Going forward biscuits will once again stand as the lone bread choice for dinners, soups, and chowders at Moody’s Diner. Their sole competitor – yeast rolls – have gotten the ax in the interest of employee health, according to Dan Beck.
Beck, a third-generation member of the Moody’s Diner clan and the company’s president and general manager, said the decision to cut yeast rolls from the menu was a decision made to save the wrists of the pastry cooks, who he described as “die-hard workers.”
Some of the cooks have had wrist injuries, and while it is hard to say whether the injuries are directly related to the yeast rolls, the rolls do take a considerable amount of hand-forming, Beck said. Around a thousand yeast rolls are made per week in the summer season; somewhat fewer during the winter months, Beck said.
The initial ingredients of the rolls are mixed and put aside to rise, then flattened and cut out with a cookie-cutter, and finally stretched and formed by hand, he said.
“We did try in the past just cutting them out with the cookie cutter, kind of like what we do with our biscuits. They were good, but they just weren’t as good as when they were hand formed,” Beck said.
The pastry cooks are willing to do what the customers want, but Beck said he does not want the rolls to translate into injuries.
“I don’t want them to risk their life and limb to make a yeast roll,” he said.
Beck said there has been discussions on cutting the rolls from the menu for several months, and the sign on the restaurant’s doors informing patrons of the change went up on July 29.
The rolls only came on the scene a few years ago and have become popular as the alternative to the historic choice of biscuits at the diner, Beck said.
“They were a big hit, and still are,” he said.
All is not lost for those who rate the yeast roll above the biscuit: Beck said the rolls may come back on special occasions such as Thanksgiving and Christmas when they are often ordered for family dinners.
