This week’s 6 head-spinning moments: Huh?
By Peter Romeo on Jan. 05, 2018When a change in In-N-Out’s menu barely makes the list, you know the week’s most arresting developments are an outstanding batch. Some might say weird. A hot new trend in water? Really? And one that could poison customers?
Add a sign of the times in Las Vegas, a new restaurant-inspired model for the Oscars and the possible takeover of a major pizza chain. If this is a sign of what’s to come, 2018 will be a memorable year indeed.
Here’s the evidence.
1. Bacteria in vogue
Refusing to eat cooked food is so yesterday. Today’s true naturalists are ushering a new trend into vogue: raw water. For a daunting price, places on the West Coast are selling untreated H2O, the stuff that’s bottled right out of a spring, a development that drew an intense spotlight this week because of the latent dangers.
By design, the water is loaded with bacteria. The conviction is that bacteria is good for the body, and killing it is as detrimental to health as over-processing food.
Health officials have a different take. They recall the days when cholera was spread by shared drinking cups and unfiltered water. They warn that the water could also pass along such pathogens as bad forms of E. coli.
Raw water can already be found on store shelves and for sale via the internet, but it has yet to become a presence in restaurants. But it’s likely just a matter of time, especially in places that specialize in raw food.
2. ‘And the un-embarrassing winner is …’
Virtually all the chefs figuring into recent sexual harassment scandals can list a James Beard Award among their honors, a commonality not lost on the James Beard Foundation. Recently, the organization pledged to re-evaluate its awards criteria. This week, the awards program made good by asking judges to consider the leadership qualities and reputations of nominees.
“When considering the candidacy of a person or restaurant, bear in mind that award winners are held up as role models,” the all-volunteer Restaurant and Chef Awards Committee said in a note sent to judges. “If you have concerns about a chef, restaurateur or beverage professional, or about the culture around a restaurant or restaurant group, leave the person or business out of your nominations.”
3. In-N-Out’s menu change
Saying menu changes are rare for In-N-Out is like observing that California tends to be sunny. Fifteen years ago, the West Coast cult favorite added lemonade, and the bill of fare hasn’t been tweaked since.
That’s why seismologists may have been the first to notice something was afoot this week with the retro chain. In a change that also required a retrofit to In-N-Out’s highly customized kitchen, the brand is now selling hot chocolate.
In a news scoop that could land a Pulitzer, the Orange County Register noted that hot chocolate had been on In-N-Out’s menu back in the 1950s. And it learned that directly from chain President Lynsi Snyder, the granddaughter of the founders and a chain executive more elusive than Howard Hughes ever was.
The 8-ounce serving, made with Ghirardelli cocoa, sells for $1.60.
4. Jack’s doper deal
The new buzzphrase in promotions is one-to-one marketing, or aiming a very specific offer at a narrowly targeted sales prospect. A case in point: Jack in the Box’s new Merry Munchie Meal, a tongue-in-cheek (or maybe bong-in-mouth) packaged deal tied to the legalization of pot smoking in California.
The offer is a tie-in with rapper Snoop Dog’s website, MerryJane.com, a celebration of all things marijuana-related. As the site reports this week, Jack in the Box has added a special riff on its Munchies late-night menu to satisfy the cravings of a very specific audience, though the purpose is stated with a nod and a wink. “We are about welcoming all of our guests, no matter what they’re craving or why they’re craving it,” Iwona Alter, Jack’s CMO, is quoted on the site as saying.
Everything about the deal is a sly nod to stoner-dom. The box features a highly stylized marijuana leaf that mom or dad isn’t likely to recognize as such.
The price is $4.20, a reference to April 20, or Weed Day, when users everywhere are supposed to light up in a show of bud brotherhood.
And the deal will apparently be offered only in three stores, all in Long Beach, Calif., the hometown of known weed aficionado Snoop Dog.
There’s a time limit on the offer, too, but we forgot what it is.
5. Next big chain deal?
The nation’s fifth-largest seller of takeout and delivered pizza is being pressured by a group of dissident shareholders to seek a sale or refinancing. The situation might sound familiar to deal watchers in the restaurant busines, but the brand in question might not, given that it’s Casey’s General Store, a 2,000-unit c-store operation that operates in 15 states.
Three stakeholders—JCP Investment, BLR Partners and Joshua Schechter—sent a letter to every fellow stock owner, laying out their argument the chain should pursue financial alternatives, corporate-speak for a sale. Casey’s subsequently issued a statement acknowledging that it’d met with the dissidents during the summer, but the possibility of a sale hadn’t been discussed.
Casey’s foodservice sales for fiscal 2017 hit $953 million, which would place it around 48th on a ranking of restaurant chains by annual sales.
6. Winning in Vegas
In the latest indication that restaurants are supplanting gambling joints as Las Vegas’ big draw, the year-old Lucky Dragon Hotel & Casino unplugged its slot machines this week for what management described as a gambling timeout. But the establishment’s Cha Garden restaurant was spared the shutdown. Indeed, the menu was expanded, and the place’s nighttime bar scene is being touted as the place to hit.
Lucky Dragon said it plans to take six months to reposition its casino.