The Future of Restaurant Menus
There may be trouble ahead…..
When it comes to requests for menus from a Head Chef then January and February is the worst time of the year bar none. New year, new start etc, there is Mothers Day, Easter Sunday, Valentine’s Day, Fathers Day, Christmas Party menus, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve, private dinner parties, business lunches and the restaurant menus are ready for a change whilst you’re at it.
This has been the most difficult time I can ever remember for writing menus. I have written in previous posts about food costs, avaliability and sustainability and how we are all going to have to change our outlook on eating in general if we are ever to tackle the problems facing us. Well, these problems seem to be mounting and they are here to stay.
When it comes to being ethically aware of food sourcing, carbon footprints and the like I cannot help but feel that chefs are often the ‘pig in the middle’. I am accutely aware of dwinding fish stocks, dairy and wheat shortages and escalating meat prices, I have to absorb a lot of the cost, some I can pass on to the customer but not all. The alternative is to offer the alternative.
Here’s the problem, the alternative is rarely as attractive as the original and the customer knows it. Here’s the other problem, the alternatives are not that cheap which makes them even more unappealing. That said, are we going to have any choice? My dilemma is wanting to demonstrate eco-awareness and responsibility which I strongly believe in whilst trying to balance that with customer demmands and profit achievement.
To write a menu that pleases the green lobby whilst running the risk of ostracizing the customer is easier said than done. I don’t think the chef/restaurant should carry the burden, the public has to be made aware that pollack is the new cod/haddock whether you like it or not. Once that message has been put across then it is the chefs responsibility to make the most of those alternative ingredients.
So spare a thought for Head Chefs across the land trying to juggle everyone’s wishes-for now.
Miles
would it be possible to put one or a couple of ’specials’ in each menu - a bit like they used to do with ‘the vegetarian option’
Dishes with line caught fish, organic veg etc.
The Ethical Option
This would give you chance to do your bit whilst giving the customer an option and you could market test it.
Will the customer pay the difference ?
They all say they want it but given the choice will they take it ?
Could be a good idea all round
February 9, 2008 @ 8:53 am
Miles,
Management speak used to refer to future changes as “Opportunities” thereby changing your attitude towards it. Some of that was bull…. of course, however, there were also opportunities to be had with a different mindset. We all have to accept some change which does not mean that it is bad. It may, in fact, be very good for us.
You should not be expected to carry the burden for the changes needed. Headchefs can help to get the messages across. Recent celebrities spring to mind. Are these matters raised in your professional journals?
It would be interesting to test the uptake by customers along the lines that Rod suggests.
Elsie
February 9, 2008 @ 5:19 pm
Rod,
A good idea and some valuable points. the problem is that when I have ‘tested the water’ with specials they hardly sell. At the end of the day people readily identify with chicken, cod and the like but not with pollack, whiting and bream. Getting them to pay for something they are not sure about isn’t easy.
Miles
February 9, 2008 @ 6:06 pm
Elsie,
The catering magazines are full of this subject, I have daily conversations with the butcher, veg suppliers and fishmongers and they all tell the same tale. One thing is for sure, menu writing is getting increasingly harder to do.
Miles
February 9, 2008 @ 6:08 pm
Miles
I didn’t mean specials that way.
My idea was say,
One of your most popular dishes offered jointly as a special.
One the standard way
The other, all free range, organic, free trade - the ethical option.
Knowing the dish to be already popular it would clearly show the levels of interest.
You diners would have the choice of both versions and you can see if they’ll pay the difference.
Also means you’re doing your bit whilst still being realistic in business terms.
Rod
February 10, 2008 @ 8:18 am
Rod,
A good idea, will look into it, I am looking at ways of getting the message across without running the risk of making the menus tedious to read.
Will keep you posted.
Thanks again.
Miles
February 10, 2008 @ 4:15 pm