Shared plates and foreign influences are gracing the starter menus of club and resort cuisine, as chefs strive to balance familiar favorites with fresh offerings.
Appetizer menus of today are creative and experimental, no longer consisting solely of traditional offerings such as shrimp cocktail or hot wings. These menus have become a place where chefs can showcase their creativity and don’t have to shy away from using unique flavors or premium ingredients.
Originally intended to whet the appetites of diners, starter menus of today include a variety of cuisines—from dim sum to tapas—and are often designed to provide exciting meal experiences of their own, instead of just preparing diners for the courses to come.
As such, appetizers have become the perfect complement to today’s lifestyle trends: downsizing portions and prices, sharing and sampling, and eating on-the-go. And with their smaller portions and lower price points, they’ve become the part of a meal where diners are more apt to experiment.
SUMMING IT UP
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“Guests are more likely to buy into a few bites of something intriguing for $12, over a $38 rendition of an entrée,” says Zach Bell, Executive Chef at Addison Reserve Country Club in Delray Beach, Fla. Taking note of that, Bell reports that the chefs at Addison Reserve have become more willing to take chances and be creative with their appetizer menus, which now feature everything from the traditional Colossal Shrimp Cocktail to a Heart of Palm Latke with Baby Tomato Vinaigrette.
“Appetizers are also an increasingly popular way to build an entire meal, thanks to the proliferation of tapas bars, mezze menus and small-plate gastropubs,” adds Bell, who worked in French kitchens for 16 years prior to joining Addison Reserve in 2011.
Leading the Way
Since chefs have more room to be creative with the smaller portions on their appetizer menus, it should come as no surprise that dining trends most often make their first appearance here.
“The biggest trends are shared plates that reflect a broad range of flavors and international influences,” says Charles Kehrli, Executive Chef at The Yale Club of New York City. One of The Yale Club’s Asian-influenced appetizers is Tuna Tacos—mini tacos featuring tuna tartare, wasabi aioli and jicama slaw. The dish has done so well, it’s now a permanent menu item. The tacos’ popularity also speaks to how international influences are becoming increasingly popular, Kehrli notes.
“As chefs delve deeper into Asian food, they are exploring and discovering not just the typical Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Thai influences, but moving into Indian, Burmese, Cambodian and more,” he says. “It becomes a research project for the chefs to learn the subtleties of each cuisine.” At Addison Reserve CC, this trend is also reflected by an appetizer menu that features a Dim Sum Basket, Korean Tacos and Korean Sticky Ribs.
The social trend in dining has also prompted many club chefs to now tailor the dishes on their appetizer menus specifically so they will encourage patrons to share the same, or multiple, plates. This prompts guests to converse about the food and provokes them to try new things. Diners are much more likely to branch out if they only need to commit to a bite from a shared plate, rather than an entire dish.
“Tapas-style dining is becoming more popular because of the social, casual aspect it brings to the table,” says Zac Hoffman, Executive Chef at Tetherow Golf Club in Bend, Ore. “People want to taste more variety, and not get stuffed on steak and potatoes.”
Finding a Balance
Of course, old standbys still have their place on appetizer menus, with Fresh Guacamole and Chips remaining a top-seller at The Yale Club, and Chicken Wings and Shrimp Cocktail coming in at numbers one and two at Addison Reserve CC. “It is a club after all, and comfort and familiarity come first,” says Bell.
Because of this, both Bell and Kehrli stress the importance of striking a balance between traditional and creative appetizers on their menus. “As a large city club with 11,000 members in the heart of New York City, [The Yale Club] has a broad spectrum of tastes,” says Kehrli. “As a result, we try to balance traditional club favorites with the introduction of new ideas.”
Tetherow GC’s Hoffman recommends adding a twist to a tried-and-true appetizer, to give diners the best of both worlds. While the familiarity of a classic appetizer can be comforting to guests, he notes, a new or special preparation can make it fresh and exciting. Examples of this approach that have found their way onto Hoffman’s menus include Crispy Calamari, made with sweet soy sauce and roasted garlic-chili chipotle aioli, and Bacon-Seared Scallops, featuring a bacon-brandy pan sauce and served with a tangerine slaw.
Chefs shouldn’t get discouraged, Bell adds, if their most creative appetizers aren’t an immediate success with diners—at times, he says, it’s simply a matter of the written or verbal presentation of the dish. Redouble your efforts to make what you’re serving sound, and seem, familiar to the diners, he advises, and they will be more likely to give the dish a try.
Fresh is Best
In today’s fast-paced and quick-changing culinary scene, it has become a constant challenge for chefs to keep their appetizer menus fresh and exciting in a way that will encourage diners to keep coming back for more. At The Yale Club, Kehrli changes menus seasonally, incorporating ingredients at their peak of freshness that reflect the current harvest.
“We also source locally whenever possible,” Kehrli adds. “All of our milk and dairy products are from a local New York state dairy. We have organic eggs, local cheeses, produce from the tri-state area, and chickens from Pennsylvania.”
Bell is fortunate to have nearly year-round access to fresh produce, thanks to Addison Reserve’s south Florida location. In addition to the local fruit and vegetable harvest, he also takes advantage of the bounty of the sea. “From the Atlantic, we’ll tempura-fry local Florida rock shrimp, and toss them with a little of our ‘firecracker’ Asian glaze,” he notes. “It’s very addictive!”
The primary drawback to using local ingredients can be limited supply—especially for large-volume operations like The Yale Club, which generates $14 million in F&B sales (“The Yale Club of New York City’s Dynamic F&B Operation,” C&RB, September 2010). But especially as farm-to-table popularity continues to take hold, club chefs stress that it’s worth making the effort to find unique and local sources that will help distinguish a menu with dishes that resonate particularly well with your clientele.
“There may be challenges to working with local producers, but nothing that isn’t worth overcoming,” says Bell. “You may just have to do a little extra legwork. It shouldn’t be treated as an obstacle.” It’s especially important, he adds, to stay in tune with your terroir, to know what is available and when.
The Price is Right
To optimize profit margins, pricing is key when it comes to any menu item—and especially for appetizers, which may be viewed as “optional” by some diners.
Keys to Successful Appetizer Programs
To follow the “Golden Rules” of appetizers—speed of preparation and service, and ease of enjoyment—top club chefs offer these tips:
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At Addison Reserve, pricing is set to attract members to the idea of getting a few different items, keeping with the trend of tapas-style shared dining. Bell strives to provide maximum flexibility for guests by pricing some appetizers by the piece. “I find that not forcing [guests] into an $18 shrimp cocktail makes sales of two or three pieces happen, almost like an impulse buy at the cash register,” he says.
At The Yale Club, Kehrli takes a different approach, focusing more on contribution margins, as opposed to food-cost percentage. He and his team price out all menu items, analyze reports on the mix of sales, and then determine—based on popularity and contribution margins—whether a menu item stays, gets a price adjustment, or requires a change of ingredient to maximize profitability.
“If I can sell a higher-quality item at a good value for our members and bring more dollars to the bottom line, we all win at the end of the day,” Kehrli notes.
Distinguished Dining
With the highly competitive and visible nature of today’s culinary scene, how can club chefs create appetizers that will help their food-and-beverage offerings stand out?
In addition to the keys for following the “golden rules” of appetizers, it’s also important to keep your knowledge of appetizer trends current and culturally diverse, says Hoffman. He also makes it a point to maintain professional relationships with other chefs in his community. Visiting other chefs’ restaurants and trying new techniques helps to keep from getting stuck in a rut, he advises.
At Addison Reserve, Bell is implementing a variety of techniques at his two different restaurants (“Fresh Perspectives,” C&RB, January 2012). At Bistro at the Esplanade, he is working to develop a larger small-plates section this season, specifically to encourage more appetizer sharing at that location. At Styr, a small-plates-specific lounge, he began using a thermal circulator to keep foods hot. This also speeds the appetizers’ plating time and ensures perfect texture every time, he notes, which will keep diners coming back for more.
At The Yale Club, Kehrli is part of a team implementing a new 10-year master plan that involves a recently completed $3.5 million kitchen and restaurant renovation. A major goal of the project is to capitalize on the rapidly growing casual dining segment, in large part by changing the style of food offered to diners at the club. The Yale Club has also seen a dramatic increase in shared-plate sales by taking full advantage of the al fresco trend with its terrace dining area.
“We’ve made a big shift, incorporating more shared plate-style dishes,” says Kehrli. “Clubs traditionally have a more formal atmosphere and with this renovation, we believe we’ve been able to create a fun and casual, yet elegant experience.”
With these and other dining trends coming and going at lightning speed, appetizers have secured a more prominent place on club menus, thanks to the creativity and ingenuity being displayed by chefs such as Bell, Kehrli and Hoffman. With their perfect portion sizes and wallet-friendly pricing, says Hoffman, “I feel like appetizers are the future.”
Menus:
Tetherow Golf Club – Grill Dinner Menu
The Yale Club – Bulldog Bar Menu
The Yale Club – Grill Room Dinner Menu
The Yale Club – Tap Room Dinner Menu
Addison Reserve Menu
Recipe:
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