On the Menu

One of the ways I battle the demons of the night (who visit me from their home in stoplights) is to listen to my little transistor radio through an under-pillow speaker (so as not to bother MFO).  Deep night radio has its own culture with shows about aliens in the basement, to how the government is installing chips in our brain, various shades of political rhetoric, and lots of sports call-in shows. Occasionally I grow tired (pun?) of these and listen to the actual news, which is usually depressing.  But, WTOP sometimes includes little snippets in between stories.  One such caught my attention the other night.  It was allegedly taken from Men’s Health Magazine, and it was teased as:  “in a minute, learn how restaurants trick you with the menu!”.  Three car commercials, and two PSA’s later, they went on to say that restaurateurs use pictures on the menu to entice you to buy the more expensive or higher margin items.  You’re hungry, you sit down, you learn who will be “taking care of you” for the evening, and pop open the menu.   And there, in glossy living color is a photo of a plate with a steak, a heap of fries or mound of mashed potatoes, and maybe some green beans.   “Wow Honey! Look at that!”  I’ll have one of those!”  Later on you learn you ordered the $29 steak instead of the $17 burger you had in mind when you arrived.  At least that is the theory.

A little research on my own resulted in verification that it is widely believed (and proven with data) that in fact it is true that menu items pictured bring increased orders for those dishes.  “you eat with your eyes” as somebody once said.  Somewhere in the report they did use the phrase “depending on which chain you choose” and we all know that menus in those venues typically do have pictures.  Hard for me to believe that somebody actually picks their order based on a picture.  But, maybe.  Any good food photographer can make most anything look appetizing.  I guess an ancillary practice (now dying, I think) is when they bring a tray of raw things to the table for presentation, a la Morton’s.  Not really appetizing.

And, I don’t really object to the practice of some places that have photos of a selection of their dishes in the lobby or entrance way. It does give you some idea of how they prepare and present their items.  Oh, by the way, I tried to locate the whole article by going to the magazine’s web site.  I did not find the piece in question, but there are plenty of other um…… “interesting” articles and..... tips.

A well prepared menu should give you a description of the dish, how it is prepared and what accompanies the “center of the plate” item.  I will admit that some place go overboard with their description (like listing the source of each item), but just a succinct description is all that is required. Should you have any questions, that is what your server should be equipped to answer or go find out (much better than making something up).  A good example (IMHO) would be the typical menu presented at Café Des Artistes over in Leonardtown.  Chef Loic pretty much does it right.  

There is a standard menu that changes only seasonally, but there is also a daily special menu included.  He is very imaginative in his choices for specials, and comes up with some interesting selections.  For instance, they sometimes offer Camel meat for their luncheon burger selections (No, I have not tried it).   Generally the dish is given its French description, followed by an English translation.  After reading French menus a good portion of my life, I can get along quite well about ninety percent of the time with just the French.  Besides the French description is usually much more elegant than the English..  Isn’t L’Escalope de Veau” much better than “Veal Cutlet”, or Le Carré d’Agneau instead of Rack of Lamb.   Anyway there was an entry the other night that brought me up short and had us (sorry) reaching for our smart devices.  Following the French description of a combination of (in English) racks of Lamb and Veal, was: à la printanière.  While there was an English translation, Larousse gives the definition as: “describing various dishes which are garnished with a mixture of vegetables (in theory, spring vegetables), usually tossed in butter”,  which is exactly what they were.. baby carrots, small parsnips, etc.  they were sauced with a nice little almost demi.  Very tasty.

But my point (if there is one in all this) is that Chef Loic is true to his art, and has the integrity to include proper descriptions of his food, with the result we all learn something.  Good for him.  He is a treasure.  Menus can tell you a lot besides what food is available.

And just a couple of somewhat related items, before we close for the day.

Item One:

I got a sent a little article from one of the food service newsletters about a new (to me) and interesting practice of selling “tickets” for a meal.  It is apparently gaining favor at smaller higher end places.  I believe it goes like this:  I call up to reserve a table for four a week from Thursday.  Before they book the reservation, I have to give them a credit card, and they enter a sum of (say) $75 per person.  So a week from Thursday, if we don’t show up (I assume unannounced) we’re out 300 bucks.  I am not sure what happens to the money if we do show up.  It wasn’t clear on that part.  One restaurateur was quoted as saying “We really enjoyed the fact that [customers] didn’t get a bill as the last memory in the restaurant”…Which sounds like a prix fixe arrangement.  Anyway, an interesting concept.

Item Two:

Apparently the now dark Cerro Grande space in Leonardtown will be occupied by “The Rex” a new pub that will serve “comfort food”.  Stay tuned..