At Ideation Fresh Foodservice Forum, a foodservice industry conference on December 3 hosted at the Hilton in Midtown Manhattan during the New York Produce Show and Conference, Ludwig reported his findings to an audience of about 100 people interested in learning how the foodservice sector can make better use of fresh produce.
Vegetables are not just for vegetarians, said Gerry Ludwig, corporate consulting chef at Wyoming, MI-based Gordon Food Service. Finally, gloriously, fruits and vegetables are taking center stage at the nation's finest restaurants. But these dishes are not about appealing to vegetarian diners nor do they encourage rebuffing meat, he said.
"Loving veggies doesn't mean hating meat," said Ludwig. "We need to find a better balance."
He presented details and photos of the innovative dishes that bring vegetables into the spotlight on the menus of top restaurants in New York City and other major metropolitan areas, such as Chicago and Los Angeles. Instead of depending solely on vegetables, these dishes also incorporate a sprinkle of animal protein — such as anchovies or chopped ham for flavor and protein — without upstaging the vegetables.
The veggie-loving restaurants that received the praise from Ludwig included Chalk Point Kitchen in Manhattan, The Publican in Chicago and Gjelina in Venice Beach, CA. Ludwig calls Gjelina's chef/owner Travis Lett, “the father of vegetable-centric cuisine.”
Ideation Fresh forum was divided into three themes: Identifying and Ideating the Next Big Thing on the Menu; Sorting and Sifting — Getting the All-Important Consumer Buy-In; and Development and Refinement — Getting into the Kitchen and Working out the Kinks." The foodservice professionals ranged from restaurant and celebrity chefs to foodservice distributors to managers at public schools and universities.
"Participants at Ideation Fresh found a community of like-minded professionals who believe the way to increase produce consumption in America is through its restaurants and foodservice operations," said Ellen Koteff, vice president of editorial for PRODUCE BUSINESS magazine and moderator for the panel that included a variety of foodservice veterans. "Consumers discovering delicious fruits and vegetables for the first time prepared by chefs and cooks who know what they are doing, is the fastest way to get the same consumers to eat the produce at home."
This forum's purpose is to help distributors and suppliers understand what chefs are up against, said Koteff, who helped to organize the event. One topic was the challenge of consistency in restaurant menu items when seasons limit availability.
The diverse panelists and speakers included CIA-trained chef Michael Muzyk, who has been with Baldor Specialty Foods in Manhattan for 20 years and now is its president; Terri Moreman, associate director of food and beverage for the U.S. Olympic Team; and Justin Timineri, chef and culinary ambassador for the Florida Department of Agriculture.
Tim York of Markon, a produce purchasing and marketing cooperative, presented a series of challenges to a group of culinary students from Le Cordon Bleu and Johnson & Wales University. For example, students were asked to find ways to encourage vegetable consumption at a public school with a limited budget and to create flavorful dishes with fewer calories for a university dining program.
Chef and cookbook author Suvir Saran entertained the audience with his passion for vegetables — and the many inventive ways to use them — while doing a cooking demonstration. His mantra is simplicity. "Chefs make recipes complicated to justify our salaries and a staff of 17. Keep it simple. There's no need to add any sugars, when cooking and roasting fruits and vegetables can bring out the natural sugars."
Saran worked alongside nutritionist Amy Myrdal Miller, who is also founder and president of Farmer's Daughter Consulting. The duo of Miller and Saran began in December writing a joint monthly column in PRODUCE BUSINESS called “Produce Matters.”
Miller led the last panel discussion in which she asked what the audience would like to know about the business? "This elicited engaging responses; every panelist answered with enthusiasm," says Miller. "The most common sentiment was, 'Don’t send in a sales person who doesn’t know my business.'"
Participants learned about menu development as the cornerstone of foodservice operations, says Koteff. "Chefs appearing at Ideation Fresh dissected this topic as it relates to produce, sharing their insight and what they learned over the course of their careers."
Source: PerishableNews.com