1. Bachelor of Culinary Arts
Dennis Taylor

2. 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)

3. 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

4. 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)

5. 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