Hookah Cafe, New Orleans

Green tomatoes are sliced to just the right thickness, dusted with cornmeal or flour and fried to perfection. The slices are layered with crabmeat and the three- to four-inch stack is served with a gumbo-like brown sauce. Everything went together perfectly.

Selected by: Gerry Fernandez
President, Multicultural Foodservice
& Hospitality Alliance

Check out the entire list of Clean Plate Award winners. 

We are about upscale global cuisine,” says Francesco Roccato, director of culinary arts at the InterContinental Montelucia Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona. “But I wanted to present fun food at the pool.”

For the poolside Kasbah Bar, he created a dozen variations on French fries, spiced up with an array of flavors and ideas from around the world “so it’s not boring food.” From Roccato’s native northern Italy, Idaho potatoes get drizzled with white Alba truffle oil and flakes of Parmigiano Reggiano. From Spain, piquillo peppered fries are served with aoili. And, for dessert, unsalted fries get dipped into chocolate fondue. Most people share a trio for $18.

“It’s a fresh take away from burgers-and-fries, a topic of conversation for guests and definitely a marketing tool,” Roccato adds.