Posts from the ‘Chains of Love’ Category

Oct 19

Chain Links: Hitting the BRIC Wall

Chains wanting to expand into foreign markets are having a hard time finding executives with the know-how to localize menus and navigate business issues abroad. Sometimes you have to add squid and corn to a pizza or sell beer with your burgers.

There is a sandwich chain called Spicy Pickle, and it will be arriving in Qatar next year. I don’t know what makes ham, cheddar, honey mustard, apple, spinach, and tomato, on grilled marble rye Basque, and don’t expect Doha residents to be any less confused.

I vowed never to speak of Pei Wei again, after last year’s sham of a contest where they chose a finalist who couldn’t use palate properly. But if you find yourself in Mexico City in the near future, craving crab rangoon, your needs will be met.

Did you know there was a Union Square Cafe in Tokyo? I wouldn't be surprised if there were stealth replicas of other notable restaurants stashed around Japan either. I be that their La Grenouille wouldn't trigger Paris Syndrome. (I know many French stereotypes are exaggerated, but even so, I havea million cities I'd rather visit first–I'm currently considering São Paulo, Lima, Istanbul, Los Angeles, and Reykjavik for a post-Thanksgiving jaunt, though I'll probably end up in Montreal like I often do that time of year.)

It seems that everyone wants to break into China, India, and the Middle East, but maybe chains should consider Russia and Colombia too. There was a time, not so long ago, when I did not know what BRIC stood for. Now I'm a better person.

Chili's opened in São Paulo and are serving five different caipirinhas and various dishes showcasing picahna, a popular cut of meat that's equivalent to top sirloin.

McDonald’s in Brazil has the CBO, a.k.a. chicken, bacon, onion sandwich that originated in Europe. Brazil has everything.

Share on Tumblr

Oct 9

Chain Links: Spongebob & Oregon Steak

Budget Travel rounded up fast food chains in foreign countries. Germany’s Nordsee caught my attention, not just for its fresh seafood, but because its mascot bears a passing resemblance to Patrick on Spongebob.

While it could be easily argued that deep-dish pizza, burritos, and Hawaiian cuisine are iconically American, I’m having a hard time associating Oregon with steak. The Oregon Bar & Grill in the Shiodome district does just that, using Oregon beef and wine as a selling point. Does Oregon really have that much cache? The connection appears to be Portland-based McCormick & Schmick’s, which is affiliated with this restaurant in Japan, despite no mention of it on its site.

For all of my fascination with American chain adaptations in the Middle East, one obvious difference never occurred to me. Generally, women and men unless married or close family members don't sit together, requiring separate entrances and seating areas for solo males and families. And tables in the family section must be curtained off (women don’t eat with a veil on) like this example at a Saudi KFC. These are the constraints that the Melting Pot, treated like a date place in the US, has had to work with in Saudi Arabia.

Famous Dave's is opening in Winnepeg.

Justin Beiber and Selena Gomez were spotted eating at an Outback Steakhouse in São Paulo.

Tim Hortons opened in Dubai.

In higher end news, the shuttered Tavern on the Green will be reborn as a chain and could spread around the world. Also, Le Cirque has opened a branch in Delhi.

Share on Tumblr

Sep 26

Capital Grille

The lord giveth…and taketh away. I eat at Capital Grille, the Darden-owned steakhouse would feel more appropriate in the downtown of a mid-sized city, and then mere days later discover that Little Lad's, my favorite vegan, Seventh-Day Adventist restaurant hidden in the basement of the same Financial District building, has packed up and moved into a Lower East Side church. I somehow feel responsible for setting this chain of events into motion.

Even though I only work three blocks away, it’s not like dining at Capital Grille crosses my mind with regularity. At lunch its business is drawn from surrounding offices, at night, especially on a Friday, the showier than expected—live band, taxidermy, and a private dining room in a former bank vault—bi-level restaurant was luring tourists hard. Camera in hand, I was certainly pegged as one. Using a 30% off discount from Savored might have not helped my case either (hey, Savored is classy—I do think getting rid of the Village Vines name was a good move). This does not bother me at chains. If there’s one thing they’re good for, it’s serving as Manhattan havens from the food trend obsessed.

And how trendy could a steakhouse from the people behind Olive Garden and Red Lobster be? (To be fair, it’s much higher end brand than their LongHorn Steakhouse.) Meat and seafood is the story.

Chilled oysters (of what provenance, I couldn’t even tell you) and lobster-and-crab cakes with corn relish. I like the lemon wrapped in netting touch.

A medium-rare porterhouse with a good amount of char, fattiness and the slightest bit of funk (which I like). Even as a chain-admirer, I tend to stay away from Outback Steakhouse and its ilk because the beef barely has flavor. This is a real steak with a real steak price ($47) and real calories (980–one oddity of being a chain is that the menu must list them). Truffle oil was in the air, so I acquiesced and shared a cone of parmesan truffle fries (only 30 calories less than the steak).

The bank vault. Capital Grille is not the only restaurant on Broadway with such a feature.

After you’ve been identified as a tourist (this generally only happens when I’m in other countries, and it’s really weird when you’re traveling alone, taking pictures of your food and someone, especially a guy, asks if you want your photo taken and you have to say yes because that seems like the right answer even though you might not like having your picture taken) that the inevitable, “Do you want me to take a picture of you?” question arises. I don’t, because the result is generally horrifying.

If I were a tourist I might be bothered by the amount of garbage piled up across the street.

Capital Grille * 120 Broadway, New York, NY

Share on Tumblr

Sep 22

Have It Your Way

Photo: Brianpbrady/Travelpod

I said no more McDonald’s oddities from foreign countries, not no Burger King knock-offs in China. So, have a gander at KDS, Texas Burger, and Cheese Burger.

Share on Tumblr

Sep 21

A Ban on Bubur Ayam

Photo: A Texan-American Way of Life

I’ll always be a sucker for localized fast food menus in other countries, but I think there needs to be a moratorium on oddities from around the world round-ups. It feels like one pops up every month—and McDonald’s Bubur Ayam always gets a mention. Zagat is just the latest to get involved.

Variations exist on CNNGo, HowStuffWorks, BusinessInsider (ugh, with palettes in the URL), Time, Weird Asia News, Chicago Tribune, Food Network Humor, BuzzFeed, and…ok, you get the idea.

This week, why not read about American vs Mexican breakfast cereal or American snack foods with unusual varieties abroad? Fruit flavored Pringles was a new one to me.

Also, Jarritos, those colorful Mexican sodas in glass bottles, is trying to expand its audience to “18- to 24-year-old, non-Hispanic, trend-setting males.” I noticed Jarritos ads (before I read the New York Times article, so I don't think I was being re-targeted) on The Rumpus a few days ago, which was a surprise. I don’t know if the brand’s target demographic overlaps significantly with the literary site’s readers.

Share on Tumblr

Sep 20

Pretzel Time

Every now and then I stumble upon one of my photos on another site. (Having a Creative Commons license on Flick never used to be an problem—I’m fine with nobody bloggers using photos with credit—but now legit publications like Foodandwine.com, Time Out NY and Esquire are looking for freebies, which I can’t abide much longer. Pro/group blogs like Brooklyn Based, Food Republic and The Kitchn are a gray area.)

But I’ve only once seen the same photo–a basket of pretzel rolls, oddly enough–used twice. I would not mention this at all, except that today’s usage reinforced a mania I experienced over the weekend.

Do you ever see a dish and think “I must have that!” For me, this tends to happen with fast food ads even though I rarely eat fast food. (I tagged along to Sonic on Saturday so James could see if its new Kickin’ Coney matched the elaborate concoction in the commercial. Uh, not really.)

I’m mesmerized by the idea of Red Robin’s new limited edition Oktoberfest Bürger on a pretzel bun. The execution could be lackluster for all I know (I’m a little distrustful of a chain that offers bottomless steak fries—AYCE, fine, but eh, steak fries are the lowest rung in fry hierarchy.) but the notion of a burger topped with swiss cheese, beer mustard onions and black forest ham is oddly compelling. I have a weird thing for German food (especially considering the above-mentioned pretzel roll photo was taken in Bangkok, not Berlin).

I have until November 6 to decide if it’s worth the 12.5 miles to Clifton, NJ to try this burger in person.

Share on Tumblr

Sep 17

Chain Links: Dubai Does It Again

Nothing surprises me anymore. Texas Roadhouse barely has a presence in the NYC area, and yet the restaurant known for line-dancing servers and freshly baked rolls has opened at The Dubai Mall. I really need to pay a visit to Dubai, it seems. It’s more American than the America I live in.

Bulgogi Brothers (ugh, with the exception of fictional Pollos Hermanos, I hate the word brothers in a title, i.e. Property Brothers, it’s as if a grade-schooler as allowed to be in charge) a Korean bbq chain has opened in the Philippines. Two other Korean operations, Caffe Bene and Bistro Seoul, plan to be in NYC within the next five years.

The East Village’s ChikaLicious Dessert Bar will be opening a branch in Tokyo as well transporting the more casual sibling, Dessert Club, to Hong Kong.

A new terminal has opened in Macedonia’s Alexander the Great airport and it happens to house the country’s first Burger King.

Frisby, the Colombian fried chicken chain, has partnered with Sarku Japan, an American QSR, to bring teriyaki to Pereira, Medellin and Cali. More cities are on the horizon.

Country Chicken, an Australian fried chicken and pizza chain, already has franchises in New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, United Emirates, Russia and Fiji. India is next.

Smashburger will be opening in Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. I cannot entertain eating at a place called Smashburger because it triggers thoughts of Smash Mouth. And no matter how big the '90s revival becomes, no one needs to hear "All Star" or jesus, "Walkin' on the Sun" ever again.

Share on Tumblr

Sep 15

Niceness Cannot Be Taught

Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta /AP

I suppose that Darden restaurants vowing to cut calories and sodium and not serving fries as a default side to children is a big news. I just view this as an opportunity to post a photo of Michelle Obama at Olive Garden. I mean, we all know that’s an Olive Garden despite the vague caption:

“First Lady Michelle Obama, accompanied by Darden chef Julie Elkinton, second from right, talks to Charisse McElroy, right, and her daughter Jacqueline McElroy, 9, during a Let’s Move! event in one of Darden’s national restaurants in Hyattsville, Md.”

The real news is that the Times Square Applebee’s did $13.5 million in business last year, the highest of all Applebee’s in existence. The New York Times interviews NYC franchisee, Zane Tankel, and he is full of insights about how the city’s Applebee’s differ from the rest of the world. For one, potential hires are kind of horrible here.

“In the New York market it’s hard to find people with good attitudes, so we try and hire by personality. We can teach you to cook, to make a drink, to be a server, but we can’t teach you how to be nice.”

Also, he went rogue and added karaoke at the Staten Island location even though it violates corporate policy.

Adweek reports that chains are trying to attract a more discriminating customer, but ad campaigns aren't cutting it. Apparently, there a something called "wet meat" advertising–and it's not a good thing. Dry meat=upscale?

Share on Tumblr

Sep 7

Chain Links: The Gambler

The New York Times is pokier with its fall dining coverage than other outlets, but it contains some good details, particularly in the article on foreign imports, a bona fide trend. I’d forgotten about insanely opulent Café Pushkin from Moscow–so over the top it’s really a theme restaurant–and knew nothing about Naples’ Fratelli la Bufala. And before my time (in the city, not living) there were foreign chains that bombed: “Lenôtre from Paris in the 1970s, the art-deco Altri Tempi from Italy in the 1980s, and the stylish Eldorado Petit from Barcelona in the 1990s.” The latter served Catalonian food, a novelty at the time. Now we’re looking to Asturias.

Kenny Rogers Roasters is a prime example of the US fast food brands that fizzled out here, but thrive abroad. I’m still baffled by the dish called Reuben James (above) I spied on the menu in Singapore.

Quebec is a testing ground for Canadian chains looking to expand—regionally and internationally. Yeh! Yogourt will be in Boston and Albany soon, and Liquid Nutrition, La Popessa, Sac Wich and Pasta Tutti Giorni may all follow suit.

Quiznos just opened its first location in India and is delving into localization. Aloo Corn Spinach Tikki Sub, Lamb Seekh Sub and the Chicken or Veg Manchurian Subs are just a few additions for Hyderabad.

Panda Express just opened its first Mexican branch.

There is a restaurant in the Bahamas called Bamboo Shack, and it may be franchised in the US.

Share on Tumblr

Aug 26

Fall is Full of International Intrigue

Fall previews don’t really have much of a place here (though I’m still quite stoked about the Bahama Breeze opening October in Woodbridge) but this year my attention has been peaked by the number of foreign chains—many high-end—that have decided to open in NYC.

One hesitates to equate an establishment with a $125 tasting menu involving fried grasshoppers and a “cucumber cloud” with say, a joint serving spaghetti teeming with hot dog weiners, but to me if a restaurant is using the same name and concept here as in its country of origin, it’s a chain. And I want to embrace them all.

La Mar Cebicheria Peruana
Peruvian cuisine has been touted as the next big thing for some time, but up until now we’ve made do with regional chain, Pio Pio (while researching a trip to Charlotte next weekend, I discovered there’s a branch there and in Orlando—who knew?) and their massive matador combo. Soon we’ll have celebrity chef Gastón Acurio’s ceviche-centric outpost in the former Tabla space. We’re a little late to the game; there are already six La Mar locations in Latin America and one in San Francisco. The most cross-cultural item I see on the Lima menu is a cocktail called the cholopolitan (Pisco acholado, cranberry, lima-limón, cointreau, toque de maracuyá). Will the Peruvian cosmo make it to NYC?

Al Mayass
This Armenian-Lebanese chain with locations in Kuwait, Beirut and Riyadh signed a lease in the Flatiron District over year ago. It looks like it will finally be opening. I'm curious about the cherry kebabs.

Ladurée
I tend not to get caught up in things like cupcakes, frozen yogurt and yes, macarons. Such a strange fetish lady food bloggers seem to have with these little rainbow-hued almond flour cookies. They are certainly pretty, and I was hardly immune to the power of a giant blue specimen at Bouchon Bakery. I also recognize that Ladurée is the shit, hence the venerable patisserie's 1pm grand opening tomorrow is understandably a big deal. I do wonder how it will go down since there will be no public transportation after noon. Also, I take back any cynicism I had—these religieuses are freaking beautiful. I might brave a hurricane for these.

Aamann
I’d nearly forgotten about this Danish smørrebrød chain coming to Tribeca. I’m picturing a Pret a Manger meets Le Pain Quotidien affair with more herring, nettles, sorrel and rye. Probably no sea buckthorn or reindeer blood, I imagine. Promotional photos promise something very bento.

Taka Taka
I just mentioned this Mexican sushi chain earlier this week and now I’m going to again. This one’s a doozy because it’s exporting an imported cuisine—and presenting it on a conveyor belt! We haven’t had kaiten sushi since Singaporean Sakae Sushi departed in 2009. Also, if YO! Sushi finally gets it together, we’ll have two and all will be right in the world.

Jung Sik Dang
This one was totally new to me. And yes, this high end South Korean restaurant is the grasshopper-serving culprit, and will also be in Tribeca, taking Chanterelle’s old spot. I’m all for modern cuisine and chef Jung Sik Yim has cooked at Bouley and Aquavit in NYC as well as Akelare in San Sebastián, so he might know what he’s doing. “Picking your Salads” seems far more appealing than a Korean deli salad bar (and I frequent them all the time).