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Grilled Quesadilla from Princeton University.
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MENU DEVELOPMENT > MENU STRATEGIES
January 4th, 2012
Mastering the Grill
Diners prefer seeing grilled foods cooked to order.
By Pamela Parseghian, Contributing Food Writer
Grilling may be the oldest cooking style known to man,
but some chefs are flaming interest in charred foods by
grilling out-of-the-ordinary foods in some unusual ways.
With the trend of cooked-to-order food going strong, grills
have become the go-to way to satisfy demand for made-
to-order stations.
Grilling may be the oldest cooking style known to man,
but some chefs are flaming interest in charred foods by
grilling out-of-the-ordinary foods in some unusual ways.
With the trend of cooked-to-order food going strong, grills
have become the go-to way to satisfy demand for made-
to-order stations.
Sizzling ideas: At Princeton University in New Jersey,
Executive Chef Rob Harbison says Himalayan rock salt
slab cooking, where hot rocks are used to sear foods, has
been a hit at catered parties.
“Every time we use the Himalayan rock salt ‘grills’
everyone is shocked when they hear the sizzle and see
the food cooking,” he says.
Princeton’s execution of rock salt cooking is simple,
according to Harbison. Rock salt slabs are heated in
ovens as workers are prepping other foods, and the slabs
remain hot in serving areas for about a half hour.
Harbison says using rock salt slabs is actually easier than
lugging cooking equipment to dining room receptions.
“There is no additional charge when doing these types of
functions,” he adds. “It is simply a different way of
cooking. [The slabs] impart a great flavor with each use. The salt [flavor] is subtle but present nonetheless.”
Also turning heads at Princeton is what was an out-of-date Mongolian grill that was recently turned into an
exhibition griddle for quesadillas. Harbison converted the grill when he and Unit Chef Gary Bowlsbey saw that
sales were flat on made-to-order Mongolian grilled dishes.
“Guests enjoy talking to the chefs, ordering exactly what they want and watching their food getting cooked in front
of them,” he says. “They pick from a choice of flavored tortillas, proteins and cheeses. Quesadillas have overtaken
sales of the grill area. It’s trumping hamburgers and chicken fingers. I think [the draw is] the fresh ingredients and
there’s no mystery of where the food is coming from. And they see solid and cleaner proteins that are not
processed.”
The department is selling about 150 quesadillas a day on the 10-year-old grill, which can cook a half dozen
quesadillas at a time, Harbison says.
“It’s a well-seasoned Mongolian grill and once you season those things they are pretty much like a non-stick pan,”
he adds. “We are thinking of it as more of a plancha grill, so we’re trying to test the limits of it. We started [using
the grill like this] a couple of years ago with a quick service-style burrito. It knocked the socks off the students
here.”
The new quesadilla also is helping the bottom line, Harbison says. It’s priced about the same as the burrito, but it is
less expensive to produce.
Craig Tarrant, district chef at Eurest Dining Services, a division of Compass Group, at Microsoft’s main campus in
Redmond, Wash., also finds success with grilling in front of diners. He has four stationary flattops with two-ring
gas grills that he uses for everything from cooking quesadillas to order to paellas.
“We focus on creating engaging atmospheres that connect customers with food,” says Paul Egger, senior services
manager for Microsoft. “Exhibition cooking on grills really puts the culinary experience in front of the customers, as
well as offers versatility in our menus.”
Tarrant currently menus two sweet and two savory crêpes that are cooked on the grills.
“One of the hot-selling sweet crêpes this fall was an apple cranberry crêpe topped with grilled sliced apple
garnish,” Tarrant says. “Other crêpes include a bananas Foster, one with pumpkin and bacon, as well as an
unsweetened leek, tomato and mozzarella rendition.
Back to basics: A new program for Microsoft is a concept called @burger, which will focus on burgers, hand-cut
fries and shakes that will be similar to In-N-Out, according to Tarrant.
Since @burger isn’t scheduled to formally open until the spring, the concept is still being finalized, but Tarrant says
the burgers will be cooked on a griddle with yellow mustard added after they are turned once. There also will be a
secret sauce. The mystery spread will be similar to Thousand Island dressing prepared with mayo, ketchup, relish,
a touch of extra vinegar and sugar.
WHAT'S NEW INDUSTRY NEWS & OPINION
MANAGING YOUR BUSINESS IDEAS & INNOVATION
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Waldy Malouf cultivates a world-class
learning environment
While food-savvy Gen Z
diners have college
dining halls taking their
cuisine to the next level,
the student-diner bar is
set higher at the Culinary
Institute of America,
where those same
students are future chefs and industry leaders.
FoodService Director’s FSD of the Year
Courting today's 7 key consumer types
A sustainable lunch—is it the box that counts?
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Industry News
& Opinion
Managing
Your Business
Ideas &
Innovation
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Development
Research
People in
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Page 1 of 4Operators Provide Cooked to Order Items on the Grill | FoodService Director
3/2/2016http://www.foodservicedirector.com/menu-development/menu-strategies/articles/mastering-...
2. The sauce, and toppings like American cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup and grilled onions, will be
available to mix and match as requested. Local ingredients will be used when possible on signature burgers. “The
Handyman” burger will feature hand-cut fries between two patties. “The South Beach” burger will have no bun and
two patties wrapped in iceberg lettuce.
Burgers also are on the grill at Virtua Voorhees, a recently opened hospital in Voorhees, N.J. But the house
specialty, a rib steak sandwich, is one of the attractions that is drawing diners from outside the hospital, says
Steve Vincent, director of food and nutrition services.
“We do get people off the street from local businesses,” Vincent says. “It’s very reasonably priced. The average
price of a meal is $3.50.”
For the rib sandwich, Vincent charbroils a five-ounce steak to order. He tops the steak with two beer-battered fried
onion rings and melted provolone cheese and places it on a torpedo roll that is slathered with garlic butter and
browned on the griddle.
serve them with the beef chili gravy and add tostadas to the mix.”
Buffalo, Boar and Antelope—Oh, My!
Diners game for exotic proteins at Pittsburgh law firm.
At Reed Smith, a Parkhurst Dining Services account, the biggest craze right now, according to Executive Chef Jeff
Shaffer, is the café’s wild game burgers. This summer Shaffer started offering bison, boar and antelope burgers.
He says his diners find the game burgers unusual, but since they are very familiar with burgers, the item became a
logical way to introduce a possibly unfamiliar protein.
“It’s an exotic meat [showcased in] something [customers] can associate with,” Shaffer says. “But it’s still kind of
on the edge. They aren’t seeing wild boar in the restaurants around town. And they like to try something exotic in
their daily work life. [The taste of boar is] like pork but more gamey. It has a lot of flavor, but it’s not off putting by
any means. [Antelope tastes] like venison but slightly less gamey.”
Shaffer adds that both buffalo and antelope are leaner than beef so they need to be cooked carefully.
“They will cook a little faster than beef,” he explains. “And they can dry out quicker than beef. It also helps that [the
burgers] are so big.”
The half-pound patties are charred on the outside but remain moist in the center, Shaffer says. Still with the large
size Shaffer keeps the game burgers’ cost down. He offers them at a competitive price compared to what
customers would pay around town for just a beef burger. The burgers are priced at just under $10 with a side and a
drink. The game costs him about 25% more than beef, but he finds it easy to source through a specialty purveyor.
The meat comes already ground, and his staff then seasons it and forms it into patties. On an average day the
department sells eight to 10 of the game burgers. Both the game and beef burgers come with a choice of toppings
from traditional lettuce and tomato to house-cured bacon and pickles.
“Our grill is one of the most popular stations at Reed Smith,” says Shaffer. “Every day we offer a variety of hand-cut
steaks, fresh fish, lamb and veal that we cook to order for our guests,” Shaffer says. “And the grill cook is great. He
knows everyone by name. He knows Martha is coming for breakfast and what she’s going to have.”
That grill cook, Dave Vesch, has been at the account since Parkhurst took over about two years ago. He displays
the proteins that he grills in a refrigerated case so that guests can pick the exact piece of meat they’d like. Shaffer
says the veal chop is the department’s bestseller, and beef burgers sell well because they are made with all fresh,
not frozen, meat.
“People know they can come and get a great burger,” Shaffer says. “It’s comfortable for people.”
Shaffer is thinking of adding more game to his menu—“maybe some ostrich or kangaroo. But we will start with the
burger again, just to make it familiar.”
Vegan Grill
When Janna Traver, executive chef/assistant director for KU Dining Services at the University of Kansas in
Lawrence, was developing a vegetarian dish for catering she came up with a vegan eggplant terrine. She even
submitted it to NACUFS for its vegan recipe contest, where it won a gold medal.
“One of the things I like about grilling eggplant is that if you sear eggplant it will often absorb all the oil. By grilling
the eggplant, I found we could cut the amount of fat in recipes by about three quarters because you just barely
need to grill it. I really enjoy what grilling does to the texture of the eggplant because it doesn’t get mushy. After we
did this we started playing around with grilled eggplant in other recipes.”
Vegan Eggplant Terrine
25 16-oz. servings
3 cups celery, medium dice,
1 cup olive oil
6 cups yellow bell pepper, medium dice
6 cups red bell pepper, medium dice
16 cups sweet potato, medium dice
2 tsp. cardamom
12 cups yellow onion, medium dice
1 1/2 gal. water
1 1/2 lbs. dry Israeli couscous
10 large eggplants
1 gal. Cinnamon-Scented Tomato Sauce (recipe follows)
Cinnamon-Scented Tomato Sauce:
Yield: 1 gallon
4 yellow onions, 8 oz. each
4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
4 cups canned roasted red pepper, diced
8 cups canned tomato strips in heavy sauce
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
2 tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 tbsp. kosher salt
2 tbsp. red pepper flakes
2 tbsp. fresh thyme minced
1. Toss celery in 1 tbsp. olive oil. Toss yellow and red peppers together with 2 tbsp. olive oil. Toss sweet potato in
3 tbsp. olive oil and 2 tsp. cardamom.
2. Toss yellow onion with 2 tbsp. olive oil. Place all vegetables on sheet pan. Cook in a 350°F oven for 10 mins.
Toss and check tenderness. Continue cooking until tender.
ADVERTISEMENT
Page 2 of 4Operators Provide Cooked to Order Items on the Grill | FoodService Director
3/2/2016http://www.foodservicedirector.com/menu-development/menu-strategies/articles/mastering-...
3. 0
Waldy Malouf cultivates
a world-class learning
environment
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FoodService Director’s
FSD of the Year
Sodexo drops
hamburgers for 'plant-
forward' variety
◾ What's the best way to handle language
barriers?
◾ 5 clever ways FSDs are downplaying soda
◾ K-12 foodservices take on Mother Nature
◾ How Mary Davis is helping schools meet
nutrition standards
◾ Patients provide hyper-local ingredients at
senior-living facility
◾ How 4 operators created new concepts from
existing space
3. While vegetables are cooking, boil water. Reduce to simmer and add couscous. Cook until al dente. Drain, do
not rinse. Hold in warmer for assembly.
4. Slice eggplant lengthwise on slicer in 1/4-in. slabs. Brush one side of eggplant lightly with remaining oil. Mark
on hot grill.
5. For Cinnamon-Scented Tomato sauce: Peel and slice onions into 1-in. slabs. Lightly brush onions on both sides
with 2 tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil. Grill onions on each side until nicely marked. Remove onions and course
chop. Place remaining olive oil in 6- to 8-quart saucepan. Add chopped onion and red peppers. Simmer, stir
until onion is translucent. Add tomato, sugar, cinnamon, salt, red pepper flakes and thyme. Simmer for
additional 5 mins. Remove from heat and purée in blender until smooth.
6. Toss cooked vegetables, 1/2 gal. Cinnamon-Scented Tomato Sauce, and couscous.
Previous Next
By Pamela Parseghian, Contributing Food Writer
View More Articles By Pamela Parseghian
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A ribeye steak sandwich from Parkhurst at Reed Smith.
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Search
0
Grilled Quesadilla from Princeton University.
RELATED CONTENT
Lemon grass Shrimp Skewer with Clementine &
TABASCO Pepper Sauce 2/19/2012
Grilled Shrimp Quesadilla 2/19/2012
Shredded Beef Barbacoa Quesadilla 2/19/2012
Grilled Apple & Cranberry Crêpe with Cinnamon
Cream and Honey Candied Pecans 11/25/2014
MENU DEVELOPMENT > MENU STRATEGIES
January 4th, 2012
Mastering the Grill
Diners prefer seeing grilled foods cooked to order.
By Pamela Parseghian, Contributing Food Writer
Grilling may be the oldest cooking style known to man,
but some chefs are flaming interest in charred foods by
grilling out-of-the-ordinary foods in some unusual ways.
With the trend of cooked-to-order food going strong, grills
have become the go-to way to satisfy demand for made-
to-order stations.
Grilling may be the oldest cooking style known to man,
but some chefs are flaming interest in charred foods by
grilling out-of-the-ordinary foods in some unusual ways.
With the trend of cooked-to-order food going strong, grills
have become the go-to way to satisfy demand for made-
to-order stations.
Sizzling ideas: At Princeton University in New Jersey,
Executive Chef Rob Harbison says Himalayan rock salt
slab cooking, where hot rocks are used to sear foods, has
been a hit at catered parties.
“Every time we use the Himalayan rock salt ‘grills’
everyone is shocked when they hear the sizzle and see
the food cooking,” he says.
Princeton’s execution of rock salt cooking is simple,
according to Harbison. Rock salt slabs are heated in
ovens as workers are prepping other foods, and the slabs
remain hot in serving areas for about a half hour.
Harbison says using rock salt slabs is actually easier than
lugging cooking equipment to dining room receptions.
“There is no additional charge when doing these types of
functions,” he adds. “It is simply a different way of
cooking. [The slabs] impart a great flavor with each use. The salt [flavor] is subtle but present nonetheless.”
Also turning heads at Princeton is what was an out-of-date Mongolian grill that was recently turned into an
exhibition griddle for quesadillas. Harbison converted the grill when he and Unit Chef Gary Bowlsbey saw that
sales were flat on made-to-order Mongolian grilled dishes.
“Guests enjoy talking to the chefs, ordering exactly what they want and watching their food getting cooked in front
of them,” he says. “They pick from a choice of flavored tortillas, proteins and cheeses. Quesadillas have overtaken
sales of the grill area. It’s trumping hamburgers and chicken fingers. I think [the draw is] the fresh ingredients and
there’s no mystery of where the food is coming from. And they see solid and cleaner proteins that are not
processed.”
The department is selling about 150 quesadillas a day on the 10-year-old grill, which can cook a half dozen
quesadillas at a time, Harbison says.
“It’s a well-seasoned Mongolian grill and once you season those things they are pretty much like a non-stick pan,”
he adds. “We are thinking of it as more of a plancha grill, so we’re trying to test the limits of it. We started [using
the grill like this] a couple of years ago with a quick service-style burrito. It knocked the socks off the students
here.”
The new quesadilla also is helping the bottom line, Harbison says. It’s priced about the same as the burrito, but it is
less expensive to produce.
Craig Tarrant, district chef at Eurest Dining Services, a division of Compass Group, at Microsoft’s main campus in
Redmond, Wash., also finds success with grilling in front of diners. He has four stationary flattops with two-ring
gas grills that he uses for everything from cooking quesadillas to order to paellas.
“We focus on creating engaging atmospheres that connect customers with food,” says Paul Egger, senior services
manager for Microsoft. “Exhibition cooking on grills really puts the culinary experience in front of the customers, as
well as offers versatility in our menus.”
Tarrant currently menus two sweet and two savory crêpes that are cooked on the grills.
“One of the hot-selling sweet crêpes this fall was an apple cranberry crêpe topped with grilled sliced apple
garnish,” Tarrant says. “Other crêpes include a bananas Foster, one with pumpkin and bacon, as well as an
unsweetened leek, tomato and mozzarella rendition.
Back to basics: A new program for Microsoft is a concept called @burger, which will focus on burgers, hand-cut
fries and shakes that will be similar to In-N-Out, according to Tarrant.
Since @burger isn’t scheduled to formally open until the spring, the concept is still being finalized, but Tarrant says
the burgers will be cooked on a griddle with yellow mustard added after they are turned once. There also will be a
secret sauce. The mystery spread will be similar to Thousand Island dressing prepared with mayo, ketchup, relish,
a touch of extra vinegar and sugar.
WHAT'S NEW INDUSTRY NEWS & OPINION
MANAGING YOUR BUSINESS IDEAS & INNOVATION
ADVERTISEMENT
Waldy Malouf cultivates a world-class
learning environment
While food-savvy Gen Z
diners have college
dining halls taking their
cuisine to the next level,
the student-diner bar is
set higher at the Culinary
Institute of America,
where those same
students are future chefs and industry leaders.
FoodService Director’s FSD of the Year
Courting today's 7 key consumer types
A sustainable lunch—is it the box that counts?
ADVERTISEMENT
MenuDirections Conference RSS
Industry News
& Opinion
Managing
Your Business
Ideas &
Innovation
Menu
Development
Research
People in
Foodservice
Sponsored Content
Page 1 of 4Operators Provide Cooked to Order Items on the Grill | FoodService Director
3/2/2016http://www.foodservicedirector.com/menu-development/menu-strategies/articles/mastering-...](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/e21306d8-14f2-493e-b304-34e2fb2284ae-160302152953/85/Grill-thrill-1-320.jpg)
![The sauce, and toppings like American cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup and grilled onions, will be
available to mix and match as requested. Local ingredients will be used when possible on signature burgers. “The
Handyman” burger will feature hand-cut fries between two patties. “The South Beach” burger will have no bun and
two patties wrapped in iceberg lettuce.
Burgers also are on the grill at Virtua Voorhees, a recently opened hospital in Voorhees, N.J. But the house
specialty, a rib steak sandwich, is one of the attractions that is drawing diners from outside the hospital, says
Steve Vincent, director of food and nutrition services.
“We do get people off the street from local businesses,” Vincent says. “It’s very reasonably priced. The average
price of a meal is $3.50.”
For the rib sandwich, Vincent charbroils a five-ounce steak to order. He tops the steak with two beer-battered fried
onion rings and melted provolone cheese and places it on a torpedo roll that is slathered with garlic butter and
browned on the griddle.
serve them with the beef chili gravy and add tostadas to the mix.”
Buffalo, Boar and Antelope—Oh, My!
Diners game for exotic proteins at Pittsburgh law firm.
At Reed Smith, a Parkhurst Dining Services account, the biggest craze right now, according to Executive Chef Jeff
Shaffer, is the café’s wild game burgers. This summer Shaffer started offering bison, boar and antelope burgers.
He says his diners find the game burgers unusual, but since they are very familiar with burgers, the item became a
logical way to introduce a possibly unfamiliar protein.
“It’s an exotic meat [showcased in] something [customers] can associate with,” Shaffer says. “But it’s still kind of
on the edge. They aren’t seeing wild boar in the restaurants around town. And they like to try something exotic in
their daily work life. [The taste of boar is] like pork but more gamey. It has a lot of flavor, but it’s not off putting by
any means. [Antelope tastes] like venison but slightly less gamey.”
Shaffer adds that both buffalo and antelope are leaner than beef so they need to be cooked carefully.
“They will cook a little faster than beef,” he explains. “And they can dry out quicker than beef. It also helps that [the
burgers] are so big.”
The half-pound patties are charred on the outside but remain moist in the center, Shaffer says. Still with the large
size Shaffer keeps the game burgers’ cost down. He offers them at a competitive price compared to what
customers would pay around town for just a beef burger. The burgers are priced at just under $10 with a side and a
drink. The game costs him about 25% more than beef, but he finds it easy to source through a specialty purveyor.
The meat comes already ground, and his staff then seasons it and forms it into patties. On an average day the
department sells eight to 10 of the game burgers. Both the game and beef burgers come with a choice of toppings
from traditional lettuce and tomato to house-cured bacon and pickles.
“Our grill is one of the most popular stations at Reed Smith,” says Shaffer. “Every day we offer a variety of hand-cut
steaks, fresh fish, lamb and veal that we cook to order for our guests,” Shaffer says. “And the grill cook is great. He
knows everyone by name. He knows Martha is coming for breakfast and what she’s going to have.”
That grill cook, Dave Vesch, has been at the account since Parkhurst took over about two years ago. He displays
the proteins that he grills in a refrigerated case so that guests can pick the exact piece of meat they’d like. Shaffer
says the veal chop is the department’s bestseller, and beef burgers sell well because they are made with all fresh,
not frozen, meat.
“People know they can come and get a great burger,” Shaffer says. “It’s comfortable for people.”
Shaffer is thinking of adding more game to his menu—“maybe some ostrich or kangaroo. But we will start with the
burger again, just to make it familiar.”
Vegan Grill
When Janna Traver, executive chef/assistant director for KU Dining Services at the University of Kansas in
Lawrence, was developing a vegetarian dish for catering she came up with a vegan eggplant terrine. She even
submitted it to NACUFS for its vegan recipe contest, where it won a gold medal.
“One of the things I like about grilling eggplant is that if you sear eggplant it will often absorb all the oil. By grilling
the eggplant, I found we could cut the amount of fat in recipes by about three quarters because you just barely
need to grill it. I really enjoy what grilling does to the texture of the eggplant because it doesn’t get mushy. After we
did this we started playing around with grilled eggplant in other recipes.”
Vegan Eggplant Terrine
25 16-oz. servings
3 cups celery, medium dice,
1 cup olive oil
6 cups yellow bell pepper, medium dice
6 cups red bell pepper, medium dice
16 cups sweet potato, medium dice
2 tsp. cardamom
12 cups yellow onion, medium dice
1 1/2 gal. water
1 1/2 lbs. dry Israeli couscous
10 large eggplants
1 gal. Cinnamon-Scented Tomato Sauce (recipe follows)
Cinnamon-Scented Tomato Sauce:
Yield: 1 gallon
4 yellow onions, 8 oz. each
4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
4 cups canned roasted red pepper, diced
8 cups canned tomato strips in heavy sauce
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
2 tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 tbsp. kosher salt
2 tbsp. red pepper flakes
2 tbsp. fresh thyme minced
1. Toss celery in 1 tbsp. olive oil. Toss yellow and red peppers together with 2 tbsp. olive oil. Toss sweet potato in
3 tbsp. olive oil and 2 tsp. cardamom.
2. Toss yellow onion with 2 tbsp. olive oil. Place all vegetables on sheet pan. Cook in a 350°F oven for 10 mins.
Toss and check tenderness. Continue cooking until tender.
ADVERTISEMENT
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3/2/2016http://www.foodservicedirector.com/menu-development/menu-strategies/articles/mastering-...](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)