Creating A Great Menu

Creating A Great Menu

It’s a pet-peeve of mine, restaurants and chefs that don’t change their menus but once a year, or longer.  I believe in changing with the seasons.  And, I get bored. Thus, I end up changing my menus roughly every 3 months.  So what’s in season, what farmers are growing and what our fishermen are catching is where I begin. But sometimes it’s is the craziest, wildest idea that through practice comes out to be a wonderful dish that we can recreate nightly.

It sounds easy but it is much harder than you think! Think about it this way; only so many things can be sautéed or flashed on the stove top, only so many proteins can be grilled and only so many can be fried. Not everything can come from one section otherwise … the kitchen slows to a crawl and everyone’s in ‘Barney’! Kitchen reference to when things go horribly wrong.

Each new dish must be inventive, interesting and showcase local fair with balance. This is the key; each dish must have a single pronounced flavor forward with subtle flavors underneath but they must be in harmony to work perfectly on the taster’s palate.  I look for dishes that also a textural component and a balance of acid and sweet. So each dish must have these in common before the recipe is perfect. Usually, we try a recipe, make changes, re-try them again 50 times before it makes it to a menu.

So how do you do this? Here is an example of how a simple idea turned itself into a menu item back in January.  I start with one thing, and then write down everything I like with that one thing. Scallops i.e.. Thoughts drive towards butter, potatoes, and bacon. Stop. Okay, butter and potatoes, mashed potatoes but something more eclectic than a puddle on the plate. Yes, a potato croquette, but with Chive and made with semolina flour. Check!  Now bacon, maybe a source of texture on our dish and an underlying flavor…. Yes, crunchy bacon with each Scallop gives us texture and a bacon vinaigrette for a small salad will give the dish acidity and balance. What about something to balance that acidity? A Fruit? Yes, Peaches pair well with shellfish, hmmm, what a about a spiced jelly? It’s a southern thing but would work perfectly with this dish. That’s it. So I ended up with seared Diver Scallops balanced on creamy Potato Croquettes; top scallops with spicy Peach Jelly and crumbled Bacon. Serve a petit salad tossed in Bacon Vinaigrette. Each of the individual parts of this dish is a recipe on its own … each has to perfected and written into recipe form.

This is one dish, a small plate but a great dish to add to our starters menu. I offer four starters so the others cannot come from the sautéed station. They could be a grilled local sausage with crispy fried onion and a gastrique of mustard and Albarino wine.  I think you get the idea and a small peek into the workings of a professional kitchen. So when I change my menu for the seasons or because I am bored cooking something understand that it comes with great effort and pains!