When writing a menu, there are several steps to take.
1) Incorporate Priorities: Know guest demographics, area competition on similar menu items, profitability expectations, quality level, and know what your operating limitations are.
2) Consider Menu Categories: Will you highlight soups, salads, appetizers, entrees, desserts, beverages, specialty or featured items, all-of-these?
3) Number of Items per Category: Consider variety, temperature (cold/hot/room temperature), preparation method, texture, shape/size, flavor, color, composition, and balance.
4) Establish Quality Standards: Standardized recipes and product purchase specifications need to be written for each item. Standardized recipes will identify the types of ingredients within that menu item, amounts of each, and preparation method. Specification sheets define the quality requirements of each ingredient. Together, they’ll give you the tools to provide consistency in your offerings.
5) Write Descriptions: Good descriptions will influence your patron’s choices. Truth-in-menu issues arise from poorly written descriptions. “Fresh Jumbo Gulf Shrimp” written for a Shrimp Scampi entree description for example, cannot be made with frozen shrimp from Vietnam (largest shrimp importer to the US)
For this assignment, you will write an essay that briefly outlines a menu that you could use for the restaurant you described in the introduction as well as addresses the following items:
1. Identify who the target market is
2. Explain how menu choices are affected by who the target market is
3. Assess how your operations will utilize standardized recipes for examples from your menu
4. Assess how operations will be affected by truth-in-menu requirements.
