Incorporating new food trends to spice up traditional menus is one way to grab customer attention, but some restaurants are using everyday ingredients to drive innovative options. Potatoes, beef and eggs, for example, are just a few ingredients appearing on menus in a variety of new ways.
Fast Casual explores how and why potatoes are no longer known as only a base for french fries.
While french fries and baked potatoes have been menu staples for as long as anyone can remember, the potato is enjoying new positioning at breakfast and brunch, said Don Odiorne, vice president of foodservice with the Idaho Potato Commission.
“Breakfast hashes with reds, yellows and fingerlings are popular for brunch time, too,” he says. “Homemade tots or ethnic meat- and cheese- filled croquettes and potato pancakes with interesting fold-ins of fresh herbs and vegetables, such as roasted red peppers or corn or kale are trending, too.”
The versatility and low cost of potatoes make them the perfect canvas for all dayparts, said Susan Weller, global foodservice marketing manager of the U.S. Potato Board.
“They can be served at any meal occasion and have been popping up and are part of current foodservice trends including poutine, potato pickling, tots and smoking,” she said. “They are a much-loved comfort food and meet customers’ need for freshness. In fact, a recent study showed diners are less likely to order a substitute food if potatoes are not available.”
Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom is one brand trying something new with potatoes. Its latest LTO is a Buffalo Poutine—french fries smothered in buffalo gravy and topped with fried cheese curds tossed in Buffalo sauce, tomatoes and green onions. Another chain, Smoke’s Poutinerie, specializes in the loaded fries. Based in Canada and now open in the U.S., the chain serves 30 varieties of its poutine.
Ethnic dishes are another plate where potatoes are taking over, said Weller, who says she is seeing them in Peruvian causas and samosas at Andina Restaurant in Portland, Ore., and in a variety of salads, including warm potato salads served with steaks and lamb chops, at Toro Bravo, also in Portland.
“Since potatoes are gluten-free, they are also being used as a substitute for pasta,” she says. “Potato lasagna and potato couscous, for example, are really catching on.”
Potatoes are even becoming a popular pizza topping. Otto Pizza, a chain in New England, is using mashed potatoes as a sauce on its pizza and serves a meatloaf, mashed potato and herb pizza as well as a mashed potato, bacon and scallion pizza. Pizza Hut Korea and a plethora of other pizza chains in Korea use frozen potatoes as a standard topping.
Adding potatoes to baked goods is also a way to enhance their texture, taste and shelf-life, Weller said.
“Potato doughnuts made with instant mashed potatoes are being offered at on-trend bakeries and cafes,” she said. “Starbucks Korea recently launched a potato cake, while Tasty n Alder offers a chocolate potato doughnut with crème anglaise.”
Source: FastCasual