Posts from the ‘Corporate Culture’ Category

May 10

Anything and Everything

Kraft made Cooking Cremes a reality, and if the company can get moms to put cream cheese in tacos and spaghetti why not invent more use cases for salad dressing? The new campaign is called "Anything Dressing," and their Facebook page has videos demonstrating a Balsamic Beef Dipped sandwich and Cheese Stuffed Chicken drizzled with roasted red pepper vinaigrette, among others.

In college, I discovered the genius of pepperoni pizza with blue cheese dressing, so I'm not against the practice in theory.

It's also no shock that Ranch is the most popular salad dressing. Hidden Valley, too, is on the versatility bandwagon. Their initiative is called "Hidden Valley for Everything" and they are making a thicker Ranch for dipping and creating a Ranch Salsa for the same purpose. One would imagine that Ranch hummus is just on the horizon. (And indeed, folks who go by monikers like Vegan Dad, Handicapped Chef, and Food Bitch, have all gone there.)

We just got a similar story about French's mustard that produced this gem: “When you’re trying to reframe the way you think about mustard, you have to play with all the semiotics.” That translates to Edamame-Avocado Dip and Shredded Pork Tacos with Spicy Mustard Salsa.

What other condiment is ripe for repurposing? I'm still traumatized by the kid in middle school who brought mayonnaise cookies. Then again, that's no Hellman's Molten Chocolate Lava Cake.

Share on Tumblr

May 9

When in Doubt, Add Mango

Another day, another localized snack food story. May was kicked off with the Huffington Post vs. Businessweek with mango-flavored Oreos playing a role in each. And before I could even get around to posting this, The Wall Street Journal busted out a piece about Dunkin’ Donuts’ first Indian outpost. Yes, there will be mangoes–as well as a lychee Coolata and a Jerk Cottage Cheese Ciabatta sandwich.

And if Pinkberry wasn’t enough, now India and China will be the recipients of another chilly American dessert: water ices, courtesy of Rita’s. No word on the presence of mangoes.

A Jamba Juice franchisee in the Bahamas didn’t localize (mango is already on the menu, after all) but bucked tradition by adding food, which proved a huge success for the chain. He still went out of business, however, and is now going like gangbusters with a presumably mango-free Johnny Rockets in the Atlantis resort.

Chinese orange-mango Oreo pic via Kraft Foods

Share on Tumblr

May 1

In the Privacy of Your Own Home

P.F. Chang's, the restaurant, was acquired today by Centerbridge Partners LP. The Chinese bistro isn't doing so well, yet P.F. Chang's Home Menu, the brand's frozen food offering, was the best-selling new food and beverage product launch of 2011, according to SymphonyIRI, beating out Thomas' Bagel Things by nearly $30 million. (I'll admit I picked up a bag of orange chicken at Target out of curiosity, but really anyone in NYC would just go to their local joint, likely in a three-block-radius, to satisfy their Chinese-American junk food needs.)

Perhaps next year we'll see IHOP's new at HOME syrups on the list.

Or Olive Garden's salad dressings at Sam's Club.

Not so long ago I found these Jelly Belly Dessert Toppers at Wegmans and they made me want to hurl. The neon red cherry one in particular reminded me of something you might find in the over-18 section at Spencer's that would give you an instant UTI.

Oh, Zagat has a timely post today about taste-testing seven frozen restaurant meals. Spoiler: T.G.I. Friday's Cheddar and Bacon Skins are the real deal.

Share on Tumblr

Apr 23

The Third Wheel

This California Almonds ad raises similar issues as the original version of the (controversial, blog-wise) Marie Callender's four-cheese lasagna commercial featuring Gael from Breaking Bad and two other women. The brunette disappeared in an edited version more commonly aired, making it more clear that Gael and the older blonde were meant to be a couple when originally relationship among the three was ambiguous.

It also says a lot about how immune I've become to media's warping of reality that I automatically want to pair the man with the younger woman. (The only reverse example I can even think of offhand is Edie Falco's Nurse Jackie character being partnered with a husband who appears younger and perhaps disproportionately handsome–while I appreciate the swap, it doesn't read as wholly believable.)

But the confusing two women issue still remains with the West Coast almond-loving family. At first glance, I interpreted this to be a husband, wife, daughter, and grandmother, maybe the woman's mom. But is the woman in a tailored denim dress old enough to be the mother of one of the adults at the table? It's hard to gauge because no one is directly facing the camera. The woman on the right could be anywhere from late-20s to mid-30s while the shorter haired woman is impossible to parse. She could be an older looking late 30s or a youthful 50s–I want to say 45, for some reason, pure middle-age.

Then the dude has gray hair, as men are allowed to, which also throws off the dynamic and makes him seem over 40, and therefore more age appropriate (which like the gray hair, kind of means nothing–men often marry younger women and don't cover gray hair when it shows up in their 30s) for the woman sitting closest to him.

And the body language makes it seem that the three on the left are a unit and the longer-haired woman is a visitor or more peripheral relative, maybe the aunt, maybe a friend or neighbor. And yet sartorially I would pair the man with the hoodie lady because they're both dressed more casually and a t-shirt guy would view himself as youthful and prefer longer hair on a woman.

Help! Why are thre so many women at the table together how is it meant to sell food? I eat almonds (origins unknown) all the freaking time so maybe it's working on me. I even picked up one those tasty, chemical-laden, preservative-filled lasagnas not so long ago and tried to gussy it up with instagram. Pretty?

Share on Tumblr

Mar 13

Better Than Shamrock Shakes?

The early 2000s were a crazy time. We had neon blue and pink Parkay, monster-hued purple and green Heinz ketchup, and sky blue Ore-Ida frozen fries. Now we are resigned to getting our unnaturally colored condiments once a year when Burger King gives away free fries with green ketchup for St. Patrick’s Day.

It’s a shame the holiday falls on a Saturday this year, since I work a block from a Burger King, but they’re scarce in gentrified Brooklyn. At least BK spells St. Paddy's correctly–I've seen a lot of two T's nonsense this week.

Photo via GrubGrade

Share on Tumblr

Mar 8

New Yorkers Surprised by Olive Garden’s Warm Reception Outside of New York

People seem to think this earnest Olive Garden review in the Grand Forks Herald is a joke (no, the accompanying photo doesn't help) but little about it surprises me and I know nothing about the North Dakota dining scene. This is how things are, and would hardly be the first Olive Garden critique in a regional newspaper (here's a recent one from Baton Rouge's The Advocate, which I mistook for the gay Advocate for a nanosecond)

Admittedly, I do worry a bit about the town if this is true: "All in all, it is the largest and most beautiful restaurant now operating in Grand Forks. It attracts visitors from out of town as well as people who live here." I'm starting to feel a little attracted…

With very little research, it was easy to determine that independent restaurants do, indeed, exist in Grand Forks, and Marilyn Hagerty has, in fact, reviewed them, many of them. On one hand: good, she tries everything, not just chains. On the other hand, she's dined extensively in the region and truly finds Olive Garden to be the "most beautiful." Pehaps local message boards could heatedly debate this a la Pete Wells's starring of Shake Shack.

A tiny sampling of non-chains in Grand Forks:

Sanders 1907 Dakota Cuisine. The menu is fairly meat-and-potatoes, but they do serve hamachi carpaccio, escargot, duck burritos, and list 58 scotches.

The Toasted Frog does bar food that wouldn't be wildly out of place in bigger cities: fried cheese-wrapped pickles served with sriracha, and panko-crusted fried oysters with remoulade. Wood-fired pizzas are also their thing and the Roma-Dakota mixes late '80s faves: sun-dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts with the unexpected: pheasant confit.

Dakota Harvest Bakers is an artisan bakery using local ingredients. Sandwiches include banh mi and a muffaletta.

Frankly, I was most excited to learn about new-to-me regional chains (always a pleasure): Paradiso Mexican Restaurant with all-you-can-eat Fajita Wednesdays, Rhombus Guys, a gluten-free pizzeria, JL Beers, a craft beer and burger joint touting freshly ground beef and baked buns, and Grizzly's where "fresh flavors of the northwoods" translates to Wisconsin cheese curds with ranch dressing, steak, ribs, and general bbq-ness, and Green Mill with award-winning buffalo wings.

UPDATE: The Village Voice went straight to the source (smart!) and Marilyn Hagerty sounds pretty awesome.

Photo: Greater Grand Forks Convention and Visitors Bureau Visitors Guide 2012

Share on Tumblr

Jan 31

Nailed It

Kind of cute, kind of not. The Dunkin' Donuts coffee cup is sort of the best. Just testing how Pinterest posts work on blogs. Follow me there, by the way, if that's your thing. I'm only a sporadic user.

Source: nylonmag.com via Krista on Pinterest

Share on Tumblr

Dec 21

Where Pesto Has Failed to Infiltrate

So so much to be gleaned from this WSJ article on the quirks of chain restaurant diners (none terribly surprising, but still) plus it managed to use both palate and palette (correctly) a feat as enjoyable as when a character in a movie says the name of the movie.

Olive Garden eaters are turned off by the saltiness of capers and the er, greenness of pesto (I thought that condiment went mainstream around 1990, along with sun-dried tomatoes and hummus–the latter currently being tested at T.G.I. Friday’s), won’t eat pears and Gorgonzola or gnocchi, refuse to part with that frosted salad bowl from another era (that era when pesto became a part of the American diet), and love cheese and chicken more than life itself. Pretty much they’re the worst people on earth.

Applebee’s and T.G.I. Friday’s customers are wilder because they’ll eat okra, ahi tuna and hard boiled eggs cut into wedges. Romano’s Macaroni Grill diners are rich and less scared of Italian food. Why have I not been there yet?

Despite the lowest common denominator approaches employed, the brands are not unaware that more adventurous diners are turned off by the chain staples.

"'We always have to be careful to not always offer cheesy, chickeny things and pastay things,' because such dishes might push away customers with more advanced palates, says John Caron, president of Olive Garden."

As a result, Olive Gardens offers a non-fried, pasta-less, cheese-free bouillabaisse-type seafood dish that costs more than average ($16.25, which I’m sure is not the NYC price–ok, it's $23. 95 in Times Square, which is why chains are best experienced in their natural habitats) and that no one orders. The brodetto is for advanced palates only.

Share on Tumblr

Dec 13

The Philly Phanatics

Kraft’s attempts to integrate cream cheese into dishes where it has no right being has not been lost on me, nor Businessweek. (Do I really have to call it Bloomberg Businessweek?)

What I didn’t realize was that all this kraftiness has the makings of an international incident. Cream cheese is not just being recommended for our All-American soups and casseroles—the white plague originated overseas!

In 2008 the brand realized that its biggest users in Western Europe weren’t just treating the product as spread, but as an ingredient, so the company solicited user recipes, which resulted in freakshows like “Thai Spiced Philadelphia Prawns” and “Middle Eastern Lamb Pies.”

Now it all makes sense. We are feeling the repercussions of cuisines that put quark in their curries, as in the recipe found in the German women’s magazine I read on my flight back from Berlin. Frankly, I’d rather we borrow from nations that put corn and mayonnaise on their pizza.

Just be thankful that Philly Indulgence, a cream cheese-chocolate spread already available in Europe, will arrive here next month instead of other Kraft experiments like grapefruit smoothies and a Vegemite blend.

Photo: German Snack Mania

Share on Tumblr

Dec 7

Planet Hollywood, Thinly Disguised

While I should be excited about Demi Monde, a real cocktail bar, opening kitty-corner from my office, my curiosity was also peaked by reports (ok, my boyfriend who also works in the neighborhood) of a new food court bar.

And indeed, Earl’s Court, home to a Billy’s Bakery, The Original SoupMan, and Earl of Sandwich, does have a lounge: Libations 101. Soothingly generic with sparsely populated communal tables, mostly $7.50 drinks, and happy hour specials, it’s not any worse than the ubiquitous Irish pubs that make up the majority of nearby drinking options.

There was something distinctly chain-y, or possibly Asian mall and/or hotel-ish about the curtained-off room (the food court isn’t open for dinner) and I was proven semi-correct when the bill for my two blue cheese-stuffed-olive martinis was dropped off. Planet Hollywood!

I should’ve known. The Earl of the court and of the sandwich, happens to be restaurateur Robert Earl. Per last month’s press release: "As the public's taste in food court offerings evolves beyond burgers and reheated pizza we have created a modern alternative with a diverse array of progressive and innovative eateries. There is no place I would rather debut our first Earl's Court than New York City."

Mostly I liked that despite the inoffensive electronic music lending the Asian mall/hotel vibe, that in the bathroom the Bosom Buddies theme song, a.k.a. Billy Joel's "My Life" was loudly playing. Go ahead with your own life, leave me alone…

Share on Tumblr

Posts from the ‘Corporate Culture’ Category

Anything and Everything

When in Doubt, Add Mango

In the Privacy of Your Own Home

The Third Wheel

Better Than Shamrock Shakes?

New Yorkers Surprised by Olive Garden’s Warm Reception Outside of New York

Nailed It

Where Pesto Has Failed to Infiltrate

The Philly Phanatics

Planet Hollywood, Thinly Disguised

Featured

Occasional Instagramming

Yes, it’s come to this

My Other Blogs

What?

The Past Will Haunt You

Pigeonholing 101