Bachelor of Culinary Arts Dennis Taylor

Case Study One Visions Menu 2011 “Creativity vs Constraints” Visions Training Restaurant is operated by the School of Food and Hospitality as both a commercial enterprise and a key teaching and assessment resource. In recent years a chef has been employed to run the commercial operation and to supervise students in the working environment of the kitchen. It was also intended that the chef would logically develop the menus for the restaurant and maintain the quality required to uphold the reputation that the restaurant had developed. For a range of reasons this turned out to be not the case and in 2010 in my role as Manager of Culinary programmes I took over the responsibility for developing a new Dinner menu for 2011. Whilst I did not undertake a formal or written form of ‘mind mapping exercise’ at the time of development I did undertake this process when I used the menu development process within one of the assignments as part of the APL process for the Bachelor of Culinary Arts. This process served to record and confirm the complexity of the menu development process, especially within the context of a training restaurant. I have sub-titled this case study “Creativity vs Constraints” because there is a focus on the creative design process within this programme and I am interested in the effect that constraints have on true creativity. Can a dish that meets all customer expectations and addresses the constraints related to the development process be truly creative? I will cover more on the creative design process later in my presentation. When I initially looked at developing a mind map of the menu development process all of the ‘usual suspects’ immediately sprang to mind. These are the theoretical elements often taught as part of menu design. They include: (click)

2011 Menu Development Visions Training Restaurant Programme Requirements Staff Sustainability Menu planning principles Restaurant Style 2011 Menu Development Visions Training Restaurant Operational Requirements Customers Products / Commodities Stakeholders Students Menu Planning Principles Staff Restaurant Style Customers Financial considerations Products and commodities When I say the usual suspects – this is in regard to a commercial restaurant situation. In a training restaurant and within the context of a training provider the mind map expands somewhat to incorporate a range of other factors including: (click) Operational requirements Programme requirements Wider sustainability considerations Stakeholders Students While I don’t want to turn this presentation into a lesson on menu planning – as you can see in this next slide (click) Financial

Menu planning principles Products / Commodities Balance Season Colour Terminology Ingredients Flavours Textures Contrast Cultural considerations Nutrition and dietetics Customers Current Potential Desired Budget Diet Culture Feedback Staff Buy in Roles Responsibilities Expertise Ownership Development opportunities Products / Commodities Availability Quality Cost Convenience New Unique Stakeholder promotion Point of difference opportunities Partnership opportunities Nutritional considerations Restaurant Style Current trends Follow or Lead? Competitors Customer expectations International trends Profile opportunities Financial Commodity costs Contribution margins Programme contribution Staffing levels Each of the major headings can be broken down into a list of sub-thoughts and considerations to take into account when planning the menu. While I don’t want to spend a lot of time going through each sub-consideration I want you to be aware of the range of considerations that arise. Effectively this becomes a list of constraints. Why constraints? Imagine creating a menu where you didn’t need to worry about the cost of ingredients, didn’t worry how taxing it was on staff, how hard it was to source ingredients or whether the menu was profitable. Ironically this describes a number of chefs that have been regarded and regaled as very creative. Creativity has come at a high price for some investors and business owners who have let creative chefs loose with no concept of constraints. It can also be regarded as a list of opportunities. There is the opportunity to explore new products and be a leader or early adopter. There is also the opportunity to develop a financially secure and efficient menu model that makes best use of the available resources. In my case I was keenly aware of the need to provide a platform for effective learning in association with the general menu planning principles and the following considerations came to the fore as part of that process. (click)

Operational Requirements Programme Requirements Operating hours / days Service staff Rubbish & Recycling Ordering , receiving and storage of commodities Equipment requirements Proportional use of equipment Stakeholders Stakeholder engagement opportunities Partnership opportunities Promotion of stakeholder products Sponsorship opportunities Product placement / discount Potential customer / event opportunities Profile opportunities Sustainability Ethical sourcing of commodities Packaging of commodities Customer expectations Supportive of local producers Policy & procedures Programme Requirements Graduate profile Range items Technical skill requirements Assessment requirements Students Level of training Skill level Motivation Quality focus Relevance Realistic workplace environment A training restaurant is unique in that it is largely driven by the requirements of the school. Customers (read ‘Guinea Pigs’) effectively become a teaching resource and are in the restaurant to support the learners. Income from the restaurant operation is used to offset the school running costs. The restaurant operation is a complex timetabling and logistical process. For every group of chef trainees in the kitchen there needs to be a group of restaurant trainees front of house – too few restaurants – you don’t cover the programme requirements – too many restaurants you quickly exhaust your customer base. If you have limited numbers of diners and the students lose the experience of catering for larger numbers (even though a half full restaurant may be a ‘realistic workplace environment’ for many) As well as an evening menu we also run a cafe and pantry operation. The menu for this side of the business is developed and supported by the results of practical sessions within the training kitchens. Once again providing opportunities for students to produce food products and dishes for sale in a commercial environment – one of the key measures in practical assessments within our programmes is the “Would a customer buy it” measure. (Give a brief overview of each aspect – in particular briefly outline the programme development process before moving on to next slide) click