Anthony Pigliacampo — Wednesday, August 11th, 2010
Some of you may have noticed we recently switched from serving our large salads in bowls to serving them on plates. (Plates are actually on order for side salads, they are just not here yet). You might be surprised at the reasoning behind this. Number one is related to sustainability and Modmarket’s overall environmental impact. Turns out that one of our biggest uses of water in the space is our dishwasher. Despite having the most efficient one we could buy, every load that runs through the machine uses a set amount of soap, sanitizer and water. Doesn’t matter if one dish or 100 dishes are in it, the cycle is pretty much always the same (at least how we use it). Our bowls do not fit well in the dishwasher. You can fit about 12 per load, and that is if you PERFECTLY load the tray, which does not always occur. Also, in order to get 12 on a tray, you have to stand the bowls on edge. This results in the bowls not getting as clean as we would always like which means they have to be rerun occasionally. Standing on edge also results in chipped edges, and once an edge is chipped, the bowl has to be tossed. A bowl needs to be used about 300 times before the eco impact of having a reusable bowl beats out having disposable ones. We have had bowls chip on their first washing cycle, and there is nothing worse than throwing away a brand new expensive bowl b/c it has a chip in it. So why are plates the solution? Well, first off, we can fit about 27 in the dishwasher at once. We will use less than half the soap and water to wash the same number of plates now. Second, we found a plate with a 5 year chip warranty. We found exactly one company that offers this. They make REALLY high quality plates. And according to their rep, they can afford the warranty b/c the plates are so well built, they will not really ever chip. Our testing has confirmed this, they are extremely durable. Third, the new plates look really sweet. The new plates are a little more expensive than our bowls were, but b/c if the chip warranty, that should pay for itself in a month or so of use. You would be shocked to see how many of our bowls were getting tossed because of chipping. I love things like this – we make a smart business decision that is also eco-smart. Obviously we save money the less plates we throw away and the less dishwashing cycles that we have to run. But we also are doing something good for the eco footprint of our restaurant in the process. Details like this are where a business likes ours makes its eco impact. I hate how all these restaurants are like ‘we have cups make of corn’ and everyone things they are so sustainable. Arggg. (Note: we use corn cups right now, but hopefully before the year is out we will have a MUCH more sustainable solution in place!)
I get into discussions all of the time with people about how the average consumer is somewhat powerless to try and eat a healthier diet. Big food companies spend all of their efforts making foods that you really shouldn’t be consuming and then they market and position them on shelves in ways that makes a person have to go so far out of their way to get an alternative that most never do.
Case in point, the new version of Gatorade, ‘G Natural”. I just was reading some Tour de France coverage and saw this online ad. Great job PepsiCo. You realized that ‘normal’ Gatorade, the type that 99% of people know about, is not natural so you create a sub brand that is all natural, rebrand it, and then sell it through ONE retailer. Not that I have anything against Whole Foods, I actually love them, but Whole Foods, previous to this version of Gatorade did not sell Gatorade. Plus, because Gatorade seems to be sold in every gas station and grocery store on the planet, does selling this version at Whole Foods give the majority of Gatorade consumers a chance to try it? Not even close. Why should only people who shop at Whole Foods have access to an all natural version of Gatorade?
Going further, why even make the non-natural version anymore? You took the time and effort to rebrand, why not take the opportunity to rebrand the entire Gatorade franchise and make it the all natural alternative? Why do customers in low income areas with no Whole Foods get left out in the cold in their hunt for an all natural sports drink? Is it because regular Gatorade is basically corn water (thanks to sweetening it with high fructose corn syrup) and corn is really cheap and therefore Pepsi thinks that all they can sell to lower income customers is a cheaper drink? That is probably it, as companies like PepsiCo have done an outstanding job lobbying to kill things like the proposed soda tax in NY state. I just love how they are positioning it as bad for consumers to pay more for things like soda and that it causes an undue burden on them. THAT IS THE POINT OF THE TAX!! The people proposing the tax WANT people to balk at the price and consume less soda. Same reason why NY taxes the heck out of cigarettes. You charge….. Read the rest of this entry »
“Both images–taken from the F Is For Fat report [PDF]–show obesity trends in the US among adults, the top from 1991 and the bottom from 2007-2009.
The lightest blue areas have less than 10% obesity rates, the next two blue shades represent 10-20% obesity rates. This is where we were in 1991, with no state in the US (which reported data, the white areas didn’t report) having greater than 20% obesity.
The purple is 20-25% obesity, followed by red at 25-30% and orange at greater than 30%. Note that only one state in the 2007-2009 timeframe, Colorado, is in the blue range.
Today our statistically thinnest state has a 19.1% obesity rate among adults, combined obese and overweight is 55.6%. Our fattest, Mississippi (which was also in the bulging ranks in twenty years ago) has an obesity rate of 33.8%, and a combined rate of 68.6%.”
I find this fascinating. in 20 years, as a nation, we have gotten A LOT fatter. In the same period of time health care costs have skyrocketed, cancer rates have risen, etc etc. Coincidence? I think not. When I go to the grocery store now, all I can find is heavily processed food if I stray from the perimeter of the store (and even there it is getting pretty bad these days). EVERYTHING has sugar added to it. Even at places like Whole Foods, the majority of the foods sold are decidedly not whole. I have made crackers before. Pretty easy recipe, flour, salt, yeast, water. Try finding crackers in the grocery store that have less than 20 ingredients. We really have no idea what effect all of this processed food has on the body – it is all too new. One thing we do know though, is that people are eating a lot more it and obesity rates are blowing up. This has to change.
The votes are in – Modmarket has won American Institute of Architectures Restaurant Design award. Thanks to everyone who voted in the People’s Choice Awards – we won that prize along with the jury award, being the only winner in a category to win both! And thanks to the Boulder Daily Camera for this great picture and blurb in yesterday’s paper!
People always ask us why our basil chicken salad tastes so good. The main reason? It is made completely from scratch. We cut everything fresh that goes into the salad AND we even oven roast our own tomatoes. That last part made us understand why sun dried tomatoes are so darn expensive. It takes A LOT of tomatoes to make a small container of sundried tomatoes. The second reason? We use homemade aoili as the binder in our salad rather than store bought mayo. What is aoili? Ours is egg yolk, basil, olive oil, salt/pepper and garlic. It is more sauce like than mayo like and tastes like heaven. Third reason – we hand pull apart every chicken breast that we use in the salad. This is a completely pain (literally – 170 degree chicken gets your fingertips uncomfortably hot almost instantly – the secret is tripling up on gloves and the burning in your fingertips becomes manageable) but pulled chicken just tastes better in our opinion than shredded or diced chicken. It also tends to stay a bit juicier. In the end it takes us about an hour to make 20lbs of chicken salad. I think most restaurants would balk at taking this much time to do it, especially when we could buy pre-made stuff from our food vendors. But if we bought it, we wouldn’t know exactly what was in it (all good stuff in our case) AND it wouldn’t taste nearly as good!
Modmarket is a finalist in the American Institute of Architecture annual restaurant design awards! This is a pretty big deal, especially considering we are located in CO. Concepts that win these awards usually go to places in NY, LA, etc so it is great to be a finalist and be from Boulder. You can actually help us win the overall prize by voting for us HERE. Thanks a bunch for your help!
After months of prototyping, our gourmet sandwiches are finally for sale in our store. The good folks at Crispin Porter + Bogusky and lots of peeps at the Boulder Farmer’s Market have helped been enjoying these tasty treats for a while now and now you can get in on the action next time you visit Modmarket. As with all our food, these sandwiches are simple delights. They are all built on an AMAZING ciabatta roll that is baked locally and toasted in our brick oven at 700 degrees. The bread is made of 4 ingredients. Flour, salt, yeast and water. It is an artisan bread that is shaped by hand, so you will notice some variation in the size footprint of each sandwich, but trust us, they all weigh the same We use aoili as a spread on our sandwiches. What is aoili you ask? Basically it is olive oil mixed with an emulsifier (egg whites or garlic in our case). We make ours from scratch every day or so. They BLOW AWAY any sandwich spread you are used to. We have three different sandwiches on the menu right now – a basil chicken (featuring the best (and healthiest) chicken salad mix you have ever tasted, a chipotle steak (flavored with a chipotle aioli) and an arugula mozzarella one. We only use whole, freshly grilled meats in our sandwiches. No cold cuts or processed meats here! When you try one, I think you will agree that we have just raised the bar for sandwiches in Boulder!
One of the reasons we started Modmarket is b/c I believe 100% in the healing power of foods. Eating the right food is like putting high octane gas in your car, it just makes the system work better. Everyday I read new books (like this one) or hear things like what is described in this AWESOME TED talk. Do yourself a favor, take 5 minutes and watch it. And if you don’t believe what he is saying, all you have to do is come eat salads at Modmarket everyday for a month and then examine how you feel (hint: you will feel A LOT better).
While I love a good burger as much as the next guy (especially a Wasabi Tuna Burger from here), I find it odd that so many people think that b/c a burger and fries is served up in a ‘cool’ environment, it is a lot healthier for them than eating at McDonald’s. Bottom line is that while burgers and fries, even the healthiest varieties, are nice treats, they are not something you should be eating on a daily basis. An interesting study just came out furthering that case – apparently people who ate a high fat meal had higher rates of airway inflammation (read: asthma) and responded poorly to asthma medication versus peeps who ate a low fat meal. More proof that what you eat is directly tied to your overall health, not just your waistline. There is a growing body of research that suggests that eating foods that lower your inflammation levels (see also: food served at Modmarket) is one of the best ways to improve your health, so maybe focus on making that burger and fries a treat rather than a weekly occurrence!
Those of you who have been eating at Modmarket since day 1 may have noticed an interested phenomena as of late. Lines, especially at lunch time. When we started, we were busy, but never really slammed and we were able to keep service times exactly where we wanted them. As things picked up we kept tweaking things so that we could keep up with the higher customer counts. But over the last month, things have really ramped up and at times, our old way of doing things has resulted in some LONG lines (out the door on numerous occasions). Don’t worry though, we are working on a variety of solutions that will hopefully make the line move much faster! And if you are short on time, you may want to consider just calling in your order – we can have it ready for you, and you can skip the line, pick up your order and be out of the store in just a minute or two!
We use aoili as a spread on our sandwiches. What is aoili you ask? Basically it is olive oil mixed with an emulsifier (egg whites or garlic in our case). We make ours from scratch every day or so. They BLOW AWAY any sandwich spread you are used to. We have three different sandwiches on the menu right now – a basil chicken (featuring the best (and healthiest) chicken salad mix you have ever tasted, a chipotle steak (flavored with a chipotle aioli) and an arugula mozzarella one. We only use whole, freshly grilled meats in our sandwiches. No cold cuts or processed meats here! When you try one, I think you will agree that we have just raised the bar for sandwiches in Boulder!
