“You guys know how to throw a party,” David Farmer, vice president of menu strategy and development for Chick-fil-A, told the staff of the Penton Food and Restaurant Group as he accepted the award for Best New Menu Item at the 18th annual MenuMasters awards.
Farmer addressed a crowd of 400 people at the Drake Hotel’s Gold Coast Ballroom as they celebrated culinary innovation in foodservice. Guests at the party, sponsored by Ventura Foods, sampled items ranging from Chick-fil-A’s Grilled Chicken Sandwich, paired with its lemonade, and Smashburger’s Organic Arugula, Truffle Mushroom & Swiss Burger, served with Chi Town American Pale Lager, to chef John Besh’s Louisiana crawfish with cavatelli, spring peas and asparagus, which was paired with Revolution IPA.
Chris Keating, master of ceremonies and Penton Food and Restaurant Group vice president and market leader, riffed off of the idea of MenuMasters turning 18, noting that the awards were now old enough to join the armed forces, get a tattoo, get married, and do practically anything else an adult can do, except drink.
He also praised Ventura, which has shepherded MenuMasters into adulthood.
“Culinary innovation’s not just a word for them. It’s built in their DNA,” Keating said.
Ventura Foods senior vice president Jim Goggin said of the awards, “This is literally the heart and soul of our organization.”
Jimmy Bannos Jr., chef-partner of The Purple Pig in Chicago, won the Innovator award. After manning his station at the party, where guests enjoyed Spanish octopus terrine with potato and celery salad, paired with Diez-Caballero Tempranillo from Spain’s Rioja region, he thanked his business partner and father, Jimmy Bannos Sr., and his other partner, legendary Chicago chef Tony Mantuano, “and my team at the Pig,” as well as his wife, “for putting up with my nonsense of working way too much.”
Farmer of Chick-fil-A told the crowd that he thought the grilled chicken, which had to be made with equipment that could fit under 13 inches of vent hood space, might never come into existence. It took 1,200 iterations and three different patents before it was finally rolled out, he said.
Smashburger’s organic arugula and truffled mushroom toppings won the award for best Menu Line Extension.
“We are both humbled and honored to be here in such great company,” Smashburger founder and chief concept officer Tom Ryan said, adding that American consumers are looking for food with a story that makes them feel good about what they’re eating.
The award for Best Menu Revamp went to Bonefish Grill, whose vice president of research and development, Clifford Pleau, and his team served sesame seared tuna sashimi and crispy shrimp tacos paired with Silver Palm chardonnay.
Pleau commented on the name MenuMasters in his acceptance speech.
“We all have menus in this room,” he told the crowd of restaurant operators, but the masters are those who prepare the food every day, and he thanked the staff at all at his restaurants.
“The best things in life are not things,” he concluded.
Which Wich won the award for Healthful Innovations with the Beyond Meat vegan option that it tested last year and is rolling out this year. Founder Jeff Sinelli, who spent two years as a vegan while exploring meatless options, said he was continuing his food education by enrolling in culinary school.
“It gave me a deeper appreciation of everyone who puts on a chef coat,” he said.
Mendocino Farms won the award for Menu Trendsetter, and its staff displayed its prowess by serving curried couscous, pork belly bánh mì sandwiches and Peruvian steak sandwiches, made with a teres major cut of beef and dressed with ají amarillo, paired with 10 Span pinot noir. Founder and CEO Mario Del Pero said Bannos and Besh were inspirations to him, and that he was thrilled to be mentioned “in the same breath as Chick-fil-A.”
He said MenuMasters was like the Academy Awards to him, “or maybe more like Sundance.”
Recognizing excellence in product development
Two companies were honored for their limited-time offers: Popeyes, for its Buttermilk Biscuit Butterfly Shrimp, paired at the party with Borgo Pinot Grigio, and Aramark, for its Tribute Menu Series at sports stadiums, which honored the locale of each stadium, the team that plays there or a combination, by offering menu items using local ingredients or derived from legendary team members, mascots or other aspects of the stadiums.
Aramark served a Polish Hill Pretzel — shaved kielbasa and caramelized pierogi, white American cheese and mustard on a pretzel bun — that they offered at CONSOL Energy Center in Pittsburgh when the Penguins were playing. It was paired with an Apple Fest Shandy. They also served The Hammer from Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, home of the Flyers, which is smoked sausage and smoked chopped pork with barbecue sauce on a seeded roll. It was paired with a cucumber cooler.
Aramark vice president of operational excellence Peter Zilper said he was amazed by the talented people at Aramark who could make dinners for 10,000 people.
“These are the real heroes of Aramark,” he said.
Amy Alarcon, Popeyes vice president of culinary innovation, said she was glad that MenuMasters existed.
“It’s great to have a forum that recognizes excellence in product development,” she said.
Besh, in accepting his induction into the MenuMasters Hall of Fame, observed that people in the restaurant industry “use our talent to serve other people.”
Whether in fine dining or sandwich shops, he said “we make people happy through food, and to serve a fellow human is very noble,” he said.
He said that everyone in the room had the power to better their communities by hiring people and giving them opportunities to excel.
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected].
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