Blog

We report on the restaurant news stories that interest the residents of Central Minnesota.

Promising Restaurant Trends For 2012

Rieva Lesonsky of the site SmallBizTrendCast recently released ten food business trends to watch for in 2012. Here's hoping most of them come to fruition!

1. Artisanal Food: It's not new, but going strong and seems to be picking up steam - even trickling down to fast food and "artisanal" breads from Jack In The Box.

Minnesota Pizza Roll Magnate Dies

Jeno Paulucci, possibly best known for introducing the pizza roll to the world, has died at age 93.

He started in the business about sixty years ago when he came up with an idea to package take-home Chinese food - and Chun King was started. He initially made his Chinese food in a vegetable packing house and would make a truckload at a time. He did that until he had a plant in Duluth.

Paulucci patented his Divider-Pak which kept the food separate from the sauce in 1957, and later sold the company to R.J. Reynolds in 1966 for $63 million.

Millions to Eat Out on Black Friday

Over 60% of holiday shoppers plan to brave the lines on Black Friday (according to Citigroup), and of those the National Restaurant Association is estimating that 32 million will be dining out during their shopping day.

That's basically seven out of ten shoppers who plan to patronize a restaurant on November 25 - even though tips for power shoppers include bringing a snack and not wasting time at the food court.

Stop in at a restaurant and you may find deals on gift cards sold there.

Taste Of The Lakes for Kinship

Kinship Partners will be holding their annual Taste of the Lakes for the 25th time on November 18 at the Gull Lake Center at Grand View Lodge in Nisswa.

The event is the primary fundraiser for Kinship Partners - a nonprofit youth mentoring organization serving families in the region surrounding Brainerd and Baxter. Last year the event raised over $50,000 and every penny goes to benefit their programs.

Air Travelers Get Food Delivered To Their Gate

On the go travelers at the Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport can now have food delivered to them right at their departure gate.

A new smart phone application for iPhones and Androids called B4YOUBOARD allows you to order from three MSP restaurants - French Meadow Bakery & Cafe, Rock Bottom Restaurant and Chili's Too! Food will be delivered to you within twenty minutes of ordering (at least that's the goal).

Top Sub Jammer is From Wisconsin

Subway's annual convention was recently held in San Francisco, and they once again held their "Sub Jammer" competition to see who could make a perfect Subway foot long sandwich in the shortest amount of time.

Byron Shea from Neenah, Wisconsin won for the second time in three years with a time of 46.6 seconds. Shea is no stranger to the competition, having placed in the top three every year since 2007.

Five Star Dining In The Fields

Farm of Plenty, a community owned farm near Randall, is holding their third annual "5 Stars In The Field" dinner on August 13. The event begins at 6pm and features a tour of the farm, social hour, silent auction - and a dinner prepared by five area chefs.

The chefs this time around include Thomas Zimmerman from A.T. The Black and White in Little Falls, Tom Kavanaugh from Kavanaugh's Sylvan Lake Resort in Brainerd, Justin Bolz-Andolshek from Lakes Latte in Pequot Lakes, Daniela Sutin from Grand View Lodge in Brainerd and Matt Annand from Prairie Bay in Brainerd.

Frugals Finds Central Minnesota

Frugals, a drive-through burgers and fries place, has recently opened by the WalMart in Sartell.

The stainless steel building with a retro feel is a drive-through only. There is no indoor seating, but there are two services windows - one on each side of the building.