Wendy’s Adds “Finishing Salts”, Saucebox Chef Change

Wendy’s – the fast-food chain, has started adding (cough) “finishing salts” to their fries.

From the PR Newswire:

Wendy’s announces the nationwide launch of its new natural-cut fries with sea salt, marking the first complete redesign of the company’s classic fries in its 41-year history. Designed to give French fry lovers a hotter, crispier taste experience with an enhanced potato flavor and texture, Wendy’s new fries are the only ones to be offered by a national fast food chain with the natural “skin-on” cut and seasoned with sea salt.

The new fries incorporate a range of new ingredients and preparation methods to meet consumers’ demand for a better-tasting, higher-quality French fry. They are made 100% from Russet potatoes and sliced “natural-style” with the skin on for additional texture and taste, then cooked in proprietary oil that contains no allergens and has 0 grams trans fat per serving. They are finished with a dusting of natural sea salt to further enhance the flavor.

According to NPR,

“the taste upgrade comes at a health cost. The fast-food chain’s new fries actually have a lot more sodium than the old ones. That’s despite the fact sea salt sold in this country typically has larger grains than regular table salt and can deliver more flavor with less shaking.
But the sodium amounts ought to set off a few alarms for the millions of us who already go overboard on the salt. Wendy’s confirmed to us that the new medium sized fry goes from 350 milligrams to 500 milligrams.”

My favorite line of the week – “‘Wendy’s has never had the best french fry,” marketing chief Ken Calwell admits to USA Today. “If it’s not your strength, you can start with a clean sheet.”

I suppose I owe it to you all to give them a try.

Musical chefs once again at Saucebox Restaurant.

Chef Jason Neroni took over the Saucebox kitchen on October 26th and has been cooking ever since. He’s changing up dishes, making the menu his own, “using cutting-edge culinary technique, sourcing ingredients locally, adding more earthy dishes, vegetables and non-sweet desserts to the menu”. Jason isn’t terribly well known in this area, but previous credits are impressive – Blanca in Solana Beach, 10 Downing Street, Cantina, Porchetta, Alain Ducasse at the Essex House, Le Cirque (all in NYC), Chez Panisse, Postrio… it’s quite the list. Let’s hope he can make some desperately needed magic at Saucebox.