menu

A business lunch menu, from Sergey Restaurant on Kammergersky Pereulok, Moscow

In a restaurant, a menu is a printed brochure or public display that shows the list of options for a diner to select. A menu may be a la carte or table d'hôte.

"Menu" can also be used in a more general sense, as synonymous with diet, the selection of foods available generally to a particular location or culture.

History

An 1899 menu from Delmonico's restaurant in New York City. While the elaborate descriptions of menu prose had not yet reached their contemporary range, the menu still called some of its selections entremets, and contained barely-English descriptions such as "plombière of marrons".

The word menu, like much of the terminology of cuisine, is French in origin. It ultimately derives from Latin minutus, something made small; in French it came to be applied to a detailed list or résumé of any kind. The original menus that offered consumers choices were prepared on a small chalkboard, in French a carte; so foods chosen from a bill of fare are described as à la carte, "according to the board."

Along with the development of the earliest restaurants catering largely to the middle merchant class, the menu also found its origins in China during the Song Dynasty (960–1279).^[1]

The original restaurants had no menus in the modern sense; these table d'hôte establishments served dishes that were chosen by the chef or the proprietors, and those who arrived ate what the house was serving that day, as in contemporary banquets or buffets. In Europe, the contemporary menu first appeared in the second half of the eighteenth century.

Here, instead of eating what was being served from a common table, restaurants allowed diners to choose from a list of unseen dishes, which were produced to order by the customer's selection. A table d'hôte establishment charged its customers a fixed price; the menu allowed customers to spend as much or as little money as they chose.^[2]

Often times quick service restaurants feature a "secret menu." Secret Menu items are items not featured on printed menus but readily available should a customer wish to order them. These items are typically simply variations on items already available, but to have them all on the menu would create clutter. Chipotle is well known for having a simple five item menu, but offers quesedillas and single tacos, despite neither being on the menu board.

Menu prose

As a form of advertising, the prose found on printed menus is famous for the degree of its puffery. Menus frequently emphasize the processes used to prepare foods, call attention to exotic ingredients, and add French or other foreign language expressions to make the dishes appear sophisticated and exotic.

Part of the function of menu prose is to impress customers with the notion that the dishes served at the restaurant require such skill, equipment, and exotic ingredients that the diners could not prepare similar foods at home.^[3]

Another phenomenon is the so-called "secret menu" where some restaurants are known for having unofficial and unadvertised selections that customers learn by word of mouth.^[4]

Digital menu boards

With the invention of LCD and Plasma displays, some menus have moved from a static printed model, to one which can change dynamically. By using a screen and a computer server, menus can be digitally displayed allowing moving images, animated effects and the ability to edit details and prices. ^[5]

For fast food restaurants, a benefit is the ability to update prices and menu items as frequently as needed, across an entire chain. Digital menu boards also allow restaurant owners to control the day parting of their menus. Various software tools and hardware developments have been created for the specific purpose of managing a digital menu board system (such as the systems designed by Beaver Group).

Specific types of menus

• Hospital menus
• Railroad menus
• Fast food menus
• Airline meal
• Military rations
• Wine list

See also

• Menu engineering

References

External links

• Food Timeline - Culinary History Timeline: Social history, manners & menus
• University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections - Menus Menus, placemats, and other graphic materials from many of the Puget Sound area's most famous restaurants and dining facilities in the years between 1889 and 2003. Go to View All Items to see all menus.
• Vintage steamship menu collection from the 1800s - 1950s