Feedback: August 2024

Q: What are some considerations in planning a seasonal menu while also making it work within a business-day lunch schedule? 

Mike Archer

Chief Executive Officer
Lou Malnati’s Pizzerias
Sector: Restaurants

When planning a seasonal menu or a limited-time-offer item, there are several key considerations to ensure it fits seamlessly into a business-day lunch schedule. We start by discussing current trends in the marketplace, gathering insights from our customers, local offerings and broader food trends. Our goal is to identify flavor opportunities that align with the promise of a seasonal product.

We look for seasonal items or potential partners that offer unique flavor profiles or have their own following in the market. For instance, our recent collaboration with Mike’s Hot Honey was a great success. We work closely with partners to develop a product that brings out the best of both worlds.

Our research includes examining popular items like deep-dish and other signature products to craft recipes that resonate with our existing customers and attract new ones. Rolling out a new menu item across 80 locations comes with its challenges. We address this by involving all our managers in hands-on training, cascading this knowledge to our kitchen operations team. This approach ensures that our in-store training is effective and makes the execution at the store level straightforward, allowing us to serve our guests efficiently.

Mike Archer, CEO of Lou Malnati’s Pizzerias, has more than 30 years of experience in the restaurant industry. Since 2020, under Archer’s leadership, Malnati’s has experienced strong growth and has more than 80 locations in Chicago, Phoenix, Indianapolis, and Milwaukee.

Steve Chucri

President & CEO
Arizona Restaurant Association
Sector: Restaurants

Seasonal menus allow chefs to get creative with limited availability or hyper-local ingredients. This is a great way for restaurants to offer something unique beyond their regular menus. It’s also a great way for diners to enjoy new and regional tastes during the business day.

Planning a seasonal menu that works for a business-day lunch schedule should be geared toward lighter fare that is elegant yet easy and approachable. No one wants to leave the table hungry, but a hot and heavy dish can be too much for a midday meeting. Salads, sandwiches and wraps are great for casual business lunches, group networking events and those on the go. These classic dishes can be livened up with seasonal ingredients, appropriate for the time of year.

Choosing a business lunch location that offers a varied seasonal menu as well as a variety of selections that can accommodate different dietary needs and preferences is also a good idea. It’s also fun to focus on seasonal menu items that highlight regional or hyper local ingredients for a true taste of the area.

Steve Chucri is an Arizona native whose Lebanese lineage inspires his tenacity and entrepreneurial spirit to this day. He has served as the president and CEO of the Arizona Restaurant Association since 2002. During his more than 20-year career with the organization, Chucri has relentlessly advocated for and promoted businesses within the Arizona hospitality industry, which serves as an economic powerhouse for the state.

Peter McQuaid

Executive Chef
CALA Scottsdale
Sector: Restaurants

Our seasonal lunch menu is carefully crafted with a lot of heart and thought. We start by picking the freshest local ingredients for our limited-time dishes, tweaking them through several tastings until they’re just right. We also make sure to consider everyone’s tastes and dietary needs, creating a menu that blends our popular favorites with exciting new flavors that everyone can enjoy, whether you’re a regular or new to our restaurant.

Tailored for the hustle of a workday lunch, our menu features light and energizing options that keep you fueled without slowing you down. Whether you’re grabbing a quick bite between meetings or enjoying a leisurely lunch, our offerings are designed to be enjoyed effortlessly.

For a sophisticated lunch item, we recommend indulging in the signature Harissa Glazed Salmon, accompanied by a fresh herb salad. If you’re in the mood for a lighter dish, the Insalata Cala offers refreshing, but delicious buttery greens with smoked blue cheese, crunchy textures of watercress and toasted almonds.

Peter McQuaid is a dynamic and innovative executive chef based in Phoenix with a profound passion for the culinary arts and hospitality industry. Currently serving as the executive chef at CALA Scottsdale, Chef McQuaid showcases his culinary creativity by crafting exquisite recipes for the restaurant menu, carefully selecting seasonal ingredients to elevate each dish. 

Jeremy Pacheco

Director of Culinary
Genuine Concepts
Sector: Restaurants

We take several items into consideration when making menu changes at The VIG and all of Genuine Concepts establishments. We are always following trends in the industry to see what is popular at any given time, whether it’s health and diet to price-conscious items as well as what other restaurants in our competitive set are doing.

For lunch in particular, while working within seasonality we will lean toward lighter items going into summer and keeping things less heavy for lunch items so customers can head back to work after lunch without needing a nap.

We also keep in mind the seasonality of the product while making these changes. For example, for our most recent summer menu change at The Vig, we added a couple more salads on the menu. We subbed out our fall vegetable salad of brussels sprouts and roasted squash for a “Superfood Salad” of quinoa blueberries, golden raisins and sweet potatoes. We also changed ingredients in our “Vig Salad ” from fall ingredients of pomegranate and apples to lighter and seasonal ingredients like strawberries and oranges with a lemon-poppyseed dressing.

A ninth-generation Arizonan who grew up working on the family farm outside Tucson, Chef Jeremy Pacheco has always had a passion for fresh, delicious food. Now the executive chef and culinary director for Genuine Concepts, Chef Pacheco oversees the entire kitchen team for this Phoenix-based restaurant group behind The VIG, The Little Woody, The Womack, Campo Italian Bistro & Bar and The McMillan.