The menu drives London hospitality

¶ … menu drives London Hospitality (Discuss)

The Menu Drives London Hospitality!

What is a menu? Simply a list, one might surmise from a basic definition of the word. Simply a written listing of a particular eating establishment's offerings, correct? But the British as a people, it has been alleged by many a foreign observer (and indeed, many a dyspeptic native writer), are an overly verbose and verbal nation, obsessed with the written word and what it 'says' about them as a people and as individuals. Thus, England as a nation may be excused for attaching importance overmuch to the importance of such a listings of offerings and the impression such a listing conveys about an establishment.

People chose a restaurant, and a restaurant establishes its reputation upon the quality of its menu in London. The quality of the food matters less, or even the location, than what the menu says about the establishment and what the menu presumably says about the individual patron's choice of the establishment. Am I funky, hip, ethnic, traditional but with a twist? All of this may be read into one's choice of restaurant, specifically the menu offered by the restaurant of one's choice.

At first this may not seem to be so extraordinary. Doesn't every one have personal tastes and is it not the hospitality industry's purpose to indulge them, with all of their quirks? Furthermore, regardless of the fact that a menu is merely a listing, it is also, one might allege, a kind of creation on the part of the owner of a particular restaurant's style and ambiance, just as much as the music, lighting, and overall experience of the quality of the food. 'Good food' is certainly there to be had in London, of that there is no question -- no more is London the butt of continental jokes about the quality of its produce and offerings. But even more so than actual quality, the pretensions to innovation in the creation of a diverse menu are what drive the current hospitality industry.

Consider Cafe Corfu in Camden Town. Despite the name of this place, it is not a basic or inexpensive eatery, proffering lamb and hummus to go. Instead, perhaps inspired by the popularity of the Greek islands for holidays, this establishment's specifically regional Greek offerings, created by head chef Eudoxios Bekris, has made its calamari stuffed with feta, grilled peppers and olives, aubergine and feta tart, chicken stuffed filo 'cigars' or mussels attractive to those seeking fine dining in North London. True, Cafe Corfu does offers a value to its diners like Greek establishments of the past, including two courses for a fixed price. But enough innovations are on the menu to make the diner feel that he or she is participating in an 'experience' of another culture, rather than merely consuming snack food or simply going out to eat at an ordinary, traditionally cheap ethnic cafe.

Corfu's offering of explicitly regional cuisine highlights how ethnic food that is unfamiliar, even from a fairly familiar country and region, can add to the exotic nature and impression of a restaurant, without fundamentally frightening the palate of the average British consumer. On the other side of London, to the South, Chutney Mary in Chelsea offers a similarly eclectic menu, stressing unusual vegetarian dishes from South India. Even the venerable Wolseley in Green Park, where individuals are encouraged to go, in a recent review, because of star spot-a-ability alone, boasts, in addition to its menu Eggs Benedict and Bubble and Squeak, caviar, and smoked salmon, "some Austro-Hungarian empire delicacies, like Wiener Schnitzel," and exotic pastries.