If you’re a restaurant owner looking to punch up your main dishes, you might not have to look further than the details. The restaurant business is an industry so toilsome and trade-based that chances are you are already extremely passionate about putting quality food on the table. What you may not realize is just how much the presentation of that food counts towards a consumer’s opinion. Furthermore, there is data analyzing these opinions and what works best visually. For example, adults respond most readily to three food types and colors on their plate, whereas children like as many as seven colors to nibble on at once! Below are three presentation components to invest in that will help you get that spot in Zagat, and none of them involve firing your diligent cooking staff:
1.Stylish Plates and Cutlery
Notice we did not say “good bone china” or “English patterns.” Your definition of good depends on the aesthetic your restaurant is committed to conveying. A hollowed out stone gourd is absolutely a stylish choice for an authentic Mexican place’s guacamole dish, but for a boutique specializing in specialty produce or High Tea, fancy porcelin might be the way to go. The key is to follow the three Cs when picking out your dishes: Are they Cost effective? Are they Consistent? Are they Cohesive?
2. Microgreens
Microgreens have been en vogue for the last three decades are so. The name is just a fancy word for garnish, aka that pretty green thing at the edge of a high end plate. Some common microgreens include beetroot, arugula, Swiss chard, and even celery in a pinch. While microgreens are a great way to signal aesthetic elevation, microgreen growing can be kind of difficult in addition to all the usual pressures of running a restaurant. Often, microgreens must be grown from seed and kept at a very strict temperature range in order to germinate. This is why we recommend outsourcing your microgreens to an experienced nursery, co-op, or other enterprise familiar with the food service industry. After all, who wants to mess with the greenhouse out back along with everything else?
3. Sugar Flowers And Other Accents
Icing art, butter cream sculpture, sugar flowers, and customized cake options can really make your dessert menu stand out from the crowd. Sugar flowers especially are such a delicate, elegant touch to any dessert and will probably earn you a few wedding cake or birthday party commissions, which can offset your nightly profits quite nicely!
A little conscious attention to detail can spell big changes for your restaurant. So go on, make one or all of these initiatives your monthly project, and don’t forget to come back here and tell us how your business did as a result!