Five Takeaways from a tour of the Levy Innovations Lab

Street-side food joint replica at Levy Innovations Lab

As soon as I entered the Levy Restaurants’ Innovation Lab, I could already feel that it was special. Sections of the walls were painted with inspiring and stimulating words and it looked like a well-organized combination of a bar, a dessert-cart, a street-side food joint, a lounge and a spacious and vibrant kitchen.

Salad Counter at the Levy Innovations Lab

Dessert cart replica

The next few hours at the location were a mix of meeting chefs Robin Rosenberg and Joe Flamm and the Director of Communications Jennifer Sutherland - along with a tour of the innovations lab, Spiaggia restaurant, the private dining area and the different kitchens.

The conversations with the wonderful people we met at Levy gave me an insight into the food industry and helped me understand food trends, choices, decisions that chefs make and the value of different aspects of the restaurant business.

Here are my five takeaways from the experience:

Making everything from scratch is the key:

Chef Rosenberg continuously stressed on the efforts they take to make things form scratch. It is definitely labor-intensive and sometimes even time-consuming but it helps Levy restaurants to not be dependent on value-added items and to serve food that’s fresh and real.

Spiaggia private dining kitchen area

The use of seasonal fruits and vegetables is important to cook tasty food:

Seasonality is essential. The chefs emphasized on their different menus that are based on the different seasons. I really liked how Chef Rosenberg said, “Why fight it? Buy it in season. Feature it in season.” He also added that in the summer he loves using watermelon, strawberry and blueberries but his mantra is to use what’s great at the time.

Jennifer Sutherland (left) and Chef Robin Rosenberg (right) addressing students

Always look for that special touch that forces people to come back: 

Food with a twist usually stays in people’s memories. Chef Rosenberg said that a restaurant’s concept can be the same but they can still continue adding little surprises in their special menus. In this competitive food industry, innovation, variety and change is crucial to sustain and to give your diners reasons to love your restaurant.

A close-up of the wine section at the Spiaggia restaurant

 Storytelling is inherent to food: 

Jennifer started out as a food blogger before joining the Levy brand. She told us that when writing about food, we need to find our voice. Food bloggers need to have a point of view, a personality and a special theme along with sharing a little bit of window in their personal life. What’s the story behind the food they are featuring? What is this blog bringing to the food community that no one else can?

Pie and bread in jars at a corner of the Spiaggia cafe

Go local and go small:

For the chefs at Levy, local is so important. It connects people to the place and to the food. People are proud of where they live and they want to eat produce from their region and their farms. Also, the new trend is small portions. People want a lot of variety, they like trying more stuff.

Chef Joe Flamm talking about Italian food and cooking

For most diners, eating out isn’t a necessity any more. It’s an experience, a memory that they are building with everything that they order and eat. At Levy, the chefs and the staff help these food memories become more special and more beautiful.

A sign in pointing in the direction of Cafe Spiaggia