Blog Review

When I began this class, I had no idea what to expect. I mean, the name itself sounded like it would be interesting, but I had no idea we would be blogging. Prior to this class, I had absolutely no interest in blogging, and the whole concept of it never actually ran through my head. After learning that we would be reporting our current trends and issues on the blog, it actually caught my interest. It was nice to learn about current issues in the food service industry, and the element of blogging actually helped to communicate these issues with several other people. Through reading and commenting on my group members' postings, I was given an opportunity to learn about other issues that I may have never seen or read about.

This class has made me realize just how important it is to stay on top of trends, and what the effects of reading can do for a young professional. I have always read periodicals and news reports, so this was nothing new to me, but having a class where we could discuss and review the current trends in the industry was fun and interesting. It is a lot different than the traditional academic class where you learn from a book about already established issues. This class was much more about learning real life current issues just as they were happening. It was a great experience, and I believe that blogging has opened my eyes to a whole new idea.

I happen to be very interested in the nightclub segment of our industry, and I will be establishing a nightclub of my own along the line. When searching through various blogs, I have come across this one, which includes news about the industry and current trends that are arising. I appreciate what this has taught me, and I will continue to follow this issue to further my career.

Blog reflection

This class was different then most with out tests and text book learning. The contemperary issues that we talked about include all sorts of trends across the board in the undustry we are about to enter. Nutrition, going green and substanability have been drilled in my head of issues to look out for in the times to come. The differernt presentations we sat through defined what is going on in the food service industry as well as what the future will bring. New technologies have been increasing at rapid rates and are moving the industry somewhere new and creative with order yourself menus hooked up on computors way to much to comprehend. Give me a server who knows what their doing and im happy. As lazy as i am with a laidback view on life this is just to much. The industry needs to capitlize on investments and imbrace better idea's.

The overall class and discusions helped me think about certain things that i would just not bother to. Mostly with learning more by reading some of the articles that were sent to me but it also gave me a better understanding of whats going on in the macro industry segment and being able to keep up on current trends. The blog was something new because i never blogged before, the most i knew about a blog was from reading poker player blogs occasionally because i seem to study the game and they hold crucial information, but it is the same with food related blogs because i can gain information from them to use in future decisions alike. The blog that we participated in was pretty open with the topic of trends in fine dinning brought a wide variety of topics between restaruant design to high end wines. i got some insight on variaris topics and understood new ways of doing things. Here is a blog that i found that critiquies high end establishents throughout the world on her travels.

http://martini-lounge.blogspot.com/

Albany FIne Dinning

This article talks about the number of new and upcoming fine dining restaurants coming to albany new york. The area has been out of the norm for fine dining and has been growing in the past years due to the three community collages around the area with great culinary programs with 500 graduates per year. These new chefs work for a while then get conctacts that put them in conctact to open there own establishment. This is all also due to the growing popularity for the food network and other soical networking such as facebook and myspace. The whole substanable movement has also effected the area with many estblishments using these pracitces as well as the whole green aspect of the industry is growing.

Please pass the salt... and a megaphone.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704022804575041060813407740.html

This article talks abut one of the biggest trends in fine dining... and how it isn't such a great idea. Fine dining restaurants are moving away from the stereotypical image of dim lighting, plush booths and victorian chairs, white linen, dividing walls, cutains ... and carpet... Many restaurants are jumping on the new fashion trend. With wide open rooms containing only the four outer walls, hardwood floors, open kitchens, linenless tables, curtainless windows, large bar areas, and high, open ceilings. While this follows the latest fashion trend, it may not be the greatest for the ining experience. With nothing to absorb the sound, the room will become extremely noisy, extremely fast. The noise from the bar, the open kitchen, the plates hitting the linenless tables, the chairs scraping the carpetless floor, and of course, the other diners who are having their own conversations... or trying to... will ricochet off every surface and multiply the sound, making it almost impossible to hear your own conversation. I think this is interesting, because I love the look of the trend. I think it is very modern and it is what people want. The article says if they cover at least two surfaces, for example carpeting the floor and adding soundproofing to the ceiling or one of the walls, the noise level will reduce greatly, because the surfaces the noise can ricochet off of are lessened.

A closer look at dining trend spotters - chicagotribune.com

A closer look at dining trend spotters - chicagotribune.com

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Consumers go out for bold flavors they can’t make at home

Consumers go out for bold flavors they can’t make at home

Museum Dining

Museums are known for their fine art, antiques, and national treasures, but until recently, most have been mismatched with their food offerings. Although museums house some of the worlds best wonders and many fine specimens, most have always had poor food quality in their dining offerings. Today there are many celebrity chefs and restauratuers that are partnering with museums to offer great fine dining choices so that the food may match the venue. I think it is a great idea, and the museum theme can be carried off into the restaurant itself. To me, food is an exhibit, so why not make the food in museums to that caliber? It will be a great expansion in the fine dining industry and the trend may grow to include many other establishments around the world.

Check the article out and see for yourself.

THis article talks about the overall synergy of a dining expeirience. Four crucial elements are defined including Food, price, service, and ambeience. Some argue that the food is number one some say the ambeince and service is what brings them back. These four elements need to be all incorparated to get the full and best dining experince that is posible. The writer also talks about Umami, Yes Umami. this is a flavor profile where everything exists in harmony and it all makes sence. The writter gives the beatles as an example, with the four of them all had the umami effect on each other to create a truly memorbale expeirence for the listeners. this is what all restaruants should strive for and work at it until they can refine the experience they give the guests to the fullest.

Hey guys sorry for my late comments. I just got out of work, finally! I hope professor Ross doesn't mind that its 12;50... oops! I noticed Mike didn't post his article. Do we get penalized for that?

Now Playing in Selected Theaters: Fine Dining - on The Food Channel

Now Playing in Selected Theaters: Fine Dining - on The Food Channel

Wine by Glass

Controls in a restaurant are very crucial when either being successful or not. Systems are put in to avoid conflict, theft, and to ensure consistancy. This article talks about when the guest orders a wine by the glass, the server does not bring the bottle over and serve the guest a taste before purchasing, this is only ussally done when buying a whole bottle or maybe a half bottle. The wine by the glass needs to be more constistant and servers and barteneders need to beable to pour the same amount everytime to keep costs balanced. no matter how good a server is they will not beable to pour the same amount each and every time so they use reference glasses or pour systems behind the bar to be consistant. Restaranteers need to be aware of this and beable to maximize their bottle of wine matched with the revenue they bring in from each bottle. Managers need to beable to check the systems to make sure they are working and in place correctly and this all makes it a measureable system of pouring that each server and bartender can accomplish. So free tastings are out while restaraunts try to maximize their value of each bottle and give the guest a consistant expeirence each time they come in

Fine Dining Going Cheap

New York City is a culinary Mecca. It has always been the city where diners expect to pay a substantial price for the numerous fine dining choices offered throughout the city. New York is also the home to most of the countries highest rated restaurants and celebrity chefs.

Today's economic situation, unfortuneately, is threatening the fine dining style in New York City. Many restaurants that have always been packed full of patrons, eager to dine on their $200 and up prixe fixe menus are downsizing to much cheaper offerings.

One example of this can be seen with Le Cirque, a restaurant that has been famous for its fine dining offerings. The restaurant actually has a room behind the bar, which was intended for the overflow of guests that could not make it into the main dining room. Recently though, this back room has had much more visitors than the main dining room itself because of its lower prices. The restaurant even has to use the money it makes from its Las Vegas and Dominican Republic locations just to keep the establuishment open through this period.

Other high end offerings are eliminating lunch menus because they cannot afford to stay open during that time due to lack of business. Some are lowering the menu prices altogether. Most are forced to offer much lower prixe fixe menus to stay afloat, but they are all facing hardship when it comes to paying bills.

Is the economy threatinging the fine dining way of life? Or is this just a trend that will pass? We will have to wait and find out where it leads...

You can view more about it here.

The Kitchen and Bar Connect

http://mintelflavorinsights.wordpress.com/2008/08/14/fine-dining-trends-the-kitchen-bar-connect/

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:

Artisan cocktails – Infused bitters, obscure spirits, and gourmet ingredients from tomato water to chili lime salt are going to revolutionize not only the bar but also the back of the house. Flavor trends in cocktails and NA beverages will include: ginger, spicy chiles (especially Southeast Asian, such as Thai), cucumber, house-made simple syrups, garnishes and rims, ginger beer, house-infused spirits, fresh ingredients, floral notes, and the continued growth of wine and champagne in cocktails. Increased attention will be paid to the fine details, from the garnishes to the glassware to the ice (blocks, tubes, hand-cracked chunks, etc), and recipes will evoke more elegant times such as the pre-WWII era.

Interaction between the food and bar menus – Restaurants will start to move beyond drink pairings to incorporating food ingredients into the bar and vice versa. Beverage programs will start to take inspiration from (and influence in turn) trends in food dishes. With new relationships evolving between the bar and the kitchen, cocktails will evolve as well. Operators who do not have distinctive drinks may be left behind.

(For my fellow Chicagoans, I can’t think of a better example of the above than The Violet Hour. If you see me there, you can buy me a Sazerac.)

Finally, one personal note regarding the trends framework I have been using. In a struggling economy, it almost sounds perverse to talk about luxury cocktails and ridiculous to expect consumers will pay for premium cocktails like a “Fairview Manhattan”. And yet… the affluent are still seeking out distinctive, even exclusive, experiences while the mainstream consumers still feel the urge to splurge and get a taste of the good life. Time will tell if the artisan/gourmet approach to beverages will take hold or will pass as a brief fad.

ML

Has anyone heard from Mike? Hehasn't posted his article yet and we need to comment it by midnight!!!

Fine Dining Food Trucks

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204456604574201934018170554.html#dummy

This article tells about the newest trend in fine dining; high-end food trucks. Many fine dining restaurants are facing revenue losses and need to find a way to make up for it. Since the fine dining trend has taken a downward turn in popularity, much due to the current economic crisis, there are not many options left for fine dining establishments. Many are closing their doors due to significant drops in revenue. The smart ones, however, have endured a new source of revenue; selling their food in food trucks to make up for the loss of revenue in the restaurant. Many food trucks are popping up all over the major metropolitan areas, such as New York and Los Angeles; with an exciting twist on the classic food truck. Instead of serving hot dogs, sandwiches and tacos, they serve high quality, high-end food; much like they would serve in their restaurants. The idea is catching on fast. The price is considerably lower than a sit-down meal in a restaurant, and they open up their market to a much larger clientele. Danny Meyer, owner of Tabla, an upscale Indian restaurant; parked a food truck right outside the door of his restaurant to attract all the business people and bankers on their lunch breaks. They are trying to change people's opinion on food trucks, and let everyone know that you can get high-quality food, without paying high prices. Thomas Odermett, owner of the food truck RoliRoti, serves free range rotisserie chicken, heritage pork, and local lamb. He said he was astonished to find out many Americans consider food trucks to be "roach coaches,' afraid of catching microbes from the food. So, to fight that stereotype, he created a food truck that you can see into, and he sanitizes it completely, twice a day. This is a fast growing trend and it is catching on fast; it could be one of the only ways for fine dinging restaurants to pull out of their revenue slump.

The Fine Dining Industry is constantly evolving. With its evolution, we are seeing many new changes and trends popping up within the field. One major trend that has arisen recently involves sommeliers and retailing wine.

Many customers fall in love with a particular wine at a restaurant, but they are often unlikely to find the wine in a store. Some would like to buy the wine for home, or to give to friends and bring to parties. With that in mind, some restaurateurs are obtaining special permits to allow them to sell their wine at retail to their guests.

This allows the customer much more freedom and choice. They have shown to become loyal customers, and they still enjoy the wine at the establishment, as well as their own homes.

You can view more info about this subject here. 

Utah Dining

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705356351/Fine-dining-Utah-Valley-offers-new-tastes-for-the-palate.html?pg=2
This article written by Brooke brown at Deseret news talks about a specific Restaurant called the Blue Lemon which is catching on in a city that had no big established places. They pride themselfs on using freash and local Ingridents and beleieve in high end looks for a reasonable price. There concept and plate presentaion has twists that include various plating styles incorporating skewers for some meat products and pita slices in a stacking form. alot of the cuisine is asian inspired and is the only unique restaruant in the area. they have a real lemon tree in the middle of the establishment and use it as a special attraction as well as picking freash fruit off the tree to use in the cooking processes of certian dishes. My opinion on this article was that it is a great idea for a unique place to dine becuase of the fact that they are the only ones duing this in the area and can set themselfs aside from close competitiors by using there funky plate presentaions and offering a higher scale dining expeirence for a reasonable price.