by Peter Semadeni

Most restaurant owners, Chefs, and Food and Beverage Managers in hotels have been trained and conditioned to believe that their menus should be changed on a regular basis. Once a year is considered to be minimal; twice, or even seasonally, is held by some to be best. Many believe that they are not doing their jobs – or their bosses will think they’re not! – if they don’t have at least some changes.

I’m not talking about adding specials, or featuring seasonal special menus or festivals – autumn game menus, mushroom or garlic specials, for example. These, I believe are an excellent idea, as long as they don’t displace the regular a la carte menu.

I suppose that there are exceptions. Some restaurants offer only a table d’hote type of menu. Others offer such a wide selection of daily specials that they become known for their excellence in these. But most restaurants do not fall into these categories.

I would suggest that most patrons select which establishment they want to visit that day or evening by the type of food, or even the particular dish, they feel like having at the time. The conversation goes like this: “Feel like going out for dinner tonight dear?” “Good idea”, “What do you feel like?” Then the answer is usually by food type (e.g. steak) or an ethnic or regional variety – “I feel like Japanese tonight”. Most people go on to select their favourite restaurant in that category. Then, they select their favourite dish virtually every time they visit that spot.

I know an experienced hotelier who, when asked what his favourite restaurant is, responded with the name of a place in Bermuda. I asked if he visited the restaurant regularly. He said yes. “How often do you visit it” “Well, twice every vacation we have in Bermuda”. “How often do you vacation in Bermuda?” “Every second year”. “Do you select the same dish every time you go there?” “Well … yes”. “How would you feel if they had pulled your favourite dish off the menu?” “ I would be very disappointed”.

There we are. Someone who visits a restaurant twice every two years and considers himself, quite rightly, a regular. And who is recognized as such by the establishment, to their credit. He feels almost proprietarily about “his” dish. This is human nature.