Kitchen size and equipment affect menu choice so a menu needs to be written in such a way that the items listed are capable of being produced in the required quantity and quality of product within a specified period of time.
RECIPE FOR SUCCESS INGREDIENT CARD
Ingredient 2: Design a Market Focused Menu
Question:
How does kitchen size and equipment affect menu choice?
Answer:
Generally the better the equipment and facilities of a kitchen, the wider the choice of possible menu options. However, the assessment of a kitchen’s facilities is not a simple matter. What may appear to many as a well laid out and equipped kitchen may in fact not be suitable given the number of customers to be served from it in a given period of time.
Examples of how facility and equipment limitations affect menu choice are numerous.
Example 1:
A kitchen with a small deep-frying capacity should not have many menu items cooked in this manner. Problems arise when a menu is designed that uses a piece of equipment beyond its capacity.
Each potential menu item should be examined and the type and amount of equipment should then be established.
Example 2:
It would be detrimental to the daily income of food sales if the chef didn’t have the equipment available to produce the menu items. It is not possible to produce hot dessert soufflés if the only oven available in the kitchen is being used for main course dishes.
Conclusion:
It may seem rather obvious, but often menus are planned without taking into consideration the type and availability of proper kitchen equipment. The menu planner needs to look closely at each menu item that they are considering offering to the customer and then determine if their kitchen facility is actually equipped to do the job.
The actual ease of acquiring food is another major consideration that must be taken into account by the menu planner.
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