Sponsored by Miss Vickie’s®.
From high-quality ingredients to bold flavor, today’s discerning diners want it all, and restaurants that can provide a great meal from start to finish have a leg up on the competition. Finding the perfect entrée and side pairings is a crucial step in ensuring a brand appeals to its customer base. That’s why Miss Vickie’s challenged restaurant owners to find the perfect sandwich to pair with its farm-inspired chip flavors.
One of the restaurants that undertook the challenge is Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop, developed by Lois Margolet, who with her brother, Alan, founded the shop in the building below their apartment and named it after their grandfather, Philip Capriotti. When the restaurant opened its first store in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1976, the concept of roasting turkey in-store every night was a differentiator from the stiff sub shop competition. Now, the brand still upholds this commitment to serving its guests house-made items.
“What makes Capriotti’s different is we make ingredients in-house, and special attention is paid to our meat,” McPherson says. “All our turkey and roast beef is made overnight in-house. Our meatballs are made from scratch. We use high-grade, high-quality premium steaks. Our coleslaw is handcrafted daily. We do all of this to deliver a great food experience.”
Today, this commitment to roasting high-quality meats in-store every night isn’t a new concept. In fact, it’s the kind of dedication to wholesome ingredients consumers have come to demand as their bars for quality food have risen. But unlike competitors, Capriotti’s has more than 40 years of experience in serving these house-made dishes, setting the brand apart as an industry leader.
“I think customers have really high expectations today,” says Jane McPherson, senior vice president of marketing for Capriotti’s. “They’re willing to work a little harder, drive an extra block, or wait in line for a product that is delivered in a high-quality way. Their expectations about ingredients have improved, as well as their understanding of flavor profiles.”
Because Capriotti’s and Miss Vickie’s are both brands with a strong history of ensuring their food is high quality, their partnership makes a lot of sense.
“Capriotti’s is a 40-year-old brand, but we’ve grown slowly because we’ve been paying attention to our ingredients and our products,” McPherson says. “Miss Vickie’s takes the same care and pays the same attention to its ingredients.”
Miss Vickie’s Kettle Cooked Chips contain no artificial flavors or preservatives, and this commitment appeals to many consumers. But McPherson says that the texture and flavor of the chips are one of the most important factors that make the brands a match.
“The kettle cooked quality of the chips is so delicious, and the flavors are great,” McPherson says. “We think our flavors are really unique, and they pair very well with Miss Vickie’s flavors.”
For the Miss Vickie’s Perfect Pairing challenge, Capriotti’s worked with Miss Vickie’s Sea Salt & Vinegar Flavored Kettle Cooked Potato Chips, which McPherson says are well-suited to pair with the brand’s savory sandwiches.
But the perfect pairing Capriotti’s came up with for the challenge, McPherson says, is the brand’s Cole Turkey sandwich. Made with slow-roasted house-made turkey, provolone cheese, Russian dressing, house-made coleslaw, and mayo, the sandwich’s innate flavors blend well with the tangy vinegar flavor of the chips.
“Our turkey is roasted overnight and then hand pulled,” she says. “It’s got a really cool texture that pairs well with the crunchy texture of the chip. Then, the tanginess of the coleslaw blends perfectly with the salt and vinegar flavor.”
In fact, the duo works so well together, McPherson says Capriotti’s plans on promoting the pairing to customers. “We are looking at how we can better promote chip pairings on our menuboards,” she says. “Some of the chips are just such a natural pairing, and I think these suggestions will excite customers.”