A startup is now offering to take the hard work out of creating mobile applications and even of porting them to the iPhone, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile platforms, all through an online service that gives novice developers simple templates for various types of businesses and organisations.

 With an eye to software novices, Mobile On Services’ BuildAnApp service tackles a problem that has plagued professional mobile developers for years: Unlike on the Web and in the world of PCs, there are many different platforms to write for if you want to reach many mobile users.

 Once a customer has gone through the steps on the BuildAnApp site to create a new application, Mobile On uses its proprietary software to package the app for three of the major smartphone platforms and also develop a mobile-optimised Web site, said company co-founder Scott Pearson.

 Users get 30 days free to design the application and populate it with content such as news, restaurant menus and click-to-dial phone numbers. After that, they pay to bring new content into the application. Mobile On will submit it to Apple’s App Store for US$19.99, including resubmissions if it is rejected.

 The Minneapolis company designed BuildAnApp for small businesses, retail stores, nonprofit organizations and professionals such as doctors.

 To build an application, users simply pick the template for their type of organization, choose from among typical types of pages to put within the app, and populate the app with information.

 Then they can select people they want to alert to the application, and Mobile On will send e-mail messages to those people with a link to a download page. Users with a supported phone can then download the application directly. The applications can be kept private with access passwords.

 Mobile applications are getting a lot of attention, but much of the capability a small business needs to offer customers can be delivered via a mobile Web site, which can be updated with new information for no additional charge, industry analysts said Tuesday.

 However, Mobile On’s Pearson pointed out a few advantages to having an app instead of relying solely on a Web page to reach customers.

 Apps let consumers access and use information even when they are out of range of the cellular data network, they tend to look better than mobile Web sites because they are optimized for the hardware platform, and they usually move faster than the mobile Web because they operate locally, Pearson said.

 For most small businesses, a mobile application will be primarily a tool for keeping existing customers loyal rather than attracting new ones, Pearson acknowledged.

 Apart from sending out the notification e-mails to current contacts, Mobile On Services won’t handle marketing of the apps against the growing tide of mobile software, such as the more than 100,000 applications now on Apple’s App Store.

 Analysts liken the emergence of a service such as BuildAnApp to the evolution of Web development from pure HTML coding to easy-to-use design services such as GeoCities and Blogger.

 ”It’s certainly a signal that mobile applications have arrived,” said Avi Greengart of Current Analysis. However, a mobile app still isn’t as critical to a small business as a Web site, he said.

 Unlike a Web site, a mobile app sits on the home screen (or extended home screen) of the consumer’s phone, In-Stat’s Allen Nogee pointed out. An application can create more presence and recognition than a mobile Web site to which a user has to navigate in a browser, he said.

 A pizza restaurant and a small clothing store created applications during BuildAnApp’s closed beta test, which just concluded, Pearson said. The pizza place’s application includes, among other things, the menu and a button for clicking to call the shop and place an order, he said. The clothing store shows pictures of new items in the shop.

 BuildAnApp’s 16 templates include ones for a real estate agent, a school, a sports league and a religious organization. There is also a template for “other” that includes a wide range of page types selected from the other templates.

 The company is also developing a “pro” version of the service for skilled developers creating more sophisticated applications, Pearson said.

 However, Mobile On doesn’t plan to support the kind of sophisticated development provided by companies such as Rhomobile and Appcelerator, he said. Those companies offer online app development for developers working in languages such as Ruby, JavaScript and HTML.

 ”Our intent is to provide mobility to the masses,” Pearson said. “It gives these small organizations a way to have a mobile presence without spending a lot of money.”

 By the end of the year, Mobile On plans to add Google’s Android platform. Other plans include adding support for Nokia, Symbian and Palm; adding APIs (application programming interfaces) to bring existing Web and database content into the applications; and letting customers integrate their applications with online services such as Facebook, Twitter and the OpenTable restaurant reservation system.

 Though BuildAnApp has just entered its open beta test, which is likely to continue into the first quarter of next year, Mobile On is now charging after a customer’s 30-day free trial. Users can pay $7.99 for a one-time content or application update or pay $14.99 per month to make as many updates as they wish. Unlimited updates for six months are available for $59.99.

I’m off traveling for a week, so I wanted to take this opportunity to revisit three “timeless” posts on broader innovation topics.  The third is about how we might tackle an unusual constraint and make it work for us.

Enjoy!
Nheeda

_______________________________________

Innovating restaurant menus
May 13, 2009

photo via cleveland.com

Contrary to popular belief, innovation actually loves extreme constraint.  This economic downturn is an example of one, and many new companies were borne out of a recession.  New business owners find compelling needs to fill, and they recognize that they must survive or die in challenging times.  Starutps learn to fail and adjust quickly, adapting in ways that may not have been considered before.

New regulations are another type of constraint that force companies to innovate (whether or not they agree with it.)  I’m in NYC this week, and I am reminded of a law instituted last year mandating restaurants to post the number of calories of each of their menu items.   I’ve heard anecdotes of some restaurants changing recipes in order to keep the interest of customers with their newfound awareness of caloric content.

It also reminds me of a story I heard about Charlotte’s own Ratcliffe on the Green delivering more value to attract customers that now carry lighter wallets.  Instead of sacrificing on the quality of their local ingredients, they’ve switched to a Brasserie-style menu, an interesting paradigm-shift that I hope to taste soon.

StockLayouts LLC, the pioneer of graphic design templates, announced a new template resource, offered under its new brand, LayoutReady, that provides small business owners with a large selection of agency-grade templates for creating marketing materials suitable for high-quality output on office color printers. The templates, which are available for immediate download in both U.S. and International “A” page sizes, are easily customized in Microsoft Word or Microsoft Publisher.

FRESH TOMATO SALSA

www.Eat-4-Free.com

For more information click here

Ingredients:

• 1 rabbit, about 3 pounds, cut up
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1 teaspoon salt
• dash pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 cups water
• 4 cups dry red wine
• 2 cups diced carrots
• 4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
• 4 ounces sliced mushrooms, sauteed
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup water

Preparation:

Directions for rabbit stew.
Dredge rabbit pieces with 1/2 cup flour. Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat; brown rabbit pieces on all sides. Add celery, onion, salt, pepper, bay leaf, 4 cups water, and wine; bring to the boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover, and simmer rabbit stew for 2 hours. Add carrots, potatoes, and mushrooms; cook for about 25 to 30 minutes longer, or until vegetables are tender. Combine 1/4 cup flour and 1/3 cup water; stir until well blended and smooth. Stir flour mixture into the broth; cook and stir until thickened.
Rabbit stew recipe serves 4.

*As originally reported by About.com

www.Eat-4-Free.com

For more information click here

INGREDIENTS

• 6 cups thinly sliced apples
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch single crust pie

DIRECTIONS

1. Prepare your pastry for a two crust pie. Wipe, quarter, core, peel, and slice apples; measure to 6 cups.
2. Combine sugar and cinnamon. The amount of sugar used depends on how tart your apples are.
3. Arrange apples in layers in pastry lined pie plate. Sprinkle each layer with sugar and cinnamon. Dot top layer with small pieces of butter or margarine. Cover with top crust.
4. Place on lowest rack in oven preheated to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake for 30 to 35 minutes longer. Serve warm or cold.

*As originally reported by Allrecipes.com

www.Eat-4-Free.com

For more information click here

www.Eat-4-Free.com

For more information click here

StockLayouts graphic design templates are more than just a starting point, they’re completely designed – ready to edit and print. You can create personalized, cost-effective, professional marketing materials for your business in a snap! StockLayouts templates are fully customizable and easy to edit.

Try one of our free sample graphic design templates before you buy! The free samples showcase an IT Technology business but can be customized for many types of professional industries. Here are a few ways you can customize a template to make your marketing materials unique to your organization:

• Replace, resize or reposition photos
• Replace the logo with your company’s logo
• Enter marketing copy specific to your business
• Duplicate or rework pages to create a longer document
• Change the color scheme to match your pre-existing material

Download now!

StockLayouts template designs, for creating print marketing materials are available for purchase and download online and are fully customizable in a choice of file formats including QuarkXPress, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW, Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft Word and Apple iWork Pages. Created with high-quality output in mind, the template designs are easy to edit, and suitable for printing in-house on a color printer or on an offset press. The do-it-yourself marketing templates help users promote their business and look more professional with high-impact designs!

Some writers at the Chicago Tribune created a list of phrases to ban from restaurant menus. Quite amusing.

The creative team at StockLayouts posted a new business template set for a Bistro Restaurant. The business set is comprised of a menu, postcard, stationery, and flyer & ads.

StockLayouts template designs, for creating print marketing materials are available for purchase and download online and are fully customizable in a choice of file formats including QuarkXPress, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW, Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft Word and Apple iWork Pages. Created with high-quality output in mind, the template designs are easy to edit, and suitable for printing in-house on a color printer or on an offset press. The do-it-yourself marketing templates help users promote their business and look more professional with high-impact designs!

Recently, I gave the menu of a well-known chain restaurant to a group of students and asked them to select what they would eat if they were dining there. 

They selected a starter (garlic bread with cheese), a main course (traditional lasagne with a salad), a dessert (ice cream) and a drink (a can of coke). 

Using the restaurant’s own nutritional information, they calculated the nutrient content of what they had chosen (Table 1).  The results left the students open-mouthed.

Their menu selection had provided:

n 106% of the guideline daily amount of calories (assuming 2000 kcal per day);

n 141-171% of the guideline daily amount of protein (depending on whether they were male or female);

n 61% of the guideline daily carbohydrate;

n 109% of the guideline daily amount of total fat;

n 192% of the guideline daily amount of saturated fat

n 52% of the guideline daily amount of salt. 

It is worth noting that the dietary reference value for salt in the UK is 6 g per day, compared with 2.3 g per day in the USA.

Thus, one meal out would have provided more than the entire day’s requirement for calories; enough protein to last for one and a half days; and enough saturated fat to last for two days.

Most people have no idea of the nutrient content of the food they are eating, nor of the potentially damaging effects on their health of a dietary excess of sugar, saturated fat and salt. 

Given that at least one–third of household expenditure on food and drink is spent on food eaten outside the home in the UK, food manufacturers and caterers have a real opportunity to contribute to an improvement in public health whilst also making a profit themselves. 

There is now convincing research evidence to suggest that increasing the amount of fruit, vegetables and whole grains in the diet, whilst decreasing the amount of sugar, saturated fat and salt, helps to protect the body from chronic conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and various cancers.

A two-day professional training course is offered, tailored to equip caterers, and those involved in encouraging healthier catering practices, with information and practical tools to achieve healthier eating in the population.

By the end of the course, participants will:

• Understand the basic principles of nutrition
• Be aware of the importance of food in the maintenance of health and well-being
• Appreciate the role of lifestyles and culture in influencing diet
• Recognise the potential benefits for both caterers and customers of providing a choice of healthier options
• Know more about ingredient selection and methods of food production and processing that can be used to create healthier options, whilst being attractive and convenient to modern tastes and lifestyles
• Be able to apply appropriate and relevant skills and knowledge when advising catering businesses or when planning, preparing, promoting and serving healthier foods

For further information on the course content and the course tutor, Dr Jane Philpott, please click http://cookingforhealth-uk.com/healthier-catering.php.

Table 1

My husband and I had a hankering for P.F. Changs the other night. Before going, I decided to check out the nutritionals for some of our favorite menu options. Kudos to the restaurant chain for posting an easy-t0-find link to their nutritional brochure on their menu page.

But I was aghast (yes, aghast) at how misleading their servings are. For example, most of their chicken entrees are listed as having approximately 300 calories per serving. But the servings per dish varies drastically. While the Orange Peel Chicken has 3 servings per dish (at 295 calories per serving) the Crispy Honey Chicken has 6 (count ‘em, six!) servings per dish at 336 calories per serving. That’s a whopping total of 2016 calories…not including the rice.

So what’s the lesson? Do the math before you order, otherwise you may inadvertently eat an entire day’s worth of calories in one meal. And a plea to P.F. Changs: please just tell it to us like it us — the more straight-forward and consistent, the better.

Sandwiches and Melts

Beef ‘n Cheddar Roast Beef Sandwich

Bacon Beef ‘n Cheddar

Junior Roast Beef

Super Roast Beef

Arby’s Melt

Ham & Swiss Melt

Arby-Q®

Chicken

Chicken Filet

Chicken Bacon and Swiss

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Popcorn Chicken

Popcorn Chicken Shakers

Market Fresh® Sandwiches & Wraps

Roast Turkey Ranch

Pecan Chicken Salad

Reuben with Corned Beef or Turkey

Roast Turkey & Swiss

Ultimate BLT

Roast Ham & Swiss

Market Fresh® Salads

Chopped Farmhouse Chicken

Chopped Italian

Chopped Turkey Club

Toasted Subs

Philly Beef

French Dip & Swiss

Classic Italian

Turkey Bacon Club

Sides and Sidekickers®

Southwest Mini Egg Rolls

Mozzarella Sticks with Marinara Sauce

Loaded Potato Bites®

Onion Petals

Jalapeno Bites®

Curly Fries

Cheddar Fries

Potato Cakes

Breakfast

Sausage Biscuit

Sausage Gravy Biscuit

Chicken Biscuit

Egg and Cheese Biscuit

Egg and Cheese Wrap

Egg and Cheese Sourdough

Ham and Cheese Croissant

Egg and Cheese Croissant

French Toastix

Blueberry Muffin

Lunch/Dinner

Whopper®

Double Whopper®

Triple Whopper®

Whopper Jr.®

Hamburger

Double Hamburger

Cheeseburger

Double Cheeseburger

Bacon Double Cheeseburger

Steakhouse Burger

Tendergrill ® Chicken Caesar Salad

Tendergrill ® Chicken BLT Salad

Side Garden Salad

BK Chicken Fries

Tendercrisp® Chicken Sandwich

Tendergrill® Chicken BLT Sandwich

Crown-shaped Chicken Tenders®

Original Chicken Sandwich

BK Big Fish®

BK Veggie® Burger

Spicy Chick’n Crisp® Sandwich

Breakfast

Enormous Omelette Sandwich

Double Croissan’wich®

Croissan’wich® w/Sausage, Egg & Cheese

Croissan’wich® w/Bacon, Egg & Cheese

Croissan’wich® w/Ham, Egg & Cheese

English Muffin w/Sausage, Egg & Cheese

Hash Browns

BK Joe

French Toast Sticks

Orange Juice

Apple Juice

Sides & Beverages

French Fries

Onion Rings

Poutine

Mozzarella Sticks

Side Garden Salad

Crown-shaped Chicken Tenders®

Shakes

Soft Drinks

2% Milk

BK Joe

Water

Orange Juice

Apple Juice

Iced Coffee

Chocolate Milk

The creative team at StockLayouts posted a new business template set for an “All-American” Restaurant Diner. The business set is comprised of a menu, take-out menu, posters, ads, and stationery.

StockLayouts template designs for creating print marketing materials are available for immediate purchase and download online and are fully customizable in all of the following file formats: QuarkXPress, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW, Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft Word and Apple iWork Pages. Created with high-quality output in mind, the template designs are easy to edit, and suitable for printing in-house on a color printer or on an offset press. The do-it-yourself marketing templates help users promote their business and look more professional with high-impact designs!

Best places to eat and drink according to TimeOut TLV

A couple of weeks TimeOut Tel Aviv published its annual food awards issue. The winners were elected by people who live in Tel Aviv (special ballot postcards were waiting at every nominated restaurant, bar, pattiserie, cafe etc.), and by TimeOut food critics. My advice to you is to consider these winners while in Israel and to check out the chosen spots for a special dinner, a drink or a coffee…. However, please remember that TimeOut is a commercial magazine, and although it prides itself with journalistic integrity, I find, as an eater and a reader, that they allow themselves to “be nice” to those who advertise a lot in TimeOut even if the food of the advertiser is not that amazing. The ultimate example that many of my friends will agree on is Agadir, a well known chain of Hamburger restaurants in Tel Aviv. The first one, that opened over 10 years ago in Nakhalat Binyamin, was pretty good, but since they started opening one restaurant after the other something bad happened to the meet and although many find it tasty, I strongly recommend to avoid all Agadir restaurants. As a serious hamburger person, who knows how to work with meet and what a GOOD hamburger should taste like and feel in my belly, I think that Agadir shouldn’t even be amongst the nominees for best hamburger restaurant, simply because its not good and there are fantastic hamburgers in the city (e.g. Coffee Bar, Mozes, Odeon, Meet Bar, NG, Gily’s and the ones I make myself at home with meet from Delicious, the best butcher and Deli in north Tel Aviv). But Agadir advertises a lot in TimeOut, so somehow they win this category every year… Another example is Aroma, the biggest coffee chain in Israel, which is ok (compared with Starbucks its even great….) but their coffee is definitely inferior to Joe’s, Ilan’s, Arcafe, Cafe Neto, Espresso Bar etc. Still, every year Aroma is nominated (and some years it even wins the category of coffee chains) just because they advertise a lot… With all this in mind, take a look at the list of winners and enjoy the food in Israel, it is absolutely amazing….

Isragirl Presents : Refael Restaurant, Photo by ROL ©

Best Restuarant in TLV 2008 – Refael (Chef Rafi Cohen). 87 HaYarkon St. Tel Aviv o3-5226464; Second place went to Messa (Chef Aviv Moshe). 19 Ha’Arba’aa St. Tel Aviv 03-6856859

Most Trendy Restaurant 2008 – Hotel Montefiore (by the locally famous restaurant tycoons Rutti and Matti Brudo, owners of the much respected and loved Coffee Bar and The Brasserie – two of the most popular restaurants in Tel Aviv….). 36 Montefiore St. Tel Aviv 03-5646100

Best Bistro 2008 – The Coffee Bar, by Rutti and Matti Brudo (See above). I love this restaurant and I think it offers one of the best lunch deals in the city. 13 Yad Harutzim St. Tel Aviv 03-6889696.

Best Asian Restaurant – Sushisamba TLV (Chef Nitzan Raz), the only Sushisamba out of the US is a mere 5 min drive from my apartment, can you believe it? too bad I cant afford to eat there as often as I want. 27 HaBarzel St. Tel Aviv (north) 03-6444345. Second place went to The Giraffe’s Officers Club (I thought it was nice but nothing really special….). 21 Ha’Arba’aa St. Tel Aviv 03-6851155.

Best Dish 2008 – Pumpkin Carpaccio by Deca. 10 HaTa’asiya St. Tel Aviv 03-5629900. I think its a strange category to begin with (cause its too much a matter of personal taste), so I’ll name the other restaurants that was nominated in this category, obviously for other dishes: Cucina Tamar, Yoezer Wine-Bar, Toto, Orca, all five are very popular restaurants – all expensive too…

Best Meet Restaurant 2008 – NG (second year winning this category). 6 Ehad HA’aam St. Tel Aviv. 03-5167888 The restaurant is great though if you come from South America or Texas you might be disappointed. My tip to you, if you live in a country that is known for its meet, will be to concentrate on other food types while in Israel, the stakes here will never be as good as in Argentina…. Other good meet places are: A place for meet in Neve Tzedek, Stephan Brown, Meet Bar, Hadson and Poyke.

Part 2 of this post will include best chef, best Italian restaurant, best kosher restaurant, best place for dates, best ice cream, best new restaurant, best health food etc…

Check out the Restaurants of Tel Aviv, you will love them!!!

• Travel Israel: Guide, Travel Tips, Photos and Videos
• Fun Walk on Tel Aviv Beach
• Kobi Israels Homoerotic Art
• Israel’s City Breaks
• Faces and Places of 21st century Israel
• What’s a Zimmer?
• Hitler in Burning Man – Crazy Video
• Sexy time in the IDF
• Visit Safed – Galilee Town of Kabbalah
• Looking for Fame? Find it in an Israeli Musical

The creative team at StockLayouts has just posted a new graphic design template set for an Asian Restaurant. The business set is comprised of a table menu, a take-out tri-fold menu, posters, letterhead, business card and envelope.

StockLayouts template designs, for creating print marketing materials are available for purchase and download online and are fully customizable in a choice of file formats including QuarkXPress, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW, Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft Word and Apple iWork Pages. Created for professionals with high-quality output in mind, our template designs are suitable for printing in-house on a color printer or on an offset press. The do-it-yourself marketing templates help users promote their business and look more professional with high-impact designs!

Many sites are cropping up on the internet that deliver local restaurant coupons for consumers across the United States and even the world.

Often a simple Google search will turn up a few sites, but the problem with that is very few results will have coupons for specific areas. For example, a site may have coupons for New York, but not Oklahoma city. That said, one thing to consider would be to search for your city and restaurant coupons.

You can also try looking for restaurant discounts from the web sites of your favorite places to dine out. Pizza hut has online coupons, as well as Olive Garden on occasion. It’s only a matter of taking a moment to look before you leave the house.

One web site to seriously consider for restaurant coupons is CouponCuisine. With an expanding base of restaurants to choose from, it’s one of the better online coupon distributors.

O nome parece complicado, mas o prato é bem simples: purê de batatas com uma mistura de queijos gruyère e minas padrão. Quem ensina a versão brasileira desta típica receita dos Alpes Franceses é o chef Alex Atala, do restaurante D.O.M.

.

.

Ingredientes

3 batatas grandes (tipo asterix)
100ml de creme de leite fresco
150g de queijo gruyère ralado
150g de queijo minas padrão ralado
Sal e pimenta a gosto

.

Modo de preparo

Lave bem as batatas e leve-as para cozinhar em fogo médio, com a casca. Coloque sal na água (1 colher de sopa para cada 2 litros de água).

Quando estiverem no ponto, a casca vai começar a rachar. Retire do fogo, escoe e descasque, uma a uma, usando um pano seco para não queimar as mãos. Não coloque as batatas em baixo d’água.

Amasse as batatas com um garfo duas vezes e passe por uma peneira para que fique bem fina a mistura. Adicione o creme de leite e leve ao fogo baixo para aquecer.

O próximo passo é adicionar os queijos lentamente, sempre na mesma proporção. A própria temperatura do purê vai derreter os queijos. Fogo baixo. O ponto certo é quando a massa do aligot estiver puxa. Teste usando duas colheres. Sirva quente.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

DIFICULDADE BAIXA

30 MINUTOS

2 PORÇÕES

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Outras matérias:

D.O.M, de Alex Atala, cai duas posições na lista dos 50 melhores.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

O brasileiro D.O.M., do chef Alex Atala, entrou pela terceira vez na lista dos 50 melhores restaurantes do mundo, prêmio organizado pela revista inglesa “Restaurant”, com uma pequena queda na colocação– desta vez, ocupa a 40ª posição (no ano passado estava em 38º).

Avisado do resultado pela Folha, Atala disse que foi “melhor do que imaginava”. “É sempre um sonho subir, mas não aconteceu neste ano. O mais importante é estar na lista, estar entre os 50″, disse.

O resultado do S.Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants, que seria anunciado na segunda-feira (21) à noite, em Londres, é obtido por meio dos votos de um júri de quase 700 especialistas de todos os continentes.

Atala afirmou que já esperava um resultado menos favorável, devido às mudanças no critério de votação. Neste ano, os jurados– que votam em cinco estabelecimentos– não foram obrigados a incluir, entre os cinco, ao menos dois de sua própria região. Isso tende a diminuir a importância de países de menor prestígio gastronômico, como o Brasil.

Pelo terceiro ano consecutivo, o El Bulli, do espanhol Ferran Adrià, foi considerado o melhor restaurante do mundo. Como em 2007, o segundo e terceiro lugares seguem com o inglês The Fat Duck, de Heston Blumenthal, e o francês Pierre Gagnaire, do chef homônimo, em Paris. Quem despontou foi o espanhol Mugaritz, de Andoni Aduriz, em quarto.

Com poucos novos restaurantes na lista, a premiação mostra consistência e uma fra­queza: a ausência dos grandes restaurantes japoneses e asiáticos entre os melhores, denotando que os especialistas do Ocidente conhecem pouco as casas da Ásia, ao contrário dos jurados asiáticos, que conhecem mais os restaurantes europeus, no quais também votam.

…Fast food chains and casual dining restaurants with more than 15 stores Nationwide. Their New York City locations must contain calorie information at the point of decision (restaurant menu or fast food chain board at the counter).

Last summer, this NYC mandate was all but dead, but it is going forward full steam ahead. Yes, the National Restaurant Associaton is appealing the ruling so it may be awhile before New Yorkers see any changes.

Here’s the full information about the ruling:

Now, let me pick it apart…

“It seems reasonable to expect that some consumers will use the information” on menu boards and menus “to select lower-calorie meals,” the judge wrote. He added that “these choices will lead to a lower incidence of obesity.”

Yes, some consumers will use the information. Will it be the ones with health problems, e.g. diabetes, high cholesterol, overweight, obese? Not sure… But I think you don’t know until you try. A lower calorie meal won’t necessarily lower incidence of obesity. If you only get fast food / casual dining once in awhile but still each too much and don’t exercise, saving a couple hundred calories off a meal won’t really make an impact. But, if a person dines out frequently, and consistently chooses a healthier meal, doesn’t compensate the calorie deficit from other foods throughout the day, and chooses to keep up with an exercise program then you might see some impact. Bottom line: it’s the big picture that counts. So I think it is more realistic to think that the ruling is making it easier for people to choose healthier foods and begin to adopt healthier dietary behaviors.

Chuck Hunt, a spokesman for the association, said it was disappointed in the ruling. He also said that it would cause “irreparable harm” to have to comply with the rules next week if they ended up being invalidated.

“We continue to say that each restaurant should make decisions about the best way to provide this nutritional information to their customers,” Mr. Hunt said. “Most of these restaurants that are being affected were already providing this information, but in a different format.”

I don’t know what “irreparable harm” is so I am dismissing that as rhetoric. I do think he has a point that brochures and website have had calorie information for people who want it. But I think the point with the ruling is that consumers aren’t thinking to look for it in advance so this is a chance to provide education when they are making the decision.

The restaurant association maintained that the calorie rules violate the First Amendment because they force restaurants to convey a government message.

I think they are digging deep with that one. Since when is nutrition content of an individual food a government “message”? Nutrition information is nutrition information. I wish I had more context for that comment. Do they mean that posting calorie information portrays the message that certain foods are healthier than others? I’m confused by what they really mean with this argument.

“The judge’s decision is crystal clear,” Dr. Frieden said. “They can go to court and delay us for a few more months, but if they do that, it just means McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken are desperate to keep this information out the hands of their customers.”

I have to say I disagree with this comment. I don’t think these specific chains are “desperate” and I don’t think they are deceptively hiding anything. You can get McDonald’s nutrition information on their website and KFC has an online nutrition calculator. They are businesses – and no business wants to lose money. I think they might be fearful of this being the tip of the iceberg. First NYC, then LA, then every other city. These changes are costly too. I don’t have a figure to report, but I at least know it is not free.

Personally, I just choose to make visits to fast food and casual dining rare events. I focus on locally owned, operated and unique restaurants that will give me an experience that is more than just about the food.

Here are some other posts on this topic. What do you think about the ruling?

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Aughhhhh - The design principle that I tend to obsess about the most is consistency.  Over the past week I had lunch or dinner at four restaurants.  The very first thing that the restaurant servers ask is “What can I get you to drink?”, or something related to ordering a beverage.  The issue is that the restaurant menus are not consistent with the ordering process, or consistent from restaurant to restaurant.  The first restaurant’s menu had the drinks listed on the front cover, the second one had the drinks listed on the back cover, the third one had the drinks listed on the inside back cover, and the fourth one had the drinks listed in the middle of the menu.

I feel like restaurants can improve their menus by simply adding tabs that follow the ordering procedure.  The first tab would be “Beverages”, the second “Appetizers”, the third “Entrees”, and the fourth “Desserts”.  This also improves the usability of the menu as the user can see where these sections are located when the menu is closed.

Not surprisingly, the bill that would require calories on restaurant menus in California was vetoed by “the Terminator“. He said the bill was “impractical”. I’ve heard arguments from both sides of the camp. As much as I would love to see people choosing skinless chicken and skipping fries at fast food chains, I’m not convinced people would use the nutrition information on the menu to make food choices.

According to a nationwide Decision Analyst Study, nearly half of Americans believe restaurants should be required to provide information on the nutritional value of their menu items.

In September, California became the first state to require fast-food restaurants to post calorie information on their menus. At least 17 other local governments across the country have either passed or tried to pass legislation requiring restaurants to post the calorie contents of their dishes.

I’m all for nutrition information… but…The questions are: will consumers use the information to make food choices, what kind of information do they care about because it all can’t fit, and will they buy the healthier stuff?

More information about the study…

In its ongoing Health and Nutrition Strategist™ syndicated study, Decision Analyst recently asked 4,156 survey respondents if they agreed or disagreed with the statement: “Restaurants should be required to give nutritional facts on each menu item.’’ Of those surveyed, 47 percent agreed with the statement, while 20 percent disagreed. The remaining 33 percent had no opinion.

Women are somewhat more interested in nutritional information than men, according to the study. Fifty-two percent of women respondents agreed that restaurants should provide nutritional information and 43 percent of males agreed.

Surprisingly, younger consumers are more interested in nutritional information about restaurant food than those who are older, the study shows. By age, 53 percent of respondents 18 to 24 agreed that nutrition facts should be provided, while 42 percent of the 65 and older group wanted nutritional information.

Restaurants Should Give Nutritional Facts On Each Menu Item
(By Age)

Age Agrees
18 to 24 53%
25 to 34 52%
35 to 44 48%
45 to 54 45%
55 to 64 46%
65 or older 42%

Methodology

Decision Analyst’s Health and Nutrition Strategist™ study is conducted online using the company’s American Consumer Opinion® panel. The survey relies on a nationally representative, statistically balanced sample of 4,156 American adults. The margin of error is plus or minus 2%. The Health and Nutrition Strategist™ study is a broad, integrated knowledge base of food, beverage consumption, restaurant usage, health habits, and nutritional attitudes.