Cheesecake Factory R&D: Diversifying American Food

[Joisey]

Portland, OR on a Monday afternoon, 1:45 or so. 1.5 hour wait at a 400 seat CCF. They must have gross sales equal to some country's GNP. I don't have a problem with the food, it beats the hell out of the other chain restaurants.

[Tess]

Accutely aware of the size issues at Cheesecake Factory but how about the topic of the Time article:

Does it fulfill your dining hopes in its offerings of "melded cuisine"??

←

Do you mean, does it fulfill your hopes when it somes to something called "melded cuisine" or what "melded cuisine" should be? Or do you mean, does its offerings-- which they call "melded cuisine?-- fulfill your dining expectations?

In terms of what "melded cuisine" should be, well, to judge from the expectations set forth in the article, in my opinion, no. They seem to think the miso salmon is some kind of affordable or user-friendly version of the real thing. The real thing is not a challenging dish for an American who likes fish anyway, and the Cheescake version was not even really miso-glazed when I had it. Plus it was awful tasteless fish. If people don't want to go to Nobu or make the recipe at home (or buy it prefab at Mitsuwa vel sim) they can get the misoyaki butterfish at Roy's. This dish is like seared tuna; it's everywhere and having a training wheels version that's inferior is just silly.

[Blanche Davidian]

I actually enjoy eating at TCF when I find myself there. It's a good place to take friends/family who don't share my affinity for frighteningly authentic dives (AKA normal non-chain restaurants) because I know I can get something edible and they know everything on the menu is 'safe.' The dinners I've had there, while not excellent, were definitely a cut above what you get at OTHER causal dining travesties. I once actually got a hand-formed hamburger cooked to order (it was pink and it didn't hang together like a brick the way frozen patties do.)

I know how irritating places like TCF can be to those Learned and Erudite diners who know, for example, that salmon is, in fact, delicious and need not be blanded down to taste like That Restaurant Staple, the boneless skinless chicken breast. However, I am on occasion required to dine out with people who don't eat vegetables and claim they "don't like fish" (as in all fish, everywhere, period.) I'm glad I can suggest TCF instead of bellying up to the bar at Applebee's for a gigantic platter o' riblets.

[FabulousFoodBabe]

I fail to understand why anyone needs a slab of salmon, unless you're splitting it, family-style.

I get the "cheaper, more widely-available version concept," but the giant portion concept?  It eludes me.

←

Yeah -- one of their reps was speaking to our class when we returned from Externship. Pretty deft at skirting certain questions and giving a company line ... but to the "giant portion" concept, she insisted that they just want everyone to taste everything. How very nice of them! And yeah, the one in White Plains is jumping at opening time every day. Back when they were a smallish chain and I had to eat there, I liked the fish tacos. But cultural melding? Nevah.

[tryska]

Talk about portion size, has anyone been to Maggiano's?  That is the newest chain on the block in Nashville.  The servings are ridiculous.  They seem to take perverse pride in  giving you a quantity of food that is impossible to finish.  A side salad can feed 3-4 people.  Same for entrees.  Same for desserts.  And I'm a carbo-loading fool who knows how to tuck it away.  You hope that people are taking plenty of leftovers home.  You hate to see that much food go to waste.

←

I'm not sure how your server peddled to you, but Maggiano's plates are meant to be shared family style.

i can see someone trying to upsell by getting everyone to buy an entree but it's not supposed to be that way.

[tryska]

tryska, the story about your ex is funny. he should never eat at some of the places here. i am positive that the chips and queso to go order from casa fiesta is only about 2/3rds of what the dine in version is.  oh, and what cf are you seeing long waits at? i've found that the perimeter mall location isn't as bad as the buckhead one.

←

Hey carpetbagger - same ones as you - the Buckhead one was my first experience - while i thought the car detailing in the parking lot was pretty cool, the food didn't really do it for me. (but i'm also not a big fan of the unfamiliar meant to be familiar) - you'll find me more likely to be adventurous with a vietnamese or thai menu, then say - the menu at applebee's, or even CF. PF Chang's maybe. I guess i have a slight fear of quasi-exotica.

I've always seen a line at the permieter one too - and i always wonder when i see it - when there's a Garrison's and a Maggiano's and Goldfish there too - i always wonder why everyone's mobbing the CF.

[Megan Blocker]

However, I am on occasion required to dine out with people who don't eat vegetables and claim they "don't like fish" (as in all fish, everywhere, period.)  I'm glad I can suggest TCF instead of bellying up to the bar at Applebee's for a gigantic platter o' riblets. 

←

I generally meet those folks for a cup of coffee instead!

In reality, I would rather take a picky eater (of which I am blessed to know very few) to dinner at a burger joint than at a CF, if only because of the wait factor. I am not a food snob, and I have no problem with chains as a concept (see my lust for In-n-Out Burger, McDonald's French fries, and Krispy Kreme, for a start), but I just don't see the point of waiting a long time and paying a decent amount of money for something that is a pale facsimile of something else (such as the bastardization of puttanesca described in the article). End of story. Of course, living in Manhattan, CF is not even an option, so I don't really need to think about it too much.

That said.

Why do you think some flavors that CF highlights are popular? I can't get their menu right now (some server issue, it seems), but the Time article says that the last few years have seen the CF add "Asian, Caribbean and Latin American flavors" to their menu. Not foods, flavors.

Leaving aside the question of whether or not you would eat there, is this what American cooking is all about? Taking inspiration from other cultures and making it our own?

And what's lost and/or gained in doing so?

ETA: Here's a link to the CF menu. As I suspected, a lot of things that are pseudo-Mexican, Asian, and even Italian. Burgers top the "Specialties" section; potstickers and summer rolls appear in the appetizers.

Edited June 13, 2006 by Megan Blocker (log)

[tryska]

here's some samples:

appetizers:

VIETNAMESE SHRIMP SUMMER ROLLS

Delicate Rice Paper Rolled Around Asparagus, Shiitake Mushrooms, Carrots, Rice Noodles, Green Onion, Cilantro and Shrimp.

Served Chilled and not Fried

FRIED MACARONI AND CHEESE

Crispy Crumb Coated Macaroni and Cheese Balls. Served over a Creamy Marinara Sauce

AVOCADO EGGROLLS

Chunks of Fresh Avocado, Sun-Dried Tomato, Red Onion

and Cilantro Deep Fried in a Crisp Chinese Wrapper.

Served with a Tamarind-Cashew Dipping Sauce

AHI CARPACCIO

Thin Slices of Raw Ahi Tuna, Wasabi Pesto, Creamy Avocado and Togarashi Aioli

TEX MEX EGGROLLS

Spicy Chicken, Corn, Black Beans, Peppers, Onions

and Melted Cheese. Served with Avocado Cream and Salsa

There's too much other stuff on the menu, for me to go look at other stuff, but i think that's give a nice cross-section of the multi-culti cuisine.

[Toliver]

Talk about portion size, has anyone been to Maggiano's?  That is the newest chain on the block in Nashville.  The servings are ridiculous.  They seem to take perverse pride in  giving you a quantity of food that is impossible to finish.  A side salad can feed 3-4 people.  Same for entrees.  Same for desserts.  And I'm a carbo-loading fool who knows how to tuck it away.  You hope that people are taking plenty of leftovers home.  You hate to see that much food go to waste.

←

I'm not sure how your server peddled to you, but Maggiano's plates are meant to be shared family style.

i can see someone trying to upsell by getting everyone to buy an entree but it's not supposed to be that way.

←

The first time we went to Buca di Beppo, we were real rubes. We did the same thing...everyone ordered something, not knowing the food was served family style, enough to feed 3 to 4 people. When the food came they could barely fit it all on the table.

Live and learn.

[bandregg]

Do you think that they have done this type of dining experience a disservice or is it all quite commercially "brilliant"?

←

There have been restaurants that offer imitations of cuisines from across the globe to individual diners in the same party for years; they're called food courts and cafeterias. The Cheesecake Factory has created an equation that takes this food element, adds service and atmosphere, and makes money hand over fist. This isn't good or bad, and it certainly isn't some new wave of restaurant concept or a new form of "melded cuisine."

I don't eat at tCF for a number of reasons. Some of the reasons that people have given for dining there seem ridiculous to me: too many people to get consesus on a specific cuisine or restaurant, friends who aren't willing to dine at more local restaurants, wanting the choice of twenty pages of menu items. I don't generally consider myself a food snob. Are the Latin family sitting next to me at the local taqueria food snobs? And, I only eat out a couple of times per week and then my check average is probably right in line with one from tCF. So, when I eat out I want something that tastes like it's supposed to and treats the ingredients right. And if friends and lovers and assocates don't want to eat where I do or at least someplace I want to go, then as Megan said, "We meet for coffee."

[tryska]

Talk about portion size, has anyone been to Maggiano's?  That is the newest chain on the block in Nashville.  The servings are ridiculous.  They seem to take perverse pride in  giving you a quantity of food that is impossible to finish.  A side salad can feed 3-4 people.  Same for entrees.  Same for desserts.  And I'm a carbo-loading fool who knows how to tuck it away.  You hope that people are taking plenty of leftovers home.  You hate to see that much food go to waste.

←

I'm not sure how your server peddled to you, but Maggiano's plates are meant to be shared family style.

i can see someone trying to upsell by getting everyone to buy an entree but it's not supposed to be that way.

←

The first time we went to Buca di Beppo, we were real rubes. We did the same thing...everyone ordered something, not knowing the food was served family style, enough to feed 3 to 4 people. When the food came they could barely fit it all on the table.

Live and learn.

←

right - but don't you feel your server should be giving you a heads up?

I know if i were a server, and a couple of "rubes" came in I would explain how it works. I think the first time i went to Maggiano's the server explained to us the famil-style concept as well.

Actually i'm positivie they did.

[SuzySushi]

Here ya go:

Cheesecake Factory Is Slimming Down

Responding to changing times, Cheesecake Factory is testing a new menu in Los Angeles allowing customers to ask for smaller portions of a dozen popular dishes, and has also added completely trans fat-free food menus.

[ludja]

Here ya go:

Cheesecake Factory Is Slimming Down

Responding to changing times, Cheesecake Factory is testing a new menu in Los Angeles allowing customers to ask for smaller portions of a dozen popular dishes, and has also added completely trans fat-free food menus.

←

I"m not sure if they meant to imply this in the article or not, but do the cheesecakes have transfats in them? If so, what ingredient would they use that has transfats? Margarine instead of butter? I guess the crusts could use margarine. I wouldn't think there would be transfats in the cheesecake portion.

The trans fat experiment, if it works, will be rolled out nationwide in two months. But some things at Cheesecake Factory won’t be changing — the cheesecakes. After all, you don’t mess with success. But you can tinker with everything else.

[SuzySushi]

Here ya go:

Cheesecake Factory Is Slimming Down

Responding to changing times, Cheesecake Factory is testing a new menu in Los Angeles allowing customers to ask for smaller portions of a dozen popular dishes, and has also added completely trans fat-free food menus.

←

I"m not sure if they meant to imply this in the article or not, but do the cheesecakes have transfats in them? If so, what ingredient would they use that has transfats? Margarine instead of butter? I guess the crusts could use margarine. I wouldn't think there would be transfats in the cheesecake portion.

The trans fat experiment, if it works, will be rolled out nationwide in two months. But some things at Cheesecake Factory won’t be changing — the cheesecakes. After all, you don’t mess with success. But you can tinker with everything else.

←

I took the article to mean that they're reformulating other foods on their menus, much like fast-food chains and food manufacturers have been racing to eliminate trans fats from their cooking processes and entire lines of packaged cookies, crackers, frozen dinners, and French fries.

Whether or not the cheesecakes have trans fats, Cheesecake Factory isn't changing those recipes (or cheesecake portion sizes, I presume).

[VenerableBede]

here's some samples:

appetizers:

FRIED MACARONI AND CHEESE

Crispy Crumb Coated Macaroni and Cheese Balls. Served over a Creamy Marinara Sauce

ha ha. . i saw that done on Ham on the Street the other night.

to make this (somewhat) relevant- i know that places like CF and Maggiano's do serve their purpose of getting groups of people together, i mean, just look at them on prom nights.

[carpetbagger, esq.]

alton brown has done fried mac and cheese in the past as well.

[Varmint]

I applaud the Cheesecake Factory for what they do and the way that they introduce many new styles of food to the masses. I've enjoyed the couple of meals that I've eaten at the always busy local establishment, but I have never chosen to go there -- it's been someone else's decision.

And although I enjoy the broad spectrum of food styles the CF offers, I don't want that in most restaurants. My poster child for this style of high end dining is Raleigh's Bloomsbury Bistro, which many consider to be one of the top restaurants in town. However, their menu contains American Southern, Moroccan, Hawaiian, Thai, Greek, Mandarin, Indian and Southwestern style offerings. My problem is that there is no consistency in the menu, making it very difficult to order each course. Here's a discussion of this restaurant. Thus, this style works at the mass-market level, but not at the high end.

[alanamoana]

i like tcf, but not for "melded food"....if i go there, i only ever choose one of three items: huge salad (dressing on the side), factory burger or one of their sandwiches. to me, that's what places like tcf do well. i know a lot of people who like the "melded" entrees. i don't think i would ever want to eat five pounds of inauthentic chicken milanese or whatever.

so no, tcf doesn't fulfill my idea of what "melded food" should be. is this a new term for "fusion"?!

their cheesecakes are decent although usually too sweet. the portions on everything could be one half of what they serve and you'd still ingest more calories in one meal than you'd normally eat in a day.

and to avoid the dreaded wait, tcf is usually a last minute choice by me and my husband. so if we think we're going to hit it at peak hours, we choose to eat somewhere else. i don't make it a habit to wait more than 10-15 minutes for food.

note that quite a few cf's are located in or near a mall (or pedestrian type shopping areas)...there's definitely a "captive audience" aspect to their marketing. and don't get me started about malls and shopping!