Now through October 15, Heinz Foodservice is asking operators nationwide to “Bring on Heinz” and bring on their best original burger recipe for the chance to compete at the 2012 Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival’s Burger Bash®. The winning chef will receive a trip to Miami to put their culinary excellence to the test and compete against other leading chefs while representing Heinz at the annual bash.

The “Bring on Heinz” winning burger recipe will be selected by a panel of judges based on taste,
creativity, ease of preparation, visual appeal and best use of a Heinz product. The recipes must incorporate at least one of the new Heinz® Back of House sauce varieties, such as Sweet and Spicy Garlic Chili, Honey Barbecue, Heinz® 57®, Hickory Smoke Barbecue, Smokey Campside Barbecue, Classic Barbecue, Buffalo Wing or Lea & Perrins® Signature Steak.

The Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival, presented by Food & Wine magazine, takes place
February 23-26, 2012. Known as America’s most prestigious gourmet gathering, all proceeds from the festival benefit the Chaplin School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Florida International University. 

Visit HeinzBurgerContest.com for details on entering the “Bring on Heinz” burger contest.
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Boasting a disposition as fresh as the fare itself, HD1 will offer an approachably modern take on America’s most beloved sausage—the hot dog—in the heart of Atlanta’s Poncey-Highland neighborhood when it opens September 22. 

HD1 will be an alternative-dining destination for those who value thoughtfully curated, cutting-edge flavors for inquisitive palates in an unrefined space. “I want people to feel something familiar without HD1 defining the experience for them,” says owner Barry Mills.

“Top Chef All-Stars” winner Richard Blais has teamed with Mills to serve as HD1’s menu consultant, creating a menu that will be chock full of American and European favorites. Bringing this vision to life will be Executive Chef Jared Lee Pyles, heading HD1’s kitchen for daily operation. Emphasizing unique flavor combinations and vintage dishes, these chefs will fuse the frank into its own haute interpretation: From basic to bold, HD1’s dogs will be dressed to impress. The house-ground meats and sausages will be artfully seasoned and packed with high-quality proteins for top-notch taste: fennel sausage with San Marzano ketchup, fontina and grilled radicchio; Merguez lamb sausage with red-currant compote and minted cucumber salad, and the classic hot dog with sauerkraut and HD mustard. Housemade, unique condiments and freshly baked artisan buns will add a distinct level of local. 


HD Waffled Fries with Mae Ploy and Fennel Sausage. Photo: Heidi Geldhauser for The Reynolds Group.


“Creating a menu that connects with each diner is a personal goal and will ultimately keep the menu energetic with new offerings each time a guest returns,” says Blais. Late-night diners will have it their way with a build-your-own Kenturkey or classic hot dog topped with their choice of housemade condiments ranging from canned-beer mustard to pepperjack foam.  

In addition to getting down and dirty with dogs, “other stuff” from the menu promises to entice, too, from brisket chili with cool ranch oyster crackers and waffled fries with mae ploy sauce to hand-churned soft-serve ice cream including bourbon and brown sugar. HD1’s full bar will boast a kitschy cocktail list with an emphasis on craft bourbon and rum libations, along with ice-cold beer by the can.

Blais is one of the country’s most innovative chefs and the winner of BRAVO’S season eight “Top Chef All-Stars.” In addition, he is a recipient of Gayot Guide’s “Top Five Rising Chefs of 2005,” and appeared on BRAVO’s “Top Chef: Chicago,” as well as on the Food Network’s “Iron Chef America.” He has been featured in various media outlets, including Sports Illustrated, the New York Times, Maxim magazine and Food & Wine magazine for his creative take on American food. Blais is playing a significant role in the development of the menu at HD1 where his talent and expertise are the foundation of HD1’s menu concept.


Pyles fuses his background and creativity as executive chef at HD1. A graduate of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Atlanta, Pyles has worked alongside top chefs Mike Isabella and Richard Blais at Atlanta restaurants Kyma, Home and Woodfire Grill. Pyles was among the opening team at the first FLIP burger boutique in Atlanta, where he honed creative skills that helped lead to the conception of the menu for HD1.


For more information on HD1, visit www.hd1restaurant.com.
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Activists are celebrating the Food Network's recent decision to remove all shark recipes from FoodNetwork.com after a viral online campaign on Change.org, the world's fastest-growing platform for social change.

Conservation activist Jessica Belsky started the campaign on Change.org to promote shark conservation during the popular "Shark Week" television series. Less than 10 days after the launch of the online campaign, the Food Network removed all shark recipes from its Web site and issued a statement on the future use of shark at the network.


"As a policy, Food Network and Cooking Channel do not incorporate or showcase recipes that involve animals on endangered species lists or the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch list,” says Susan Stockton, Food Network Kitchens. With the recent addition of sharks to those watch-lists, we will make sure that future content does not highlight shark as an ingredient. We understand there are many species with sustainability concerns, and we make efforts to stay informed and pass that information onto our audience.”


More than 30,000 people joined the online campaign, many of them after the Food Network had already made the above commitment.


"We're thrilled that the Change.org platform has successfully connected people who care about the future of sharks to the Food Network, a brand that has a tremendous impact on popular culture," says Sarah Parsons, senior organizer at Change.org. "This is hopefully the first step in a longer partnership, and we're excited to see where it goes."


More than 650 people left comments on the Change.org petition.


"Not only are sharks vital (and arguably the most vital) participants in ocean ecosystems, they are also among the world's most endangered species," wrote Change.org member Annie Tasson. "There is no reason for the Food Network to use its public platform to support the consumption of shark meat."


Many sharks are threatened with extinction, with some species' populations plummeting by as much as 90% in recent years. Sharks are listed on the "Red/Avoid" section of the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch guide, along with more than 20 other species of fish like bluefin tuna, Chilean sea bass and orange roughy.


To view the Change.org petition, visit http://www.change.org/petitions/food-network-stop-featuring-shark-as-food.
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Spike TV will pick up a second season of 10 episodes of its original series, “Bar Rescue,” one of Spike’s new, successful original series reaching a broader audience, which has delivered a steady increase in ratings since launch earlier this summer. In fact, the September 11 telecast against strong NFL competition drew a series high of 1.3 million viewers, nearly doubling the premiere’s viewership of 742,000 on July 17.  

“Bar Rescue” is hosted by Jon Taffer, one of the country’s top restaurant and bar consultants. The show gives failing nightlife establishments one last chance at success. Over the course of the series, one bar per week in cities all around the country will be reborn under the watchful eye of Taffer. With each venue, Taffer delves into every business facet of running a bar, from creating a profitable drink/food menu, to music selection, to managing crowds, as well as dealing with disgruntled employees.

“Bar Rescue” is a 10 one-hour-episode series produced by 3 Ball Productions/Eyeworks USA and Executive Producers JD Roth and Todd A. Nelson (“The Biggest Loser,” “Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition,” “Flying Wild Alaska”). Tim Duffy, senior vice president of original programming for Spike TV, oversees “Bar Rescue” for the network.


Production for season 2 will begin this winter from venues all around the country, and the new episodes will air in the summer of 2012.
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A handful of restaurants in Houston and one in San Antonio are banding together to encourage patrons to honor veterans and active-duty military personnel with a complimentary lunch on Veterans Day. On Friday, November 11, anyone can offer a heartfelt "thank you" to the men and women who guard America’s freedom by taking a soldier to lunch at one of the participating restaurants, and the restaurant will buy the entrée of equal or lesser value than that of the soldier. (Military guests must provide a government issued military photo ID.)  

2011 participating restaurants in Houston include Arcodoro, Drew's Pastry Place, Fernando's Steakhouse, Fratelli's, Authentic Italian Cuisine, Giacomo's cibo e vino, Las Ventanas, Pradaria, Todai and Zelko's Bistro and Zocca at the Westin Riverwalk in San Antonio.  


One of the many notes received last year was from Chris M. in Houston. He wrote:  

Dear Thank a Soldier:

I took my girlfriend out to dinner for Veterans Day to Fernando's in Sugar Land. I recently returned home from a tour in Iraq, and we are still getting reintegrated with each other. I put on my dress uniform and she wore a beautiful dress. We normally would not have the opportunity to dine at such a nice place. It was so great! Thank you so much for taking care of our dinner. It was such a memorable night. The manager/owner of Fernando's was amazing. He personally took care of everything and went above and beyond what would ever be expected. We plan on going back to Fernando's for our next special occasion. Again, thank you for making this veteran's night. We appreciate everything you have done for us.


Respectfully,

Chris M.


Thank a Soldier, Buy ’em Lunch is a community organization that is sponsored by 002 magazine, Ace Mart Restaurant Supply, Encore Loyalty, Houston Entrée, Tinsley PR and The Epicurean Publicist.
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Americans ate 20% more tilapia in 2010 than they did in 2009, propelling it from the No. 5 spot to the No. 4 spot with the single largest gain in consumption on the National Fisheries Institute’s (NFI) latest Top Ten Seafood List.

Other impressive gains saw pangasius jump 14% to claim the No. 8 slot, up one from last year. And while cod remained at No. 7, it gained 11% over 2009.


The Top 10 White Fish Consumed in 2010 (pounds per capita)
1. Shrimp, 4.0
2. Canned Tuna, 2.7
3. Salmon, 1.999
4. Tilapia, 1.450
5. Alaska Pollock, 1.192
6. Catfish, 0.800
7. Crab, 0.573
8. Cod, 0.463
9. Pangasius, 0.405
10. Clams, 0.341

“If you look at the numbers from 2008, 2009 and now 2010, keeping in mind population growth, we’re hopeful that we’re beginning to see seafood consumption steadying, a trend that makes it poised for gains,” says NFI president John Connelly.


This year’s list contains some anomalies, including a National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) recalculation of 2009’s total pounds per capita that changed to 16 lbs from 15.8 lbs. There was also a slight reduction in clam consumption on the 2009 list.


The 2010 Alaska Pollock numbers appear to show a drop of 18% when compared to the 2009 list, but about half of that decline is actually due to a new export category that identified previously uncounted exports. The balance was due to a reduction in imports and a sharp increase in surimi exports. Also, pollock-fillet exports increased, reflecting the continued strong demand for pollock fillets in Europe, as it remains the most popular seafood item in Germany.
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