Every week Restaurant SmartBrief editors scour the Internet for the breaking news and best-practices stories restaurant owners and managers need to make their businesses smarter. However, every week, hundreds of fascinating food, beverage and restaurant stories don’t make the cut. Here are a few of my favorite stories from the past week that didn’t make the newsletter.
- The true story behind BannaStrow’s: It doesn’t get much stranger than this. The founders of crepe restaurant chain BannaStrow’s were once kidnapped and held in a Colombian jungle. The event led to a partnership and crepe-based business in the U.S. Business News Daily interviews the founders about the concept, franchising and competition.
- How the Spotted Pig found its niche: This New Yorker article profiles April Bloomfield, chef of New York City’s first gastropub, the Spotted Pig. A favorite among celebrities, the gastropub maintains a strict condiments policy and “unfussy food,” all thanks to Bloomfield’s passion and know-how.
- A slideshow of the strangest restaurants in the U.S.: From Heart Attack Grill in Arizona to spy-themed The Safe House in Wisconsin to Ninja New York, with its feudal-era ninja castle, Forbes covers the weirdest restaurants in America.
Did you see other food stories worth mentioning in the news this week? Feel free to leave links in the comments.