Eataly Las Vegas and Bourdain Tomato Seeds

This edition of MRM’s News Bites features Eataly Las Vegas, Stonefire Grill, Peet's Coffee and Revive Kombucha, Delivery Hero and Takeaway.com, sbe, Lavu and Dining Alliance,  HDScores, Wayback Burgers, Dinova and Hard Rock Cafe, Global Restaurant Investment Forum, E-Menu Guys and  TomatoFest® Heirloom Tomato Seeds.

Send news items to Barbara Castiglia at bcastiglia@modernrestaurantmanagement.com.

Eataly Las Vegas Debuts

Eataly Las Vegas makes its debut December 27 at 5 p.m. in the Park MGM. The 40,000-square-foot culinary destination, located directly on the famed Las Vegas Strip, will serve as Park MGM's main entrance and feature unique food counters, bars, cafés and dining experiences offering traditional, authentic Italian food, all helmed by Executive Chef Nicole Brisson.

While all Eataly locations implement the "Eat. Shop. Learn." philosophy, which encourages guests to: Eat sustainably sourced fare with quality ingredients; Shop the best Italian and local products available; and feel empowered to Learn about Italian culture and cuisines; each store maintains a unique identity. 

Eataly Las Vegas will introduce several new experiences, most notably Cucina del Mercato, or "Kitchen of the Market," an open, counter-to-table space that will shatter the barrier between restaurants and the store – a first for an Eataly in the United States. The venue will consist of six different fresh counters where guests can eat what they shop, and shop what they eat. Experiences will include: 

• La Macelleria: Butcher & Kitchen: La Macelleria will allow guests to choose any cut of sustainably sourced meat from the case and watch the chefs prepare it right before their eyes, or they may bring the protein home to cook. Guests will have the option to order from the chef's selection of small plates and grilled specialties, or house-made sausages and traditional dry-aged beef. A small selection of Italian wines and beers will be available to pair with each cut. 
• La Salumeria: Cheesemonger & Kitchen: It wouldn't be an Eataly without salumi and formaggi, which is sourced from Italy and the United States. Guests can enjoy a selection of meat and cheese boards curated by Eataly's cheesemongers, or create their own from a variety of options. 
• La Pizzeria: Roman Handcrafted Pizza alla Pala: Here, guests can pick up pizza alla pala, a favorite street food from Rome. This type of pizza is made with a dense, long-rising dough, stretched on a wooden paddle and then topped with seasonal ingredients. 
• La Pescheria: Fishmonger & Kitchen: La Pescheria will feature a seasonal selection of fish from fishermen and distributors who adhere to sustainable fishing methods. In addition to the fishmonger's selection of small plates and seafood pasta, the venue will provide guests the option to select daily catches and watch chefs cook the specialty item just steps away in an open kitchen, or allow them to bring the delicacy home to prepare. La Pescheria also will carry a daily selection of seasonal oysters, as well as pesce crudo – Italian ceviche – served with extra virgin olive oil and sea salt. 
• Italian Street Food: Il Fritto, La Rosticceria, and Mozzarella Bar: Serving up typical street food specialties from Italy, the Italian Street Food counter will be divided into three distinct areas: Il Fritto, offering lightly fried bites like arancini and fried seafood; La Rosticceria, serving rotisserie roast chickens, seasonal vegetables, and panini; and Mozzarella Bar, offering house-made mozzarella favorites. 
• La Pasta Fresca: Market & Kitchen: At this fresh pasta counter, guests can watch the pastai (pasta makers) knead, roll, cut, and form intricate shapes by hand. Each pasta type is inspired by the traditions of a different Italian region, and will be paired with traditional sauces made from fresh, seasonal ingredients. Seasonally, guests can order fresh black and white truffles by the gram. 
  

  

Eataly Las Vegas also will feature three new venues that showcase iconic Italian cocktails and spirits, as well as one of the largest selections of Italian wines in the U.S.: 

• Gran Caffè Milano: Gran Caffè Milano will be an upscale, full-service Italian bar inspired by the elegant cafes of Milano. This high-end, yet approachable bar will offer breakfast, lunch, dinner, and everything in between. Gran Caffè Milano is an ode to the Italian appreciation of fine art, with its beautiful, yet functional Italian design, including a replica of the famous bull mosaic in Milano. Casino-goers take note: this iconic symbol brings good luck to those who place one foot on the mosaic and spin three times. 
• L'Aperitivo: Located at the main entrance of the store, L'Aperitivo is the recommended first stop at Eataly Las Vegas. The bar will offer a quintessential Italian cocktail experience, featuring a selection of Italy's most iconic concoctions. From the ever-popular Venetian Aperol Spritz to the classic Negroni and all its variations, each cocktail will be carefully crafted with Italy's finest spirits and ingredients. 
• L'Enoteca: L'Enoteca is Eataly's premier bar and will feature a wide selection of regional Italian wines by the glass or bottle, craft cocktails, and Amari (Italian bitters). Inspired by Italy's many enoteche (wine bar), this bar will showcase a library of more than 80 Italian regional wines by the bottle, all located between Park MGM's casino entrance and the Cucina del Mercato concept.

Guests also can enjoy two tried and true classic restaurants from Eataly in Las Vegas: Manzo, which will open Jan. 23, and La Pizza e La Pasta; or select take-away options from Pizza Alla Pala By the Slice and La Pasticceria (pastry shop), enjoy a coffee from Caffé Lavazza, or try sweet temptations from Il Gelato, I Cannoli, Nutella for Eataly, or Il Cioccolato Venchi. Eataly Las Vegas also will offer a marketplace and gift shop. Guests will be able to watch experts in various departments make fresh pasta, bread, gelato, mozzarella and more. The location also will feature an interactive experience with Chef's Table, which welcomes guests of all ages and encourages people to explore their senses and the world of high-quality food through live culinary demonstrations. Guests seated at the table will learn a variety of authentic cooking traditions ranging from how to shape gnocchi to understanding the difference between Toscana and Sicilia extra virgin olive oil.

 The wine department will carry more than 400 Italian wine labels, hailing from all 20 regions in Italy, and will host complimentary tastings daily. Inside the wine shop, guests can stop at a sampling table called La Bottega del Vino, where they can enjoy wine-by-the-glass selections poured through an enomatic wine preservation system.

"We created Eataly Las Vegas with possibility in mind because anything can happen in Las Vegas," said Nicola Farinetti, CEO of Eataly USA. "With this store, we have evolved our ideas for how to deliver authentic Italian cuisine, and we are excited to join the destination with so many new venues and concepts." 

Thomas Joins Stonefire Grill

Restaurant industry veteran Scott Thomas officially joined the Stonefire Grill family as Executive Vice President. In his new role, Thomas will be involved in every aspect of operations, from new restaurant site selection to where the salt and pepper shakers are placed on the tables. 

“Bringing Scott to Stonefire Grill was an important strategic decision for us as we continue growing the brand throughout Southern California and beyond,” said Justin Lopez, Stonefire Grill CEO. “His experience, insights and vision are invaluable and we’re thrilled to not just have him join us, but also for the impact he will undoubtedly make.”

Thomas comes to Stonefire Grill from The Cheesecake Factory where he worked for 26 years, most recently as Senior Global Director of Operations. During his tenure, he led the opening of ten restaurants domestically and nine internationally. The initial foray of the brand’s first three international restaurants was in the Middle East. During this time, Thomas helped to develop systems and best practices for the brand’s global expansion. Thomas’ earlier industry years were spent with Hillstone Restaurant Group where Thomas worked with the Houston’s brand in Arizona, Texas and Southern California.

“I’m really looking forward to working with the Stonefire Grill team, building on the great operations they’ve created, and fine tuning and scaling the brand across the US,” said Thomas. “For me, it wasn’t only the opportunity to grow the brand from a business economics position, it was about the people!” He continued, “To have the chance to join a group with such a deep-rooted culture of taking care of people just made sense. Our core values aligned and that meant a lot to me.” 

Stonefire Grill was established by the Harrigan sisters in 2000. Locations include: Valencia, West Hills, Fountain Valley, Irvine, Chatsworth, Pasadena, Thousand Oaks, Lakewood, Rancho Cucamonga, Torrance, Ventura and Brea.

Peets Likes Kombucha

Peet's Coffee® acquired a majority stake in Revive Kombucha™, a craft brewery based in Petaluma, California. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. 

Revive offers an array of naturally fermented, organic, non-GMO, Fair Trade certified, ethically sourced and raw bottled and on tap Kombucha. It maintains a strong presence in the United States, with a rapid national growth of over 168  percent versus a year ago (52 weeks IRI MULO, 4 November 2018). The latest financing by Peet's will continue to scale the Revive brand, grow its brewery operations and broaden its distribution via the coffee company's network, while assuring absolute product quality and superior taste.

"Building an evergreen ecosystem for the Revive brand has always been part of our mission," said Sean J. Lovett, Founder and CEO of Revive Kombucha. "We are excited to further solidify our long-term partnership with Peet's to fulfill our greater purpose of bringing our super tasty and good-for-you beverages to a larger audience." 

Peet's expects to expand the Revive market reach in on-premise, grocery and Peet's coffeebar locations. The inherent match of delivering Revive across consumer facing Peet's channels will strengthen and accelerate the growth of its pioneering chilled beverage portfolio. 

"Kombucha is a natural adjacency to ready-to-drink coffee and our consumers tend to love both," said Eric Lauterbach, President of the Consumer Division at Peet's Coffee. "Adapting our growth strategy to extend access and trial of superior beverage choices across channels in new and convenient locations is key. And knowing the ongoing consumer shift to better for you and functional beverages, our latest long-term investment in Revive reflects our belief in the future growth of the brand." 

Sean J. Lovett and Rebekah Lovett, co-founder, will maintain their equity and leadership positions at the company, while also maintaining the brand's innovative approach to batch brewing and natural fermentation methods.

Delivery Hero Sells German Business

In a transaction estimated to be valued at $1.1 billion, Delivery Hero S.E signed transaction documentation with Takeaway.com N.V. and one of its affiliates pursuant to which Delivery Hero will sell its German food delivery businesses Lieferheld, Pizza.de and foodora to Takeaway.com in exchange for cash and an equity stake in Takeaway.com N.V..
 
Under the Transaction, Delivery Hero will sell the outstanding shares in Delivery Hero Germany GmbH and Foodora GmbH (together, "Delivery Hero Germany") to Takeaway.com for a total consideration of c. EUR930 million ("Consideration") consisting of cash and shares in Takeaway.com N.V.. The Consideration will comprise of EUR508 million in cash and 9.5 million shares in Takeaway.com N.V. worth c. EUR422 million[1], representing c. 18 percent of the total issued and outstanding share capital of Takeaway.com N.V. after the issuance of the equity component to Delivery Hero, but prior to any issuance of shares required to (re)finance all or part of the aforementioned cash component of the Consideration.
 
The transaction is subject to approval of the general meeting of Takeaway.com N.V. and anticipated to be completed in the first half of 2019.
 
"This transaction delivers a great deal of benefits to the company and makes us better positioned," said Niklas Östberg, CEO of Delivery Hero. "We will not only achieve but even exceed our revenue targets for 2019, notwithstanding the deconsolidation of the German business. At the same time we will hold a stake in Takeaway.com and have a significantly better cash position – the latter allowing us to reinvest at attractive returns. We are very excited by the huge opportunity that is growing in front of us, and my sincere thanks go to our German teams for creating such outstanding businesses."
 
"Today's transaction provides Takeaway.com with a stronger proposition for both consumers and partner restaurants in the German market," Jitse Groen, CEO and founder of Takeaway.com, added. "It also allows Takeaway.com to operate on a significantly larger scale which is essential in building a profitable online food delivery business. Although the transaction almost doubles Takeaway.com's orders in Germany, there is still ample growth ahead, given that penetration of online food delivery in Germany is amongst the lowest in Europe. We look forward to welcoming Delivery Hero as a shareholder."

sbe Launches Carna

sbe  and Disruptive Restaurant Group, a division of sbe, introduce the debut of a contemporary steakhouse Carna by Dario Cecchini at Baha Mar resort destination in Nassau, The Bahamas. The launch of Carna marks the opening of the world-famous butcher's first dining concept in North America. The signature steakhouse will join an array of sbe restaurants throughout the $4.2 billion Baha Mar resort destination including Fi'lia, Katsuya, Cleo, Bungalow, Bond, Privilege, Monkey Bar, Umami, set to open in early 2019.

Opening on December 21, Carna was conceptualized by award-winning Dario Cecchini, the legendary eighth-generation celebrity butcher from the village of Panzano in the Chianti region of Tuscany, Italy. After taking over the family business from his father in 1976, Cecchini found his mission – to protect the art of butchery with the belief that all cuts of meat can be utilized when cooked properly, eliminating waste and promoting sustainability. 

"We're extremely honored to partner with Dario on his first restaurant in North America. The talented butcher is an industry pioneer with profound respect for his craft," said sbe CEO and Founder, Sam Nazarian. "Carna will be an incredible addition to the property's already prominent array of international restaurants. I would like to thank Graeme Davis, President of Baha Mar for working with the sbe team to launch the only steakhouse of its kind in the region." 

"As a leading culinary destination in the Caribbean, we pride ourselves on Baha Mar's elevated and exciting restaurant offerings for our guests," said Graeme Davis, President, Baha Mar. "We are thrilled to introduce Carna by Dario Cecchini to The Bahamas and the culinary traditions of Tuscany and continue to create a sophisticated and contemporary dining destination where guests will always experience the freshest, finest ingredients and incredible service in a spectacular atmosphere."

"The way a butcher hones his craft is by finding love in what he does," said Dario Cecchini. "The profound respect we have for the animal translates into the way we transform it from a simple cut of meat to something personal with its own unique history. Carna's prime location as part of Baha Mar in The Bahamas allows me to educate guests from around the world on the art of butchery while providing an unforgettable dining experience in this beautiful beachfront destination."

The menu at Carna by Dario Cecchini highlights prime cuts of the finest steaks sourced directly from farmers in the world's most prominent locales, including Catalonia, Spain and Panzano in Cecchini's home of Chianti. The steaks are dry rubbed with Dario's signature Profumo del Chianti sea salt and cooked on a charcoal grill to fully express each flavor profile. Once prepared, the cuts will be served tableside by Carna's Head Butcher. Focusing on unrivaled quality and all-natural ingredients, Carna will also serve fresh seafood and harvest vegetables, as well as an extensive international wine list.

Signature dishes at Carna will include Cecchini's specialties such as: 

• Chianti Wagyu Beef Tartare – Truffle Aioli, Watercress, Quail Egg Yolk
• Panzanese Steak – 32oz Wood Grilled Linz Heritage Black Angus Prime
• Tuscan Porterhouse – 32oz 21-Day Dry Aged Linz Heritage Angus Prime
• Wood Grilled and Broiled Tomahawk – 54oz Darling Downs F1 A4 Wagyu

Handling the day-to-day duties will be Executive Chef Thomas E. Griese, who previously worked at Chef Michael Mina's Mina Group. Before opening Carna, Chef Thomas Griese traveled to Panzano, Cecchini's home village in Chianti, to train under the butcher at his Tuscan restaurant and perfect Cecchini's traditional butcher cuts and signature menu items to be featured at Carna in The Bahamas. Prior to working with Dario, Chef Thomas served as Executive Chef at Mina's RN74 in Seattle, and prior to that, as Chef de Cuisine at Michael Mina 74 in Miami. Joseph Yalung will work closely with Chef Thomas as Carna's Head Butcher.  

Featuring indoor and outdoor seating, Carna will showcase modern design elements with a bold, earthy color scheme by James Beard Award Winning design firm Meyer Davis. Guests arrive to an intimate welcome, making their way through beautifully-detailed butcher and wine cases, highlighted by soft pin lighting, inspired by the classic glass cases of elegant jewelry stores. Guests continue on to enter a grand, glowing main bar and a sleek dining room, worthy of the exquisite meals served within. sbe subsidiary, Dakota Development, led by President Joe Faust, provided design management services.

"Designing Carna by Dario Cecchini was a unique opportunity to reinvent the look and feel of a traditional steakhouse for a resort environment," said Will Meyer and Gray Davis, Founders of Meyer Davis. "We hope to promote the values of Chef Dario by prominently displaying signature cuts from his extensive menu, and surrounding guests in a rich and thoughtfully designed environment that will leave them feeling inspired." 

Lavu Teams with Dining Alliance

Lavu and Dining Alliance will collaboratively offer their premium services to their restaurant and food service establishment clients and members. Pursuant to this arrangement, Lavu will market FoodBam™ – Dining Alliance’s proprietary and cutting-edge inventory management technology – to its clients and Dining Alliance will market Lavu’s leading mobile point-of-sale system to its members.

“Lavu’s mission is to help restaurants and bars efficiently manage every aspect of their business. We recognize the challenges facing our clients to control food costs and maintain a healthy bottom line. We are excited to enter into this arrangement with Dining Alliance so that we can offer additional cutting-edge technologies to our clients to assist them in increasing their profit margins,” said Saleem S. Khatri, Chief Executive Officer of Lavu.

“We found that restaurants have impaired performance visibility, and we developed FoodBAM to remove the blurriness. FoodBAM can save a restaurant 10-15 percent on their food costs – but a restaurant can still struggle without operational rigor. Taking inventory and recipe costing are complex initiatives that FoodBAM is simplifying in efforts to keep the kitchen profitable and staff efficient. In such tense kitchen environments, consider FoodBAM, Dining Alliance and Lavu a weapon of protection against the complexity of running a restaurant, managing the distributors and opening transparency in the overall supply chain,” added Brandt Squires, VP of Sales & Marketing and Co-founder of FoodBAM.

Health Inspection App

Consumers can now see over 1.1 million health inspection ratings for any establishment including; restaurants, childcare, schools, hospitals, health clubs, coffee shops, gas stations, drive-thru, and stadiums. The app allows you to search locally as well as across the nation, with the ability to “favorite” establishments you will always be updated on their most recent health inspection score. The scoring is done based off a percentage from 0-100, the closer to 100 percent the cleaner the establishment. HDScores is a trusted partner with companies such as Yelp providing Health Data information from local health jurisdictions.

The app was inspired by parents and family members of allergy sufferers who were tired of crossing their fingers every time they dined out, hoping it would not end in an emergency room visit. Since 2012 the company has discovered 28 million reported health violations in the metropolitan population of the United States. HDScores aims to hold establishments to a higher expectation when it comes to food handling. With this information, the company’s goal is to reduce the number of hospitalizations that occur each year due to poor food handling.

Glynne Townsend, Partner, and COO of HDScores, “My son has a peanut allergy, and we have had the unfortunate experience of taking numerous trips to the ER to have him treated due to inadvertently eating food contaminated with peanuts. Dining out for us shouldn’t have to be a nerve-wracking experience. However, it is when the server assures us they will have the kitchen take care of it. Until now you had no idea of the kitchen’s ability to do so, now you do.”

HDScores was founded in 2011, by a pastry chef, data scientist, and an accountant. The company is now headquartered in Gilbert, AZ where it monitors over 1.1 million establishments each week with its fleet of databots. The company has been developing and testing its database for over six years, with the past two being in conjunction with Yelp to help enhance the overall dining experience.

Wayback Switches to Coca-Cola

Wayback Burgers, is making the switch to Coca-Cola products, naming The Coca-Cola Company as the official beverage provider heading into 2019. This change will put Wayback Burgers on the “winningest” team in restaurant beverages and align its beverage portfolio with loyal guest preferences in the hottest growth markets.  Wayback Burgers is joining a team that remains on top of the beverage market in restaurants across the U.S. In 2018, 14 of the top 50 quick-serve restaurant concepts were burger brands, and of those 14, 13 of them serve Coca-Cola.

Drink fountains at Wayback Burgers will now offer Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coke Zero Sugar, Sprite, Fanta Orange, Powerade Mountain Berry Blast, Minute Maid Lemonade, Barrilitos Aguas Frescas, Gold Peak Tea, as well as specialty craft beverages.

“We are thrilled to announce that Wayback Burgers will be partnering with one of the most iconic brands in the world and we’ll soon be serving an assortment of Coca-Cola beverages that consumers love,” said John Eucalitto, CEO of Wayback Burgers. 

“This move elevates our brand, excites our franchisees, and gives our loyal guests yet another reason to visit Wayback Burgers,” Eucalitto said. “Our franchise partners are looking forward to offering the Coca-Cola portfolio of beverages to drive beverage growth while impressing their customers.”

Hard Rock Cafe Joins Dinova Network

Hard Rock Cafe is the latest national brand to join the Dinova network, which now has more than 16,000 locations nationwide. 

"It is a thrill to add such an iconic and internationally recognized brand to our ever-evolving business dining marketplace," said Alison Galik, president of Dinova. "At a time when travel managers are shaping policy to cater more toward traveler experience, we are always working to enhance our brand offering with memorable and unique restaurants which makes it the perfect time to partner with Hard Rock Cafe." 

Hard Rock Cafe has 183 cafes that are visited by more than 79 million guests each year. 

"Our partnership with Dinova gives us the opportunity to further reach global business travelers seeking a one-of-a-kind dining experience and a commitment to satisfying consumers ever-changing palate," said Jim Rogers, Vice President of Cafe Marketing for Hard Rock International. "Dinova's expansive marketplace, combined with Hard Rock's vast number of cafe locations in some of the world's top business destinations, enables the Hard Rock brand to meet and exceed the needs of corporate professionals."

GRIF in Amersterdam

The Global Restaurant Investment Forum 2019 (GRIF) has partnered with NH Hotel Group to host its sixth edition, being held for the first time in Amsterdam. GRIF, which will be held from February 25-27 2019 at the NH Collection Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky, will bring together more than 350 investors, owners, franchisors and hospitality leaders to discuss the themes of evolution, disruption and invention in the restaurant industry.

The milestone move to Amsterdam, Europe’s rapidly evolving food-lovers’ metropolis with the F&B sector in the Netherlands worth more than 61 billion euro, according to GRIF Platinum sponsor Colliers, brings new markets, new speakers and new concepts to GRIF, with a three-day programme that will deliver inspiration, insight and opportunities to restaurant investors.

Jennifer Pettinger-Haines, Co-Founder, GRIF and Managing Director – Middle East, Bench Events, said: “When industry fundamentals are changing, growth drivers are unpredictable, investment models are unreliable, customer forecasts are increasingly inaccurate – then it's time to gather and discuss our evolution.

“The GRIF 2019 programme is designed to give you the critical insight you need to drive your business, to evolve, to invent, to disrupt through the current climate. 

“We will discuss the future of F&B in retail, analyse the progression of hotel dining, and unveil how 'entertainment' is changing the landscape, then dive into the evolution of experience, sustainability, competitive socialising and new investor trends,” said Pettinger-Haines.

Etienne van Unen, Partner, Director Retail, Head EMA Retail, Colliers International, said: “F&B will be the deciding factor in the success of shopping areas. It is no longer a value add to the retail offer but rather the reason why people decide to go to a shopping area.”

Stefan Breg, Group Strategy Director, Keane, who will give a presentation on global restaurant trends, added: “We will explore how demand is evolving from the young to millennials, gen x and y to baby boomers across the four continents that we work in. We will look at the thinking behind malls, master developers and large restaurant hotel groups and how ‘science’ is being used to shape what they do,” said Breg.

New models of hotel dining are also expected to be a hot topic at GRIF, as is the opportunity for growth and creativity in the restaurant business via partnerships.

Maarten Markus, Managing Director Northern Europe, NH Hotel Group, commented: “At NH Hotel Group, we’re always looking for fruitful cooperation opportunities with investors and partnerships with top chefs in order to provide our guests with the highest service and quality possible. We have facilitated partnerships for innovative collaborations that would otherwise be challenging to set up and put in motion.

“Next to that, fostering talent in gastronomy is of great importance to us,” continued Markus. “We support gastronomic talent through agreements with gastronomy schools or institutions and also by being able to identify blooming internal talent and giving them opportunities to grow within the company and letting them work with Michelin star chefs of NH Hotel Group. We’re looking forward sharing our insights during the ‘Hotel dining is back’ panel discussion at GRIF 2019.”

GRIF will also discuss the convenience revolution; utilising F&B technology to drive revenue; 21st century customer experiences; balancing authenticity and scale; and strategies for expansion in Europe.

Pettinger-Haines commented: “We expect much of the debate at GRIF to be underpinned by the theme of sustainability and the importance of ‘profit with purpose’. This is why we have invited industry legend Raymond Blanc, Chef Patron of Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons and Founder of The Raymond Blanc Consultancy, to deliver a keynote interview focusing on his work as the President of the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA).”

To find out more and register your attendance, visit www.grif.com.

E-Menu Gus Launches Electronic Tablet Menus

E-Menu Guys launched Electronic Tablet Menus, Automated Kiosks, and a full restaurant management system for the restaurant owners.

“Many restaurant owners are shy to offer new food dishes to their customers because of the cost associated with printing the new paper menus,” said Andrew Teper, founder of E-menu Guys. “With our Tablet E-Menus, the restaurant owners can quickly change their food menus and even offer pictures of the new food dishes,” added Teper. This will enable restaurant owners to offer new dishes to their customers on weekly or even daily basis,” added Teper. Not only does E-Menu Guys offer tablet e-menus and self-ordering kiosks for customers to place self-orders without being in a waiting queue, waiters can also take order from the customers on tablets. This reduces the processing time for food preparation, as the orders are seamlessly transferred to the kitchen, without wasting any paper. 

E-Menu also teamed up with Smart IT Concepts to offer integration of restaurant’s menu to website and smart-phone apps to offer it for online sales. The software offered by E-Menu Guys will also enable the restaurant owners to mange food deliveries, accounting, employee payroll, inventory and other related management tasks.

'Anthony Bourdain Tomato' Seed Tribute

As a tribute, Gary Ibsen, founder of TomatoFest® Heirloom Tomato Seeds, author of The Great Tomato Book, grower of more than 650 varieties of certified organic, heirloom tomatoes and co-founder of World Tomato Society, released “Anthony Bourdain Tomato” seeds.

"Anthony Bourdain was an American celebrity chef, author, and television personality who explored the cuisines, culture, joys and essentials of human existence around the world," said Ibsen. "He was an icon to me, and many others, who love food and cooking as a most enjoyable way of gathering people together to celebrate our humanity. We wanted to pay tribute to Anthony Bourdain’s life by honoring his legacy with naming a tomato after him, a tomato heretofore unknown, that we have identified as particularly outstanding for its excellent flavors and beautiful, heart-shaped appearance, the 'Anthony Bourdain Tomato'. We found it suitable that 'the world’s most popular fruit', a tomato, would carry Tony’s name and story through future generations in a way that would enrich the lives of many." 

Ibsen is author of The Great Tomato Book, grower of more than 650 varieties of certified organic, heirloom tomatoes and co-founder of World Tomato Society.

This tomato was created by tomato breeder, Jeff Dawson, from a crossing between Sungold and Amish Paste. This cross yielded the Amish Red which over time threw off a slicer (Red Buddha) and this red oxheart. After seven years of stabilization it has produced 1 lb. fruit with particularly bold, complex, fruity-sweet flavors and good acidity for perfect balance.