Love is in the Air and on the Menu!
With Valentines Day being a big traffic-driver for foodservice operators, our hearts are fluttering seeing Barilla Love heart shaped pasta promoted across the country and in so many kinds of operations.
From steakhouses to senior living, corporate dining to fast casual, it turns out pasta is perfect for the day of love. Here’s a little sampling of the heart shaped pasta activations that happened around the country:
Trulucks featured Barilla Heart Shaped Pasta as a side dish on their Valentine’s Day “Sinners & Saints” Menu. It’s ultra-luxury and seafood, perfect for their brand, with Brie & Lobster Mac & Cheese triple cheese, parker house crumb crust, and of course Barilla Love heart shaped pasta.
Piada Italian Street Food is using it in a one-day-only Valentine’s Day bundle, with Two Entrees, Two Drinks, and Cannoli Chips. We loved how they promoted it in the media and on the social channels!
Nordstrom Restaurant Group is celebrating the “Month of Love” all month. The heart shaped pasta dishes are Reesie’s Southern Goulash (a dish by Chef Tanya Thomas of H3irloom Food Group) with certified angus beef, roasted garlic tomato sauce, bell pepper, Nordstrom signature spice blend; Pasta Romesco with Herbed Chicken - chicken sausage, bell pepper, parmesan; and a kids Mac and cheese.
Lifeworks, the higher-end B&I division of Aramark, is running special menus all week at their Capital One account locations across three states. It’s a takeover of their pasta stations with a rotating menu of features, and they are also doing take-home meals in festive red bags for the associates. They all include broccolini with lemon garlic breadcrumbs, salad, house focaccia, chocolate budino; there are 4 rotating options for pasta and protein. Our fave is this salmon piccata and Calabrian Chile arrabiatta dish, so good!
Last but not least, who could say no to the pitch from Dante we saw on IG from Pizza One in New Jersey! At all three locations, you can customize your heart shaped pasta with your favorite sauce. Love it!