Happy Thursday, everyone,

This week's email is a sausage. Not on purpose, but here we are.

I wrote a piece about why I think fresh sausage patties might be the most underrated burger format out there.Xavier from the 86 Reasons podcast and I discuss the weird disconnect between what casual food costs to make and what people think it should cost, referencing a sausage dish.    

Then, just to keep the theme, I added a  recipe for the pork and cheddar sausage burger that sparked the whole thread.

Oh, and In-N-Out came up in conversation on this week's podcast.  We all agree that it is a great representation of hospitality.  

This week's podcast also brought up a conversation about the business model of Wonder, Marc Lore's new company that is making waves with acquisitions left and right.  I'm a big fan, but apparently, there is some disagreement on the viability of the concept.

Hope you enjoy.

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Is Sausage the Best Burger Meat?

I continue to be surprised that more people aren't doing this. Fresh sausage meat (no casing, no dry cure, just emulsified seasoned sausage) gives you total control over seasoning, texture, and consistency in a way a beef patty just can't.  Not that a juicy beef patty is not still one of the best things ever.

👉 Read the article here

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The meez Podcast 🎙️

Is Wonder the Future of Restaurants? Plus In & Out is great hospitality, the breakfast boom, and the franchise model

Mike Jacober called in from the grand opening of his first Jersey Mike's franchise in Lake Bluff, Illinois. We got into Wonder acquiring Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken and whether vertical integration can actually work in restaurants (I was definitely the odd one out believing in the opportunity here).

Solo dining reservations are up 22% year over year, breakfast is booming, and Matt dropped a spicy take about Italian food having a ceiling. We also talked about big restaurant economics, franchise operations, and Matt's burrito shop averaging one ticket per minute out of the gate.

What we cover:

• Mike's first Jersey Mike's: 13-week buildouts, corporate training teams, and why franchising feels like cheating after running independents
• Wonder acquires Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken: Is vertical integration the future of restaurants or a venture-funded fantasy?
• Solo dining reservations are up 22% year over year, and why it's probably way more than that
• Breakfast reservations up 19%: breakfast dates, trade-down economics, and the rise of the breakfast day part
• Matt's hot take: Italian food has a ceiling in fine dining
• The economics of massive, grandiose restaurants and why more top line might actually mean less risk

👉 Listen now here

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Chef Notes 📔

The perception of what a dish should cost.

I was chatting with Xavier on the 86 Reasons podcast a bit ago, and he brought up Bark Hot Dogs, a restaurant chain of mine from back in the day.  We were discussing the perception of what people pay for food.

We brought up the same pork sausages with smoked Grafton cheddar in the recipe below: Heritage pork, slaw, pickled jalapenos... eight bucks on a bun.

The point being, if you put that same sausage on a plate instead of a biodegradable sausage boat, it's a $22 dish.

The plate is reusable. The biodegradable container isn't.   The logic being it's a casual spot so the food should cost less, but in actuality the COGS (even with labor) often cost more unless you have massive scale.

👉 Check out the clip to chime in here

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Hot Take🤔🌶️

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In & Out = great hospitality

Keeping this simple.  Just watch the clip, would love to know your thoughts.  

👉 Chime in with your thoughts on LinkedIn or Instagram

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Recipe:

Pork & Cheddar Sausage "Burger"

This might be one of the best dishes I've ever made, at least for my palate.  Heritage pork shoulder and pork belly sausage, riesling wine, young Grafton cheddar, and smoked Grafton cheddar.  Seared on the plancha, forming (IMO) a way better 'Juicy-Lucy' experience than the Juicy Lucy.   Squeeze of lime when it comes off the plancha.  Spicy habanero slaw, mayo, on a potato bun.  

Recipe here

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💬 Want to Be a Guest on The meez Podcast?

If you’re building at scale, or wrestling with hard zero-to-one problems worth talking about, I’d love to hear from you.

Apply to be a guest or nominate someone we should talk to.

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