![]() Nothing brings out the taste of summer barbecues quite like smoky flavor. And while smoking often conjures thoughts of large cuts of meat and long, overnight cooking sessions, smoky flavor can also elevate the vegetables, desserts and even cocktails on your menu – and without taking all night. This season, consider adding a new smoky dimension to your food and drink options, both sweet and savory. ![]() It may seem challenging to create exciting, frequently changing menus using a small number of core ingredients. But it can be as simple as regularly changing up your menu presentations – recasting your fajitas as a spicy soup special, a salad as a sandwich, a popular entrée as a panini, or even adjusting presentations within a menu category. Looking across your menu, take a dish and imagine it in new formats. If you’re hit with a sudden supply shortage, you’ll have additional options to work with if you can flexibly translate a dish in several ways. ![]() How adaptable is your menu? Consumers nowadays not only have wide-ranging food preferences, but they also have a growing list of dietary requirements and restrictions, whether a need for gluten-free or dairy-free options, or simply items lower in salt or sugar. That could mean reinventing your popular burger or modifying your apple crumble. Across your menu, how well do your menu modifications or substitutions of key ingredients still manage to preserve the ideal experience of a dish? Is there a rush on plant-based protein at your restaurant? If so, you’re not alone: According to new research from NPD Group, shipments of plant-based protein from foodservice distributors to restaurants were up 60 percent in April compared to the same month last year (and up by double-digit margins over 2019 as well). That growth persisted across alt-protein categories including plant-based beef, chicken, fish and conventional plant-based options like grains, nuts, vegetables, tofu and tempeh. And the rise of plant-based protein may be just getting started. Plant-based restaurants are popping up, even on the high end – like Eleven Madison Park in New York. Meanwhile, universities are developing programs based on the study of cellular agriculture and companies are investing in fermentation technology that could rapidly expand plant-based and even animal-plant hybrid proteins in the years ahead, the Spoon reports. As more players enter the market, expect increasing differentiation in plant-based proteins, such as options with global seasonings, premium options, and even plant-based proteins made in-house at restaurants, Technomic predicts. In your restaurant, it’s a good time to test your guests’ openness to alt-protein options and to assess how incorporating more of these items could support your operation through extending the shelf life of your ingredients, minimizing waste and shrinking your carbon footprint.
![]() Summer is a great time to pack your menu with the vegetable-dense dishes people crave in the heat. As you build everything ranging from salads to stir-fries to bowls, incorporate a mix of textures to ramp up the satisfaction of a dish and make it more memorable than something a guest might prepare at home. Think crisp noodles and cabbage, crunchy nuts and seeds, delicate scallions and tomatoes, and soft bites of chicken or tofu. ![]() Chicken is always popular, but chicken consumption has really taken off during the pandemic. It ticks a lot of boxes for consumers: It’s functional, nourishing, nostalgic and customizable in so many ways. It’s a workhorse for restaurants too, since it can be prepared in so many ways and easily elevates dishes that have a broad range of international flavors. Guests are eager to have restaurant experiences right now. How can you take the existing chicken on your menu and offer something a little bit different from what a guest might prepare at home? ![]() Consumers are still crazy about bowls, and for good reason: They often pack a lot of nutrients into one satisfying, colorful, easy-to-eat, easy-to-transport dish. They also present restaurant operators with exciting possibilities for every daypart, all while boosting a kitchen’s efficiency with a collection of ingredients that can generate seemingly endless combinations. Try offering a traditional savory bowl with grains, greens and textural elements like nuts or seeds, plus extra elements like feta, halloumi, herbs or dipping sauces. Or, invent your own version with a handful of your most popular ingredients. Summer is prime time for salads. The heat makes lighter, cooler meals more appealing and the abundance of local produce enables chefs to get more creative with the combinations they offer. Summer fruit – from berries to melons to peaches – can boost eye-catching color on the plate, along with nutrition, texture and sweetness to contrast with accompanying greens, vegetables, grains and pulses. Offering unexpected dressings and dipping sauces can add to the interest too.
It seems like a long time ago that restaurant guests would gather around big tables at restaurants and share overflowing platters of food, family-style. But doesn’t that sound great after months of eating at home and away from groups? As we ease back into gatherings, your menu can safely promote the sense of community that people have been missing. Consider offering some comforting appetizers and entrées that can be shared. You might provide individual serving spoons to promote safety or serve up individual portions tableside.
Even as the pandemic looks to be winding down, consumers will likely hold on to some habits and patterns they adopted in the past year – working from home more often, for example, or flexing their meal schedule. As a result, restaurant operators may see a need to blend their day parts by extending their breakfast menu beyond the morning hours or developing new dishes that can work at various times of day. Blending day parts can help kitchens make the most of their inventory by spreading it out farther – and simply give guests more reasons to order throughout the day.
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