Menu Talk with Pat and Bret is a collaboration between Restaurant Business senior menu editor Pat Cobe and Bret Thorn, senior food & beverage editor of Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality.
Menu Talk: Pat and Bret discuss the latest food and drink trends and feature a conversation with Rob Levitt of Publican Quality Meats in Chicago
Bret was a bit of a homebody last week as he prepared for CREATE: The Event for Emerging Restaurateurs, a conference that Nation’s Restaurant News is hosting in Nashville this week, but he did enjoy traditional Jewish brisket for Rosh Hashannah at a friend’s home in Manhattan.
Pat attended two Broadway shows that were preceded by tasty and affordable meals, which can be hard to find in the Theater District. She had parsnip soup, swordfish, and baklava at Kellari before one show, and before a matinee she had a tasty and reasonably priced brunch at Boqueria, which was less than $20 per person (before tip) — an extreme rarity in Midtown Manhattan.
The co-hosts also discussed the Chicken Big Mac, which McDonald’s is launching on Oct. 10, replacing the two all-beef patties with breaded and fried chicken ones. Like the original sandwich, the new version has special sauce, lettuce, cheese, and pickles, but no onions.
Bret wondered about that, which led to a discussion to the role of onions on a chicken sandwich and whether, in fact, they have a role to play at all.
Then he shared an interview he had with Rob Levitt, head butcher and chef de cuisine of Publican Quality Meats in Chicago. He shared his passion for butchery and his appreciation for One-Off Hospitality’s leader and chef Paul Kahan.
Levitt also discussed his appearance on the hit TV show The Bear, streaming on Hulu, in which he played himself.
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