“Customization” a Food Trend I Can Live With
I tend to agree with a few of these trends. I especially believe in the customization trend. I started my business partly because I was tired of seeing the same items menus across the city. Chicken Ceasar especially. Why? I wanted to help culinary teams fine their “inner groove”.
The top five food trends according to a culinarian | QSRweb.com.
Every kitchen has a soul. It is a collaboration of many factors and each should have a unique identity. Just because some else has it on the menu does it mean you have to. I have termed this the “vanilla” factor. Kitchens as well as guests want to have their unique twist on a dish and make it there own. By developing a menu writing formula and recipe writing processes based on things a kitchen believes in and does consistently well will allow continual improvement by the kitchen. It will also allow you to easily make special requests or custom orders possible.
A kitchen should focus on producing a core group of recipes very well and then with the right guidance from the kicthen a well trained sales person should be able to easily create unique menus. The sales person can be a waiter, catering sales manager or the receptionist who is the only one office. If they understand the way menus are put together it can work. CCS is has developed a series of worksheets for custom writing menus which details cooking methods best suited for a particular protein, provides an internchangable list of seasonal sides, sauces and garnishes which can combined in any manner based on the desires of the person writing the menu item. There is no experimenting on the guests with a on-the-fly menu item because it sounds good.
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How do people really see your menus?
Menu writing is very important in todays market place. Have you every really thought about how they see the words on the menu. Words are a power medium. The wrong words used out of context can be devistating and bad for business. Everyone sees and interprets the words in a book diferently. Some guests who are detailed orientated my see a spelling mistake and become annoyed, they don’t see the great combination of flavors on the menu. They start looking for more mistakes. Are they focused on choosing dinner or commenting on your bad english. Sequencing of words is also overlooked sometimes. For example have you ever wondered about the Marinated Grilled Steak at the local bistro. Was the steak grilled first and then marinated. Well that is how it reads. Shouldn’t it really be Grilled Marinated Steak. It is the logical method of preparation.
So it is interesting to see how someone like Phil Vettel looks at a menu in the following article. Jam: Deconstructing the menu by Phil Vettel. How do your guests critic your menu. It would be an enlightening experience for a third party to review your menu and see how they interpret it. Good questions to think about.
Don’t be afraid to talk to a non-biased person to help you move forward and write great selling menus
Menu prices likely to rise in 2012
Are you ready for the up and coming year. Its time to look at your menus. Contact us today and start making more profit.
Menu prices likely to rise in 2012, experts say – Related Stories – ProChef SmartBrief.
Does this say something about Chicago
Five of the top 10 most expensive restaurants are here in Chicago. Has the perception of our city changed to a center of fine dining? What do you think?
http://www.bundle.com/article/25-most-expensive-restaurants-america/slide/1/?fromMSN=true#comments
Planning a New Year’s Eve Menu
I write and develop a lot of menus over the course of a year. From small little snacks to elaborate menus for a fundraising gala based on a specific theme. After all these years some of the questions I ask myself when thinking about what to serve are instinctive and come very natural to me. I want to stop for a minute and take some time to write down the process I go through when putting together a menu. In this case it was putting together a menu for new year’s eve for my family and best friends.
I break down the menu writing process into several steps:
- Inspiration or Directive
- Research and Experience
- Selection of Ingredients
- Adaptation and Natural Flow
- Execution
The process started with a vision of a 10-year-old girl who would be there for the evening. She said “can we make home-made pizza?” Great, that starts the process. A direction, a request or need. Immediately I start thinking about homemade dough. Next I consider the fact that there will be a diverse group of ages at the party and it’s also New Year’s Eve.
About Us
John Reed is a professional chef with over 30 years experience. John has extensive knowledge of culinary techniques, ethnic cuisines, food history which he applies to present day menus by using strong organizational skills, leadership, problem solving and the appropriate use of technology. His understanding of the culinary arts comes from experience in the following: A la carte Dining, Off-premise Catering, Corporate Dining, Conference Catering, Hotel Foodservice Connections
The Stew – chicagotribune.com
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