Food

This week's foodservice hero is Priscilla Nesbitt from Georgetown, Ontario. She is a member of the foodservice industry working as a Purchasing Director for Best Western Hotels.

[If she looks familiar, we featured her on our Instagram feed back in May -- but we felt we could highlight her again.]

This week we're highlighting a foodservice hero from Garden Grove, California. Bill Bracken is the Founder and Culinary Director of Bracken's Kitchen, a 501(c)(3) organization which has supported the community for several years by doing what it can to make sure children and families don't go hungry.

Today, we're revisiting the story of a foodservice hero from Portland, Maine. Her name is Natalie DiBenedetto, but she is more recognizable to locals as  Chef Figgy, the owner of Figgy's Takeout and Catering. One of her claims to fame, in addition to her amazing fried chicken, is winning episode 39 in Season 8 of Food Network's "Chopped" in 2018.

Reducing kitchen waste and keeping food budgets lean have always been big challenges for foodservice professionals. Now more than ever, it’s essential to do both.  

Supply chains are being disrupted. Customers’ behavior is becoming harder to predict. Nevertheless, chefs and operators carry on the heroic work of keeping people fed in restaurant, healthcare and institutional kitchens. Hamilton Beach Commercial is here to help. With the help of expert chefs, we’ve found effective strategies for getting the most out of every ingredient.

Some 54 percent of restaurant operators have temporarily switched to off-premises service only.  They face formidable challenges: marketing takeout and delivery options to customers, crafting new menus, and keeping food costs down and quality high, all while operating with a reduced staff.  

Here are tips from chefs and restaurant operators across the country, from fast casual to fine dining, on how to build a takeout and delivery business in challenging times. Hamilton Beach Commercial is here to help operators do more with less.

Continuing with our recap series, here are the top blog posts from the Food blog for 2019. These posts got the most views, regardless of when they were published.

Read on...and if you see content you like, be sure to join the HBC Community for regular updates, whether it's Beverage, Food, Hospitality or Recipes.

In a commercial kitchen, a stand mixer is a true utility player. It kneads. It stirs. It whips. And it beats. Best of all, it operates hands free, allowing kitchen staff to turn their attention to other tasks.  

Yet not every restaurant has one, because chefs and managers wonder if it’s worth investing the money and the kitchen space. That’s why we made the 8 quart/8 liter CPM800 stand mixer. It’s compact, so it saves counter space. It’s affordable and seriously durable, so you know it’ll be a worthwhile investment. And it can do more than you ever dreamed.

In the United States, food waste is a staggering problem. Approximately 20 percent of the nation’s cropland is used to grow food that isn’t consumed, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. Wasted food produces more greenhouse gases than 37 million cars.   

School nutrition programs are a key touchpoint in reducing food waste, not only in how meals are served today, but in teaching children mindful eating strategies they can use lifelong. But it can be tough to implement strategies for reducing food waste in schools while still meeting federal school lunch nutrition standards and health-code regulations — and keeping kids happy!

 In the lunchroom, several strategies have been proven to work:

• Setting up a sharing table, where kids can place items they are not going to consume (milk, packaged items, or fresh fruit; only USDA food is allowed).
• Letting children take their food to go — specifically fruits, vegetables and healthy hand-held snacks
• Not pushing milk on children who don’t want it.
• Scheduling lunch after recess, which can reduce plate waste by as much as 30 percent
• Enlisting students’ help in reducing food waste with waste weigh-in competitions, taste-testing sessions for new menu items, etc.

 But what about the back of the house? Here are some best practices finding success in local school districts.

Continuing with our recap series, here are the top blog posts from the Food blog for 2018. These posts got the most views, regardless of when they were published.

Read on...and if you see content you like, be sure to join the HBC Community for regular updates, whether it's Beverage, Food, Hospitality or Recipes.

For decades, veganism was described in the language of deprivation: no meat, no fish, no dairy, no eggs, no fun.

“When I first began eating vegan…23 years ago…I was sad because I was hungry. I wanted to eat food — a lot of it,” chef Doron Petersan told Nation’s Restaurant News. Now, Petersan and other chefs are developing plant-based menus to satisfy big appetites and adventurous eaters. “We’re not specializing in delicate microgreens; we’re not touting ourselves as a health food diner,” says Petersan, founder of Washington D.C.’s Fare Well. “There’s cookie dough pancakes with a side of tofu scramble. It’s still indulgent and still fun.”

While just 3 percent of Americans consider themselves vegans, nearly 40 percent are “actively trying to incorporate more plant-based foods into their diets,” according to Nielsen. And they’re hungry! It’s time to give the people what they want.