Posts Tagged ‘food consultant’

Sensual Eating Creates Exquisite Dining Experiences

March 30th, 2010 4 Comments
Originally posted on 4/1/2009
When patrons dine in a restaurant they carefully choose what they want to eat and eagerly await for its arrival to the table. It is to wise to make sure that all of the human senses are stimulated in order to provide the best overall dining experience. Food must taste delicious, be great smelling, and presented in such a way that it is pleasing to the eye.

Excitement and satisfaction while dining can be stimulated when chefs prepare food attractively on the plate. Bold and bright colors help patrons pay attention to food creations and allow for a more pleasurable eating experience. It has been found that the colors of drinks are not exempt from the senses of the eye. According to the Journal of Consumer Research, “Two items that tasted the same but were different colors were perceived as more distinct in taste than two items that actually tasted different but were the same color. We found no difference in how much taste difference people expected, which suggests that the color influence is perceptual.”

Tasting foods is just one of the payoffs in sensual eating. Flavor is the most powerful sense that you can experience while eating. Food taste variations are seemingly endless. Tasting food interacts together with the sense of smell and can bring great pleasure to the eating experience. Because the sense of smell is tied directly to the sense of taste, people begin their enjoyment of food flavors even before any food is consumed.

Some of our senses are wildly ignored during the food creation process. Senses can further be stimulated by the sounds that you experience while eating. A crisp sound of a carrot being eaten will sound differently than the sounds created by eating something soft or creamy. The sense of touch can be stimulated by the different textures that are created as well.

Premium Foods in Kid-Sized Portions

March 10th, 2010 No Comments

Originally published on Monday, March 23, 2009

A new menu trend targets customers with kids by offering adult menu options in smaller portions for the children. Watch for smaller cuts of premium steaks, fresh fish, and locally-sourced healthy fare, along with bolder ethnic flavors that are usually the domain of adult palates.

A recent study reports that 78% of the Top 250 chain restaurants and 88% of full-service restaurants have menus specifically for children. Pasta, sandwiches and chicken are the most popular children’s lunch and dinner entrees, with dips such as barbecue, honey mustard, and sweet-and-sour sauces. These options will come as no surprise to anyone who has ever perused a children’s menu.

However, they may be pleasantly surprised to find that healthier offerings are increasingly being included in children’s menus of the Top 250 chains. There is an upswing in the number of listings of vegetables and fruits, healthy beverages and smoothies, and items described as natural or organic.

Teaching children the value of natural and organic foods may also prepare them for seasonal menus that are more sustainable–a trend that is sure to become more popular in the current economic and environmental climate.

There is also a growing preference for bolder, spicier flavors like teriyaki, chili, and chipotle, helping children to broadening their idea of acceptable flavors beyond those found in traditional American fare.

This is actually good news for the food service industry, because based on a study done by the university of Birmingham in England, children who are given particular foods early in life will tend to want those foods in the future. So by making the choicest foods available in children’s portion sizes, restaurants may be training future customers to buy only the best on offer.