SheeFood

Waffles are All the Rage

Boy howdy is Wendy’s ever on-trend. The same week as the NRA Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show, the chain announces its new Frosty Waffle Cones in vanilla and chocolate. While I walked the floor, I was amazed with all the waffle action. From that, I determined that waffles are the dark horse in foodservice trends. I don’t even think Nancy Kruse mentioned waffles in her menu trend workshop session.

But trend, they are. Taco Bell is said to be in early testing stages of a waffle taco—sausage and scrambled eggs in a folded waffle “taco.”

In the past year, Baskin-Robbins offered a Warm Belgian Waffle Sundae with two scoops of Pralines ‘n Cream ice cream, warm caramel praline topping, whipped cream and a cherry on top.

The take-by-storm trend could be an effort to re-popularize an American comfort food. Or maybe there’s just so much innovation that can be attached to the category.

One thing is for sure, I’m rooting for my new NRA waffle buddy Justin Samuels, managing partner of Waffle Waffle based in Carlstadt, N.Y.

His waffle story was so fascinating I tape recorded it so I wouldn’t lose it. He and his college roommate, Sam Rockwell, formed Waffle Waffle in their dorm room at the University of Wisconsin at Madison less than three years ago. Justin studied abroad in Europe his junior year where they served Belgium liege-style waffles. The venues drew long lines. Meanwhile, Sam visited ski mountains and stood in long lines himself waiting to get into waffle houses for the delicious waffles dipped in chocolate with ice cream. When they met back up at school, they both went in search of similar waffles and couldn’t find any. So they started their own waffle company.

They make retail waffles that sell in the freezer section. “We literally went store to store speaking to people talking to them to just try to get them to taste it. They would say ‘Hey, I like this, let’s speak to my manager,” and moved on up the chain.” Justin told me.

They have foodservice-size packages of the waffles, but they’ve also developed an interesting program in which operators can make their own by using Waffle Waffle’s irons and dough. The secret is in the sugar nibs they import from Europe that melt at a much higher point than the waffles are cooked at. This makes them crunchy. “You get this nice sugar pop in your mouth in every single bite,” he said. It’s sweet enough that it’s not necessary to add syrup.

And then there’s waffle cones. “You can put the dough into a waffle cone maker and make fantastic cones. Even after it’s cooled you get the hard crispy outside with the chewy inside.”

I tried the waffles. They were delicious. Sweet for sure. Their flavors are original, chocolate chip, cinnamon, red velvet, chocolate cocoa, seasonal pumpkin and egg nog.

I loved the story, and they picked the right food item at the right time. Look them up at www.mywafflewaffle.com.

Tell me what you think.

Jody

The Best of the NRA Restaurant Show

I just returned from the National Restaurant Association convention in Chicago. I walked miles among—what—2,000 booths? I confess, I didn’t study every booth. I was on the fruit and vegetable beat for The Packer newspaper. But I was impressed in many non-produce ways. So from my scope, I’ll give you the convention winners:

Best Drink: Bill’s World Famous Lemonade Shake Ups. A form of the lemonade has been around at county fairs for 60 years, but only recently did the company, Barkley Beverage LLC, revise its sugar mix to fewer calories and partner promotionally with Sunkist, using its sectionizer equipment (and of course its lemons). Those who buy in get to use the Bill’s World Famous brand name and logo and agree to use the proper equipment, supplies and recipe. It was simply the best lemonade!

Best Try: Savory Tea from Numi Organics. The vegetable tea and spice infusions tasted ghastly, but that doesn’t matter. It is such a unique idea, I’m sure someone loves them. They told me that for a 90-day exclusive, Whole Foods has been selling them since March. Maybe Whole Foodies would like the flavors: beet cabbage, spinach chive, tomato mint, broccoli cilantro, carrot curry and fennel spice. I told them the tea needs sugar. They laughed a horrified laugh.

Around Every Corner: I couldn’t get away from waffles or coffee. That should tell me what article ideas to pitch to editors. I’m talking waffle irons, waffle batter mix, waffle cones, waffle trucks and the best waffle business story involving two college guys. That’s fodder for another blog post. And coffee? That’s generic for mocha latte, caramel latte, mocha frappe, etc., mixes. Ghirardelli and others were there pushing their mixes. The frozen drinks were worth going back for. Then I came across a touchscreen machine that makes it all—FoamMaster from Franke Coffee Systems. Its greatest ability is to fill the glass with milk foam to make lattes and cappuccinos. It’s all a dream for Millennials, who probably wouldn’t touch plain old black coffee.

Best Kid Entertainment: Wikki Stix. They probably aren’t new, but I was drawn to them, and if that’s the case, kids who would otherwise be screaming through the restaurant are bound to sit still and work on their art project. It’s a package of colorful twistable plastic sticks that also stick to paper, so kids can form 3-D art, or stick them to a connect-the-dot picture.

Something I didn’t try: Mini herb and flower crystals. After everything else I ate on the show floor, I just wasn’t in the mood for flower crystals. But I brought some home: Fresh basil; fresh mint; fennel flower; and rose petals. They’re for the rim of the glass, but surely there must be other delicious applications. That’s something for the company to explore and promote.

Tell me what you think.

Jody