YumSugar

Bennigan's and Steak & Ale: Back From the Dead?

YumSugar — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 03:00:40 -0700

Two months ago, we reported the end of restaurant chains Bennigan's and Steak & Ale. Well, we've just learned that they're coming back to life! Private equity firm Atalaya is buying the two brands and their trademarks. It will partner with the Bennigan's franchises still standing to grow business, as well as try to reopen company-owned Bennigan's locations that closed after the bankruptcy.
The Steak & Ale brand closed in its entirety during bankruptcy, but Atalaya intends to leave the option open in the future for franchisees to open independently-operated Steak & Ale restaurants.

According to Atalaya managing director Joel Holsinger, the key to success this time around will be the new menu that's being developed: it will focus on quick pub fare, such as sandwiches, burgers, onion rings, and booze.

While I haven't been to a Bennigan's or Steak & Ale in years, some of you must be excited to hear about your Bennigan's potentially reopening. Do you think the menu overhaul will make the chain profitable again?

Source

Say Goodbye to Bennigan's, Steak and Ale

YumSugar — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 07:45:59 -0700

For national chains Bennigan's and Steak and Ale, there is no pot o' gold at the end of the rainbow: The companies filed for bankruptcy protection and shut down all 292 corporate locations yesterday.

For the two bar and grill chains, the downhill slope has come steep and fast. In June, parent company Metromedia Restaurant Group asked lenders to restructure its debt, as earnings were lower than expected. A week ago, the group's CEO resigned. And yesterday, all of the corporate locations for the Irish-themed taverns and country steakhouses appeared empty. The company stated:

Similar to other members of the casual dining industry, current economic and industry trends have adversely affected the group's overall financial performance.

Fans need not despair just yet - for now, the franchise locations will stay open. But the question remains: for how long?

Source

English Food is Not a Joke - Steak & Ale Pie

YumSugar — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 09:51:32 -0700

English food is not a joke because...
Any cuisine that combines meat with ale gets gold stars in my book.

That's the answer I'm giving for Sam's Fish & Quips challenge. She's asked food lovers everywhere to help her prove that English food does not have to be a joke. After reading about it, I immediately wanted to participate. I lived there for almost a year and had plenty of amazing food (I have crazy fond memories of the cheese guy in my local outdoor market), however I couldn't come up with one dish that I wanted to make. So I called in the brigades - actually I just IM'd my friend Johnny and asked what he thought I should make:

me: What is your favorite British meal - like quintessential British?

Johnny: Meat pie! Like steak and onion pie!!!
I think this is a nice idea, a nice project - British food has a huge inferiority complex for a few reasons.

me: So what should i make?

Johnny: You should try steak and ale pie if you can manage it. I think it is pretty easy really and tastesome.

me: Why'd you choose that dish?

Johnny: It is the thing I like best that is "English"
Make a nice round pie - with leaves on the top of course.

me: Of course

Hrmm... a steak and ale pie. Funny, I never actually had one of those while I was out there - but I figured it was the time to start. So I hunted down a few recipes and cobbled together a pretty decent pie. I cheated and used puff pastry, but I didn't forget the leaves on top.The end result was pretty tasty, like a stew with an added pastry crust - and it was definitely not a joke. To see what recipe I used, and to see a bunch of step by step pictures, read more

Steak & Ale Pie
Inspired by BootsnAll

Sorry for the non-accurate measurements, I eyeballed a lot of it. Also, you may want to add a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce to your marinade. I was planning on it, but didn't realize we didn't have any until it was too late.

1 1/4 pounds of steak - cut into large cubes
2 short sprigs of fresh rosemary
3 sprigs of fresh marjoram
1/3 - 1/2 pint of Newcastle (or other dark ale)
olive oil
fresh ground black pepper
flour (approx 4 tbsp)
2 carrots - chopped (Jimmy hates carrots, so I only used a few, you may want to up the carrot ante)
1 leek - chopped
1 medium sized onion - diced
1-2 cup beef broth
Puff Pastry (1 sheet) - thawed

Step One - Night Before

Put steak into medium sized bowl with lid (I actually used a tupperware dish). Add rosemary and marjoram (I ripped them with my hands) and mix with meat.
Add Newcastle, a splash (I eyeballed it) of oil, and some fresh black pepper. Mix well. Cover and marinate in fridge overnight.

Step Two - Make the Pie

Preheat oven to 375F
Strain beef from marinade (do not throw out the marinade, set it aside for now). Roll beef in flour until beef is covered. Set aside.
In a large pan, saute onion, leek and carrots in a little bit of olive oil. Cook until onions are soft. Remove from pan and set aside.
Place beef in pan and brown on all sides.
When beef is browned, put the vegetables back in, and add beer marinade, and beef stock.
Simmer on medium-low for 10 minutes.
Transfer mixture to pie pan/baking dish. Top with puff pastry and trim sides.
Pierce pastry a few times for ventilation, add decorative pastry leaves if desired (I used my kitchen shears to shape them).
Bake for 40-45 minutes.

View 16 Photos ›

Print recipe with images | without images

10 Pies Worth Savoring

YumSugar — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:50:50 -0800

This Sunday isn't just daylight savings; it also marks the end of British Pie Week, and just so happens to be 3.14, or Pi Day! Rather than overload you with a bunch of saccharine pies, I thought I'd inspire you with a collection of sugar-free selections - some inspired by the cuisine of Great Britain, and others just downright unconventional, but all worth savoring. From steak and ale pie to barbecue chili pie, catch them all when you keep clicking.

View Slideshow ›

Red Lobster Adding Wood Grills in Attempt to Revive Sales

YumSugar — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 03:00:35 -0800

Darden Restaurants announced that beginning next week, it will install wood-fired grills in all 680 Red Lobster restaurants.

The company has been testing the wood-grilled menu for over a year, and will train 3,500 employees on the grills. New items will be going on the menu, such as wood-grilled lobster, wood-grilled sirloin and shrimp, and wood-grilled fish. According to the chain's president, Kim Lopdrup:

This is the most comprehensive culinary and menu change in Red Lobster's history. Wood-fired grilling introduces our guests to a whole new way to enjoy seafood.

Red Lobster's announcement to add these costly new grills comes at a time when the casual restaurant chain industry has stumbled. Chains such as Bennigan's, Steak & Ale, Ponderosa, and Bonanza have all filed for bankruptcy protection in the past year. Do the wood-grilled menu items sound appetizing to you, and will they be enough to turn Red Lobster around?

Source

Exclusive: Part Two Of Our Talk With Troels From Alphabeat

PopSugarUK — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:00:00 -0700

Here's some fun for a Friday afternoon – it's part two of my exclusive interview with the lovely Troels Hansen from Alphabeat! In part one we talked about music and touring, and in this final installment I asked him about his day to day life with his fellow Alphabeaters! Here's what he had to say:

Where’s your favourite place to hang out?
We moved to Bethnal Green in East London back in May and we love this area. We’re not really clubbers, we love small intimate places, pubs and bars with good music and good beer. Sometimes it’s just hanging out in one of our flats, but we love to go out.
Where do you spend your hard-earned cash?
As we tour all the time we haven’t really got time for shopping. If we get to a new city we go out for some shopping. We like the small vintage shops around Brick Lane though and buy lots of our clothes there. I like to go to Camden now and then to buy new CDs and LPs in the second hand shops. When we buy instruments we go on eBay. That way you can pay what you wanna pay and not what a shop tells you to.
What do you love most (if anything!) about the UK?
Steak and Ale Pie! The best pie we’ve had so far is from a small pub in York, whose name I won’t mention, because it’s our little secret... Well it probably isn’t but anyway… We love the “old” English food and the pub life. We don’t have that at all in Denmark. If you go to a pub in Denmark you’re probably an alcoholic but here it’s alright to go to an old fashioned pub for dinner and a pint and that’s cool!

To find out what Troels had to say about his bandmates, and what he wouldn't do for a million pounds, just read more.

You all manage to look stylish whenever we see you, do you have any style tips for our readers?
Hmm… It’s probably Stine you should ask about fashion advice and not me. But people should just wear what they wanna wear really. Stine always says: A good mixture of new and second hand.
Troels, you're being modest! What’s your favourite item of clothing?
I love T-shirts! When I buy a new piece of clothes I wear it out until it falls apart or I grow out of it. My shoes are totally worn out and they are actually held together by Gaffer Tape. They’ve become a part of me I guess coz they are great to walk in and great to play drums with so it’s hard to change to a new pair. But as I said T-shirts are my faves! I’ve got a T-shirt I bought in a second hand shop in Amsterdam when I was 16 and it has stuck with me ever since. First day at school after the summer break I wore that T-shirt and that’s when I met Rasmus and Anders SG for the first time, so they both tease me whenever I put on my old, yellow “Sir Peter’s Disco Show” T-shirt. I just love it…
What would you never leave home without?
Our laptops. The house we used to live in got broken into and they stole our laptops so since then we’ve always brought our laptops wherever we go. Besides that story a laptop is like your own little world when your on tour. We’re together all the time but when you open up your laptop you can do what you want to do on it. Make music, watch a movie, check e-mails from old friends in Denmark and all that. It’s like your connection to the world around you and it might sound a bit nerdy but it’s actually true.
Not nerdy at all, I can't be without mine! Being in a band and spending so much time with each other must have its positives and negatives – what do you like most about working with each other?
We’re like a small family, a small gang of Alphabeaters. That’s a thing that we all appreciate because you’re never alone when you’re in a band on a tour – There’s always someone to talk to, hang out with or just be around and that’s very important when you’re far away from your girlfriend, family and old friends. We often talk about how hard it must be to only be two in a band or maybe being a solo artist on the road. But of course we love to be alone sometimes – who doesn’t? And we’re very good at sensing each other's moods so if I need some time alone it’s okay.
Is there any thing that annoys you about them?
There’s not really things that annoy me. It’s more small things that can be funny or just something that makes you shake your head and smile. Anders Reinholdt is, for instance, always late and never wakes up when his alarm rings, Stine is extremely messy and forgets where she leaves her stuff, and on and on. But it doesn’t annoy me. That’s just how they are and I’ve probably got sides that the other guys find odd...
And finally, what wouldn’t you do for a million pounds?
Lots of stuff, I’ve got barriers. But give me a million pounds and I’d spend them for you...

Thanks so much Troels, that was such a fun interview! Alphabeat's ridiculously catchy single "Boyfriend" is out now.

All the News That's Fit to Eat - June 25, 2008

YumSugar — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 12:15:53 -0700

Cask-conditioned ales are the new trend among beer aficionados. - Los Angeles Times
Just in time for Summer, frozen blender drinks are back. - New York Times
A set of go-to recipes makes cooking a snap for newlyweds. - Boston Globe
Get ready for the Absinthe Museum of America, opening in July. - Times-Picayune
Waxing nostalgic for Texas-style chicken-fried steak. - Washington Post
Dried cherries are expanding the market for a tart and tasty fruit. -Chicago Tribune
Savor Summer by whipping up a batch of herb butters - The Oregonian
Use kebabs to kick up warm-weather grilling. - Orlando Sentinel
A restaurant devoted to dining in the dark opens in SF. - San Francisco Chronicle

Source

Monday's Leftovers: Lamb Pot Pie

YumSugar — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 08:58:58 -0700

When I was putting together my English pie the other week, it seemed pretty clear that I should use the technique on other meats/stews. So when I found the recipe for yesterday's Sunday dinner, I immediately ended up thinking of turning the leftovers in to a lovely pot pie.

I didn't actually have time to make yesterday's delicious looking lamb shank, but if you did, i have a simple suggestion to turn yesterday's dish into today's treat. All you need to do is turn on the oven, place the lamb mixture into a pie plate (or smaller ramekins, depending on how much you have leftover) and cover with puff pastry. Bake and voila! Easy lamb pot pie! Just be sure to remove all the bones from the mixture before you create your pie. To learn more about the puff pastry technique, see my step by step instructions for a steak & ale pie.

Monday's Leftovers: Lamb Pot Pie

YumSugar — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 00:37:05 -0700

Yummy Link: English Food is Not a Joke

YumSugar — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 12:33:33 -0700

Don't miss out on the HUGE English food is not a joke roundup that Sam at Becks & Posh did to celebrate St. George's Day. There are over 65 entries, including the one pictured (Fish & Chips Samanda Style) and mine for Steak & Ale Pie.