Have you ever wondered: What were they thinking? when reading a menu? I certainly have:
- Traditional Italian restaurants in Chicago are famous for selling “Garbage Salads”. Last I checked, most people wouldn’t think of eating Garbage.
- I Recently saw a restaurant promoting their weekly fish special as their “Deadliest Catch”. Of course, it is a play on the TV show, but who would want to eat something linked to death and dying?
It’s all about promotion. When you are writing a menu you are trying to get your guests attention, but more importantly, you our trying to whet their appetites. Some tricks of the menu writing trade include:
- Using French…calling something a hors d’oeuvre sound a little better than an app.
- Citing an ingredient as Organic appeals to some. I see Organic and think that without the use of pesticides there is a better chance that it has bugs in it.
- Today Local is overused. My favorite was hearing a “Citi-ot” (Idiot from NY City) ask a farmer at a farm stand in Eastport NY if his pineapple was local. Granted Long Island is an island, but winters there are not quite the same as the Hawaiian islands.
- Quite a few things are promoted as Heirloom. I see something being promoted as an Heirloom tomato and I wonder if the tomato will be left in someone’s will?
- Using Italian always works. Quite a few cuisines are polarizing, (Not everyone likes Korean kimchi) but just about everyone loves Italian food.
Then again what do I know? I learned about marketing working for Maxwell House Coffee back in the day when we used the same actress that played the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz as Cora to promote coffee. As a kid, that Wicked witch scared the heck out of me. She still scares me. It could explain why I don’t drink coffee 40 years after working for Maxwell House.
I wonder how many consumers saw the connection?
The moral of this story is that you might want to stick to terminology that has food appeal when writing menus. For me, the thought of eating garbage or risking death, simply doesn’t work when making a menu choice. Then again blood sausage has been around for a long time
If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.
Featured Image is of Ela and Lucien Vendome with Susan Kenny in front of the Ugly Mug coffee shop in Memphis…PS they don’t sell Maxwell House Coffee