"The Culinary World of Chef Brad"

Darden Restaurants has some new promotions at two of its chains.

Red Lobster, which saw sharp sales declines last fiscal quarter, is trying to lure in cost-conscious consumers by promoting good deals. To help achieve that, the chain has introduced a promotion called “create-your-own seafood feast.”

via Create your own seafood feast — or wine label – November 16, 2009 Monday – Restaurants & Institutions.

IS it Thanksgiving if there is no traditional pie with a traditional filling and a crust that the cook obviously fussed and worried over? Sure it is.

via Taking a Holiday From Making Complicated Desserts – NYTimes.com.

About 12:30 on a recent weekday, the first lunch wave of students had receded from the dining hall of Champlain College’s IDX Student Center. In addition to the amazing views of Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks, the modern, airy space also offers an impressive menu, including daily specials like barbecued chicken or tofu with cornbread, coleslaw and baked beans or a Mexican-inspired Steak Ranchero Gordita sizzled up while you wait.

via Sustainability is the No. 1 trend in campus dining | burlingtonfreepress.com | The Burlington Free Press.

Seattle diners who order the salmon will get their meal with a message next week.

Chefs at more than a dozen restaurants are cooking up fish dishes that come with a special side: a warning that the creature’s future could be threatened by a giant gold and copper mine proposed for Bristol Bay in southwest Alaska, home to the world’s largest sockeye salmon runs.

via Local News | Chefs serve salmon with warning on fishes’ future | Seattle Times Newspaper.

Margret Malinowski is a big fan of the mashed potatoes at Edward Hospital. So when the 22-year-old was hospitalized for an infection in September, she was quick to dial down to the food service department to order a plateful — with a side of pudding.

via Hospital food gets intensive care, healthy update — chicagotribune.com.

THE fast-food industry is not usually known for lavish investment in its employees, even if dismissive talk of “McJobs” is often undeserved. Yet at Yum! Brands, the owner of chains such as KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, Dave Novak, the chief executive, is presiding over a training programme that he says is the “biggest culture-change initiative in the world today”, affecting all of the firm’s 1.4m workers spread across 112 countries.

via Yum! Brands’ new corporate culture: Taking the hill less climbed | The Economist.