Beverage

FOUR QUESTIONS . . . for Michael Stachura

Stachura is a behind-the-bar chemist. Every few months, the former bartender loosens his tie, rolls up his sleeves and experiments with new and interesting cocktails. The best of the best make it onto Marlow’s specialty cocktail list. How does he do it? We find out what’s in the mix.

Q: How do you approach adding cocktails to Marlow’s menu?

A: With our signature drinks, I almost do a seasonal menu every three months. We have categories like Late-Summer Sippers, Fall Antidotes, Winter Warm-Ups and Spring Fling. In the winter, we’re looking at warmer drinks, and we definitely wouldn’t have those in the summer. In the springtime, I’m looking for stuff that’s maybe rum driven. In the summer, the drinks are light and refreshing. In the autumn, you can start really going into drinks with a … heavier base. And we also look at what’s popular and see if we can do something with that.

Q: How long does it take to come up with a new cocktail?

A: It just depends on the cocktail. For example, we were the first place in town to serve a pomegranate martini about three years ago. I really thought pomegranate was a cool mixer, but there was only one pomegranate juice on the market at the time. [It] took probably a week trying different vodkas and schnapps, and looking for the perfect recipe. It worked out well. It’s our No. 1 seller. In the past two years, pomegranate juice is everywhere, and there’s about five or six pomegranate vodkas and cordials. Sometimes it takes a while. Sometimes it’s as quick as making a few drinks.

Q: What’s been your most surprising creation?

A: Probably the Orange Marmalade Martini. It contains real orange marmalade, and it’s the first time I’ve ever used jelly in a drink. It just turned out very good. It’s my favorite out of all of our signature drinks. And people have actually become more accepting of it.

Q: What’s really hot right now at the bar?

A: Mojitos are still a really big deal with people. And our signature drinks do really well. One of the ones I really like is the Bomb Pop. Remember the red, white and blue popsicles we had when we were kids? We have a drink like that that’s separated into red, white and blue, and tastes just like the ice cream.

Marlow’s Tavern, 2355 Cumberland Parkway, Suite 10, Atlanta. 770-432-2526, www.marlowstavern.com. Additional locations in Alpharetta and Midtown.

Popularity: 11% [?]

16 September, 2007 by Jeffrey Summers Categories :
All About the Food
Beverage
Restaurant Coaching & Consulting
Restaurant Economics
Restaurant Marketing
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Benchmark’s Top 5 Dining Trends 2007

Benchmark Hospitality International, which manages 30 award-winning hotels, resorts, conference centers and condominium resorts throughout the United States and in Japan, has just released its Five Tasty Dining Trends for 2007, as observed by its properties. The trends were announced by Bob Zappatelli, vice president of food & beverage, and his team of 18 food & beverage professionals.

‘America’s chefs are mixing it up in the kitchen and drawing on memories of hearth & home,’ said Mr. Zappatelli, speaking for the Benchmark culinary team. ‘And we mean ALL of the Americas — from the top of Canada to the tip of Cape Horn, we’ve not been this ‘blended’ in 500 years! It’s amazing what flavor and cuisine can accomplish!’

Trend #1 Dessert Downsizing …

… in size only. Never in flavor! A tapas-style dessert menu is the trend. Who can possibly say ‘no’ to bite size desserts — especially when they are bursting with flavor and cost only a buck or two per morsel per tasting?

How does a sampling of mini-crÃ¨me brulee, pot au crÃ¨me, pomegranate flan and tropical fruit spanakopita sound to your taste buds? Mighty flavorful and with considerably less guilt that larger desserts selections. No need to skip this finale!

Trend #2 America Goes Latin!

Or at least Latin American. Mediterranean, Spanish and Portuguese cuisine are still in vogue, but look out cause America has fallen hard for Latin cuisine.

Latin flavors and the incorporation of fruits, vegetables, meat and fish indigenous to the Caribbean, Central and South America with American sensibility is where cooking is headed. Acidity, marinades and one pot meals with a dash of peasant flair and the family legacy Latin chef’s so often bring to the kitchen — all set the stage for passionate, over-the-top flavor and presentation. And the infusion of Creole and Spanish techniques with local availability is no longer just a New Orleans’s prerogative. There’s beautiful Ceviche as translated with fish from Ecuador and Honduras. Vaca-Frita, Ropa-Vieja beef dishes from Cuba, and Chimichurri served with Argentinean grilled meats.

Just maybe for the first time in five centuries, the Americas are border free and one with flavor!

Ooh la la.

Trend #3 Grow Naturally, Harvest Locally

Ok, agreed, interest in organic foods and ingredients isn’t new … but today’s consumers and restaurants are demanding food that is grown organically and that doesn’t cost next month’s mortgage payment.

Growth hormones and antibiotics in meat, poultry, eggs and dairy are mighty unappealing when your think about it. The elimination of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers and bio-engineering in produce necessitate seeking out local resources for produce, meat and more. Which is how it should be anyway, so food is the freshest possible and presented when in season at its peak flavor.

Oh, and get to know your favorite local producer. Chances are he or she shares your passion for fresh, flavorful and naturally grown ingredients for your table. Who knows what you might learn from each other.

Trend #4 Here’s to the Memories

Cooking seasonally aside for a moment, more chefs create based on memories of mom’s, dad’s and grandma’s cooking than anything else. As important as culinary school is, childhood memories influence the styles and techniques of many great chefs much more than anyone in the dining room imagines.

Memories of family gardens from childhood are responded to with chefs’ kitchen gardens and seeking out local growers. Cooking techniques and flavor combinations learned in childhood find their way into the menus of some of the nation’s best restaurants. Favorite family recipes are reinterpreted and updated by chefs and pastry chefs who associate hearth & home memories with every ingredient added in the kitchen or bakery.

So cooking seasonally makes sense for flavor and freshness reasons, but just maybe this has as much to do with chefs’ memories of tending the family garden, harvesting the family’s produce, helping prepare family meals and enjoying nature’s bounty originating out of the back yard.

Trend #5 Food & Beverage, Quite Literally!

Lemon Verbena Cosmopolitans, Purple Basil and Mint Mojitos, MarTeaNis. Truffles and chocolate flavored cocktails, add superfruits like Goji Berries, Pomegranates and Mangosteens … they are all making their way onto the beverage list. Or how about Bloody Mary Salad served with pickled vegetables and shrimp when in the Mid-Atlantic? The mixologists have taken center stage by mixing it up … mixing it ALL up!

The popularity of premium beverages merged with fresh ingredients that might otherwise flavor a meal’s starters and entrÃ©es - and the specialty drink menu have ushered in a return to the classic days when the cocktail was king.

Call it a 21st Century Renaissance: Manhattans, Rob Roys, Rusty Nails, Negronis, to name a few, are today joined with flavorful Mojitos with purple basil added, Cosmopolitans with lemon thyme, and Gibson’s with garlic chives. A scrumptious renaissance at that!

After dinner, add chocolate, caramel, ice cream and sorbets to premium vodkas, gin and rum. Talk about finishing the night right!

Five More Quick Takes - From Benchmark’s Bars
(And from Mary Watson, Sommelier at Benchmark’s Lansdowne Resort in Virginia Wine Country. Ms. Watson also serves as company-wide Field Staff Support for Benchmark Hospitality.)

1. Consider a hearty RosÃ© for dinner. It’s great with steak and seafood, widely available and guess what, it’s delicious!

2. As more people rediscover Rieslings, they are reminded of how wonderful the wine pairs with an infinite variety of foods — and how delicious it is when sipping with friends.

3. Sparkling Shiraz delivers a full-bodied red - chilled and bubbly. It’s perfect when grilling on a warm afternoon.

4. Martinis continue to grow in popularity - and they are increasingly being made with non-traditional ingredients. It’s no longer just ‘Would you like vodka or gin…’

5. TorrontÃ©s from Argentina will soon be ”white’ hot!’ Tango anyone?

Benchmark Hospitality International, an independent hospitality management company based in The Woodlands (Houston), Texas, operates resorts, conference centers, hotels and condominium resorts both domestically and internationally. For locations of Benchmark Hospitality properties and for additional information, visit Benchmark’s Website at www.benchmarkhospitality.com.

Popularity: 16% [?]

16 September, 2007 by Jeffrey Summers Categories :
Beverage
Dessert
Raising the Bar
Restaurant Economics
Restaurant Marketing
Sales Programs/Revenue Management (0) Comment

Dessert Beers Are A New Trend In Restaurants

There’s nothing better than a cold beer right after work - and now restaurants are suggesting New Yorkers drink it right after dinner.

Dessert beers are popping up on city menus as the perfect pairing for sweet meal-enders.

Renee Lipski’s husband, Michael, thought she was crazy when she ordered a beer float at the Chocolate Room in Brooklyn, but ended up finishing it off for her. The dessert pairs a chocolate stout with vanilla ice cream, and while it’s reminiscent of a root beer float, it’s decidedly less sweet.

“I ordered it because I didn’t want something that would be overly sweet, and it was really refreshing,” says the Brooklyn homemaker.

Rich Lindy, who lives on the upper West Side and works in real estate, liked the float for another reason: “It sort of keeps the buzz going,” he admits.

The reasoning behind the trend: Beer’s flavor is better suited to sweets than most wines, says Julie Bradford, editor of the magazine All About Beer.

“Few wines pair well with sweet foods,” she says. “But while wine with dessert is problematic, beer and dessert is a great combination.”

Spiced, malt-heavy beers (as opposed to bitter lagers and pale ales) are the best at the end of a meal, experts say. Fruit beers, especially Belgian fruit lambics, work, too.

Kevin Garry, assistant beverage director at Gramercy Tavern, serves Harvey & Son Imperial Extra Double Stout with chocolate bread pudding, and J.W. Lee Harvest ale with cheese.

“A lot of beers work well with dessert because their flavor profile is similar to tawny port or sherry,” says Garry, who has 30 beers on his vintage list. “Beer with dessert is a concept that really works.”

At the Chocolate Room, owner Jon Payson pours Brooklyn Brewery’s pumpkin spice ale to go with pumpkin spice ice cream.

At Gotham Bar and Grill, pastry chef Deborah Racicot offers fig focaccia, cheese and nuts paired with a Belgian lambic. She takes the frothy business one step further, freezing beer right into her blackberry ice cream and scooping it onto a peach and blackberry crisp.

When Racicot paired cheesecake with Guinness ice cream, customers requested a scoop of the ice cream on its own. Neville Stoddart, executive chef at Markt, garnishes a lemon tart with a sorbet made with a cherry-flavored beer.

Sometimes a beer is so sweet it makes dessert on its own. New this fall is Barons Black Wattle Superior, which has a nutty caramel flavor and is served at Tribeca Grill.

Source: NY Daily News

Popularity: 15% [?]