April 1, 2005

FOOD & BEVERAGE

Beyond a Regional Doubt
On America’s menus, what once was Italian food now is apt to be labeled Tuscan, Apulian or Ligurian, with ingredients, inspiration and preparations deeply rooted in Italy’s regional culinary traditions.

Small Celebrations
Whether they’re for tablewide sharing or creating a meal of multiple taste sensations, small plates are the next big thing. Here are profit-making ideas and recipes that prove small can be beautiful.

Dish R&D: Goat Cheese and Pear Salad
For Brentwood Bay Lodge & Spa’s Executive Chef Alain Léger, creating a salad with tastes and textures that are in perfect accord was as simple as relying on local bounty.

Bottling Works
With U.S. wine consumption on the rise, restaurants are in prime position to benefit from better sales. Constructing a wine list with the right mix of offerings is the starting point.

SPECIAL REPORT

The top-grossing independent restaurants showed scrappy competitiveness last year, with R&I’s Top 100 Independents hitting an aggregate sales increase of almost 8%.

Introduction

Fine and Dandy
Slowed in recent years by a sluggish economy, the fine-dining segment has rebounded with joyful vengeance.

Detail Work
Better year-over-year results don’t just happen. Top-performing operations share the business-building strategies that work for them.

Top 100 Independent Restaurants
Tavern on the Green again holds the top spot; a special pullout section details it and 99 other sales leaders.

BUSINESS

Charting the Waters
With fresh offerings and creative preparations as major hooks, seafood chains are breaking into the mainstream as consumers show growing appreciation for the waters’ bounty.

OPERATIONS

Cool, Clean and Collected
Food-safety best practices can never be put on ice, but they should always be applied to ice—as in machines that make and dispense it.

DEPARTMENTS

R&I Insider
Philadelphia restaurants say hello Dali; managers’ cellphone numbers are anything but private at Ruby Tuesday; Delta’s in-flight meal sales may have hit turbulence but other airlines are reaching for the stars; and Consumer Beat explores the payback on coupons. In Menu Focus, artichokes get to the heart of spring menus.

Interface: Ken Blanchard
In Interface, author and consultant Ken Blanchard discusses the importance of putting people first at Yum! Brands.

10-Minute Manager
Predicting customer counts on any given day is far from an exact science. The Ten-Minute Manager considers how operators keep things running smoothly even when they’re unexpectedly slammed.

EDITORIAL

Viewpoint
Coming Clean