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Principles of Menu Item Selection Kopyası
Principles of Menu Item Selection Kopyası
LABORATORY - I
TYPES OF MENUS
MENU PRICING STYLES
Menu Pricing Styles
Objective
Describe the menu pricing approaches of à la carte, semi à la carte, table
d’hôte, and prix fixe menus.
Menu Pricing Styles
• While a single menu item’s price does not normally impact the selection of
menu headings, how the entire menu is priced does influence the category
headings appropriate for that menu.
• Menus typically fall into one of four pricing types:
• à la carte
• semi à la carte
• table d’hôte
• prix fixe
Menu Pricing Styles
A la carte menus
• On an à la carte menu, each menu item is priced separately and nothing is
bundled together.
• For example, at an à la carte steakhouse, a guest who orders a grilled
porterhouse steak receives only the steak and nothing else. Any vegetable
or starch accompaniments must be ordered separately for an additional
cost.
• Some foodservice operations provide à la carte pricing for some or all of
their menu items in addition to another pricing approach; this is
particularly common on breakfast menus and in fast food establishments.
• A la carte menus allow for the most extensive set of menu headings and
should include at least one heading for any side dishes/accompaniments
available (vegetables, starches, etc.).
Menu Pricing Styles
Principles Influences on Context
Customer demand is affected by a greater understanding of:
• The relationship between health and eating
• Dietary requirements (these can be both medical and lifestyle choices)
• Cultural and religious influences
• Ethical influences
Vegetarianism / Veganism
• Seasonality and locally sourced foods
Principles of Menu Item Selection
The Objective
Exception: If the restaurant’s dining room is large and the broader menu
attracts a significantly larger market, these extra costs may be justified.
Principles of Menu Item Selection
Variety and Balance
• Two of the most important considerations for selecting menu items are
balance and variety.
• The menu should offer a wide range of options (variety) without focusing
too heavily on any one product, cooking technique, or other variable
(balance).
Exception: A business with a narrowly focused concept—a pizza place, a
fried-chicken joint, a seafood restaurant, a sandwich shop, etc.—must be true
to its brand. In these examples, variety and balance are incorporated within
the limits of the business.
For example:
A burger establishment can approach variety and balance by offering
a range of burger patties and toppings; that the menu is skewed heavily
or exclusively to burgers illustrates fidelity to the business concept rather
Principles of Menu Item Selection
Variety and Balance
The variables for which variety and balance are most relevant are as follows:
• A menu should not rely too heavily on any single ingredient unless such
uniformity is key to the business’s concept.
• Thus, for instance, an entrée category might offer a lamb option, but not
all of the entrée choices should include lamb.
• If a menu relies too heavily on one flavor profile, it will appeal to a smaller
audience than a menu with greater balance and variety will.
Principles of Menu Item Selection
Ingredient and Flavor
• To support the principles of variety and balance, the same ingredient may
be used in a dish under a separate heading, during different meal periods,
or in a very different form.
Principles of Menu Item Selection
Ingredient and Flavor
• A chef might serve prime rib at dinner and utilize the leftovers in a
sandwich at lunch.
• While the nice cuts of cod may be seared for an entrée, the irregular end
pieces may be added to a seafood stew.
When a chef can convert ingredient byproducts into something edible rather
than throwing those items into the trash, he saves both the business and the
customer money.
Principles of Menu Item Selection
Cooking Technique
A quality menu typically varies the cooking techniques used within a single
menu heading.
For example: A dish that includes steamed, grilled, fried, and braised
components is far more interesting than a dish in which all of the
ingredients are fried.
Principles of Menu Item Selection
Cooking Technique
• Cooking technique impacts not only customer satisfaction but also kitchen
work flow.
• A menu planner is limited to the equipment present (or purchasable) in the
kitchen.
For example: Grilling is not an option if the kitchen does not contain a
grill, and the menu planner must take this into account. There is no point in
including a menu item for which the kitchen lacks the proper cooking
equipment.
Principles of Menu Item Selection
Cooking Technique
• Variety in texture and temperature apply equally across menu items and
headings.
• Offering an ice cream sandwich, a room temperature cake, and a warm
peach cobbler aids the guest who is sensitive to certain temperature
zones.
• Similarly, a selection of appetizers that are all crisp and crunchy will
frustrate a diner who has trouble chewing, while an entrée category
saturated with soft, stewed dishes will come across as boring.
• Incorporating variation in cooking technique and ingredients helps to
provide variety in texture.
Principles of Menu Item Selection
Color, Shape and Size
• Repetition of colors, shapes, or sizes across
several dishes is less of an issue than it is
within a single plate.
• A dish of all off-white components, such as
poached chicken with cauliflower and rice,
is unattractive and less appetizing than a
dish with a variety of colors.
Color, Shape and Size
• Ingredient shapes and sizes operate similarly. It is far more
interesting to eat a creation with different knife cuts than it
is to eat a dish where everything is the same shape and
Principles of size.
Menu Item • Not only do different shapes and sizes provide different
sensations within the mouth, but the visual impact is far
Selection more impressive.
• Since guests eat with their eyes before they consume with
their mouths, providing variety and balance in color, shape,
and size creates a more enjoyable dining experience for the
customer.
Principles of Menu Item Selection
Composition and Plate Presentation
• Composition and plate presentation represent the final
variables for which variety and balance enhance the
guest’s dining experience.
• A dish that is impossibly tall may seem spectacular to the
guest, but it is less impressive if every dish is plated that
way.
• Having some dishes presented in cast iron skillets, some
on colored, rectangular china, and some on traditional
round white plates lends interest to the dining experience
as guests peer across the table at what others have
ordered.
Principles of
Menu Item
Selection
Composition and Plate Presentation
Menu Item • Some plates may be tall and static; others may have a low, circular
flow. Some may be composed with each element in its place
Selection while others may be simply ladled into a large bowl.
• The greater the variety, the more interesting the menu is for the
guest.
Menu Planning | Chefmanship Academy: https://youtu.be/SdBclBCiYX8?si=D_3-rUVcbb9j6KSv
The Secret Ingredients of Great Hospitality | Will Guidara | TED: https://youtu.be/bwcyXcOpWVs?si=-Z34nefLlKsU5oc4