly around the world. Today, it’s the world's No. 1 non-grain food commodity, topping 320 million tons in 2007, according to the UN.

Like other staples, the potato has been used to distill alcohol for centuries. The makers of Zodiac Vodka, one of 60 exhibitors for the NRA’s International Wine, Spirits & Beer Event, say the potato is the best source of alcohol. “There’s a huge taste difference,” says Tom Benson of Zodiac Spirits, which uses only Idaho potatoes for its luxury vodka. “There’s no back-of-the-throat burn. If you stood here all day, you’d hear the word ‘smooth’ over and over.”

Floor talk: Collecting ideas for a new venture

Cesar and Colleen Miranda, Miranda’s Peruvian Restaurant, Centerville, Ohio:

We’re getting ready to start our restaurant, so we’re here looking at products and equipment, and picking up marketing ideas. We’re at the idea stage right now—we may make some buying decisions, but mostly we’re just seeing what’s available.

We’re really impressed by some of the payment options — for example, a receipt folder that lets you swipe a credit card right at the table. Because we’re opening a family restaurants, we’re also looking at ideas for kids, like the triangle crayons and different kinds of sippy cups.

Being a Peruvian restaurant, we’re looking for ideas on where to get ingredients, and seeing just what’s available.

Finding and keeping great employees

The best food in the world won’t keep a restaurant going if you don’t have the right people. Joleen Flory, president & CEO of the Elliott Leadership Institute, shared tips for finding, hiring and keeping the people you need. She also gave ideas on the best ways to get rid of the people you don’t need at one of the  many recruitment and retention educational sessions at the NRA show. 

Hire from a position of strength. It’s hard to hold out for the perfect person when you’re desperate for a warm body to plug a staffing gap. Flory recommends staffing at 105 percent. That will give you a cushion if someone leaves suddenly or you get a quick uptick in business after an advertising campaign or a great review.

Beware the perils of understaffing. Flory warned of the vicious cycle that kicks in when you don’t have enough – or the right – staff: Customers get poor service and complain; the remaining staff has to scramble to keep up; staff faces burnout; morale plummets; and more people quit. Yikes!

Understand how adults learn. You’re not hiring kindergarteners (or if you are, you’re going to have serious problems with labor regulators). Don’t treat your staff like 5-year-olds. Adults want relevant information: what do you need me to do, and how do you want me to do it. “Give them a goal and the ability to achieve that goal, to check it off the list,” Flory said.

Just the facts. If you’re not getting what you need from a staff member, they need to understand exactly what they’re doing wrong, and how to correct it. That means you’ve got to come to them with facts, not emotions. Example: “You’ve been more than 20 minutes late for your shift five times in the last two weeks.” Not: “You drive me crazy with your crappy attitude! You suck!”

Lay out the facts of the case, come up for solutions to problems, and let employees know what will happen if things don’t change. Follow through if you don’t get the results you need.

Be healthy, but be somewhat quiet about it

Au Bon Pain thought its customers would be thrilled when it cut trans fats from all of its cookies a few years ago. After all, Americans are looking for healthier choices, right?

“As soon as it said no trans-fats on the signs, cookie sales went through the floor,” Ed Frechette, senior vice president of marketing at Au Bon Pain said. When they took that information off their signs, sales bounced back. The cookies remained trans-fat free, but “it’s kind of on the QT,” Frechette told a packed room at one of the many food and beverage education sessions at the NRA Show.

Unfortunately, many Americans still equate “healthy” with “bad-tasting.” The solution? Pursue healthy choices, but don’t shove that information down your customer’s throats.

That’s because healthy choices do make business sense, said Paul Lynch, executive chef at Firelake Restaurant in the Radisson Plaza Hotel Minneapolis. “Whenever I put whole grains on the menu, they sell,” Lynch said. He uses whole grains in breakfasts, side dishes and even desserts, and customers literally eat them up, because the dishes taste good. “You can’t look like you’re just going to sit down and sing kumbaya,” Lynch said. “My food doesn’t look like some health ... craze menu — it’s real food.”

And real food tends to be healthy without trying too hard, said Rick Bayless, chef/owner of Frontera Grill and Topolobampo restaurants. His restaurants are built on the principle of creating authentic flavors with real ingredients, and it’s a formula that works from business and health perspectives.

That’s not to say you should deny your healthy credentials to the people who want to know. More and more consumers are actively searching for healthier choices when they eat out, and they want to know what you’ve got.

Web sites like healthydiningfinder.com can help you target the customers who are looking for better choices without scaring off the patrons who still think healthy can’t coexist with tasty. Erica Bohm, vice president of Healthy Dining, said the site highlights and gives nutritional information for four to 10 better-for-you dishes on your menu. Folks who want healthier choices will know you’ve got something for them to eat. The customers looking to indulge won’t need to know that they’re actually eating something a nutritionist would approve of.

Floor talk: Looking for organic options, new recipes

Millie Das and Cecilia Pearce, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Mich.:

We’re looking at the organic and healthy options here at the show. I saw some biodegradable tableware that we’re considering buying. There’s also some great equipment for picking up hot trays.

We’re also collecting new recipes. There was a peach crisp we’re going to try to use in our dining room.

Antipodean smackdown!

They came from the lands Down Under, and they brought some damn good food. The vendors in the Australian and New Zealand Pavilions went all out at the NRA Show, and since the Oceanic neighbors have a friendly rivalry going on, we couldn’t help but compare the two. Here’s our scouting report.

Pavilion: New Zealand has a light, airy, spread-out pavilion with plenty of room to roam. By comparision, the Aussie pavilion seems smaller, and there’s no roof-deck dining.
Advantage: New Zealand

Star Power: Both Australia and New Zealand have demonstration chefs wowing the crowds at their pavilions. But Oz convinced French-born, Aussie-repatriated charmer Bruno Loubet, executive chef at Baguette Restaurant in Ascot, Queensland, to show off at the Culinary Scene demonstration kitchen. Loubet made up a menu showcasing products from the Australian Pavilion, even going so far as to suggest that rock lobster is best cooked in bottled Tasmanian rainwater. Plus, the Frenchman actually praised Australian truffles over his native fungi. That’s pretty impressive.
Advantage: Australia

Products: We saw some eerie similarities in the products offered in the two pavilions: Both countries produce high-end, rarified bottled water for discerning customers, luscious cuts of meat, gorgeous seafood and fabulous wine. In addition, New Zealand offers pavlovas (delectably soft meringue pillows) and kiwi fruit, while Australia has truffles, hibiscus flowers in syrup, and finishing vinegars so delicious we were actually drinking them like shots.
Advantage: All of us!

In the end, we couldn’t decide which Antipodean pavilion came out on top. We guess it’s up to you to decide!

Panini in less than a minute, fresh pizza in 80 seconds

Here we are, in the 21st century, and we have nothing to show for it. Shouldn’t we all have jetpacks by now? What about flying cars? Where’s our Jetsons-eque robot maid?

But we’ve tasted the future, and it’s crunchy, hot and delicious. That’s because the 2008 Kitchen Innovations Award winner Silar Microwave Grill and Flatstone can turn a commercial-grade microwave into a flash panini machine, turning out a perfectly cooked, delectably toasted sandwich (complete with grill marks!) in 50 seconds flat.

The folks at Advanced Composite Materials LLC took a break from making parts for jet engines and aerospace applications to invent  a high-tech ceramic insert that heats up to 700 degrees in about five seconds in a 2,200-watt microwave. One side of the insert has a grill surface, letting you produce those toasty paninis, while the other side is a flat, perfect for turning out crisp, thin-crust fresh-dough pizzas in 80 seconds. The lunch rush will never be the same.

“We’ve broken the speed/quality paradigm,” said Tom Quantrille, president and CEO of Advanced Composite Materials. The development has taken a lot of chefs by delighted surprise. Quantrille said it was a blast to watch food professionals test the sandwiches that came out of the Silar-equipped microwaves.

“Most chefs didn’t even taste the sandwich at first,” he said. “They start by poking at the bread, ripping it apart, trying to find places where it was cold of mushy. They couldn’t find it. They started out trying to find fault, and then they realized this is for real.”

The Silar insert is currently available for TurboChef Tornado microwaves, and the company is working with several other commercial microwave manufacturers to provide the product to other brands.