Nation's Restaurant News On the Go #64
Nation's Restaurant News
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With today's menus, it's hard to tell what's an April Fools' joke
Hi. It’s Nation’s Restaurant News senior food & beverage editor Bret Thorn. It really is. I feel obliged to say that because after Easter on Sunday we will all be confronted with that strange and irritating holiday called April Fools’ Day.
For those of us in the media, April 1 is especially annoying, because people who normally try to explain with a reasonable degree of honesty what’s going on with their businesses flat-out lie on that day. Usually, their pranks are easy to spot, but the food world has gotten so weird (or to put it more politely, creative), that sometimes it’s hard to tell.
For the past few years, I have had to report with a straight face that people are pouring dairy and coconut cream into their sodas, buying coffee with olive oil added to it on purpose, and eating pretty much anything that has spicy honey drizzled on it.
Chocolate with curry powder? I had that 15 years ago, around the same time I was sincerely given mustard ice cream (it was bad).
So, when Ziggi’s Coffee says it’s adding pickle juice to its coffee in April, I have to tilt my head to the side and wonder if it’s true. Pickles are a hot trend these days, appearing on pizzas in particular, but elsewhere, too, and back in the summer of 2018 Sonic Drive-In was selling pickle juice slushes. Really.
But it turns out that the coffee chain was pranking me.
Is BJ’s Restaurants doing that with its Pizickle Pizookie? It’s a chocolate chunk cookie in a skillet topped with ice cream and pickle slices, a variation on its rotating Pizookie line of cookies in a skillet. It sounds absurd, and they say they’re only offering it on April 1, which is definitely a red flag, but I honestly can’t say.
Be sure to follow along with Nation’s Restaurant News for updates. Here’s a closer look:
Restaurant brands offer April Fools’ Day deals, believe it or not
April Fools’ Day promotions test a journalist’s mettle: Which ones are real, and which ones aren’t?
We double checked a number of deals crossing our desks, and we found at least three that passed muster. Thank you BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, Cheesecake Factory and Del Taco for verifying these for us.
First up: the BJ’s Restaurant features the Pizickle Pizookie.
On Monday, April 1, BJ’s Restaurants Inc. will put its signature Pizookie — a pan of warm chocolate cookie topped with ice cream — dessert in a quite a pickle.
The Huntington Beach, Calif.-based casual-dining brand is topping the Pizookie with dill pickle slices for a savory-on-sweet combination. And for one day only, the Pizickle Pizookie and any of the 10 flavors of Pizookie will be free with a minimum purchase of $14.95.
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California prepares for $20 minimum wage for fast-food workers
California’s controversial $20 minimum wage for quick-service restaurant workers employed by companies with 60 or more locations is set to finally go into effect on Mon. April 1, after undergoing multiple revisions and pushback from the restaurant industry. Last fall , Gavin Newsom introduced and passed AB 1228, a modified compromise version of the original FAST Act, which increases the minimum wage for fast-food workers from $16 to $20, instead of the originally proposed $22 an hour.
Most recently, the legislation was clarified via assembly bill 610, which carved out some exemptions to the bill, including workers in nontraditional restaurant locations like airports, hotels, event centers, theme parks, and corporate campus cafeterias. Originally, this bill included a carve-out for restaurants that bake their own bread, like Panera, though after pushback, Gov. Newsom was pushed to clarify that Panera would be following the new minimum wage law requirements. ?
KFC reaches gender parity across its global corporate offices
KFC announced this week it has achieved gender parity across its global corporate offices, with women now constituting 51% of the company’s restaurant support center team.
According to a press release, KFC has been measuring progress using the McKinsey & Company Inclusion Survey, which tests whether a subset of employees believe they have an equal chance of success within the company. The survey measures the “gender experience gap” to understand the differences in employees’ observed, perceived, and lived experiences.
“We’re thrilled to announce we’ve closed the gender experience gap at KFC. This is a reflection of the work environment we’ve built that empowers, retains, and develops future women leaders. Our continued commitment to gender parity allows us to unlock a powerful talent pool and supports a workplace where anyone can thrive,” Cristi Lockett, chief people officer of KFC Global, said in a statement.
Nation’s Restaurant Intelligence has released its 2024 Restaurant Technology Outlook
We surveyed nearly 600 restaurant operators to find out about their current tech stack, including where will they be focusing investment this year, which areas of the tech stack they find most satisfying, how they measure ROI, and more. See what they had to say in our newly released Market Leader Report: What’s Next for Restaurant Tech.
NRN editors discuss food trends and the McDonald’s and Krispy Kreme deal
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