Menu Planning
What is tested
Menu types, factors in menu planning, course balance, menu engineering and truth-in-menu rules.
Core rules
- Types: à la carte (each dish priced), table d’hôte (set price, limited choice), du jour (dish of the day), cycle (repeats over days or weeks), buffet, function and static menus.
- Plan around customer profile, occasion, budget, season, availability, skill, equipment, time, nutrition and variety of colour, texture, flavour and cooking method.
- Balance courses: appetiser, soup, salad, main, dessert, beverage; avoid repeating the same method or main ingredient.
- Menu engineering compares popularity and profitability: stars (high/high) keep and feature; plowhorses (high popularity, low margin) adjust price or portion; puzzles (low popularity, high margin) promote; dogs (low/low) remove.
- Truth in menu: describe origin, grade, cut and cooking method accurately; state allergens; do not claim “fresh” for frozen produce.
Worked example
A dish sells 180 covers out of 400 (45% popularity) with a contribution margin of N$40, above the N$30 average. Classify it. High popularity and high margin make it a star: keep it, feature it on the menu and protect its quality. Reasoning: classification uses two axes - popularity relative to the menu average and margin relative to the menu average.
Traps
- Listing dishes the kitchen cannot produce with its equipment or staff.
- Writing a menu without costing it.
- Using “fresh” and “home-made” loosely.
- Repeating fried dishes or the same vegetable in every course.