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September/October 2023 IV MAGAZINE fresh basil, Amalfi IGP lemon juice and, of course, steamed blue crab. Not everyone, however, agrees. For Gambero Rosso, the most benevolent definition of this crustacean is ‘a lobster that didn’t succeed’. The critics of the prestigious gourmet magazine maintain that - although the ‘memory’ is ‘distantly related to the sweetness’ of its ‘relative’ - unfortunately, ‘the intensity is clearly inferior, as is its texture, which is more frayed and less meaty’. Hence a clear conclusion: ‘we see it as more suitable for rich salads than for first courses’. Seen from the perspective of the glass half full, however, this means that the product has not been rejected, but only postponed until September. And that it may therefore hold welcome surprises in store for the future. Not least because Italians seem to be well aware of the problem and the need to remedy it, even resorting to the kitchen: according to an online survey conducted by Fedagripesca-Confcooperative , in fact, eight out of ten Italians are familiar with the blue crab and know that it represents a threat to local fish species. AT PAGE 18 FOCUS ON Menu engineering, a push for change CREATING A PROFITABLE MENU STEMS FROM A PERFECT KNOWLEDGE OF ONE’S BUSINESS AND PRODUCTION PROCESSES, BUT MAY MAKE IT NECESSARY TO REVISE ONE’S BELIEFS by Elena Consonni What does engineering have to do with the menu? Apparently, nothing, but that is not the case. Menu engineering is a science that leads to the construction of the menu not only on the basis of the chef’s taste, but above all on the basis of a precise organisation of the business, supplies, kitchen and dining room, so as to make it a tool for maximising profits and customer satisfaction. It is therefore not just about the menu, but about the entire management of the business. An ‘engineered menu’ is not created by chance but is the result of a careful analysis of the restaurant business in all its aspects. “There are no one-size-fits-all rules for creating a menu that makes a restaurant as profitable as possible,” says Sara Vanetti , Managing Partner of Viesse Consulting , a management consultant for catering activities. “But to choose what to put on the menu you have to start from a careful analysis of many factors: your target audience, the cost of ingredients, the organisation of the kitchen, the staff available...’. In terms of menu engineering, the first thing to clarify is the business model and the type of catering you want to offer. “For example,” she says, “a restaurant located in a historical centre with a strong tourist presence will prefer typical dishes, which are those that the traveller wants to try; one in an office area, on the other hand, will have to provide a simple proposal and a good rotation of dishes with recipes that can also be eaten every day”. Having established the type of cuisine you want to offer, you then need to work out how to organise the entire production phase, starting with the space available. “You have to take into account the three P’s,” she explains, “i.e. the processes, i.e. the activity flows, the people, i.e. the tasks of each and their training, and the platform. To make it all effective, you need ways and means of sharing the necessary information and data. The kitchen must be organised with a view to lean production: equipment must be located so as to minimise staff movement, preparation procedures must be simplified, and, against waste, an efficient inventory must be maintained. All this is to optimise and thus reduce costs and improve the quality of the dishes and the well-being of the staff”. And it is precisely costs and their management that are the pivot around which menu engineering revolves. “As part of my consultancy work,” Vanetti continues, “I realised that often in the restaurant business the margins are unknown, because food costs are unknown. An engineered menu is what makes the restaurant work and makes everything sustainable in economic terms. This does not mean that if the production of a dish is very expensive then it should be taken off the menu, especially if it is very characteristic of the restaurant’s offer, but that the production flow can be revised to make it more sustainable. It should not be forgotten, for example, that the cost of personnel often weighs much more than that of the ingredients”. OVERCOMING ONE’S MENTAL OUTLOOK From this perspective, applying a menu engineering approach means being willing to rethink one’s cuisine. One must not stubbornly replicate established models, but have the courage to change; for example, it might be appropriate to outsource certain phases of the production of one’s Sara Vanetti , Managing Partner di Viesse Consulting