For Johnny Rocco’s Italian Grill, every menu has a season Thursday, September 10th, 2015 - 3:12 am September 10, 2015</div></p><br /> <p>As a successful restaurant owner in Ontario’s wine region, Tony Visca knows that one of the biggest upsides of having a food-related business in Canada is the ever-changing seasons. In fact, learning to make the most of the freshest, local ingredients which are at their peak at specific times of year has brought many happy customers to Visca’s growing family of Johnny Rocco’s restaurants.<br /><br />Whether it’s locally grown asparagus in the spring, tomatoes and kale in the summer or root vegetables in the fall, fresh seasonal ingredients are always on the menu at Johnny Rocco’s Italian Grill. And with a little help from the team at Kraft, the Niagara Falls-based restaurant group is able to create delicious, inventive and internationally-inspired recipes that have customers eagerly waiting for the next seasonal menu to appear.<br /><br />“For each time of year, we look at the season and adjust certain parts of the menu,” says Visca. “For example, in the spring we have our Springalicious menu. We’ll then be moving on to our summer menu where the emphasis is on local and fresh due to the fact that there is a lot of Ontario produce available at this time. We gear the menu around Ontario produce so we can showcase the different Italian dishes with local flavours.”</p><br /> </td><br /> <td> </td><br /> </tr><br /> </tbody><br /> </table><br /> </div></div></div><br /> </td></tr><br /> <tr><br /> <td id=”dnn_FeatureStoryPane”><br /> <div id=”dnn_ctr22019_ContentPane”><div id=”dnn_ctr22019_ModuleContent”><br /> <div id=”dnn_ctr22019_HtmlModule_lblContent”><br /> <h1>Changing with the times</h1><br /> <p>With local produce more plentiful in the spring and summer, Visca says winter can be a bit tougher. But that doesn’t mean he can’t still plan a seasonal menu.<br /><br />“In the winter season, we go for the hearty, comfort-food kinds of dishes, things like gnocchi and lasagna – heavier pasta-based dishes that can create a sense of comfort when the weather starts to get colder.”</p><br /> <p>Visca says that with more people outdoors enjoying the summer sunshine, they seem to be more conscious of staying in shape and showing off a fit beach bod. His customers, too, are looking for lighter fare that features fresh, local ingredients.</p><br /> <table><br /> <tbody><br /> <tr><br /> <td colspan=”2″ style=”text-align: left;”><br /> <p>“This year we had something with spinach and kale because that’s what’s trending. It’s light and I think people try to eat lighter in the summertime.”</p><br /> <h1>Creates core menu</h1><br /> <p>Earlier this year Johnny Rocco’s went through a major revamp of their entire menu, paring 70 items down to a mainstay of 40 dishes that his culinary team knew how to prepare really well. By supplementing this core menu with seasonal dishes and specials based on ingredient availability and seasonality, Visca says they can introduce new items on a regular basis.</p><br /> <p>“For our summer menu that we just launched, we made a watermelon, arugula and kale salad with ricotta cheese and we used one of the dressings that were introduced to us by Kraft — the Pure Kraft Sweet Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing,” says Visca. “Our customers liked it so much that we’re going to be carrying it over from our spring menu into our summer menu. We also have other core items where we use some of the Kraft products and then add various spices and seasonings to give it some Italian flair.”</p><br /> <p>While some might think that a seasonal menu applies only to entrees, Johnny Rocco’s has developed a menu that spans the entire meal, adding local and seasonal ingredients to give their Italian menu a fresh lift several times a year.</p><br /> <h1>Local influences</h1><br /> <p>“When we create a seasonal menu, we’ll always create an appetizer, a salad, a pizza from our woodburning oven, a protein-based entrée and a main dish pasta,” says Visca. “For example, peach wine in the Niagara region is very popular right now so we have a couple of menu items that we created using peaches and peach wine. Besides that, we also created a peach sangria and other drinks so we are really able to showcase peach as one of our major ingredients.”<br /><br />Of course, Visca and co-owner Fern Colavecchia also know the importance of having as many helping hands as possible when it comes to creating and fine-tuning their seasonal menus. For that, Johnny Rocco’s turns to the always-supportive team at Kraft for their expertise in using their wide assortment of ready-made products such as dressings and sauces to inspire new and globally-influenced flavours.<br /><br />“We change our main menu once a year,” explains Visca. “Every time we’re ready to do so, we ask our local Kraft rep if she can get the team at Kraft to let us know about anything new. She’ll come back to us with maybe 10 to 15 different recipe ideas for what’s trending. Although we might not use all of them, we do look at them and see what we can use as a base and then tweak it with our own Italian flavours. We want to make sure we’re taking some of the dishes our grandmothers made for us and put that modern twist on them using Kraft products and ideas.”</p><br /> <h1>With a little help from their friends</h1><br /> <p>Visca and Colavecchia say the team at Kraft has been instrumental in helping Johnny Rocco’s expand their business and grow their customer base through the use of seasonal menus.<br /><br />“Kraft has supported us right from the beginning,” says Colavecchia. “We wanted to have great quality and consistency with our product and Kraft helped in coming up with different dressings, different sauces and different cheeses (such as the Kraft Habanero) that we are able to use. We just added these in to all of our Italian favourites that we already had.”<br /><br />“We have three locations now — and growing — so for us, a big issue is consistency,” adds Visca. “We want our customers to have the same great experience at each of our restaurants. With Kraft, we get great products such as their Pure Kraft Asiago Caesar or Pure Kraft Sweet Balsamic Vinaigrette dressings that people really enjoy.<br /><br />“If I had to use one word for the reason we chose Kraft it would be ‘quality.’ Not only are we happy with the product but also with the support we get from their head office and the team in the field. The products are always fresh and of the highest quality, so we stick with them.”</p><br /> </td><br /> <td rowspan=”6″> </td><br /> </tr><br /> <tr><br /> <td colspan=”2″><img width=”608″ height=”23″ src=”http://restaurantcentral.ca/Portals/0/video_divider_bottom.gif” /></td><br /> </tr></p><p><tr><br /> <td><a href=”http://restaurantcentral.ca/JohnnyRoccosItalianGrill.aspx” target=”_blank”><strong>&lt; Back</strong></a> </td><br /> <td> </td><br /> </tr><br /> <tr><br /> <td colspan=”2″><img width=”608″ height=”23″ src=”http://restaurantcentral.ca/Portals/0/video_divider_bottom.gif” /></td><br /> <td> </td><br /> </tr><br /> <tr><br /> <td colspan=”2″>Copyright © RestoBiz. All rights reserved. </td><br /> <td> </td><br /> </tr><br /> </tbody><br /> </table><br /> </div></p><p></div></div><br /> </td></p><p><td id=”dnn_TechnologyPane”><br /> </td></p><p><td id=”dnn_SustainabilityPane”><br /> </td></p><p></tr></p><p></tbody><br /> </table><br /> Share this... 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