Chef Aidy

Designing A Menu

Yesterday i did the tasting for the new menu which will start hopefully on jan 19 although i doubt it very much since there is a lot more stuff that has to be done before the new menu can be implemented. To be honest there are not that many big changes on it because i really want to make it as simple and straightforward as i can. Since the restaurant itself is more on the casual type there is no point of making things complicated plus i love food that looks natural and doesnt need somebody with an architectural degree to plate it. Though i have to confess that there are some dishes that i’m not sure whether i should put it on the menu or not. I guess i’m just following my gut feelings on this.

It’s really tough to sit down and think of menu that kinda flow in this restaurant because there are five different outlets; Japanese, Grill (which is western food), Italian (which is also in a western categorie but sadly restricted to just using things made or from Italy) and Chinese cuisine. So, basically you can order Italian appertizer, Chinese soup, a main dish from Grill and Japenese ice cream. Keyword here is “variety” and that is what people are here for. I’ve have never seen this concept in NYC and I think it’s just great. But then, how do you make a menu in this kinda situation? Quite a challenge for me.
Salads and appertizers are my main concern tho because the last chef only had two different kinda salad on the menu; caesar and mesclun mix which i think is good but kinda lack in variety. Having worked in New York, I found out that people there eat a lot more salad (especially during lunch). Of coz “weight” is the tag here. Anyway i did added prawn cocktail, cobb salad and “a very little mayo” waldolf to the new menu. Yes, they are all pretty familiar stuff; nuttin fancy or anything.

I always remember when one of the chef that i’ve worked with, told me that it’s better to do something that is simple and do it really good than trying to make something fancy that is mediocre. I guess i’m just taking the easy route and as long as it’s good, or better and can “sell”, that’s fine wit me. Hey, people open restaurants to sell and make profit, right? Sometimes, I mean most of the time I have to take these into considerations too; between being an artist or a salesman. Seems to be goin towards the latter lately..orders from above.

Tuesday, January 9th, 2007 Filed under Food, Restaurant |