The CulinaryWoman Newsletter, 4/3/22

Franchises find a new place in the culinary world

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The Shifting Look of Food Franchises

I discovered H&H Bagels on Manhattan’s Upper West Side when I was a student at Columbia University. I jumped on the bus that wound its way down Broadway and got off at Zabar’s.

After completing my shopping, I walked across West 80th Street to the tiny bagel shop. It was completely bare bones with nowhere to sit, there was always a line and you had to have your order ready in your head, with alternatives if your favorite flavors were sold out.

Even if you’ve never been to New York or that original store, H&H still plays a role in popular culture. It appears in You’ve Got Mail, in one of Tom Hanks’ emails to Meg Ryan’s character. H&H’s east side store also showed up in a classic Seinfeld episode called The Strike.

After a scandal involving one of its owners as well as the Great Recession, H&H filed for bankruptcy in 2011 and the west side store and one in west Midtown closed a year later. But H&H kept operating on the Upper East Side, and in the mid-2010s, launched a national retail effort to sell its bagels in grocery stores.

Business swelled during the pandemic, when many local bagel places were forced by pandemic restrictions. I was surprised to see their bagels show up in one of my local groceries, and now they are available in several.

Last year, H&H announced plans to franchise stores across the country. As you can see from the ad above, it is actively looking for people to sign up. (MUFC stands for the Multi-Unit Franchising Conference, taking place in Las Vegas.)

Now, you might wonder whether a New York bagel can translate to other parts of the country. I can attest that it translated just fine to Tokyo.

Finding the familiar away from home

Soon after I arrived there in 2002 as a Japan Society Fellow, I went for a walk around the neighborhood near International House, where the fellows were lodged. I had already discovered the Starbucks nearest to our digs, and wondered if there was someplace else where I could get coffee and a bite to eat.

I was startled to see a cafe that advertised H&H bagels, as well as coffee drinks. Inside, I discovered that I could buy the bagels in a six-pack, or individually. A single bagel cost the equivalent of $3, or I could get a bagel with cream cheese and my choice of coffee for $6.

The bagels came in frozen from the U.S., and were baked once they arrived, which explained the then-higher price (now, it’s probably par for the course to pay that much for a bagel and coffee in New York, at least).

While it seemed like a guilty pleasure — after all, I was there to learn about Japanese culture — I was very happy to discover H&H so far from home, a feeling that has become universal as franchises have multiplied within the food world.

Way beyond fast food

Of course, fast food companies like McDonald’s, Starbucks, Subway and KFC remain the major players in franchising. There are more than 750,000 franchises in the U.S. alone, employing more than 8 million people.

But specialty brands with roots elsewhere are becoming familiar to customers, too. You might know about Bonchon, the Korean fried chicken outlets, or Nando’s, the South African chain which sells peri-peri chicken.

My area is awash in boba tea cafes such as Quickly, Moge Tee and Coco Fresh, which are franchises from different places.

Ann Arbor recently got another: Bambu Desserts & Drinks. The chain was founded in San Jose in 2008 by four Vietnamese sisters, who wanted to sell Vietnamese treats called che, made with coconut water, shaved ice and various Asian fruits and toppings.

Emily Shinohara, then an executive with a Detroit-area automotive glass company, visited a Bambu with her husband on a business trip to San Francisco. They had to wait in line to place their order, an indication of how popular the store was.

Last weekend, I had to wait in line to place my order at the Bambu franchise that Emily has opened in Ann Arbor. I watched as a clerk patiently explained the menu of che, smoothies, and drinks to a customer who was clearly sampling them for the first time.

Shifting gears to make waffles and coffee

Emily had never worked in food service before, and in fact, wasn’t really interested in other types of franchises. But as Bambu shops began popping up in Michigan, she began visiting them, and the idea of owning her own franchise began to develop in her head.

Bambu appealed to her because the customers “looked so happy,” she told me. During the pandemic, she assessed where she stood in life. Despite her career success, she was ready for a change. Her children were now grown. “What am I living for?” she asked herself.

With Bambu, Emily got a set menu with clear instructions. She chose a location away from the Michigan campus, where other bubble tea places are grouped, but within sight of lines of cars headed to the Big House.

On her first weekend last fall, Emily was surprised by a sudden flood of traffic. She theorizes that football fans, stuck idling, looked over, saw the shop and decided en masse to drop in and kill time.

This month, she introduced a new raspberry smoothie (I added basil seed), and she offers macarons and ice cream mochi as well as drinks and che on the standard Bambu menu.

Emily is nearly always on hand, serving customers at the cash register, making pandan waffles (which smell heavenly) or operating the blenders behind the kitchen doors.

Although the restaurant world can be a grind, Emily says she’s made the right decision leaving the office for a job where she is on her feet. “I love it. I just love it,” she said. And she’s clearly filled an unmet need.

The Food Hall Trend Shows Signs Of Fading

Before the pandemic, I wrote a lot about food halls. These collections of restaurant counters seemed like an alternative for chefs who had some experience in kitchens, but didn’t have the financing or the background to manage their own places.

Developers in many cities took unused historic properties and created food halls inside them. These spots offered multiple choices to office workers who wanted something interesting to eat and alternatives to groups of co-workers who couldn’t agree on a single restaurant. By the mid-2010s, they were a solid urban trend.

But the pandemic prompted the massive shift to work at home, and that dealt a painful blow to a number of food halls that depended on commuters for business. Detroit, which was late to the food hall trend, was one of the first cities to lose a food hall in 2020.

Two more have recently closed. In New Orleans, the Auction House Market in the Warehouse District shut after four years. In Chicago, the One Eleven food hall in the Pullman District will close and be replaced by a full-service barbecue restaurant.

Shortly after the pandemic began in 2020, Restaurant Business magazine was suggesting ideas so that anxious food halls could get their groove back. But two years later, it looks like some will be victims of how the pandemic shifted our work and dining habits.

It’s possible that the wide-ranging choices available through contactless delivery are more appealing than those requiring a trip to a venue. Or, maybe people on hybrid office-home set ups are making their own lunches (definitely cheaper than dining out).

A Cookbook From A Favorite Place To Stay

When we could travel freely to Canada, I made regular trips to Toronto. While I stayed multiple times in the city, sometimes I combined my visits with a stay at Langdon Hall.

It is a country estate near Cambridge, Ontario, about an hour from Toronto, and not far from one of Toyota’s Canadian plants (you can see how I justified the expense).

Langdon is among a dozen properties in Canada that are part of the prestigious Relais & Chateaux group. Two of the highlights of staying there, for me, have been its spa and its dining room.

The food is simply exquisite, much of it drawn from Canadian produce, meats and seafoods, as well as pastries and bread baked in house. There are multiple ways to enjoy it. Langdon has a formal dining room, a more-relaxed pub and room service.

Now, there is Langdon Hall: A Cookbook, featuring recipes from Chef Jason Bangerter. The dishes are matched to the seasons, and there are suggestions for wine pairings and information about the producers that supply Langdon Hall.

I’m looking forward to being able to go back, but until I can, this cookbook can take the place of a trip.

Go Blue! A Satisfaction Guaranteed Event This Wednesday

Please plan to join me this Wednesday at 7 pm ET. I’m doing a nationwide Zoom presentation on my book Satisfaction Guaranteed that is sponsored by the University of Michigan Alumni Association.

I’ll be interviewed by John U. Bacon, an entertaining friend, prolific author and frequent guest on NPR programs. John knows the Zingerman’s story very well, having appeared at Camp Bacon, and I know it will be a fun and lively conversation.

It’s free and you can register here. You do not have to be associated with the university to join.

Remember: I’m happy to send a signed bookplate to anyone who provides me with a receipt. Visit your favorite bookseller or my Bookshop page.

Keeping Up With CulinaryWoman

On Friday, I will appear with Chef Virginia Willis on Cookbooks With Virginia. It airs at 11:30 am on Facebook and YouTube. Please drop in.

Last week, I appeared on the Small Business Radio Show to talk about the book and challenges facing small businesses. You can listen here.

You can reach me at culinarywoman at gmail dot com. I am booking events for later in 2022, so please contact me if your organization business is interested in hosting me. I prefer to do virtual events, but I can discuss in-person ones.

Follow me on Instagram @michelinemaynard. I’m on Tik Tok and Twitter @culinarywoman. You can find me on LinkedIn under Micheline Maynard.

Lots of people are traveling now, but I’m also hearing every day of more friends testing positive for Covid. The BA-2 variant is spreading fast. Please be vigilant and get your second booster if you are eligible for one.

See you next Sunday!