Flavor Trends, Strategies and Solutions for Menu Development

 

 

 

By Elyse Glickman
May 12, 2022

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Itai Afek

Itai Afek

As a menu category, “gourmet wraps” can be perceived as a vague, catch-all descriptor. But Wolfnights has earned acclaim and customer loyalty as a gourmet wraps concept by committing to genuine menu innovation in this space—along with a distinctive marketing theme centered on cultural associations with all things “wolfish.” While clever, the brand philosophy centered on the “Ideal Bite,” along with menu names like Pink Moon and Little Red Riding Hood, would have little teeth without the concept’s genius moves around flavored doughs and distinctive, high-impact fillings.

Take, for example, the popular Dire Wolf wrap, which combines fried chicken, lamb bacon, cheddar, papaya slaw, spicy peppers and a housemade ketchup wrapped up in a ginger-flavored dough. It epitomizes that “Ideal Bite” promise, says Itai Afek, CEO. “You have the crunch and warmth of the chicken, the tanginess of the slaw, the spiciness of the peppers, the sweet and sour flavors of our ketchup, and the smokiness of the lamb bacon,” he says. “The ginger dough pulls it all together.”

The full menu features an array of inventive doughs, including fennel, pumpkin seed, turmeric, fig, chestnut-and-chile and beet-and-chia varieties, along with creative, eye-popping fillings and craveable sauces.

 

About The Author

Elyse Glickman

Elyse Glickman has an extensive food and beverage journalism resume encompassing reviews, chef profiles, trends, recipes and other topics for publications and websites in the U.S. and abroad. For more than a decade, she covered the Los Angeles dining scene as a senior food editor for “Boulevard Magazine” and “C-Suite Quarterly,” while digging deeper into wine, beverage and cocktail topics for trades such as “The Tasting Panel,” “Bar Business,” “El Restaurante.” She also has explored international restaurant and food trends for travel stories published in Roseann Tully’s “Intermezzo” and “SIP” magazines, “Taste & Travel” and “Global Traveler.” [email protected]