Have you ever considered what goes into the launch of a new menu?
You will have seen the word ‘seasonal’ on dozens, possibly hundreds of menus and websites, for some restaurants this means a few tweaks to an existing template, and to others, like Mandolay it means a complete overhaul.
But why do we do it, and what does the process involve.
Well, the why is easy. We are committed to using only the best seasonal produce, ideally it will have been locally sourced, and always responsibly produced. Food provenance is important to everyone at Mandolay, especially Head Chef David and his team.
Of course, our regular guests appreciate the changes as well, finding new favourites and exploring new tastes. It’s also important for the kitchen team as well, no chef worth his salt wants to just prepare and cook exactly the same dishes over and over again.
Chefs, like the best food, need to be fresh.
So what about the process?
The whole thing starts earlier than you might imagine, and it usually begins with a chef or team member seeing, or tasting something either on TV, in a book or magazine, perhaps even on another menu.
Then there is always the possibility of a ‘happy accident’. Who would have thought that fresh orange juice and freshly ground black pepper would be the perfect accompaniment to strawberries…but boy does it work.
Fun Fact Alert. The ‘traditional Ploughman’s Lunch’ was invented by a marketing company in the 1970’s as a way of selling more cheese. The inspiration came from a Soho meeting room, not centuries of farm workers lunches.
So, once we have the idea, testing begins. Subtle changes are made to each dish, sauce and accompaniment.
Then the fun really starts. Testing dishes is the only way to make sure we are on the right track, and the words ‘try this, what do you think?’ ring out around the kitchens, before the finished dishes are presented to the lucky team members, managers and directors.
Notes are compared, and sometimes more changes are made before getting the green light for inclusion on the final menu.
The final piece of the jigsaw is producing the menus themselves, text is read and re-read, culinary references are checked, our designers are sent the final versions, and there you have it, a brand new seasonal menu.
Of course, we have to repeat the process for our Signature Menu, our Grill Menu, and our new Ozempic inspired Menu for smaller appetites.
Autumn and winter means hearty plates packed with seasonal flavours, matched with robust wines all served to perfection…whatever the season!