Restaurant News

National MenuMasters Award Presented To Olive Garden

Menu and culinary team recognized for innovative use of Italian flavors and fresh ingredients

ORLANDO, Fla. – Olive Garden has received the prestigious 2004 MenuMasters Award for “Best Menu Revamp” presented by the national industry publication Nation’s Restaurant News and sponsored by Ventura Foods LLC.

According to Nation’s Restaurant News, Olive Garden was recognized for the quality and variety of new dishes, highlighting ingredients such as pancetta, fume buono cheese, artichokes and fresh sage, and for capturing the essence of Italian cuisine. Olive Garden’s Stuffed Chicken Siena, Chicken Castellina, Three Meat Ravioli, Shrimp and Crab Ravioli, Salmon Piccata and Berries & Zabaione were among the dishes honored.

“This award is a credit to our exceptional culinary and restaurant service teams who bring our menu to life every day," said Salli Setta, senior vice president of culinary and beverage for Olive Garden. "They take great care in preparing and serving our guests fresh, simple, delicious Italian food.”

Since opening its restaurant and Culinary Institute of Tuscany in 1999, a source of menu inspiration for the company, Olive Garden has introduced Italian flavors to the American palate that are both approachable and authentic. The result is new, flavorful, yet simple dishes that represent distinctive tastes found in various regions of Italy.

For example, Chicken Castellina is made with two Italian staples – artichokes and pancetta, a lightly seasoned Italian bacon. Fresh basil and sage, herbs that are very much a part of Italian cuisine, are prominent in Three Meat Ravioli. And, focusing on freshness and seasonality of ingredients, Olive Garden offers a summer-only specialty of Berries & Zabaione - strawberries and blueberries topped with a light Marsala custard and raspberry sorbet.

Olive Garden’s Riserva di Fizzano restaurant and Culinary Institute of Tuscany are both located in a restored 11th-century village and tucked within the rolling hills of Castellina in Chianti in the Tuscany region of Italy. Throughout the year, culinary managers train at the Culinary Institute, enhancing their knowledge of traditional Italian cooking techniques under the direction of Olive Garden Executive Chef Romana Neri.

Olive Garden’s culinary team has garnered national recognition for its innovation, menu execution and industry leadership. Most recently, Olive Garden was named the 2002 Chain of the Year by Restaurant Hospitality and was presented with the Menus 2002 Silver Skillet for overall menu excellence from Restaurant Business.

Olive Garden is the leading restaurant in the Italian dining segment with 543 restaurants, more than 60,000 employees and $2 billion in annual sales. Olive Garden is a division of Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE:DRI), the world’s largest casual dining company. For more information, visit Olive Garden’s Web site at www.olivegarden.com.