Our weekly reader poll in Restaurant SmartBrief — SmartPulse – tracks feedback from restaurant owners and managers about current trends and issues.
Last week’s poll question: QSR magazine’s annual survey of quickservice chefs and culinary innovators revealed these trends. Which trend will you be following most closely?
Going local — 26.8%
Back to basics — 21.65%
Nutrition — 17.53%
Street food — 10.31%
Breakfast — 7.22%
Ethnic — 7.22%
Beverages — 4.12%
Kids’ meals — 4.12%
Other — 1.03%
Sourcing local ingredients has become a prerequisite to opening a restaurant in Chicago, according to this article. It’s not surprising that going local is the trend that Restaurant SmartBrief readers are following the most.
“As chefs, we have this opportunity to be sort of profound educators,” Bruce Sherman, owner of North Pond in Chicago, told WBEZ-FM (Chicago). “Whether it’s front-of-the-house with diners, in terms of educating them indirectly as to how we or what we source; whether it’s back-of-the-house in terms of what we do with our waste; whether it’s the tail of the animal or the box the animal came in. If we do our job right, as chefs, and we cook something delicious and creative, then those customers are going to ask us about the product. It’s a great entrée into educating them about where it came from and what it is.”
How do you educate your employees and customers on local ingredients? Tell us in the comments.