 Welcome to the Culinary Insider for October 15th 2018. I am Ryan Parker.    Good news for the restaurant industry. Third quarter sales growth is the best since 2015.     Nation’s Restaurant news is reporting same store sales were up 1.2 percent in September. Marking the first time since 2015 all three months in a quarter had positive sales growth.     The bad news is traffic declined in the third quarter by 1.2 percent compared to the same time last year. Rising menu prices and soft numbers from last year's hurricane season attribute to the increase in overall sales.         Saturday Ocotber 27th marks Austin’s 9th annual tequila festival. The festival is held at Casa Chapala Mexican Cuisine and tequila bar in Austin. Tickets are on sale now ranging from 35 dollars to 65 dollars.    All guests receive a souvenir tequila snifter, Agave trail guide book, ten tasting tickets, a swag bag and a trip to the famous Casa Chapala’s taquiza taco bar.          Dominique Crenn is hosting the world's best chefs at her restaurant Atelier Crenn in San Francisco. Crenn a mainstay in the San Francisco food world is partnering with American Express to put on a dinner series with chefs from around the world    Starting November 19th,  the dinner series will seat 40 people between two seatings at 450 dollars a person.     Tickets go on sale for the first night today.         The James Beard Foundation names an award after legendary food writer Jonathan Gold. The Jonathan Gold Local Voice Award honors new writers who are telling stories of their cities and regions.     Jonathan passed away this year in July. He was an acclaimed writer for the los angeles times, LA Weekly, and Gourmet magazine. His writing about the Los Angeles food scene was rewarded in 2007 when he won the Pulitzer Prize.   

Dominique Crenn, Jonathan Gold, and Austins Tequila Festival

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 This past Friday The National Restaurant Association announced its’ official partnership with the Department of Defense Military Spouse Employment Partnership. The NRAEF officially joined October 16th of this year with the plan to reduce unemployment rates for military spouses. The partnership connects military spouses with more than 390 partner employers who are actively recruiting, hring and promoting military spouses in portable careers.     Rob Gifford, the executive vice president of the NRAEF said, “We are thrilled to support those who currently serve, those who are veterans and, no through this partnership, military spouses. This is another win to support military members and their families in the transitioning into our industry and providing them with pathways to advance into long-term careers.    Last week we shared with you the saved by the bell themed pop up restaurant, Saved By The Max, coming to West Hollywood starting May first. Over the weekend, it was announced that you can order tickets to the pop up starting this week on Friday November 2nd.      To book your Saved by the Max tickets simply go to savedbythemax.com. We’ll make the link available below.     And well, if you didn’t think pop ups could be weirder. Let’s leave it to the fine folks of Japan who have opened a two-week pop-up restaurant based solely on inmates last meal requests. A Tokyo based art collective Chim arrow up Pom has a whole menu based on last meals of death row inmates. The Ningen Restaurant was located in Tokyo’s red-light district with Its last meal served last night on October 28th.    You may have never heard of Dorcas Reilly before, but you sure have eaten one of her most loved, or hated, dishes. Miss Reilly was the creator of the green bean casserole. She and her coworkers were tasked with creating recipes in the Campbells soup test kitchen. In 1955 Miss Reilly came up with what was originally called the “green bean bake”. The original recipe called for Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup, soy sauce, black pepper, fresh green beans, and French’s fried onion strings. Her recipe was created in Campbell’s test kitchens in 1955. Miss Reilly passed away last week at the age of 92.      Dorcas Reilly created hundreds of recipes for the soup company and her original recipe is still printed on cans of cream of mushroom soup. The Campbell’s company predicts that about forty percent of today’s cream of mushroom soup sales are purchased specifically to make green bean casserole.    Today we remember Dorcas Reilly, storied Campbell employee & creator of the iconic Green Bean Casserole, who passed away earlier this week at age 92. Her incredible legacy will live on in more than 20 million American households this Thanksgiving.      This week on the podcast front. Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Radio has the most listened to episode. You may remember Christopher Kimball as the bow tie wearing host of PBS’s America’s Test Kitchen. He has transitioned into his own thing, bringing you a multi-media experience with Milk Street. In the latest episode of Milk Street Radio, they speak with Chez Panisse founder and Chef Alice Waters.     Also, in podcasting, I am sending you to Cat and Clouds podcast where you can learn all things coffee. From sourcing to running a coffee business. Hosts, and master baristas, Chris Baca and Jared Truby discuss all things specialty coffee. I had a chance to spend some time with Chris at last year's Coffee Thinkers event and he is just a tremendous guy.  You can find them at catandcloud.com    Any important links can be found below, click through to check out any of those podcasts on your favorite podcast player.    That is all of the food, drink, and dining news I have for you today. Be sure to subscribe to get all of the latest news.    Remember, Food Is Life, and Life is great. Take care.                              Links:     Savedbythemax.com    Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Radio: https://goo.gl/UoTxtm    Top Podcast episodes of the week: https://goo.gl/WP9VdB    Coffee podcast by Cat & Cloud: https://goo.gl/rNtPjF  

Christopher Kimball Topping the Charts, NRAEF New Partnerships and the death of Green Bean Casserole

 It is Friday and you know what that means. It means you are already in the weeds for tonight's’ service chefs, so get your mise en place together.     Recently, the nation’s largest supermarket chain, Kroger announced it would be selling ‘ugly’ produce in an attempt to cut down on food waste.     Hannaford, Price Chopper and Market 32 started experimenting with ugly produce earlier but has since discontinued the program. Hannaford used the ‘misfits’ moniker as a trial starting in May of 2016 in 14 Albany NY area stores citing the lack of interest from the customers. A spokesperson for Price Chopper and Market 32 cited the lack of consistency and quality for their reasons to discontinue selling the ugly produce.     Kroger will give it a go under the store brand name Peculiar Picks. Kroger is the largest grocery store chain by revenue in the US with 2800 stores and 122.7 billion dollars in sales.     Christina Tosi of Momofuku Milk Bar fame is expanding her empire with a new outpost in LA this weekend. She just wanted to be closer to LeBron.     The pastry chef will open her new dessert spot Milk Bar along with a retail store, dessert classroom, production facility and distribution center in Fairfax. The LA milk bar is the 15th store Tosi has opened as part of Momofuku Restaurant Group.     Milk Bar LA is a 4000 square foot giant in a strip mall that previously housed a Baskin-Robbins and a laundromat. Her first dessert class birthday cakes will be available on saturday as well with a ticket price of 195 smackers. That hefty price tag does come with some solace, since the proceeds will be going to a charity: Cookies for Kids Cancer.     Along with the 4000 square foot space, Milk Bar will debut their first ice cream truck where guests can get her famous cereal milk soft serve.     If you stop in this weekend, don’t forget to get a crack pie.     In late December Chef Roi Choi will open the doors to Best Friend, his latest eatery and his first in Las Vegas. The LA chef is known for Kogi BBQ truck, A-Fram and Locol. Choi describes his Best Friend concept as a “remixed and remastered collection of the evolution of our Los Angeles- it's food, its music, it’s culture. Chef Choi gave a sneak peek to the entrance of Best Friend at Park MGM hotel.     They are timing the opening of Best Friend to coincide with Lady GaGa’s residency at Park MGM’s theater. So, all you little monsters will have a place to eat. Choi said he can “explore different things and ball out a little bit”. The restaurant bar will be about 9000 square feet and have an open kitchen, DJ equipment with a few subwoofers and feature higher end ingredients.     This week Austin has been under a boil water notice after flooding contaminated the water. Residents and businesses were asked to boil water before using it in cooking, brushing teeth etc.. Some of the hardest hit were restaurants early in the week. Several had to close for a day or two.     In the spirit of this funky, friendly town, several breweries have stepped in to help local coffee shops. In one case Govalle brewery was boiling 230 gallons of water at a time along with filling several of their holding tanks and shipping it to area coffee shops.     “We’re in the business of boiling water and being a good neighbor,” says Jeff Young. Jeff is the owner of Blue Owl Brewery. His brewery can boil up to 1000 gallons of water in their steam-heated kettles.     For more information on how breweries are helping out in Austin check out the article on Austin’s Eater Page.  

Roy Choi, Lady Gaga, Christina Tosi and Ugly Fruit

Affiliate link to Amazon: The complete Cookbook for Young Chefs: https://amzn.to/2EI68KO Other Links Mentioned Today: World Central Kitchen: https://goo.gl/RSbMyq Eaters’ Young Guns Nomination Form: https://goo.gl/c6N6ap Get a shirt, support the show: https://goo.gl/9yQ4GB  Affiliate link to Amazon:    The complete Cookbook for Young Chefs: https://amzn.to/2EI68KO    Other Links Mentioned Today:    World Central Kitchen: https://goo.gl/RSbMyq    Eaters’ Young Guns Nomination Form: https://goo.gl/c6N6ap    Get a shirt, support the show: https://goo.gl/9yQ4GB               #chefsforflorida #chefsforindonesia #chefsforcalifornia #chefsforhawaii @wckitchen @chefjoseandres @eater @eateraustin @testkitchen #truecooksstreetteam #truecooks @truecooks @thecookscook @franklinbbq @andrislagsdin @mordinosfinemeats @kellybakes @pitbossgrills @felonyprovisions @ruckusramen @yeastieboys   

Hormone Monsters And Chick-Fil-A

Have we run out of restaurant ideas? This Pop up leans towards yes.   

This Pop Up Means We've Run Out of Restaurant Ideas.

 Chick-fil-a has released a new frosted key lime drink as a limited run only in Austin, TX.     So, if you are in the Austin area stop in and get your drinkable key lime pie at a Chick-fil-A.    The drink is made from lemonade, vanilla, a sugar-free lime flavoring, soft serve along with turmeric and spirulina.     The food network is celebrating 25 years and they had a big old bash with some of their best celebrity chefs. Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurnatiis cooked some of their favorite foods for fans of the network. The party was held on the rooftop of Pier 92.     Also, in attendance were Ina Garten and Alton brown tending to food stations as well.     The party featured live music and a statue of a birthday cake. There was no mention of Mario Batali attending who made his career as one of the first serious chefs on the network.     Top Chef Head Judge Tom Colicchio has gotten into the hardware business. He is now selling. “Quality and affordable cookware.”     Chef Colicchio is not just slapping his name on any old cookware and calling it good. He became an investor in the cookware company Made In.     Made In Cookware is an American company with their production facility in Austin, TX. Their goal is to provide high-quality cooking equipment at affordable prices.     Chef Colicchio was so impressed with the company he became an investor and stocked his home kitchen with their wares. He is also planning on stocking his upcoming New York Restaurant with them as well.         Speaking of Chef Colicchio, Bravo TV dropped the all new trailer for Top Chef season 16 today. In the trailer we see all of the usual suspects, Tom, Gail, Richard Blais, Graham Elliot (the only chef with brighter glasses than me) and my favorite, Padma are back for some more amazing culinary adventures. Season 16 starts off in Kentucky, but later in the trailer we see the cheftestants have made their way to Maccau. The celebrity guest judges are too many to name, but we did see an appearance by Emeril and Chef Eric Ripert. 

Dominique Crenn, Jonathan Gold, and Austins Tequila Festival

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