As Director of Culinary Operations of Orlando, Fla.-based Margaritaville Hospitality, Tom Kempsey oversees menu development for a staggering 35 concepts. Founded by the legendary Jimmy Buffett, brands include the flagship Margaritaville, LandShark Bar & Grill, JWB Grill, 5 o’Clock Somewhere, Air Margaritaville (airport locations), along with vacation clubs, hotels & resorts, and casinos. Lah De Dah, an elevated beach bar, rolls out this month in Ft. Meyers Beach, Fla. Working at such high volumes in casual dining, catering and banquets, the need for products that yield consistency and promise ease of execution is paramount. Until recently, it’s kept menu development starring pasta somewhat limited. Kempsey sees opportunity in adding more pasta dishes to his lineup, thanks to its evergreen appeal with dining consumers and its ability to carry a myriad of flavor profiles.

“Operationally, particularly with the volume, we didn’t think our cooks could do it consistently well. We’ve had so much inconsistency with labor skill sets and cooking when it comes to our pasta dishes,” says Kempsey. “But we identified that there’s real opportunity for pasta on our menus. The challenge we needed to overcome was making sure we could deliver a consistently great end product. We knew the payoff would be worth it.”

SUCCESSFUL SOLUTION

In Kempsey’s quest to solve consistency issues with Margaritaville’s pasta dishes, the team started looking at fresh pasta as a possible solve. “We were almost there. Then Barilla Frozen Pasta came along,” he says. “It’s a game changer. We don’t need to hold a pot of water on the stove all-day long. My top reason for switching to Barilla Frozen is consistency in a challenged labor market. We now have confidence that we can roll out new—or updated—pasta dishes. Our odds of successful execution every dish, every time moved from 75 percent to 99 percent.”

Barilla for Professionals brought Barilla Frozen to the foodservice market in 2022, offering the innovative line of pre-cooked, frozen pasta. The company’s goal behind the launch is to solve for the labor crunch by cutting out the prep steps to par-cook, drain, chill and store dry pasta for service, also improving consistency and cutting down on waste.

For Kempsey, Barilla Frozen is a solution that fuels innovation. The long-standing Margarita Pasta has undergone a few modern updates, making it more flavor-forward while keeping consistency in check—thanks to the new frozen pasta option. “We switched out the traditional penne to the Barilla Frozen Cellentani. We make a lime-cilantro butter sauce in house, add roasted vegetables, garlic and vegetable stock, then finish with chive ‘grass’ and Grana Padano cheese,” he says. “It’s a great update that helps us stay fresh.”

“Since we’ve switched to Barilla Frozen, wherever we have pasta—from our restaurants to hotel banquets – our chefs are reporting that the end product is much better than what we were putting out before,” he says.

Photo courtesy of Barilla for Professionals

The ease of pre-cooked Barilla Frozen pasta allows for innovation, like this take on the classic Greek dish kotopoulo skorthato from Barilla Chef Yury Krasilovsky, with whipped honey feta and crispy chicken skin.

PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS

From microwaves to impingers, catering to ghost kitchens, Barilla Frozen is line-ready. Thanks to high-quality semolina and rigorous testing of the IQF production process, Barilla Frozen can flex between to-order service or be held for 30 minutes or longer. Operators can source cellentani, elbows, penne and rigatoni. Linguine rolls out in early 2024.

For information on Barilla Frozen Pasta, visit: https://www.barillafs.com/frozen