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Menu development
One would think that ’ s a far cry from being involved in the culinary underbelly of New York . However , for Matt at least , it ’ s not as clear cut as it might initially seem .
“ I ’ ve thought about this a lot over the years ,” he says . “ As the number of restaurants for which I was Chief Culinary Officer grew , obviously the less time I got to spend in the kitchen .
“ Hands-on cutting , dicing , and frying naturally evolved into
eyes-on managerial duties and planning . It was necessary to adopt a more strategic approach to take the business forward . When you end up with a portfolio of 30- plus restaurants , you simply don ’ t have time to be standing on the line cooking .”
It ’ s all about coming up with the next big idea for the brand
Nevertheless , Matt keeps his hand in by curating culinary programs for all PPX ’ s brands . “ I ’ m fortunate that I have a fantastic culinary director , with whom I ’ ve worked for many years ,” he reveals .
“ We favor a collaborative approach , so today , for instance , after we finish talking , I ’ m going to head to our test kitchen so we can cook together . These days are super fun when they come around .
“ It ’ s all about coming up with the next big idea for the brand ,” he adds . “ It starts with the season we are heading into because that ’ ll ultimately dictate what fish is going to be available .
“ We ’ ll experiment with different produce , go through our ideas , and try different samples to formulate some kind of plan for a
INNOVATING FRESH PRODUCE IN THE FOODSERVICE INDUSTRY
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