Bret Thorn Patricia Cobe

🍕 Bret Thorn, Senior Food & Beverage Editor for Nation's Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, identifies and reports on F&B trends. Hosting podcast "In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn," he joined Nation's Restaurant News in 1999 and Restaurant Hospitality's staff in 2016. Authored food columns in "The New York Sun" from 2005 to 2008 and wrote for "Manager" magazine and "Asia Times" in Thailand. Thorn studied at Tufts University, Le Cordon Bleu, and Chinese universities, was president of IFEC in 2005, won the 2006 Neal Award, and was inducted into Disciples d'Escoffier in 2014.

🍴 Bret Thorn, Senior Food & Beverage Editor with expertise in food and beverage trends, joined Nation’s Restaurant News in 1999 and Restaurant Hospitality in 2016. He hosted "In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn" podcast and wrote "Kitchen Dish" for The New York Sun between 2005-2008. In Thailand, he was a writer for Manager magazine and Asia Times newspaper from 1992-1997. Thorn won the 2006 Neal Award for his column, studied French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu in 1986, and was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014. He holds a BA in history from Tufts University (1990), studied at Peking and Nanjing Universities in 1988-1989, and contributed to the Oxford Encyclopedia (2012) and Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets (2015). Contact him at [email protected] and follow him on social media.

🍴 Bret Thorn, Senior Food & Beverage Editor for Nation's Restaurant News since 1999, also joined Restaurant Hospitality in 2016. Wrote for The New York Sun from 2005 to 2008. His podcast "In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn" features foodservice experts. Won the Jesse H. Neal Award in 2006. Authored entries in the Oxford Encyclopedia (2012) and Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets (2015). Magna cum laude from Tufts University, studied at Le Cordon Bleu, and was in Beijing during the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. Inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014. Lives in Brooklyn, NY. Contact: [email protected], LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter: @foodwriterdiary, Instagram: @foodwriterdiary.

🍴 Pat Cobe visited Blank Street for their summer matcha drinks and noted the $42 lobster rolls at Salavar’s in Montauk. Bret Thorn dined at Iron Hill Brewery in Philadelphia, enjoying spirit-free cocktails, and at Zahav, tasting the $85 prix-fixe menu. Both attended Electric Shuffle's debut in NYC. Dan Kluger, chef-partner of Greywind in New York, discussed his culinary journey and the restaurant's multiple venues, including a bakery and speakeasy-style bar.

🍗 In New York City, Pat and Bret attended a pig roast at Back Bar, Eventi Hotel, where Chef Laurent Tourondel's team cooked pigs from noon to 6 p.m. using a charcoal-fired "caja chino." At Heritage Grand Bakery, owner Lou Ramirez bakes with "population wheat," a mix of 17 grains. Perkins, renamed to Perkins American Food Co., focuses on bakery items, while Huddle House emphasizes its core menu, avoiding too much flavor innovation. Both chains form part of family-dining chains reinventing their menus.