Revenue Management

🍴 Bret Thorn, Senior Food & Beverage Editor, 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 (2005-2008). A Tufts University magna cum laude graduate, Phi Beta Kappa member, and Le Cordon Bleu trained, Thorn won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal Award and became a Disciples d'Escoffier member in 2014. Email: [email protected] Social media: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.

🍳 Chris Brown, founder of World Famous, a Miami-based brand with five food trucks and four traditional locations, reversed the common trend by starting with a brick-and-mortar restaurant before expanding to food trucks. Specializing in unique egg rolls influenced by diverse international cuisines, Brown initially offered classic American comfort food. His culinary pivot to food trucks was driven by mobility and the desire to innovate, supported by a strong focus on social media marketing and customer engagement through live kitchen streams and interactive technology like Ring doorbells at his establishments.

🍿 P.F. Chang's added Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken to its menu in November, featuring lightly battered boneless chicken thigh with five-spice seasoning. Popcorn chicken is on 1.4% of U.S. restaurant menus, a 53% increase in four years, known by 93% of the U.S. population, and 82% have tried it. A Portland, Ore., restaurant is highlighted for its popcorn chicken menu item.

🍴 Overthrow Hospitality operates 11 vegan bars/restaurants including the revamped natural wine bar Soda Club in NYC's East Village, next to amaro bar Amor y Amargo. Mixology lead Sother Teague and executive chef Pedro Allende join COO/wine director Drew Brady in the venture. Inspired by Brady's Sicilian heritage, the menu offers vegan pinsas ($26), pastas ($17-$25), salads ($19-$20), appetizers ($8-$16), and desserts ($14-$16). Featuring over 200 natural/organic wines, the club transitions into a nightclub post-11 p.m., providing cocktails and snacks.

🌮 José Andrés' restaurant portfolio includes locations in Washington, D.C., New York City, Las Vegas, and more. Oyamel, a Mexico City-inspired restaurant, opened its second location on April 21 in New York's Hudson Yards, 21 years after the original in D.C. The 150-seat venue was designed by Rockwell Group, featuring Mexican street festival themes. The menu offers street tacos, shareable plates, and a "Mexican Fiestas" section with large dishes. It serves Mexican classic cocktails and about 80 varieties of agave spirits. José Andrés Group has over 40 concepts, with a new project, Txula, planned for Hudson Yards.

🍗 Nostalgia and high-protein diets are boosting pork chop popularity in American restaurants. Technomic reports 17% of tracked restaurants now serve pork chops, a 15.8% increase over the past year, often priced above $30. The Occidental at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C., offers a Berkshire pork chop from Newman Farm, Missouri, brined and cooked to 145°F, for $56. Hearth and Hill in Salt Lake City sells Iberico pork chops for $35. Carrabba's Italian Grill had a 22-ounce pork chop for $28.99. Logan's Roadhouse grills their chops seasoned with a special blend, starting at $20. Sullivan's Steakhouse introduced a $51 double bone-in pork chop in October 2024, now a permanent menu item due to its popularity.

🍴 Bret Thorn, Senior Food & Beverage Editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality since 1999, also writes a monthly column and hosts the "In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn" podcast. He authored food columns for The New York Sun (2005-2008), Manager magazine, and Asia Times while living in Thailand for about five years starting in 1995. A magna cum laude graduate from Tufts University, Thorn studied French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and Chinese language and culture at Nanjing and Beijing Universities. His work earned the Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award in 2006, and he was inducted into the Disciples d'Escoffier in 2014. Thorn is a Colorado native, currently based in Brooklyn, N.Y. Contact: [email protected] Social: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram (@foodwriterdiary).

🍽 Tableside service, a long-standing dining concept, has expanded its offerings in recent years. Chicago's Nisos Prime features a prosciutto cart, while Claudie in Miami, opened February, serves tableside gazpacho. Charleston's Costa restaurant offers caviar with gin, and New York City's The Grill presents pasta à la presse with a 19th-century press. Marigold Club in Houston provides a bespoke sundae cart, and Urban Hill in Salt Lake City offers DIY s'mores. These services enhance the experience, sparking curiosity and driving sales.

🍝 Restaurateur Gurami Oniani's Guliani Group, with over 30 restaurants in Tbilisi and Moscow, opened its first U.S. restaurant, Laliko, in New York City's West Village last month. The 42-seat venue features Georgian culinary traditions with a menu including khachapuri, khinkali, and Georgian wines, designed by Surgula Studio with cultural elements. Executive chef Manuchar Tsikolia leads the kitchen. Oniani aims to expand Georgian cuisine's footprint in the U.S. and is considering future Manhattan locations.

📖 Bret Thorn, Senior Food & Beverage Editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, joined in 1999. Host of "In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn" podcast. Wrote "Kitchen Dish" column for The New York Sun (2005-2008). Lived in Thailand (circa 1994-1999), writing for Manager magazine and Asia Times. Graduated magna cum laude from Tufts University (1990), Phi Beta Kappa member, studied traditional French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. Worked for ABC News during Tiananmen Square protests (1989). Won 2006 Jesse H. Neal Award, inducted into Disciples d’Escoffier (2014), author in the Oxford Encyclopedia (2012) and Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets (2015). Lives in Brooklyn, NY.