FOOD VIGILANTE

Fee Fie Fo Fum!

I have climbed an organic beanstalk and been confronted by a friendly giant. In fact the giant even looks friendly, check him out…

Copyright Eat'n Park Restaurants, all rights reserved.

Last week I wrote about a favorite hometown restaurant, Pho Minh in Bloomfield. In the post I recommended that families avoid such eateries as Eat’n Park and Denny’s. I suggested that dollar for dollar you can get a more nutritious, natural meal at a place like Pho Minh. A day or so later I received this comment…

“Hey, Pho Minh sounds great, but don’t lump Eat’n Park in with Denny’s and the rest of the family restaurant crowd! We’re family owned and operated in the ‘burgh since 1949. Also, processed food isn’t where we’re at. We hand-bread our fish, make our stuffings and prepared salads from scratch, hand-cut our lettuce and vegetables, bake our Smiley cookies and baked goods fresh every day. And that’s just a start. We get much of our produce straight from local farms in season. In fact, we helped invent the distribution system that makes it possible for local farmers to get their product to market.

Those are just a few examples. Give us a try and you may find that Eat’n Park is a lot better than you think. It may even bring a smile to your day.”

Kevin O’Connell – Eat’n Park

Kevin O’Connell is Senior Vice President of Marketing for the Eat’n Park Hospitality Group. Wow. I’m very glad someone is listening, thanks Kevin. Interested in furthering my time in holding an audience with a company like Eat’n Park, I responded…

Kevin,

“I’ve been a dishwasher, cook, baker, baker trainer, server, opener (Franklin, PA) and manager for Eat’n Park Restaurants. I even had a small stint with Parkhurst Dining (I’ve only drove past SixPenn, I’ll get there soon). I personally don’t think that I’m too far off base on my evaluation of Eat’n Park’s menu. It has been years, things may have changed. I accept the challenge though, to eat my words. I propose an opportunity to show me that the Eat’n Park menu avoids hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup (It’s definitely in your soda), preservatives and a slew of other ingredients with a less than nutritious value. My offer comes with no malice. Call Jeff or Mercy, or who is ever at the helm these days (is it Mr. Sites?) and let’s put this long time community favorite to the test. I would love to be wrong, but usually low cost and long shelf life means preservatives, added sugar and oils and meat raised in substandard conditions. This has become the American way.

Please let me know if you think we can work together.”

I then sat back and waited. Would the giant smack me back down the beanstalk? Can such a big company hear me from way up there?

Yes, turns out they can.

Mr. O’Connell emailed me just a couple of days ago. He said…

“Jim,

We would love the opportunity to discuss our menu and shed some light on some common misconceptions about our menu.  I can hook you up with Regis Holden, our Sr. Director of Culinary Services, and he can answer any of your questions.  We could setup a meeting at our test kitchen or at one of our restaurants.  Let me know how you would like to proceed and we’ll set it up.

 

Thanks,

Kevin”

This is just fantastic. I applaud Kevin O’Connell and Eat’n Park restaurants. I will be in contact very soon and look forward to meeting Mr. Holden and others as we examine this long Pittsburgh tradition, Eat’n Park.

What ya smilin’ about?

FV