Executive Chefs’ Menu Development Process

Building Theory From Practice: Mapping Executive Chefs’ Menu Planning Processes Using a Flowchart

Generally Excepted Best Practices in the Food and Beverage Industry

Black and Blue Event Tastings The purpose of black and blue events is to share experimental recipes or considerations for a menu to share with friends, family, and colleagues in a closed environment and to elicit feedback on the pros and cons of particular menu items; it is not a planned polished formal event it is a rough and tumble rehearsal of what you're thinking and trying and testing for menu items as an informal setting. It also includes Feedback Forms to identify Pluses and Minuses, furthering final menu items.

Misinterpretation, Expectations of Black and Blue Events Feedback was delivered as if the events were for a polished, finished collection of recipes and formal event

How do restaurants decide which dishes will be put on their menu? It is usually up to the head chef to decide what to put on the menu - possibly in consultation with the restaurant manager/owner. When all those people are the Sous Chef, or Assistant Chef, is the right hand of the Executive Chef. Sous Chefs manage a staff of assistant chefs, cooks, and kitchen workers, as well as create dishes for the menu. A senior Chef, formally called Chef de Partie, is assigned one particular menu specialty in which he or she excels.

The Customer Restaurants take customer feedback and suggestions very seriously (if they know what's good for them), and that includes recommendations for new menu items. Not every request can be implemented, but every suggestion is weighed and used to determine what menu items, or types of menu items, will be considered.

Proper Citation: 1. Ho J-L, Lin C-F, Lai M-Y, Tseng L-Y, Chiang T-Y. Building Theory From Practice: Mapping Executive Chefs’ Menu Planning Processes Using a Flowchart. SAGE Open. October 2021. doi:10.1177/21582440211056610