Understanding the Importance of Your Restaurant Menu

If you run a restaurant, you need to make sure that you have the best menu that you can afford.  Of course, “best” does not mean expensive.  It means effective.  Indeed, your menu is one of your marketing and sales tools.  You have to make sure that when your customer sees it, it will influence them to buy.  It should be design to entice customers.  This is to ensure maximum profits for you and your restaurant.  If you really want to sell everything in your menu, you have to make sure that your menu presents every product favorably and enticingly. 

Your Restaurant’s Menu and Your Profits

The first thing that you have to understand is this – every item on your restaurant menu is distinct in its saleability, so do not expect Product A to sell like Product B.  If Product A is selling like pancakes, wouldn’t it be wise to emphasize the product?  If Product A is selling for $20 dollars and Product B is selling for $10, wouldn’t you earn more if more people buy Product A?  As you can see, placing emphasis on a product that you would like to sell can make a lot of difference on your profit.

Of course, you can draw your customers’ attention to Product A if you would use your menu well.  This is why your menu plays a very crucial role in selling your items.  It also pays if your staff understands this as well.  This way they can encourage customers to avail of Product A if a customer seeks for their opinion. 

Creating a Wonderful Restaurant Menu

They say, do not judge a book by its cover.  Perhaps, that is true – for books.  This is not the case, however, when it comes to menu.  People will judge your products by your menu and its cover.  You have to make sure that your graphics and images can entice your customers to buy.  Your menu should get your customers to think, “Oh, this looks delicious!”

If you have to spend a significant amount of money on your menu, then do so.  Your menu is an investment.  It speaks to your customers and tells them whether or not a particular dish is worth ordering or not.  You have to plan your menu carefully.  You have to devote time on choosing the right colors, images, materials and designs.  Do not take your menu for granted and never commit the mistake of presenting a haphazardly-created restaurant menu.

Image Source:  calexicocart.com

Chef David Chang – The Rebel Who Offers Affordable Gourmet Food

Chefs have their favorite ingredients.  It is also inevitable that they would develop a penchant for cooking specific dishes.  There are chefs who develop a liking for organic ingredients and dishes.  There are those who develop preference for meat dishes.  Now, Momofuku Ssam Bar’s chef, David Chang, certainly likes his meats.  He is what you would call a meathead chef.  If you love veggies, you probably wouldn’t like his cooking much.  You will likely spend considerable minutes frowning over his menu before you would promptly leave.  However, to people who love meat dishes, this chef is a culinary god.

Don’t get him wrong though, he does use other ingredients and he also prepares fish and vegetable dishes.  It’s just that he loves preparing and cooking meat dishes.  He is a genius at it.  He should be.  His restaurant Momofuku Ssam Bar wouldn’t have won the 31^st spot in El Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants if he is a mediocre chef.  You can probably liken Chef Chang to Fergus Henderson.  Like the world-famous chef, Chang is also adept at creating thick and savory dishes.  His culinary creations can be addicting.  He loves experimenting with fusion cuisine, and he is quite good at mixing ingredients and culinary techniques.

Chef David Chang knows how to respect cultures and take the best from them.  He is an expert on this.  After all, he is a Korean who grew up in Washington D.C.  It is fairly common for him to draw inspiration from his Korean background.  He combines Korean traditional cooking with modern cooking.

Before the creation of Momofuku Ssam Bar, Chef Chang indulged in modest cooking.  This changed after he opened his restaurant.  The operation took on a larger scale.  Demands were bigger and the stakes were even bigger.  Now, he has a world-class operation.  Accordingly, he has to push his limits.  He has to test deeper waters, and he needs to be more ambitious than ever.  All his past efforts have certainly paid off.  Landing the 31^st spot wasn’t easy, but he managed to do so anyway.  It’s just fitting for a culinary rebel.

Chef David Chang has definitely something to offer to his customers.  Not a huge fan of haute cuisine and expensive menu, he carved out a middle ground where he offers gourmet but affordable food.  His restaurant is definitely something else.  It is not McDonalds, but the food is certainly affordable.  This is certainly surprising.  We can only conclude that Momofuku Ssam Bar’s chef has more surprises up his sleeves.

Image Source:  koreanbeacon.com ; bonappetempt.com

Understanding the Concept of Gourmet Food

A gourmet is someone who is an expert on foods and drinks.  Accordingly, when people speak of gourmet food, they basically refer to the art of preparing high quality and luxurious dishes.  Usually, this is the type of dishes that you would not get from McDonalds or KFC.  This is why it is also referred to sometimes as haute cuisine.  Preparing this kind of dishes involves elaborate and often intricate process.  Of course, the results are feasts for the gastronome.  This high-quality food is often decadent in preparation and presentation.  The truth is that it is as much as treat for one’s eyes as it is for the tongue.  Everything is meticulously planned, prepared, executed and presented.

People are often confused about what constitutes gourmet food.  What makes this different from regular ones?  Where do you get this?  What separates this kind of meal from a regular meal?  Is it the price?  There are some people who have a vague idea what these foods are – and they would accordingly make their own conclusion without having had experienced a full gourmet meal.  To each their own perhaps, but it is hard to understand an aversion to this kind of food.  After all, how can a treat to a connoisseur be distasteful?

There are actually numerous kinds of food that come under the label.  The list includes meats, condiments, desserts, drinks, cheeses, oils, fruits and a lot of other things.  But when people speak of gourmet foods, they are usually referring to high quality – and often expensive – foods like foie gras, truffles, smoked salmon, caviars and specialty meats.  Exotic condiments like Spanish saffron are also used in preparing gourmet food.  These condiments create a heady combination of flavors and aromas that embellish the already robust taste of gourmet cooking.

Cheeses that are used in this type of cooking are far from your typical cheddar cheese.  An example is the Agour Ossau-Iraty, a cheese that is made from sheep’s milk.  Another example is 34 Degrees Australian marinated feta.  This is made from goat’s and sheep’s milk.  This is usually produced in Israel.  Of course, these are just two of the many kinds of cheeses that are used in high-quality cooking.

Actually, there are numerous options when it comes to cooking gourmet foods.  For instance, if you will visit a store offering top-notch ingredients, you will find a huge selection of caviars from all over the world.  So as you can see, there are many choices when it comes to gourmet food and cooking.  This is why it is almost impossible for anyone to dislike this type of food.