Toque of the Town: Something Old, Something New
Bob Davis creates new-style dishes for Max & Ermas old-school cooking line.
By Monica Rogers, Contributing Editor -- Chain Leader, 6/1/2005 12:00:00 AM
 Corporate Executive Chef Bob Davis is modernizing Max & Erma’s menu with lighter, more flavorful dishes.  A ring mold helps compose the new Shrimp Stack Salad into a tower on the plate. It’s a mix of shrimp, greens, crunchy noodles, carrot and pineapple with sweet-and-sour dressing.  Adding zest to an old favorite, Davis revamped the BBQ Chicken Quesadilla with a new presentation. It’s now the top-selling appetizer. |
The plate is vibrant with colors: Bright green leaves of fresh basil peek out from under pillows of airy grilled ciabatta. Oven-roasted Roma tomatoes add a rich ribbon of red over comforting layers of chargrilled chicken and melted mozzarella. And a medley of spring greens drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette completes the composition.
Definitely different for Columbus, Ohio-based Max & Erma’s, says Corporate Executive Chef Bob Davis: “When we launched our Tomato Mozzarella Chicken Sandwich last year, it was a very square item in a very round world.” But numbers show it’s hip to be square. No. 1 in its category with 23.8 percent of sales and No. 3 on the entire menu, the sandwich is the best new item in Max & Erma’s history. And there’s more to come.
“Yes, we still have stuffed potato skins and a great burger and Buffalo-chicken sandwich. Trust me, we’re never going to mess those up,” Davis says. But as the 33-year-old chain opens its 100th unit this summer with a fresh prototype, menus will go beyond old comforts.
Davis, who joined Max & Erma’s two years ago after heading research and development at T.G.I. Friday’s, spent the last seven months revamping menus, which launched May 2, to include “flavorful dishes presented in contemporary, forward-looking ways.”
Reduce, Reuse, Re-engineer
Davis took some heavier items like meatloaf off menus and replaced them with lighter, less-masculine dishes. Many capitalize on Max & Erma’s “beautiful kitchens,” he says. “Three ovens on every line, steam kettles, full saute stations...It’s really a lost culture to have kitchens like this in the casual-theme arena.”
Featured on Max & Erma’s summer 2005 menu inserts, the $13.99 Lemon Herb Halibut and $10.99 Lemon Herb Chicken make good use of ovens and saute stations. Proteins are marinated in a six-herb mixture, pan-seared in olive oil and finished in the oven with vegetables. The pan is then deglazed with fresh-squeezed lemon juice. For service, fish and chicken are layered over rice with the caramelized roasted vegetables, sauteed baby spinach and the lemon pan jus. Garnering the “highest test scores ever,” the halibut and chicken dishes “are the best examples of where we’re headed,” Davis says.
Davis also reformulated the cooking process for some traditional items, for example, Max’s Best Barbecued Ribs, $12.99 a half rack. “Rib sales had been falling, and we had a quality concern,” he explains. “We slowed the process down a bit, adding two extra steps.” Ribs are now marinated, coated with a spice rub, smoked, marinated in sauce, chargrilled and then sprinkled with barbecue spice.
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A year after launching the new ribs, sales have sustained at 5 percent of category sales from 2.5 percent.
“Call it old-school, new ways,” says Davis, whose grandmother’s passion for cooking first pushed him toward his career. “She always had us kids with our hands in the food, making things.”
After earning his culinary degree from Johnson & Wales, Davis worked in hotel foodservice at the Sheraton Doubletree and Marriott, university dining at Harvard, and chain-restaurant R&D at Ground Round and T.G.I. Friday’s. Such experience provided Davis with the tools to “aid passion with process,” he says.
Dishes like the Lemon Herb Halibut have caught the attention of restaurant analysts. “It’s really
refreshing to see somebody in the casual-theme arena taking the time and the effort to really enhance flavors and presentation,” says Robert Welcher, president and CEO of Columbus-based Restaurant Consultants Inc. “It’s broadened Max & Erma’s appeal in the market. They’ve managed to stay true to their roots, but at the same time have come a long way from a burger in a basket. This is certainly the formula they need to establish a presence in the national market.”
Forward Looks
Another part of Davis’ formula is revitalized presentation. The Shrimp Stack Salad, $8.99, an entree featured on Max & Erma’s “Lighten Up” section, is a toss of poached Mexican white shrimp with baby greens, fresh spinach, crunchy angel-hair noodles, shredded carrots and fresh pineapple. Chefs use a ring mold to dramatically stack the salad ingredients in the center of a plate over a slice of fresh pineapple, finishing it with a drizzle of sweet-and-sour vinaigrette. Doing this rather than presenting everything in a bowl, “makes a huge difference in the visual presentation,” Davis says. The item sold 25 percent better than expected in test from February to March and moved onto the core menu in May.
 Spicy Tortilla Soup combines chicken and cheese with zesty seasonings and crisp tortilla strips.  Working to emulate the flavors of a fresh Caprese salad in a dish that would fit Max & Erma’s, Davis created the best-selling Tomato Mozzarella Chicken Sandwich.  The Tomato Mozzarella Burger (opposite), topped with tomato-basil spread, mozzarella cheese, fresh basil and oven-roasted tomatoes, is served with fresh baby greens drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette. |
The new presentation for the BBQ Chicken Quesadilla, $7.99, helped move it from fourth place at 10 percent of appetizer sales to first place, making up 17.4 percent. “This was one of those items that had been on the menu for so long without evolution, it was becoming old,” Davis says.
For the new version, Davis marinates chicken breasts in barbecue sauce, grills them and sprinkles them with barbecue spices. The quesadillas, layered with chicken and Jack and cheddar cheeses, are cut into wedges, drizzled with barbecue sauce and served with a side of shredded lettuce, fresh pico de gallo and avocado-ranch dipping sauce. Introduced on the winter menu insert from January to March, the BBQ Chicken Quesadilla appetizer moved onto the core menu in May.
For these and other new menu items, a tasting panel first approves them before they move to a two- to five-store test. The company then solicits guest feedback using comment cards.
Max & Erma’s often features the items with potential for core-menu inclusion first on one of its four or five seasonal menu inserts. Each runs for 12 weeks and features three or four items.
Reliable Sources
For seasonal and core menus alike, Davis welcomes input from all sources: “My vendors, the home office, unit cooks, magazines. A good idea is a good idea, wherever it comes from.”
For example, while working on the Fresh Summer Berries and Cream dessert, $4.29, a blend of strawberries, blueberries and fresh whipped cream, Davis got the idea for the crowning touch—a layer of vanilla-graham-cracker crunch—from an administrative assistant. “I had done six versions and was on No. 7,” he recalls. “This associate tasted it, liked it, but said it needed crunch. That cinched it for me.” The dessert, featured on summer menu inserts from May 23 through Aug. 31, is served in a martini glass.
And it was a vendor partner that helped Davis make roasted Roma tomatoes featured in the top-selling Tomato Mozzarella Chicken Sandwich doable. “He pre-roasts them and packs them in garlic, olive oil and spices,” Davis explains.
For the future, “I’m looking forward, asking myself in 2006, what might the menu be in 2007?” Davis says. Pleased that he’s been able to bring ingredients such as fresh pineapple, roasted Roma tomatoes, fresh basil, baby greens and spinach into the inventory, he will continue to push for nonfried items that are big on flavor and freshness.
“We’ve got an appetizer in the works we’ve tested twice that’s ready to go, and we’re looking at a new-generation veggie sandwich that’s fresher, with more crunch and bite,” he says.
Davis is also investigating “what more we can do to enhance flavors by developing them with nice, slow-cooking procedures—everything from baking sweets to roasting entrees. The sort of dishes I started with decades ago, presented for today. Casual dining has moved so far from that. I’m trying to bring it back.”
| MENU SAMPLER |
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Appetizer Black Bean Roll-Ups: five tortillas filled with spicy beans and veggies, served with low-fat Tex-Mex dressing and pico de gallo, $7.99 Lighten Up Hula Bowl: mixed greens topped with chargrilled chicken, Mandarin oranges, pineapple, tomatoes, carrots and crunchy noodles with fat-free honey-mustard dressing, $6.99 Entrees Tuscan Chicken: grilled chicken, capellini, sauteed artichokes, onions, Roma tomatoes and mushrooms in garlic-herb-wine sauce, $11.99 Singapore Salmon, drizzled with tangy Asian glaze and grilled, served with baked potato and vegetable, $15.99 Steaks and Ribs Max’s Best BBQ Ribs: Southern-style, slow-cooked ribs with sweet and spicy barbecue sauce, served with seasoned onion rings and coleslaw, $12.99 half slab Sandwiches Roast Beef & Brie (pictured), deli-style with baby spinach on toasted ciabatta bread, spread with sweet horseradish dressing, served with baby greens drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette, $9.49 |
