I have concluded that any operator who wants to be a serious player in the new food millennium must do so with quinoa. Make that organic quinoa. It’s a free, positive, trendy non-condescending way to advertise “we care about your health, the planet and all that is good. Come eat here.”
Quinoa is a multicultural menu evangelist for nutrition, whole grains, gluten-free and vegan. It’s a standard for good digestion, amino acids and minerals. And so, with-it operators are finding new ways to adorn their menus with it, especially Millennial-focused fast casuals and casual dining. Fast food will probably be last. But what about pizza, BBQ and donuts?
Breakfast anyone? Oatmeal is nice and lives well in the BFY space, but it’s not sexy. Not even steel-cut oatmeal. Ah, but add quinoa to oatmeal and you have Panera Bread’s Power Almond Quinoa Oatmeal, launched in Q1 2015.
About the same time, breakfast concept First Watch also amped up its image with quinoa with its Power Breakfast Quinoa Bowl, which is two basted eggs atop quinoa, Italian sausage, house-roasted crimini mushrooms and tomatoes, kale, parmesan, and extra virgin olive oil. Yes. If you really want to show you’re a BFY trooper, combine kale and quinoa. The chain also has a Pesto Chicken Quinoa Bowl and a Cherry Chicken Quinoa Bowl in a category it calls Power Bowls.
Asian-concept PF Chang found a creative way to work the two together in Q1 on the lunch small plate section with Kale & Quinoa Dip. In addition to kale and quinoa, the dip combines non-fat yogurt blended with shallots, garlic, cilantro and lemon juice. It’s served with sesame seasoned wonton crisps.
I recently interviewed several chefs for on an article for the June 2015 issue of The National Culinary Review about how to woo Millennials. Each of them talked about their progressive menu, and nearly all of them used the Q word. That’s because Millennials are the biggest health-seeking demographic. Here are some quinoa menu bits I gleaned from these successful, less-heard-of but progressive operators.
- Watermelon salad with quinoa on a bed of greens, including arugula and cabbage, made it to the menu at Eureka! Restaurant Group’s 14 locations with headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif. The restaurant is on a BFY path in which menu items are created around the ANDI scoring system (Aggregate Nutrient Density Index), said culinary director AJ McCloud. Quinoa and cabbage make the nutrient score higher.
- Quinoa stuffed relleno is on the dinner menu at the four “eatertainment” Denver-based Punch Bowl Social restaurants with four locations. The description reads “roasted poblano, quinoa, queso oaxaca, roasted garlic, cauliflower, golden raisins, cilantro, candied walnuts and chipotle mole.” Only fun things are on the menu there.
- The Dawson in Chicago changes its menu every six weeks, but one stand-out is its spicy quinoa curry, which is vegan. The curry rendition is in keeping with Millennials’ love of aggressive flavors, co-owner Billy Lawless told me.
These examples are pretty chef-driven. Now I’d like to see how fast food and some of the other restaurant segments are going to respond in this quinoa climate. Let’s keep our eyes open together. And let me know what you think.
Jody
