Revenue Management

🍕 Roberto Levinson, after moving to New York City from Monterrey, Mexico, opened “Ánimo!” to offer authentic Mexican breakfast options. The 1,100 square-foot restaurant, located at 2nd Avenue and 53rd Street in Midtown Manhattan, seats 28 and serves breakfast and lunch, with dishes like Hot Cakes with Glorias and Chilaquiles Rojos. Also featuring a full espresso bar with drinks such as Mexican Vanilla Latte and Café de Olla, Ánimo! opened in October 2024 and plans to expand with a second location and a new dinner menu starting March 21.

🍴 Six locally owned restaurants were awarded the James Beard Foundation's 2025 America's Classics Award: Lem’s Bar-B-Q in Chicago, The Pioneer Saloon in Ketchum, Idaho, Sullivan’s Castle Island in Boston, Lucky Wishbone in Anchorage, Alaska, Dooky Chase in New Orleans, and Gaido’s in Galveston, Texas. Since 1998, over 100 U.S. restaurants have been honored. The awards ceremony will take place on June 16 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Restaurants are nominated by the public and awards voters from October through November.

🔥 Texas barbecue's popularity has led to craft joints earning Michelin recognition. Kafi BBQ in Irving, less than three months old, offers a halal, wagyu beef-centered menu, drawing on founder Salahodeen Abdul-Kafi's six years of experience after purchasing a Traeger smoker. KG BBQ in Austin, started by Kareem El-Ghayesh who left finance in Cairo for Texas in 2016, blends North African and Middle Eastern flavors with Texan tradition, earning a James Beard semifinalist nod and Bib Gourmand in Michelin Guide's recent Texas expansion. Texas Monthly’s top-ranked Goldee’s in Fort Worth serves smoked Lao sausage, while Fort Worth's Sabar and Arlington's Smoke’N Ash BBQ blend Pakistani and Ethiopian influences, respectively. Blood Bros. in Houston and other statewide restaurants incorporate Asian, Cajun, and Mexican flavors. These pitmasters view barbecue as a cultural bridge, with plans to create community hubs celebrating food, art, and culture.

🧃 Ghee, a staple in Indian cuisine known for its high smoke point and nutty flavor, has seen a 71% increase on U.S. restaurant menus over four years, particularly at independent and midscale eateries, yet appears on less than 1% of menus. With 33% of Americans aware of ghee and 18% having tried it, this clarified butter is celebrated for its versatility and connection to Ayurvedic traditions.

🍴 Bret Thorn, Senior Food & Beverage Editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality, covers food and beverage trends. He hosts the podcast "In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn" and wrote for "The New York Sun" from 2005-2008. Thorn joined Nation’s Restaurant News in 1999, Restaurant Hospitality in 2016, and lived in Thailand for about five years writing for "Manager" magazine and "Asia Times." A Tufts University graduate (magna cum laude, 1990) and member of Phi Beta Kappa, he studied at Le Cordon Bleu and was in Beijing for the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. Thorn won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award, was IFEC president in 2005, and contributed to the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America (2nd edition, 2012) and Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets (2015). Inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014, he's from Denver and resides in Brooklyn.

🍸 The early 2000s cocktail renaissance continues, with bartenders using savory ingredients like cilantro in drinks. Empirical Spirits in Brooklyn, N.Y., launched a cilantro spirit last fall with 38% alcohol volume, made from French wheat, cilantro stems and leaves, lime, and tomatillo. Lolita in New York City offers the No Güey using Empirical’s cilantro spirit and sotol. Dear Strangers, which opened in November in Greenwich Village, features cilantro in the Star Treatment cocktail. The trend extends to international locations like NoMad London with their best-selling Sergeant Pepper cocktail and Licorería Limantour in Mexico City with an Al Pastor Margarita. Despite cilantro's divisive taste, its use in cocktails is growing.

💸 Inflation rose 0.5% in January, annual rate at 3%. Costs driven by shelter, energy, gasoline, food. Overall food index up 0.4%, food at home +0.5%, away +0.2%. Year-over-year, food prices increased: overall +2.5%, at home +1.9%, away +3.4%. Egg prices surged 15.2%, the largest monthly jump since June 2015. The gap between grocery and restaurant price increases was the narrowest since April 2023, yet grocery stores maintained a 150-basis-point advantage over the historical average of 70-basis-points, impacting restaurant sales in 2024. Menu pricing increased 3.4% year-over-year, equalling the 23-year average. Companies like McDonald’s and Brinker observed easing inflation, with Brinker's food and beverage costs improving by 20 basis points year-over-year.

🍴 COJE Management Group, since 2010, runs successful restaurants in downtown Boston and Seaport District with diverse cuisines. CEO Chris Jamison and co-founder Mark Malatesta, who opened their first venue in 2010, now boast eight concepts and nine restaurants. Yvonne's, opened in 2015, replaced the historic Locke-Ober space. Chef Tom Berry joined as culinary director and COJE's management is mostly promoted internally. COJE's portfolio includes Ruka, Lolita, Mariel, Cuban-themed Underground, Coquette, Cocorico, nightclub Caveau, and Mr. H, with a new Sicilian restaurant under construction. COJE focuses on experiential dining with meticulous attention to detail, targeting mostly local customers.

🥚 Salted egg yolks, a Chinese and Southeast Asian staple, are gaining popularity in U.S. restaurants as a unique flavoring in various dishes. Market research from Datassential shows a 71% increase in menu appearances over four years, now at 0.5%. However, among the U.S. population, while 50% are aware of salted egg yolks, only 23% have tasted them. The trend reflects a rising interest in indulgent, umami-rich flavors.

🥒 Dukkah, an Egyptian seasoning blend, is gaining popularity in the US with a 35% increase in restaurant menu presence over four years, particularly in independent and fine-dining venues. Market research from Datassential reveals 14% of the US population, mostly Gen Z, recognizes dukkah. It's creatively used in salads, soups, as a protein coating, and as garnish on avocado toast.