Why fresh is SO much better!

This week we're at the National Restaurant show in Chicago.  It's quite an experience with thousands of vendors showcasing their products and most importantly, their food offerings.  It's amazing to us how many products there are on the market that are just pre-made, pre-packaged foods made for the express purpose of being sold in restaurants.  It's easy (just open a package and serve it up), it's cheaper (quality of product doesn't have to be as high), and the shelf life is very long (preservatives), saving the restaurant a fortune in waste.  As we wandered the show (tasting everything), we became more and more convinced that our approach to fresh, homemade food is the right approach.  We tasted a cranberry-walnut chicken salad -- it was easy -- just open the plastic container and plop it on your customer's plates.  No cost of labor to prepare it -- we could save a fortune.  The problem was, it wasn't good.  It tasted pre-made and packaged and it was loaded with sugar.  Our cranberry-walnut chicken salad starts with our slow-roasted rotisserie chicken.  We pull it off the bone, chop up fresh Granny Smith apples, and walnuts, add cranberries, seasoning and mayo, and I promise you, it's the best in Fort Smith.  Sure...we end up throwing some of it away if it's not sold that day, and it costs us money to have our kitchen staff make it, but you know what?  It's worth it!  

Don't even get me started on the pastrami that we tasted....

See you at the deli!