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Bret Thorn Patricia Cobe

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Elote corn ribs, revisiting Momofuku and the health risks of restaurant reviewing

🍴 Bret Thorn, Senior Food & Beverage Editor for Nation's Restaurant News since 1999, also joined Restaurant Hospitality in 2016. Wrote for The New York Sun from 2005 to 2008. His podcast "In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn" features foodservice experts. Won the Jesse H. Neal Award in 2006. Authored entries in the Oxford Encyclopedia (2012) and Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets (2015). Magna cum laude from Tufts University, studied at Le Cordon Bleu, and was in Beijing during the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. Inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014. Lives in Brooklyn, NY. Contact: [email protected], LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter: @foodwriterdiary, Instagram: @foodwriterdiary.
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Food holidays, restaurant weeks, and the magic of good longstanding operators

🍸 Restaurant experts Pat Cobe and Bret Thorn recognize national food holidays as potent marketing tools amid rising costs and lowering guest counts. La Palapa, a decades-old Mexican restaurant in New York City’s East Village, received praise from Pat for its Margaritas and churros. Bret explores Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, highlighting Wheeler’s for its longstanding service and good food. New York Restaurant Week extends to a month this year, with advice to restaurants to showcase their best. Trevin Hutchins, beverage director at Aphotic in San Francisco, distinguishes the seafood restaurant with a unique beverage program featuring house-distilled gin with seaweed and in-house non-alcoholic pairings for tasting menus.
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Hop water, matcha, and prix-fixe menus

🍴 Pat Cobe visited Blank Street for their summer matcha drinks and noted the $42 lobster rolls at Salavar’s in Montauk. Bret Thorn dined at Iron Hill Brewery in Philadelphia, enjoying spirit-free cocktails, and at Zahav, tasting the $85 prix-fixe menu. Both attended Electric Shuffle's debut in NYC. Dan Kluger, chef-partner of Greywind in New York, discussed his culinary journey and the restaurant's multiple venues, including a bakery and speakeasy-style bar.
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Roast pig, ancient grains and Perkins’ menu mission

🍗 In New York City, Pat and Bret attended a pig roast at Back Bar, Eventi Hotel, where Chef Laurent Tourondel's team cooked pigs from noon to 6 p.m. using a charcoal-fired "caja chino." At Heritage Grand Bakery, owner Lou Ramirez bakes with "population wheat," a mix of 17 grains. Perkins, renamed to Perkins American Food Co., focuses on bakery items, while Huddle House emphasizes its core menu, avoiding too much flavor innovation. Both chains form part of family-dining chains reinventing their menus.
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