There’s no doubt about it, people are finally paying more attention to what they’re putting in their mouths. What they’re putting into their mouths and, consequently, into their bodies. Offering healthy (or at least healthier) choices isn’t really an option for the industry anymore. Unfortunately, if you’ll pardon the pun, customers want to both have and eat the cake, which makes transforming an established menu an awkward process. Enter portion control and enter a solution: Offer tiny tastes of your traditional dishes and find that happy medium to satisfy your customers. Mignardise, Amuse-Bouche, Canapé, Oh My!
There are several leaders on this trend: T.G.I.Friday has had amazing results with their “Right Portion – Right Price” menu, now heading into its third year. Fashion Week 2010 in London unveiled an impressive new crop of canapé-centric catering companies, while chefs like Gray Kunz, Wylie Dufresne, Anito Lo and Jean-Georges Vongerichten have always used the tiny taste to test-drive a new composition before committing to it on a menu.
Whether you let your patrons choose to have a dish pared down, or whether you space out smaller dishes with intermezzos and the like, just make sure that you let your customers take their time. No matter the size of the bite, guests who feel as if they have the time to literally pay attention to what they’re putting in their mouths, definitely leave happier.
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Confused by the lingo? Here’s a great summary of their history and definitions.
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