Учебное пособие Санкт-Петербург 2010

VOCABULARY


ingredient one of the foods that you use to make a particular or
dish
target something that you are trying to achieve
expectation what you think or hope will happen
depend on if something depends on some think else if it directly
affected by that thing
item a single thing, especially one thing in a list, group or
self of thing
appetizers a small dish that you eat at the beginning of a meal
entrée the main dish of a meal or a dish served before the main
course
dessert sweet food served after the main pert of a meal
fastener something that you use to join something together
complexity the state of being complicated
desire a strong home or wish
capacity someone’s ability to do something
design to plan or developer something for a specific purpose
French loaf a long thing loaf of white bread, baguette

Unit 7. The Menu

1. 
   Read and translate the text. Sum up what you've learned from the text about:
   

1. 
   different meanings of the term «menu»;
   
2. 
   the properties in food that contribute to the healthy diet;
   
3. 
   the importance of the calorie count in menu planning;
   
4. 
   food appeal and the ways to use it;
   
5. 
   the people responsible for menu planning;
   
6. 
   the customary procedures of menu planning;
   
7. 
   two systems of pricing dishes;
   
8. 
   direct and indirect costs in the restaurant business;
   
9. 
   merchandising and the most effective means of merchandising restaurants;
   

j) other factors that affect planning.
Usually the term menu refers to the written or printed list of differ­ent dishes from which a restaurant customer makes a selection. It may also mean the product of the restaurant, namely, its food. Before a new restaurant opens, the owner decides on its basic character, in­cluding such features as its location, size, staff, equipment and cui­sine. Further decisions must be made on a day-to-day basis, particu­larly about the menu. Planning the menu is important from two points of view: the owner's profit and the customer's pleasure.
Anyone who plans menus should have some basic knowledge of nutrition and the properties in food that contribute to the health of those who eat it. For institutional food services this is so important that their staffs often include a dietitian to plan correct nutritional values. This is essential in hospitals where many patients are on spe­cial diets.
Foods are usually classified into five basic groups according to their nutritional values; the menu planner should have some knowl­edge of these groups. Proteins are the cell building elements in foods. Meat and fish are rich in proteins; there are smaller quantities in grains such as wheat and rice, in nuts and in some kinds of beans.
Carbohydrates are compounds of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen that provide the body with heat and energy. Grains have a high car­bohydrate content, and so do potatoes and sugar.
Fats are oily substances that are another source of heat and en­ergy they also form deposits of fatty tissue in the body. Vegetable oils are a liquid source of fat; other foods rich in fats are dairy prod­ucts such as milk, butter and cheese.
Minerals and vitamins are substances necessary in very small amounts to regulate the functions of parts of the body such as nerves and glands; they are widely distributed through many different foods.
In addition to knowledge of these nutrients, the modern menu planner should be aware of calories. A calorie is a unit of heat that is used to indicate the energy value of food. Only a certain number of calories can be used by a human being, calories in excess of those are stored as fat.
Today when most people are conscious of the relation between beauty, health and eight many count their calories carefully. The menu planner in a restaurant attracting customers who watch their weight should be careful to provide a number of low-calories dishes. Even gourmet cooking now has chefs who adapt or develop dishes with lower calorie count.
Menus must also include a variety of foods that appeal to cus­tomers in different ways. Institutional foodservice establishments with a captive clientele — factory cafeterias, hospitals, school can­teens, army camps — make a special effort to vary their menus so as to avoid complaints.
In restaurants trying to attract the general public the daily menu often remains the same for a long period of time but offers a large number of different dishes. Other restaurants may offer different dishes every day.
Food appeal is another factor in menu planning. This includes not only the way the food tastes but the way it looks on the plate, the way it smells, and even its texture. Appeal to the eye is especially important: the shapes and forms, the color combinations even the dishes in which the food is served. The Japanese have raised the eye appeal of food to an art.
The person responsible for menu planning in some restaurants is the chef, or chief cook. The term cook usually indicates an assistant to the chef. In small, independently owned restaurants, the owner-manager and the chef may work on the menu together. Very large restaurants and institutional foodservices may have a menu depart­ment under a dietitian.
The normal procedure is to plan the menu for several days in ad­vance. Some large institutions work out menus for a whole year in advance. It is customary to decide first on the main courses or dishes, know as the entrees, and then plan the rest of the meal around them.
Some features – appetizers, desserts and beverages — may change very little or not at all over a long period of time.
Two systems of pricing dishes on the menu are customary, both are known by French terms — table d’hôte and a la carte. Oil a table d’hôte menu, the price of the entree is the price of the complete meal.
On a à la carte menu each dish (appetizer, entree, side dishes such; is vegetables and salads and desserts) is priced separately: Restaurants with a la carte menu are ordinarily more expensive than those with table d’hôte menus.
Many people who know the cost of food at local markets believe that restaurants make a large profit, they see only the difference between the prices they pay for their own food and the prices charged by restaurants. What they do not see are the direct and overhead costs of the business. Overhead is usually defined as indirect business costs that cannot be assigned to a particular, product or operation. In the foodservice industry overheads includes items; such as
rent, insurance, taxes (gas and electricity). Direct costs include not only the food itself but wages paid to employees. Direct and indirect costs must be considered in menu planning. Food that the restaurant purchases must have a low enough cost to return a profit on the prices charged for the prepared dishes. Food costs vary for a number of reasons beyond the control of the restaurateur, those who plan menus must be aware of these price variations.
Pleasing the customers is usually described as merchandising — making a product interesting so that customers will buy it. The res­taurant's appearance, location and cuisine must be designed to ap­peal to a particular and available clientele. It is necessary to please the customers so that they will return. The daily menu must appeal to those whom the restaurant wishes to attract. A lunch-time establish­ment in a shopping centre for example, concentrates on salads or sandwiches, while a restaurant in a tourist centre may offer the local cuisine. The printed menu is key factor in restaurant merchandising. When the menu changes daily it is common to use a cover with the name and logo of the restaurant on it. A few restaurants have a handwritten list inside an elaborate cover; others have their menus printed or typed every day; others have a permanent menu,, often with illustrations of the dishes.
Typed, printed or handwritten notes on specialties of the day can be attached to these permanent menus. The style of the menu, like the appearance of the public areas of the restaurant, is an indication of the kind of establishment it is.
Perhaps more than in any other business, word-of-mouth recommendation is the most important means of merchandising restaurants: one person recommends a good restaurant to another, who then tries it. If the food meets the expectation, more recommendations
will follow, and the restaurant may be a success. If the food is disappointing the restaurant will soon be in trouble.
There are other factors that affect menu planning including the availability of particular foods, the kitchen and its equipment, the capabilities of the staff, the variety of dishes served, nutrition and So on. The customer will: usually make a choice based on food preference, experience, location or recommendation of a friend or guide book.
Menus are among the souvenirs that customers frequently take from restaurants. Many people ask for a copy of the menu when they have had a particularly memorable meal and the manager usually complies since he is merchandising at low cost.

2.