Hi 4foodies, there’s a lot going on at 4food this week, including our GM Sergio’s early-Halloween bash which launches his weekly Haus of Shei Friday night parties [8 PM - 2 AM], featuring DJ Jiffy, $2 shots, $3 sangrias, Captain Lawrence Craft Pints, and the Shei Burger which  enters the chart this week at #4.

Meanwhile, many of you have commented that all is very good in our kitchen and that our food diversity improved.  Introducing the reason why - our new Executive Chef, ToniAnn Ulses.  Earlier this week we asked ToniAnn a few questions, by way of introducing you to her and vice versa:

4food:                   If  you had complete freedom to build a (W)holeburger for the fall, what would the components be?

ToniAnn:                    A brioche bun, a perfectly cooked Kobe beef patty, mushroom & onion scoop, brie cheese, a slice of Fuji apple, and as a condiment, slow cooked fig jam.

4food:                  What would you call it?

ToniAnn:                  The Great Escape!

4food:                  Why, after the Steve McQueen movie?

ToniAnn:                  No, because when you eat it the stress of your day just melts away and you are instantly transported to your favorite vacation spot, your favorite memory, or your favorite little bistro.

4food:                  Why did you join 4food?

ToniAnn:                  I believe in the de-junking mission - taking food products that are traditionally unhealthy and transforming them into something that even the most health conscience person can enjoy, but also elevating the quality of ingredients and taking it to a gourmet level.  

4food:                  What do you hope to achieve at 4food?

ToniAnn:                  The most nutritious and delicious products I possibly can and to maybe educate a few people along the way.

4food:                  What do you see as the greatest challenge?

ToniAnn:                  Expanding 4food nationally and internationally without compromising the integrity of the food.

4food:                  What does de-junking fast food mean to you?

ToniAnn:                  Identify the bad and replace it with quality wholesome ingredients that you can feel good about eating.

4food:                  Do you think food is political, and if so what does that mean?

ToniAnn:                  Not per say, but I do think it can be a topic of great discussion and debate.

4food:                   Can you tell us anything about your plans for future scoops?

Toni Ann:                  I generally listen to what the seasons tell and show me, so I can tell you that depending on what season we are in will most likely dictate what the scoops will be.

4food:                   Do you have a message 4foodies?

ToniAnn:                  Stay tuned because this is only the beginning.

To transport you all to ToniAnn’s favorite vacation spot, her Kobe beef Great Escape will be a featured build next week at $10!

The Real Thing:

In the early 1800s sodas were considered to be health drinks. They were free of artificial coloring and therefore mostly clear in appearance - tinged only by the medicinal herbs, minerals, and extracts pharmacists added to differentiate their health claims.

By May of 1886, when Atlanta pharmacist Doctor John Pemberton developed Coca Cola, as a prohibition avoiding non-alcoholic version of his popular French Wine Coca, differentiation had become a whole lot of caffeine and five ounces of coca leaf per gallon of syrup.

Since 1984, Coke has been sweetened in the US with high-fructose corn syrup [“HFCS”], which due to an anti-competitive subsidy of the US corn crop is much cheaper than sugar. Unfortunately HFCS is difficult to metabolize and a recent study at Princeton University discovered that rats fed HFCS gained 48% more weight than rats fed sugar [http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S26/91/22K07/] - little wonder that since its introduction the incidences of type 2 diabetes in the US have doubled.

With this in mind 4food recently launched a line of 4 delicious hot-selling natural cola, lemon, ginger, and vanilla cream sodas.  Each of these sodas is clear, like the original sodas, and each of these sodas weighs in at 41 good Agave-sweetened calories per 20-ounce serving, whereas a Coke clobbers you with 242.5 bad HFCS calories given the same sized cup!

4foodies who have visited the 286 Madison Avenue store in the past few days will have seen that the wall behind the service counter is papered with American Diabetes Association hands. This is because the 4food Team is participating in the ADA STEP OUT Walk to Stop Diabetes on Sunday October 23^rd. You can support our walkers by making $1 donations in-store (for which your hand goes up on our wall of fame), and by purchasing one of our new sodas, as we will add 50 cents to our STEP OUT team sponsorship for every soda purchase made in October.

De-junking is a way of life, in-store, with our team, and in our community.

We thank you for your support.