Plan and Cost Basic Menus

Welcome to the course “Plan and Cost Basic Menus”. This course is designed to provide chefs with the knowledge and skills to create and cost basic restaurant menus. Menu planning is a critical aspect of the hospitality industry, and it requires a deep understanding of ingredients, flavour combinations, and culinary techniques. The goal of menu planning is to offer guests a wide variety of dishes that are not only delicious but also visually appealing and well-balanced.

Moreover, menu cost is a crucial factor for any restaurant, especially hotel restaurants catering to a broad customer base. Chefs must consider the cost of ingredients, labour, and overheads while pricing their menus. Therefore, balancing the cost and quality of ingredients while creating a profitable and appealing menu to their guests.

By the end of this course, you will be able to create a balanced menu that appeals to a diverse customer base while maintaining profitability for your restaurant.

Learning Objectives:

Identify customer preferences.

– Identify current customer profile for the food business.

– Analyse food preferences of customer base.

Plan menus

– Generate a range of ideas for menus for dishes or food production ranges, assess their merits, and discuss with relevant personnel.

– Choose menu items to meet customer preferences.

– Identify organisational service style and cuisine, and develop suitable menus.

– Include balanced variety  of dishes or food production items for the style of service and cuisine.

Cost menus

– Itemise proposed components of included dishes or food production items.

– Calculate portion yields and costs from raw ingredients.

– Assess the cost-effectiveness of proposed dishes or food production items and choose menu items that provide high yield.

– Price menu items to ensure maximum profitability.

Write menu content

– Write menus using words that appeal to the customer base and fit with the business service style.

– Use correct names for the style of cuisine.

– Use descriptive writing to promote the sale of menu items.

Evaluate menu success

– Seek ongoing feedback from customers and others and use it to improve menu performance.

– Assess the success of menus against customer satisfaction and sales data.

– Adjust menus based on feedback and profitability.