US restaurants turn to grocery sales to help offset losses

O’Fallon, Mo. (AP) — Charlene Gulliford at the Gandy Dancer never figured there would come a day when the Michigan restaurant known for its steaks and seafood would sell toilet paper and cartons of eggs, but the coronavirus has restaurants in survival mode.

The popular restaurant in Ann Arbor now doubles as a grocery store, offering staples such milk and bread in addition to meats and fish from its own pantry — and yes, even paper towels and the ever-elusive toilet paper. Sales began two weeks ago and the Gandy Dancer has found an income source to make up for some of its lost dine-in business, while also filling a need since traditional grocers are struggling to keep up with demand.

“A lot of people are saying they’re happy to support us, but a lot of people are saying, ‘Thank you for helping us,’” said Gulliford, the restaurant’s general manager.

The idea is catching on nationwide. Stay-at-home and social distancing orders meant to slow the spread of COVID-19 have put restaurant dining on hold, forcing many to close and leaving others barely surviving. From large chains to mom-and-pop eateries, restaurants are increasingly turning to grocery sales.

Panera this week launched Panera Grocery, offering not only the St. Louis-based chain’s popular breads, bagels and sweets but items such as milk, eggs and fresh produce that its 2,100 U.S. stores normally use to make meals. Grocery items can be delivered or picked up.

Subway is selling groceries at 250 of its stores in five states -- California, Connecticut, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington. Potbelly Sandwich Shop franchises launched Potbelly Pantry, offering mostly foods that the chain uses to make its sandwiches, such as meats, cheeses and breads.

Panera’s vice president of wellness and food policy, Sara Burnett, said the decision to sell groceries is a reaction to “the unprecedented crisis our country’s going through right now.” She wouldn’t disclose how much the pandemic has cost Panera, but she said 30 percent of its business typically comes from in-restaurant dining, “and that obviously is completely gone.”

The National Restaurant Association says the industry has lost 3 million jobs and $25 billion in sales since March 1. Spokeswoman Vanessa Sink said 3% of restaurants have closed permanently and another 11% expect to do so by the end of the month.

The move to grocery sales has been swift. Panera would typically spend months on a new business proposal, doing research, conducting surveys and opening test markets. Not this time. Panera Grocery went from an idea to launch in two weeks, Burnett said.


Grocery items sold by restaurants vary greatly. Some offer mostly the types of things already in their pantries, such as meats, vegetables, fruit, cheese, milk and eggs. Others, like the Gandy Dancer, offer a much broader selection.

Union Loafers in St. Louis is opting for quality, even if it means a higher price. The restaurant began selling locally produced goods such as eggs, milk, jams and meats on March 31. Co-owner Sean Netzer said patrons don’t mind the higher price — most items are selling out daily.

The chain restaurants, which buy in extraordinary bulk, can afford to sell at a lower cost. Subway and Panera Grocery prices are comparable to grocery store prices, the companies said.

Gulliford said the Gandy Dancer’s prices are more than competitive and can even be cheaper than the grocery store’s. For example, six lemons sell for $1 and potatoes are $1 per pound, she said.

Many of the restaurants-turned-grocery stores are offering “contact-free” service in which the customer place orders by phone or online and the goods are delivered straight to the trunk or backseat of the car. Gulliford said the elderly, who are at a higher risk of serious illness or death from the coronavirus, are especially appreciative of being able to avoid going into stores.

Restaurant operators aren’t sure if grocery sales will continue once the pandemic passes. Panera sees this as “kind of a tipping point to see what our customers need,” Burnett said.

Gulliford said the future is especially difficult to predict during this unprecedented time.

“It just really depends on what the new normal is,” she said.

The Associated Press

No space? No problem. Anywhere can be a restaurant in Hanoi

HANOI — Twenty years ago, Nguyen Hong Van opened her restaurant in an alleyway close to her home. From the outside looking in, it really doesn’t look much.

The criteria needed to open a restaurant in downtown Hanoi are thin at best.

Location, well anywhere will do. Space doesn’t necessarily need to be plentiful and as far as furniture goes, a few plastic chairs will suffice.

It’s difficult to actually put a number on the amount of eateries operating in the capital. You would struggle to walk just a few yards without passing a place selling food.

Even with your eyes closed, the aromas given off are a tell-tale sign that something good to eat is literally just around the corner.

Anywhere, it seems, can easily be converted into a restaurant.

Twenty years ago, Nguyen Hong Van opened her restaurant in an alleyway close to her home. From the outside looking in, it really doesn’t look much.

Space is tight, as alleyways usually are, but that doesn’t stop customers coming for her specialty: dried beef salad, or nom bo kho.

“I used to sell at a different location and had lots of customers,” she said.

“But when someone else rented that place, I moved into this alley because my house is right behind it.

“My neighbors also sell stuff here and gradually we have built up regular customers and they like it this way.

“But when it gets too crowded, I have to let them sit outside on the pavement.”


Hong Van makes preparation look easy. She’s a dab hand with a pair of scissors, expertly chopping up dried beef and mixing in the required herbs and broth to serve up a mouth-watering dish.

A friend told her what was needed to make the dried beef salad, but she added her own twist to make her dish stand out from the rest.

“A friend of mine showed me how to make this dish but she just showed me how to assemble the dish, not how to get the flavor right,” she said.

“I tried to learn it myself and my customers also gave me their suggestions so I made adjustments and finally came up with my own recipe.”

At Quan An Ngon restaurant in Hanoi, dried beef salad is often ordered as a side dish, enjoyed while waiting for the main meals. This, according to the chef, is because it is so quick to prepare.

“Diners come here, before ordering other dishes, almost everyone will order salad, and they really like the dried beef salad because this dish is very fast-served so they can enjoy it while waiting for other dishes,” said chef Tran Van Kien.

“When eating dried beef salad, they really like it because it delivers a delicious taste such as the creamy flavor of peanuts, and when blending with the broth, the taste is very special.”

The mixture of meat, herbs and vegetables has to be as fresh as possible. The beef is marinated in salt, sugar, garlic, oil, ginger and chili and often left overnight to ensure the flavors soak through.

As well as adding to its taste, the vegetables and nuts used also bring out a rich color making the dish even more appealing on the eye.

“The ingredients of making this salad are a combination of dried beef, papaya, carrots, herbs and roasted peanuts,” Kien added.

“It’s very crunchy when eating, with the creamy taste of peanuts that creates a very special flavor.

“A perfect salad will have the aroma of the beef. You can feel the crispness of the papaya and the creaminess of the peanuts.

“The sour of the broth has to be moderate, not too much and not too sweet. When using with salad, everything will be harmonious and very delicious when blending everything together.”

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Woman served cold fries fires gun, arrested after car chase

A woman was arrested for reportedly firing a gun inside a fast food restaurant in Georgia, United States, after receiving cold fries.

Lillian Tarver left the restaurant with her order but came back, claiming the fries served to her were cold, last Tuesday, July 16.

The manager of the McDonald’s branch was replacing Tarver’s fries when one of the employees, Lynn Watson, got into a verbal argument with the woman, as per CBS-affiliate WTOC on Monday, July 22.

While Tarver was arguing with the employee, she threw a drink at Watson and the manager. Tarver then went behind the counter and into the kitchen where she got into a brawl with Watson.

“We were physically fighting because I had to grab her because she was putting up a set like this, and I had to seize my moment when I knew I could. When she bent down, I grabbed her hair and just started slinging her across the floor,” Watson told WTOC in an interview.

After the fight, Tarver left the restaurant to go to her car. She then returned with a gun in her hands, which she used to fire a shot into the kitchen floor.


As per report, the incident ended when Tarver left the establishment after receiving a refund from the store’s owner.

Police arrived at the scene after Tarver had already left the location. Garden City Police Department Detective Roberto Rodriguez told USA Today in a separate report on July 23, that an officer saw her leave the restaurant in a car “at a high rate of speed.”

When authorities caught up with her and asked her to pull over, she initially refused. Tarver surrendered after a “10- to 15-minute” chase, Rodriguez said in the report. He also stated that no one was injured during the incident.

Police then booked Tarver into the Chatham County Jail where she is being held without bond. She also faces charges of aggravated assault, armed robbery and fleeing police, among nine other charges, as per the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office. Ryan Arcadio/JB

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Chef Luis Chikiamco’s melon and mozzarella salad

Everyone can cook well, as long as one puts his heart into it, says Luis Chikiamco, executive chef of Discovery Primea.

He showed the audience how, at a recent cooking demonstration for the culinary elite series of the Maya Kitchen.

A graduate of Institut Paul Bocuse in Lyon, Chikiamco (this columnist’s nephew—Ed) has had extensive culinary experience in France, Mexico and the Philippines. This has given him the necessary skills and know-how to develop the Mediterranean-inspired menu of Discovery Primea’s restaurant, Tapenade.

Drawing praise from satisfied diners is Tapenade’s salad bar, which features an array of the freshest ingredients: crisp Romaine lettuce leaves, French and Spanish cheeses, a variety of olives, freshly shucked Aklan oysters, as well as raspberries, almonds, hazelnuts, chorizo, salmon, freshly baked bread and a wide choice of salad dressings.

The bold flavors of the Mediterranean are also represented in the à la carte menu, which includes stone-baked pizza, pasta, Moroccan tagine and kebabs.

For the Maya Kitchen Culinary Elite Series, Chikiamco taught participants how to prepare a refreshing melon and mozzarella salad, a mouthwatering rib-eye steak with a garlic and rosemary rub, a flavorful spaghetti dish made with guanciale (cured pork cheeks) and a hearty arroz caldoso, which is like a soupy paella.

Maya’s culinary elite series gives cooking enthusiasts a chance to learn from the country’s best chefs and restaurateurs (www.themayakitchen.com or e-mail contactus@themayakitchen.com).

Here’s Chikiamco’s recipe for melon and mozzarella salad (measurements adjusted for the home cook) plus tips which he generously shared with the participants.

Melon and Mozzarella Salad

1  c  cubed ripe melon
1-inch ginger
1  red chili (siling labuyo)
1  green chili (siling labuyo)
¼  c  lime vinaigrette (recipe follows)
2-4  slices mozzarella di Buffala cheese
2-4  basil leaves
2-4  mint leaves

Microgreens (optional)
For the lime vinaigrette:
1¼  c extra-virgin olive oil
2  fresh limes
½  c + 1 tbsp honey

As soon as you’ve cut the melon into cubes, put them in a vacuum sealed bag or in a re-sealable plastic bag. Peel the ginger and slice into thin shavings. Add the ginger to the melon cubes and seal the bag tightly to lock in the flavor. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.

Slice the chilies diagonally and pick out the seeds. Set aside.

Make the lime vinaigrette:  Whisk together the olive oil, juice of two limes and honey until you get an emulsion. (You can also use an electric blender.)  Mixture will be slightly thick.

To assemble the salad: Drizzle one-fourth cup of the lime vinaigrette into two separate salad plates. (Store any leftover vinaigrette in a tightly sealed container and refrigerate for later use.) Unseal the plastic bag containing the melon cubes and the ginger. Discard the ginger.  Arrange the melon cubes and mozzarella cheese in the salad plates, dividing equally. Garnish with the sliced chilies, basil and mint leaves and the microgreens (if using). Serve immediately.

Tips from the chef:

After cutting a melon, put the cut melon at once in a vacuum bag and seal tightly to lock in the flavor. If you don’t have a vacuum bag, you can use a re-sealable plastic bag.

When cooking pasta, add salt to the water so that the pasta will have flavor. The Italians say the water should be as salty as the sea.

When cooking steak, season well with salt and pepper.

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

My discoveries–the best pad Thai, chicken rice/crab curry in Bangkok

Sometime in the late 1980s, I was invited to a restaurant called Flavors and Spices. Sampling green mango salad was love at first bite. It started my love affair with Thai food.

Previously, my only experience was the pad Thai I tried at a restaurant called Nit Noi in Angeles City, Pampanga.

A decade later, my mom opened a Thai restaurant, Mai Thai, with her partner Sylvia Lim. We had three Thai chefs who created a buzz in the Edsa Central area.

Inspired, I put up fast food branches of Mai Thai in a few malls. I would often travel to Bangkok to buy ingredients and see the authentic way of preparing Thai dishes.

I would always have street food or go wherever I felt hunger pangs. Turned out that I wasn’t really experiencing the best of what Bangkok offered. So, I started getting tips from friends. Now I dine only in recommended places around that city.

Recently I was in Bangkok with my badminton group from Valle Verde Country Club. We were 16 and it was quite difficult to gather everyone, given our different wants or cravings. So I enumerated the most recommended places.

Our first meal together was in a place called Soi Polo that serves authentic, reasonably priced Thai food. We had exceptional, bouncy fish cakes.

Soi Polo’s specialty was fried chicken, which we enjoyed with spicy kangkong, a beef dish called Laarb, papaya salad and pineapple fried rice. Yummy!

That evening, I went to Thipsamai, an old restaurant that serves only the legendary noodle dish pad Thai. This was the most delicious version I have ever tried.

The noodles were wrapped in a thin layer of scrambled egg with bean sprouts and spring onions on the side. It was mildly sweet, salty, sour and spicy if you wish. With a little lime juice, it was a dish I had only dreamed about.

Chicken rice and street food

It was so good, we went back two nights later.

For lunch the next day, we ate at Go-Ang Kaomunkai Pratunam, a restaurant specializing in white chicken. That was all it served with chicken-flavored rice.

There was a line but the wait was not too long.

That evening, we settled for a sidestreet restaurant serving grilled pork neck and other street food items—salted giant plapla, pork barbecue, a delicious crispy and oily fried chicken, chicken skin and ice cold Thai Singha beer. Simple joys but such satisfying results.

We did this almost every night.

Once we had lunch at the Or Tor Kor market. We bought from a variety of stalls selling dishes such as spicy green papaya salad, tender asado pata with hard-boiled egg, chicken sate, roast pork with spicy wansoy sauce, Thai grilled chicken, oyster cake or anything our eyes and hungry tummies lured us to try.

Prices were so reasonable, you could try anything.

Dessert was the Tap Tim Crob and smelly but delicious durian.



Crab omelet

One dinner we had was at a restaurant that specializes in crab omelet. Here, you would find an old lady in flying goggles manning the wok. She meticulously fried and formed that round elongated specialty.

The result was a subtle tasting crab specialty you would not find anywhere else in Bangkok.

I also saw a crab curry dish which I will go back for. The dish was very good but not filling. And because it was literally right beside Thipsamai, we lined up again to have the delicious pad Thai.

Never make the mistake of ordering pad Thai to-go. It was far from what it should taste like.

Another memorable meal was at Somboon Seafood restaurant which was recommended by a friend. It had the most delicious whole crab curry—with thick orange sauce that was mildly spicy, creamy and bursting with flavor. I love it with Thai steamed rice.

We also ordered Thai kangkong, a crispy fish with patis-lime sauce, and a chicken dish with peanuts. Grabe ang sarap!

This meal and the pad Thai were the ones that stood out among all the meals we had.

This is my new lineup of places to revisit in Bangkok. That will be soon, Lord willing, with my family. You have to experience it, too.

Happy eating!

For those interested to join my Fukuoka/Hiroshima food tour, send me an e-mail to be forwarded to Japan Tourism Board, and they will give you more info. Cost is $1,950 inclusive of airfare, hotel, transfers and around 90 percent of meals. You won’t imagine how outstanding the food will be!

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Three people killed in Los Angeles shootout

LOS ANGELES, United States — Three people were killed and at least a dozen more injured when a shooting broke out after an argument at a pop-up restaurant in Los Angeles, police said Saturday.

One person has been arrested and police have launched a manhunt for another in connection with the deadly incident in West Adams, in the southwestern part of the metro area, said spokesman Lieutenant Chuck Springer.

Around 1900 GMT, investigators were still on scene, and the bodies still inside the home that was temporarily turned into a restaurant.

A woman was taken out and rushed by ambulance to a nearby hospital.

“Today, Los Angeles woke up to a horrifying shooting in West Adams — the latest example of a senseless gun violence epidemic that causes so much pain and sorrow in our city and across the nation,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti.

No motive has yet been identified.

“It’s a bloody scene with shell casings everywhere,” LAPD spokesman Sergeant Frank Preciado told the Los Angeles Times, adding that there were about 50 people in the restaurant at the time of the shooting.

It was a popular Jamaican eatery that often held parties on Friday nights, the Times said.

“Los Angeles grieves for the senseless loss of lives in one of our most cherished neighborhoods. My prayers go out for the victims and their families,” Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer added. CBB

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Steamed fish with lime sauce

For readers who like a tangy broth with their steamed fish

Several years ago, in a Thai restaurant somewhere in Pasig, my friends and I had a fish dish which I thought was absolutely heavenly.

The fish was laid over a simmering broth that was bewitchingly sour, spicy, sweet and savory all at the same time—a rare, perfect balance of flavors.

Made with limes, chilies, garlic and a touch of sugar, the broth was kept bubbly hot by a flame placed underneath the fish platter.

The restaurant has since closed, unfortunately, but I’ve never forgotten that dish. Whenever I dine in a Thai restaurant I look for it in the menu, hoping to recapture once more that enchanting tangy flavor.

Perhaps the best one I’ve tasted so far is the one at Tamarind—a Thai restaurant in SM Aura, where it’s listed on the menu as “pla manao.”

Other Thai restaurants also serve pla manao, but the taste of the broth is different. Maybe it’s because, lacking a supply of limes, these restaurants use lemon or calamansi instead, which isn’t the same at all.

Real limes have an emerald green interior, contain no seeds and have a unique flavor all their own. Even their fragrance is so inviting, their whiff hinting not of sourness but, strangely, of sweetness.

Limes are so enticing and can be used to enhance so many recipes that I wonder why nobody imports them to Manila. Or, for that matter, why we can’t grow our own limes here, like they do in Thailand. A substitute for lime would be dayap, but there doesn’t seem to be an abundance of dayap in Metro Manila, either.

To get my supply of limes, I buy them whenever I travel, or I cajole friends and relatives living overseas to bring me some whenever they come to visit (the limes from Australia are particularly good).

Recently, during a trip to Hong Kong, I swiped some limes from the breakfast buffet which were scattered nonchalantly around a bunch of fruits (if they knew how rare these are in the Philippines!).

As a result, I was able to cook pla manao at home, using those precious limes.

Here’s the recipe, for readers who like a tangy broth with their steamed fish. I hope they’ll be able to find their own source of limes like I did.

Steamed Fish with Lime Sauce
1 large whole apahap (seabass)
Coarse salt
1 whole head garlic, peeled and crushed
8-10 stems wansuy (coriander)
Water, for steaming

For the lime sauce:
1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
5 tbsp white sugar
5 tbsp patis (fish sauce)
½ c fresh lime juice (from 3 to 4 limes, see tips)
1/3 c water
1-2 siling labuyo (bird’s eye chilies), optional
For garnish:
Wansuy leaves
Chopped garlic
Bird’s eye or long chilies

Clean the apahap well, removing the gut and the scales (you can ask the fish monger to do this for you when you buy the fish). Cut two diagonal slits on both sides of the belly and near the tail of the fish. Rub the fish with coarse salt, then rinse well.

Insert some garlic cloves and wansuy leaves inside the fish. Prepare the steamer, making sure there’s enough water in it. Arrange the fish in a heat-proof plate and place it in the steamer. Cover the steamer tightly.

Steam the fish over medium heat for about 15 minutes (depending on the size of the fish). Check the fish after around 15 minutes.

The fish is cooked when the eyes have bulged and the flesh of the fish is white and flaky (should not be glassy). If it is not yet cooked, continue steaming for a few more minutes.

When the fish is cooked, take it out of the steamer and remove the garlic and wansuy leaves.

Transfer the fish to a clean plate. Pour half of the lime sauce over it and garnish with wansuy leaves, garlic and chilies. Serve the remaining lime sauce on the table. Serve immediately.

To make the lime sauce:
Combine the garlic, sugar, patis, lime juice, water and chilies (if desired) in a saucepan. Heat for one to two minutes. Pour half over the cooked fish and serve the remaining sauce on the table. Garnish the fish with wansuy leaves.

Cook’s tips:

Green lemons are not the same as limes, but they can be used in this recipe, too (though the taste will be slightly different). A better substitute would be dayap.

Make sure you use wansuy, not kinchay, which may look similar to wansuy but has a very different taste and aroma.

You can also cook this with lapulapu, mayamaya or any whole white fish.

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Have a Fourth of July Rib Fest at TGIFriday’s

A great American holiday deserves a celebration with great American food! And in the Philippines, there is no other place to best celebrate this US Holiday but at America’s iconic restaurant…TGIFRIDAYS!

This year, Fourth of July will once again become a festive date because TGIFridays will offer a 40% discount on its  Jack Daniel’s Ribs and Baby Back Ribs. So if you are ready for a Rib Fest, this is the day and place to be. This discount is applicable on orders of full racks or half slabs of its signature ribs

TGIFridays ribs have that fall-off-the-bone, fire grilled flavor that made bestsellers. Jack Daniel’s Ribs are seasoned with Cajun spices and generously glazed with the signature Jack Daniel’s sauce. The Baby Back Ribs, on the other hand, are coated with tangy barbecue sauce. Chow them down with crispy, seasoned fries and a refreshing coleslaw salad.

Mark your calendars! Fly your flags on the 4th of July and be ready for this rib fest at TGIFridays.



To know more about TGIFridays, check out its social media sites: Facebook , Instagram, Twitter and its website – www.fridays.com.ph. ADVT. 

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

‘Doggy bags’ for restaurant leftovers slow to catch on in France

PARIS - At the busy Bouillon Chartier restaurant in central Paris, a chef stands by a diner's table and carefully places the remains of her dish into a plastic takeaway box before putting the container in a bag—"le doggy bag" to be precise.

A new law aimed at combating food waste in France came into effect on Jan. 1, with restaurants serving at least 150 meals a day required to implement measures that prevent waste.

"Concerning the doggy bag, there's no real law that was applied, but [the government] simply encourages restaurant owners to respond favorably to clients who ask to take their leftovers home in a doggy bag," Yann Hulin, director of the Bouillon Chartier, told Reuters.

While the doggy bag may be a regular sighting elsewhere, it has yet to take off in France.

"We've had a few client requests here and there, especially for wine bottles, which of course we oblige, but in terms of dishes, it's extremely rare," Hulin said.

Other Parisian diners were surprised by the concept.

"I don't see myself leaving with a doggy bag. That's clear," Parisian Christelle Groleau said. "I don't see myself strolling around on the streets, if I have to go run errands, with the doggy bag in my hand, in the bag. You have to put it in the fridge at a certain point. We need a refrigerated doggy bag." — Reuters

Woman sits dead for hours in Hong Kong McDonald’s

HONG KONG - A homeless woman lay dead at a Hong Kong McDonald's restaurant for hours surrounded by diners who failed to notice her, sparking concern over the city's "McRefugees."

The woman, who police say was between 50 and 60, was found dead Saturday morning and has been held up as an example of the growing number of homeless people who seek shelter in 24-hour restaurants.

"Officers arrived upon a report from a female customer (that a person was found to have fainted)," police said in a statement.

"The subject was certified dead at the scene."

Local media said the woman was slumped at a table, 24 hours after she first entered the restaurant in the working class district of Ping Shek.

She had not moved for seven hours before fellow diners noticed something was wrong, according to Apple Daily, citing CCTV footage.

The woman was thought to have regularly spent nights in the McDonald's, the South China Morning Post said.

The city's Social Welfare Department said it was "highly concerned" about the incident.

"We endeavor to support street sleepers to enhance their self-reliance... the subject is a complex social problem," a department spokeswoman said.

There are concerns over the plight of the homeless population in the affluent southern Chinese financial hub, although the number of homeless is relatively low, estimated at more than 1,000 by local NGOs.

Many are forced to live on the street as they cannot afford to rent even the tiniest home as housing prices are sky high.

In sweltering temperatures and high humidity, some find shelter in air-conditioned restaurants that are open around the clock.

"McDonald's Hong Kong would like to express our grief over the unfortunate incident at our Ping Shek Estate restaurant," Wendy Lam, senior director of McDonald's Hong Kong, said.

"We welcome everyone to visit our restaurants any time. In order to provide a pleasant dining environment, we would not disturb our customers, but our service will be offered promptly upon request," she added. — Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Chicken, pizza and ‘third wave’ coffee at Frank & Dean

As a freelance writer, I’m used to lugging around my laptop and looking for a coffee shop to settle down to work—preferably one with the aromatic smell of freshly brewed coffee. Plenty of chain establishments are readily available, but I like the vibe that third-wave coffee shops exude.

Frank & Dean Café x Kitchen is the only "third wave" coffee place—that is, a place that buys coffee based on its origins and its method of production—in the Bonifacio Global City area. Its interiors have an industrial yet homey feel, with steel-backed upholstered chairs, lighting fixtures with metal frames, wood wall panels and brick accents. The big blackboard menu complements the trendy atmosphere. I spied a big group of corporate folks having a meeting during my visit. It seems like a good place to do meet-ups or simply hang out with your cup of joe.

Getting food inspiration from travels

I assumed that this independently owned and operated coffee shop would serve typical café fare like sandwiches and pastries, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that there’s actually pizza and fried chicken!

"Before we started putting up Frank & Dean, we already knew it was going to be about: first and foremost, coffee, fried chicken and pizza," said managing partner Miguel Escueta. "Mainly because Filipinos love coffee shops, pizza joints, and they love fried chicken. The goal was really to create great products and offer it in a hip and cool place.”

Indeed, coffee is front and center, as apparent in the list of menu items on the blackboard, the coffee machine in the counter, the word “coffee” in blue neon lights, and the little conversation pieces scattered around the area.

This is not Escueta’s first food venture. He is also a co-owner in Pablo’s Pub and Restaurant, inspired by Pablo Escobar. He and business partners Nicolo Villonco, Tania Villonco and Jam Mabanta thought of naming the coffee shop after someone famous as well—thus, Frank & Dean, after Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.

“[It’s] very Rat-Pack inspired,” said Escueta. “The first floor is really about coffee and brew. If you walk up, our alcohol display will be there, and a lot of drinking has been happening in the al fresco area.”

Though he doesn’t have formal culinary training, Escueta's travels inspired him to venture into the food business. “This inspiration [for Frank & Dean] really sprung forth from the traveling we did in New York—the chicken and waffle thing is very in, New York-style pizza, and the coffee shop. Everything is in,” he said.

Coffee and doughnuts

Frank & Dean opens as early as 7 a.m., perfect for those who live in the nearby residential condominiums or offices, and dishes up all-day breakfast fare that’s not your usual “silog” meal.

Stand-out dishes are the Truffle Scrambled Eggs (three eggs, drops of truffle oil, homemade hash), One-Eyed Jack (over-easy egg, brioche slices, ham, cheddar, drizzled with parmesan and maple syrup), Eggs Ben on Brioche (two poached eggs, bacon strips, hollandaise sauce), and Salmon Rosti (smoked salmon, homemade hash, sour cream, capers, arugula, poached egg). From 7 a.m. to 10 a.m., these all-day breakfast meals come with free basic brew.

But the true must-tries are the F&D pizza and the Southern fried chicken with waffles.

I tried the 12-inch, New York-style pepperoni pizza. To consume it, just do the hold-and-fold technique: pick up a slice, fold it, and eat it with your bare hands. Best eaten with the homemade chili powder—just make sure to put only a dash as it is somewhat potent.

I couldn’t leave the place without sampling the Southern fried chicken with waffles. The breading had the right thickness and was flavorful, too. The crispy skin was the best part, but the tender and moist meat deserves special mention as well. I made sure to get a good ratio of skin, meat and waffle with my every bite. It went really well with the homemade gravy.

Even with a full belly, I managed to cap off my meal with Frank & Dean’s basic brew—100% locally sourced Arabica—and a serving of old-fashioned doughnut.

I didn’t bother to put a lot of sugar in my drink since the doughnut was topped with loads of powdered sugar. I just drizzled it with some warm milk and went on to indulge in my daily dose of caffeine. The basic brew was pretty strong—for my standards, at least. I felt my energy perk up right away and it lasted me throughout the day.

The doughnut is another story. Unlike the light and airy ones that I’m used to, this one was more dense and had a sour tinge to the dough, which actually balanced well with the plain powdered sugar topping. Though heavy and filling, I managed to down the whole serving that went perfectly well with my bitter coffee.

Frank & Dean will offer a coffee-doughnut combo soon, so watch out for that! Also, from 10 p.m. to midnight, you can get the doughnuts for 50 percent off.

The establishment is also planning to do Saturday workshops—on coffee, calligraphy, cocktails, "anything under the sun," said Escueta.

I’ll make sure to bring my laptop next time around. — BM, GMA News

Frank & Dean Café x Kitchen (+63 917 835-1335) at Forbes Town Center, Forbes Town Road, Bonifacio Global City is open every day: from 7 a.m. to midnight from Sundays to Thursdays and from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

source: gmanetwork.com

Canada approves Burger King's bid for Tim Hortons

OTTAWA – Canada's government approved Burger King Worldwide's C$12.64 billion ($11.10 billion) takeover of coffee-and-doughnut chain Tim Hortons Inc., which will create a new company based north of the border.

Burger King had agreed to buy the iconic Canadian company in August in a transaction that would create the world's third-largest fast-food restaurant group, but the cash-and-stock deal was subject to approval by regulators.

"The result of this transaction is this new global company... which will now be based in Canada," Industry Minister James Moore said in a statement.

"Our government is pleased to see companies like Burger King investing in Canada's economy and looking to benefit from our low taxes and open markets."

Moore said that after a review of the deal, Burger King had agreed to a number of commitments, including setting up the headquarters in Oakville, Ontario, and listing the company on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Tim Hortons will be managed as a distinct brand, and at least half of the members of the brand's board will be Canadians.

Burger King has also agreed to expand Tim Hortons by opening new restaurants at a significantly greater pace than currently planned both in the United States and globally.

Canada's Competition Bureau gave its stamp of approval to the deal in October. – Reuters

Chef Anne-Sophie Pic sets out to conquer New York

NEW YORK - Anne-Sophie Pic, one of top five women chefs in the world, is gearing up to take the fickle, competitive world of New York gastronomy by storm in opening a new restaurant next year.

Named best female chef in 2011 at the World's 50 Best Restaurants awards run by British magazine Restaurant and the only three-star woman chef in France, Pic spoke exclusively to AFP in an interview during a busy stay in New York overseeing her new project.

On the ground floor of a gleaming glass tower at 510 Madison Avenue she will open a MetCafe and on the second floor, a New York branch of "Dame de Pic" which opened in Paris two years ago.

"It will be a gastronomic restaurant with 50 covers, between a chic bistro and a three-star restaurant," the 45-year-old told AFP in the empty space, bathed in light with high ceilings.

"It pleases me a lot. It's new, everything has to be built, it's the magnificent side of the project," she said in jeans, sneakers and a white shirt, her hair swept back in a neat little bun.

Rents for this kind of space in this neighborhood start at around $50,000 a month and the venture is not without risk in a city, with thousands of restaurants where fashions come and go.

Some great French chefs have come a cropper. Only last week was celebrity French chef Daniel Boulud downgraded, losing the third star he won in 2010 from the prestigious Michelin guide.

Polite, modest and respectful, Pic lets out a laugh.

"I am not coming into conquered territory! I'm aware that New York is a magical place, but difficult. My approach in coming here is to be humble," she said.

She speaks English, she knows the city and stayed several months when she was a student. She likes the pace, the "good energy" and likes to visit with her husband, Davis Sinapian, Pic CEO.

They are a couple who complement each other well: she does the food and he runs the business, which includes five restaurants, and employs 200 people.

Another 100 staff will be added in New York.

The crown jewels in their empire is Maison Pic, the family-run restaurant that Pic inherited after her father died, a three-star triumph in the southeastern French town of Valence.

There is the one-star Dame de Pic in Paris and a two-star restaurant in Lausanne.

Sincere approach

"I find that the trends in New York are very close to French trends," Pic says, talking about passion for all things organic and growing interest in vegetables in America's largest city.

"It corresponds to the evolution of my cuisine, I don't feel like it's a complete shift, even if I have a lot of things to learn."

"What's important for me is to do things that I love, bring pleasure to people, to be in this sincerely," she said.

She says her life is in Valence, where she is investing three million euros ($3.8 million) in a new, totally glass kitchen and a 60-square-meter (646-square-foot) laboratory kitchen.

A team will take care of the day to day running of the New York restaurant and she will stick to creating the menu.

She will come "as often as necessary to ensure that the standard is consistent, as I do in the three other restaurants."

She comes from a family of celebrated chefs. Grandfather Andre won three Michelin stars for Maison Pic in 1934 and father Jacques was made a three-star chef in 1973.

She took over Maison Pic in 1998 after it was downgraded to two stars and won back the third star in 2007.

With no formal training, she was nevertheless schooled in flavor by her father but only worked with him a few months before he died.

"The hardest thing is to build something yourself, to find your own path," she told AFP.

Today she says she is more comfortable than when she was 30 even if she still frets over the process of creation.

A self-taught perfectionist, she uses a lot of Japanese techniques and claims "the spirit of French cuisine is her DNA."

In a very male-dominated world, she also stays true to herself.

"I am very demanding in the kitchen, a little 'maternalist' but I try to stay who I am. I think it's important to tell women that when it comes to cuisine, stay women."

She is famous, a chef and a mother. But in what order, she doesn't hesitate for a second.

"I am a woman and a mother before being a chef," she says. — Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Michelin-starred Japanese chef fears loss of simple, traditional food

TOKYO - At his three-star Michelin restaurant in Tokyo, Yoshihiro Murata serves elaborate 12-course meals of delicate Japanese food. But his real passion is to make sure simple, traditional food is passed on to the next generation.

Japanese food is now widely available around the world, and “washoku” – traditional cooking – was declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO last year. But Murata fears that even though sushi has become universal, appreciation for Japanese food is declining in its homeland.

“Japanese cuisine is becoming extinct", Murata said, seated in a quiet tatami mat room in his Kikunoi restaurant in Tokyo’s Akasaka business district.

“The fact that it has become a 'cultural heritage' means it is fading so it needs to be protected.”

Murata, 62, is the third generation of his family to run the restaurant established in 1912. He lived in France to learn French cuisine in his younger days and now runs three restaurants in Kyoto and Tokyo, one of which has three stars from Michelin and the others two stars.

His big concern, though, is that many Japanese have drifted away from their own national cuisine.

“Japanese people rely too much on Western food every day,” Murata said. When he asks school children what their favorite dish is, the most popular item is hamburger steak - essentially a hamburger minus the bun, followed by curry & rice and spaghetti. At many schools in Japan, bread is served more often for lunch than rice.

“They have lost their identity when it comes to the food they eat every day,” Murata said.

Household spending on the basic ingredients of Japanese daily food is falling. The purchased amount of miso paste, the main ingredient for miso soup, was down 39 percent last year compared with 1990, while purchases of rice were down 40 percent over the same period, government statistics show.

Sales of bread rose 15 percent over the same period and purchases of cheese rose 67 percent.

Murata believes that the beauty of Japanese cuisine lies not only in "kaiseki", a course of dishes made from seasonal vegetables and fish, but also in more everyday food.

Through a Kyoto-based non-profit organization called the Japanese Culinary Academy, Murata visits local elementary schools and lets students taste dashi, or Japanese soup stock, a base for most Japanese dishes, made from dried kelp and dried bonito flakes.

“I want children to know how good dashi tastes,” Murata said. "If they appreciate it, they ask their mother to make dashi for them, which is why I approach children first, rather than mothers."

Murata also said he wants to promote Japanese food overseas because he thinks people's understanding of it around the world is not very developed.

”Many people still do not know what real sushi is. They think anything rolled in rice with seaweed is sushi, but that is not true,” Murata said.

The Japanese Culinary Academy is now preparing a 200-page book on Japanese cuisine in English, Italian and Japanese, which will be ready for sale by the time of the World Exposition in Milan next year.

In the meantime, though, Murata welcomes even "fake" Japanese food overseas as it does at least make Japanese food familiar to people.

“Japanese cuisine is still a nursery tree and a lot of unnecessary leaves grow out of it,” he said.

“But I will let them grow as it is and just focus on making the trunk bigger. Because if we say too much now, Japanese cuisine will become an artificial tree like bonsai.”

RECIPE

Kikunoi Ichiban Dashi (Kikunoi Virgin Dashi)

Ingredients

Water      1800 cc  (7.608  US cups)

Kelp (Kombu)       30 g (1.0583oz)

Dried Bonito flakes  50 g (1.7637 oz)

Put kelp in water and heat it up to 60 degrees Celsius (140 degree Fahrenheit). Leave it simmering for an hour and keep the temperature at 60 degrees.

Take out the kelp and heat the water up to 85 C (185 F). Put dried bonito flakes in all at once, then within 10 seconds take the pan off the heat and pour the dashi out through a strainer with a cloth or paper towel over it. — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

Mango Tree updates the meaning of ‘Modern Thai’

Mango Tree has amassed a loyal following in the two years it has been in the Philippines. Its secret is offering a healthy mix of the traditional and the modern along with a dose of good, old-fashioned Thai hospitality, Filipino style.

The first thing people notice is that the restaurant is modern, lacking any of the usual decor that marks the "usual" Thai restaurant. Modern interiors that focus on comfort and style reflect menu choices—dishes that have roots in Thai home cooking, but many of which have been updated for modern times, most of them recipes taken from the kitchen of the founders themselves.

Pitaya Phanphensophon, CEO of Coca Holding International Co. Ltd. is a second-generation restaurant owner. He started Mango Tree in Bangkok in 1994, later opening its first overseas location in London in 2001. “Growing up in a restaurant environment taught me how to please people, at least with hospitality, and obviously, we are a bit choosy and picky in food,” he says. “The first thing they taught me about the hospitality business is ‘you should give your customers the best value’ because we were taught that money is hard to make, hard to come by. When people spend, they want to make sure of its value.”

Pitaya, who is very active in menu development, takes great pains to say that he is not a chef. “I keep insisting on that because I think that chefs who have gone through proper training deserve recognition. It’s not like anyone who can cook well can call themselves a chef,” he explains. “I learned [how to cook] from my mother. My mother was a very good cook. She’s the eldest daughter and in the Chinese [household], she cooks for the family. She learned from my grandmother, that kind of thing. When you ask her for a recipe, she says, ‘A bit of this, a pinch of that,’ that’s how I learned how to cook.”




He takes great pride in Mango Tree’s menu, having tweaked the dishes to appeal to an international audience that is not afraid to spend for quality. “We always introduce what’s available locally…[In the Philippines], because you have good seafood, you have good beef, we introduced rock lobster to our menu. We listen to our customers, what they really want.

“We always start our Thai food a bit mild, entry-level. Having spicy food is like a drug addict. You have to go a bit, one notch up... We introduce different presentations, we introduce different plating, we introduce cuts of meat into our food. That makes us different from others, not to mention that we always use fresh ingredients. We never use frozen. We don’t cut corners.”

Mango Tree’s new menu items include their version of massaman curry, a Malaysian-influenced Thai dish that CNNGo listed as the number one in the article World’s 50 most delicious foods. “We introduced Massaman with short ribs and potato,” Pataya says. “If you look at it, there is no Thai dish with potatoes. That’s why when people ask me how authentic our Thai food is, I say, ‘We can’t claim that we are Thai a hundred years ago. We are modern, evolved.’”

The restaurant also plays with everyone’s favorite soup Tom Yum Gong, using locally available rock lobster in place of prawns.




Pitaya takes time to talk about how he draws on the soup’s history to create Mango Tree’s version, explaining that the soup originated as a dish for royalty, made with river prawns that gave the otherwise clear soup a bisque-like consistency. “As time passed, these dishes went from palaces to the countryside where you cannot find the prawns with big heads, so they added milk into it to thicken it,” he says. “This is why I keep on insisting that Tom Yum should have clear broth. That’s how we do it here, unless the customer requests otherwise.Obviously, rock lobster doesn’t have that kind of head, but it still gives you a different texture, a different experience.”

The Yam Pu Nim substitutes the catfish in the traditional catfish salad with crispy soft shell crab. “We decided to put it together to deliver something different in terms of texture and taste. They’re going through the elements, spicy with a bit of sour from the salad, but then you’ve got that bit of crispiness from the soft-shell crab,” Pitaya says. “For me, traveling the world and seeing different Thai restaurants, one thing I feel sets us apart is that we innovate this way—we’re always trying to introduce new things to our customers, and that comes primarily from [number] one, our passion. Number two, we have such a loyal following, we want to give them something else.”

Mango Tree’s forward thinking when it comes to Thai cuisine extends all the way to dessert. “You will see our dessert menu is not typical Thai desserts,” Pitaya says. “It’s obvious that traditional people would rather see Thai desserts on the plate, but our experience tells us that a lot of these Thai desserts are not palatable to many foreigners, so we introduced chocolates, panna cotta, cheesecake. I feel that desserts should be sweet to cleanse the palate. With Thai desserts, with sweet, you get salt, with savory, you get sugar, so you never know when your meal ends—that’s why we adopted  European desserts. At least when customers leave, they may not be happy with everything—you can’t be happy with everything—but at least they remember that Mango Tree gave them something different.”

This mindset of innovation and modernization has obviously been successful, with Mango Tree growing to 40 branches in 9 countries, the latest branch opening in India. According to Pitaya, the secret to Mango Tree’s success is no secret at all. “The things that we do that bring us success is being honest to our customers and delivering on what we promise,” he says. “When they come here, they find that the food is different from other Thai restaurants that they have experienced. They come back.” — BM, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Heart Attack Grill No. 1 fan dies of heart attack

The unofficial spokesman for the Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas has died of a heart attack. He was the second unpaid mascot to die in the past two years.

John Alleman, 52, suffered an attack while waiting at a bus stop in front of the diner last week. He was taken off life support Monday, the Las Vegas Sun reported (http://bit.ly/12HUXqT).

The medically themed diner is famous for its huge hamburgers, extra-fat milkshakes and fries cooked in lard. It uses the tagline: "Taste worth dying for."

Owner Jon Basso told the Sun that Alleman came to the restaurant daily and encouraged passing tourists to try its calorie-laden offerings.

"He never missed a day, even on Christmas," Basso said. "People just loved him. He connected with people in a real way."

Alleman became an unofficial mascot for the restaurant, which features waitresses in nurse garb. His caricature as "patient John" graced its merchandise and menus.

In 2011, another unofficial spokesman, a 575-pound man named Blair River, died at age 29. At the time, friends said pneumonia may have been the cause of death.

In 2012, a man in his 40s was hospitalized after he began sweating and shaking while eating a 6,000-calorie Triple Bypass burger at the downtown Las Vegas restaurant.

The ominously named diner features tongue-in-cheek health warnings and casts customers as patients. Eaters are given surgical gowns as they choose from a calorically extravagant menu.

Basso said Alleman weighed about 180 pounds and his death showed heart attacks can happen to anyone.

source: lasvegassun.com