FALL 2010
Tantalizing TIDBITS
By Karen WeisbergFrom Southern-fried chicken skins to Indian “water balloons,” chefs have fun with profitable, one-bite creations
Snacks have a wonderful “comfort-food” aura that plays to our memories of midmorning nursery-school break with juice and crackers or after school “rewards” of milk and cookies. Today’s operators — from quick-serves to fine dining to colleges and corporate venues — have certainly gotten the message that menuing “snacks” is a great way to pull in more customers during off-peak hours.
A recent study from Chicago-based Mintel Menu Insights finds that menu references to “snack,” “snackable” or “snacker” during the two-year period from 2007 to 2009 increased by a whopping 170 percent. And, facing the reality of a still-sluggish economy, operators are wisely encouraging the trend; many point out that menuing a wide array of inexpensive yet flavorful protein bites — often served as shareable finger foods — is sure to fire up sales.
More often than not, today’s foodservice snacks are not the sweets of school-age memories but a savory and, often, meaty treat. In Charleston, S.C., McCrady’s — the venerable, award-winning restaurant listed on the National Register of Historic Places and Landmarks — is a destination for connoisseurs of New Southern fine dining.
When Executive Chef Sean Brock isn’t at McCrady’s, he’s at a three-acre farm on Wadmalaw Island tending his crop of unique heirloom vegetables or overseeing the care and feeding of “his” pigs, which are cured for 18 months before being transformed into country hams, sausages, salami and bacon. He’s creating the sustainably focused menu for this AAA Four Diamond venue.
Brock, now 32, earned the 2010 James Beard Award for Best Chef, Southeast, but he still makes time to pay close attention to the bar area, which is known for its pre-Prohibition-style cocktails. Here, bar snackers number about 40 each weekday, with around 60 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Brock changes the bar snacks daily, and customers know to check out the chalkboard above the bar.
“They’re all designed to be snackable foods, and everything on that menu can be eaten with fingers,” Brock points out. He’s found that his bar-snack customers are some of the toughest food critics in town.
“About 90 percent of the folks who eat [here] are chefs or other restaurant people on their day off — and there are so many great chefs in this small town,” he grins, undaunted. “So that makes it a lot of fun, and we try to make it as sinful and ridiculous as possible. It’s fun for me, ‘cause I couldn’t get away with it in the dining room.”