Marc Halperin

Menu-development professionals for fast-food chains have probably watched enviously as some of their fast-casual competitors have unveiled salads that are both too elaborate and too expensive to replicate at their concepts.

If demography is indeed destiny (as so many pundits and prognosticators are fond of noting), then fast-food and fast-casual brands are bound to take on an even more pronounced Latin flavor in coming years.

Two years ago in this very space, when I last opined on beer and wine, I acknowledged that the very idea of selling alcohol remained remote for some concepts, and far-fetched for many. But the drive for higher margins, coupled with the fact that many adult customers simply see beer and wine as...

They’re jarred awake by an abrasive alarm clock, flustered by the challenge of selecting the right outfit in the dark, annoyed by the prospect of a heavily congested commute, and daunted by the prospect of another day’s slog through the salt mines. Is it any wonder the last thing...

While attending the Research Chefs Association’s annual conference in San Antonio this past March, I wandered into the Esquire Tavern, a historic downtown institution with a cocktail menu capable of tempting even the most ardent teetotaler.

Of the long and ever-growing list of foods, food ingredients, and food additives you never thought would return to the marketplace or earn a second look from consumers—think: diet soft drinks sweetened with saccharine and unpasteurized dairy products—one item in particular seemed...

Overgeneralizing about generations has become a great American pastime.

Baby Boomers? They’re typically depicted as children of privilege, post-war babies whose sheer numbers have ensured an outsized cultural influence. They tuned in, turned on, dropped out, bounced back, sold out,...

While my esteemed QSR colleagues turn their attentions this month to more traditional proteins, I thought I’d venture off the beaten path a bit to talk about some alternatives that are gaining traction with chefs and consumers.

Today, I bring you two inspirational tales of renewal, reinvention, and adaptation.

The first is the story of a formerly underappreciated and generally anonymous soul known botanically as Coffea Arabica, or Coffea canephora.

Growing up in California’s San Joaquin Valley, I...