Minnesota Restaurant Blog:
Dec 9 - Dec 15, 2007

Food Is Not Why We're Fat

The Center for Consumer Freedom has released a new report stating that our lifestyles - not the food we eat - is the main culprit when it comes to obesity in America.

Concurrent studies from the journal of the American Medical Association support the same idea - sedentary lifestyles are the main problem.

The CCF's report cites the following interesting facts as some of the contributors: TVs outnumber people in households, kids play video games rather than play outside, people use riding mowers rather than push mowers, and people use moving sidewalks in airports instead of walking.

Trice Whitefield from the CCF suggests that by making wise lifestyle choices, we can have our cake and eat it too.

www.consumerfreedom.com

85% Of Consumers Eat Dessert

Technomic recently did a study entitled Dessert Consumer Trend Report showing that almost everyone will order a dessert once in a while.

1500 consumers were surveyed and 85% said they eat dessert once a month or more. 57% said they eat dessert at least once a week. None of those surveyed said they never eat dessert.

The researchers suggest restaurants can increase dessert sales by offering 'healthy' desserts like fruit plates or yogurt parfaits, or by offering dessert toppings on cakes, pies and cookies.

www.foodpubs.com

Online Reviews Carry A Lot Of Weight

A study conducted by comScore and The Kelsey Group found that online reviews by customers have a big impact on prospective restaurant patrons.

In fact, people are willing to pay up to 99% more after reading a positive review online. The study found that 24% of people who pay for local services read online reviews before making their choice.

90% of the people who trusted the online consumer reviews found that the review ended up being accurate. Customer also tend to put more stock in reviews by fellow consumers than reviews by professionals.

Minnesota Restaurant Search users can enter reviews for any restaurant in our database by going to the restaurant page and filling out the form at the bottom. So far, the restaurant generating the most positive reviews has been Zizzorts in Sartell.

www.comscore.com

Sugar's BBQ Smoke House Open In St Cloud

There's a new barbeque place open in St Cloud - besides Famous Daves.

It's Sugar's BBQ Smokehouse, open now on 3rd Street North. Owner Roy Ellerbe was born and raised in Virginia where he learned BBQ from his grandfather. The do BBQ the old-fashioned Southeastern way with hours of slow Rotisserie cooking in their smoker.

Their ribs are served dry and you can add sauces to your own taste including regular, spicy and chicken mambo. At Sugar's there isn't much for atmosphere, but as they say - it's all about the food.

Going Small Is Getting Big In Restaurants

Over a thousand member chefs of the American Culinary Federation were surveyed to determine what the 'hot trends' in the restaurant industry were - and small plates and bite-size desserts are among the hottest trends.

Besides trending toward smaller plates some restaurants offer tasting menus, offering customers small portions of food or alcoholic beverages.

Another hot trend is the shifting of using more 'alternative-source' ingredients - like local produce, organic items, and grass-fed meat. Fusing ethnic cuisine items (like flatbreads and Asian flavors) into the menu is also a hot trend.

Items rated as 'hot trends' last year but not anymore included fruit/flavored wine, star fruit, low-carb dough and tofu.

www.acfchefs.org