The menu card as hero

The menu card was designed to serve a purpose To tell you what was available to order at a restaurant on a particular day If it was a set menu yoursquod know what course to expect Today this is far from the truthA menu card is a tool and platform to take patrons on a tour of the establishmentrsquos culinary philosophy the provenance of ingredients and to ldquoimpressrdquo them with cool banter If done well it can be an immersive experience for enthusiastsldquoIf you see recent menus worldwide you will realise that the complicated copy for the dishes have words that nobody understands It may look cool but the guest might hesitate to order I tell my team to be as clear as possible Do not embarrass the customerrdquo says veteran restaurateur AD SinghThe cocktail menu for the justreopened Slink amp Bardot is lavish in illustration and showcases the Worli hideawayrsquos thrust on local and seasonal ingredients that are used to create infusions bitters shrubs and tonics Here cocktails are the hero and also available on tapThat doesnrsquot mean that Singhrsquos restaurants including the iconic Olive Bar amp Kitchen donrsquot dig a good story At both Olive and Monkey Bar the chefs are encouraged to get innovative in the kitchen but customers tend to get drawn to old favourites ldquoThe same old dishes that are available everywhere will be ordered the most It is a matter of great frustration for us When people go out in groups they want to catch up They quickly order the simplest items on the menurdquo he saysTo encourage guests to try something new he relies on chefs to spend time interacting with the guests trains the staff to push star dishes and offers to comp off a recommended dish if a patron doesnrsquot like it ldquoFor our menu we take inputs from long time managers chefs and then work with the marketing team to create the final product along with an external design teamrdquoWhen a restaurant has a story to tell the menu turns into a creative vehicle that offers added charm to the overall experience This works especially well with cocktails since guests who order cocktails like being adventurous ldquoWhen they open the menu usually they donrsquot know which cocktail they want to have They want to be told what to haverdquo Vicky Singh partner at Slink amp Bardot explains The Worli Koliwada restobar reopened recently after a makeover to serve a massive cocktails list including some available on tap Vicky SinghSantosh Kukreti its cocktail mixologist created the idea of evolution of cocktails adapting a 16th century Indian punch to include gin and adding a caffeine twist to an aeropress Negroni ldquoA good and real story should have genesis and truth The idea behind the new menu design was to showcase the evolution of cocktails and the talent of the bar teamrdquo says Singh He does however add that extrafancy menus donrsquot go a long way ldquoMost of the time they are there to serve the ego of the restaurantrdquolsquoOur menus cards moonlight as guide booksrsquoThe Bombay Canteen Lower ParelIn 2016 The Bombay Canteen released a Christmas special menu card that popped open into a Christmas tree This was to draw attention to their cocktail programme which was not moving according to expectation The response to it was an aha moment for the team ldquoWe garnered great attention around this menu and more people ordered from itrdquo says cofounder Yash BhanageThe next year they released a lavish booklike menu that looked at cocktails reminiscent of the Art Deco structure of Bombay It was a menu card designed to moonlight as a city guide ldquoThe first cocktail book was created more as a problem solving exercise to bring focus to the barrdquo says Pritha Sahai cofounder of Please See TBCrsquos brand agency ldquoWe had to build a story around the emotion of Bombay The city has one of the worldrsquos most celebrated Art Deco districts And we wanted its residents to feel proudrdquo she addsIt was an immersive process for its writers and designers as they scored the city for information and sketch inspiration TBCrsquos bar team then stepped in to finalise the cocktails they could create around the theme This was a hitThey followed this with three unique menus including a Canteen Cocktail Calendar based on the lingo of Amchi Mumbai A Guidebook to the Talkies Of Bombay A Forgotten Secret and one that celebrates the People of the Promenade taking inspiration from Marine Drive and its frequenters This was in 2019 right before the pandemicFor the one themed around the cityrsquos theatres they roped in Simin Patel of Bombaywalla Historical Works a digital platform that creates awareness about Bombayrsquos built environment and social history Along with the branding team she set out to identify the founding stories of the theatres by interviewing the descendants of the owners of the leading theatres syndicate archival research and visits to the extant talkie structures From Palace Talkies the first cinema to come up in Byculla in 1932 to Matungarsquos now shuttered Aurora the guide offered suggestions on what to do around these spots ldquoBombay forces you to become creative in everything you do To reach a larger audience you have to package your story in an innovative and relatable way We recommended where you can go for chai and also picked up flavours from the vicinity of the theatres for the bar team to incorporate in the drinksrdquo says PatelEach menu takes up to eight months to create ldquoWe have to give enough time for design printing and the creation of the cocktails The direction comes from the bar team during the summers for instance they like to focus on martinis and highballsrdquo says BhanageThis year they are toying with the idea of markets ldquoApart from food and drinks we offer an experience that guests take back with them That said only one out of 10 guests realises the effort that goes into making an innovative menu However it helps put us draw attention to the fact that The Bombay Canteen is doing something cool for its barrdquo thinks BhanagelsquoMy outlook is to offer an iOS experiencersquoLair Vasant ViharWhen you enter Lair black engulfs you This is chefowner Jay Solankirsquos way of ruling out colour sound or distraction from what is going to be served on the plate Through an arched doorway you are led up a black staircase that opens into the private dinerBanga Raya a vodka rose grenadine gin and egg white cocktail served at LairWhen the server hands you the menu you see the same picture of the stairs in the logo smartly crafted to represent the letter lsquoArsquo in LairThe cocktail menu is a map divided into three stages beginner intermediate and supreme Every cocktail taking you through a time in history through ingredients and storytelling ldquoI wanted to draw attention to the mixology outlook and give the people of Delhi an easy way to understand flavours and where the ingredients come from The food menu is inspired by an Asian menu I chanced upon in Ibiza My approach is to offer an iOS not Android experiencerdquo he announces admitting that ldquoreading two whole lines of description below each dish was becoming a pain in the a for patronsrdquoLeft to right Founders Jay Solanki and Dhruv Raj Vij visual designer Kavya Bagga and architect Sanchit Arora at Lair PicsNishad AlamThe idea was to simplify the user experience For this he divides the food menu into sections Raw Dimsums Baos Soil Sea and Desserts The vegetarian menu falls in Soil so the patrons donrsquot have to go sift through the list of meat dishesSolanki and partner Dhruv Raj Vij have focused on the psychology of the client who walks into the 90seater thatrsquos located in Vasant Vihar ldquoWhen they walk in they are very hungry First we offer them some truffle popcorn and then a short and crisp food menu to make their choices Each dish has two points at best to detail the dish Then they can quickly get back to the conversation on the tablerdquoShizo corn with spicy mayoAt the fag end of the menu he credits the copy writer the architect and the menu designer ldquoThe team has expressed what I wanted them to and while the architect designed the space the menu designer ensured that his vision trickled into the card toordquoA menu usually costs anything between R100 and R300 to print Solankirsquos menu printed on handmade 600 GSM costs R700 ldquoThis expense was accounted for the experience we were offering How would a flimsy menu reflect on the service and food that followsrdquo says Solanki who has not offered a QR code for a digital menu even during the pandemic ldquoIt takes away from the experiencerdquolsquoIf Ekaa is the heart word play are its artilleriesrsquoEkaa Flora FountainMost patrons at Ekaa do not understand the menu because it is cryptic and barely gives away the name of a dish Itrsquos a medley of words hinting at a dish ingredient or flavour For example the tasting menu includes the words Crisp Taco and Cheese ToastChef and partner at Ekaa Niyati Rao with the menu The design team chose to go with copper touches on special handmade paper to represent the earthiness of the restaurantrsquos interiors ldquoFor the copy we went deeper into tracing where the ingredients came fromrdquo says Mohan SandaThe classical interpretation of a menu is that it is going to tell you what you are going to eat But at Ekaa it is an openended interpretation ldquoHonestly no one can comprehend what we are serving because we serve what others donrsquot Guests ask me for the name of the dish I have put on the table and I donrsquot usually have oneI tell them taste it and call it what you likerdquo says chef and partner Niyati RaoMohan SandaOne of the dishes is denoted by the word Arbi and is served on the table as a DIY presentation The rice tortillas are inspired by Malwani culture Served with a green tomato rojo sauce pickled papaya and a curry leaf cregraveme fraiche this is one of the 30 dishes on her menu The pork and chicken sausage says Rao is a dish you would eat in Europe but the diner feels a sense of community a psychology that connects to ingredients and their combination We donrsquot like them to connect to a specific regionmdashthis divides food and limits the chefrdquo explains RaoIf Ekaa is the heart the word play are the artilleries Design agency Sparrowrsquos creative director Mohan Sanda had to change his classical approach for this project ldquoEach of Niyatirsquos dishes goes through the five elements The menu relies on ingredients and flavours and her interpretation The team chose to go with copper touches on special handmade paper to represent earthiness that flows through the interiors For the copy we went deeper into tracing where the ingredients came from their history and how they have been interpretedrdquo says SandaAfter every meal patrons receive a WillyWonka inspired copper ticket meant to reveal an experience on their next visit This is handed out with another letter that reads punha ya or do return ldquoThe menu at Ekaa plays the role of keeping up the mystery without overwhelming the guestsrdquo says RaolsquoItrsquos my ode to DillirsquoSidecar Greater Kailash IIIn November 2020 Yangdup Lama of Sidecar and his team introduced a menu inspired by a book titled A Sidecar Named Desire which celebrated authors and their choice of spirits ldquoOurs was a take on what the authors would order if they ever came to Sidecar in the year 2020 Itrsquos this idea that has kept us going to innovate with new cocktailsrdquo says LamaPages from Sidecarrsquos menu resorts to the nostalgia of a childhood around what is now Gurgaon linking the memory of makaroot lime to a cocktail called Bhumi thatrsquos served at the restobar Another one harks back to days at school when the Falsa or sweettart berry was sold by vendors in leaf pockets Gaffar mixes falsa syrup with white rumThis summer he launched Dear Delhi a mini coffee table drinks menu book inspired by the popular bazaars and spots of the capital He got friends and videographers Aakshee Gakhar and Vaibhav along with writer friend Deepali Gupta Bhatia to help produce the book It attempts to pour a tale muddle a memory stir a poem and let the guest drink in the sights sounds and flavours of Delhi On our visit to the bar we tried Gaffar inspired by the flavours of Gaffar market and featuring the phalsa fruit syrup rum edible copper and wheat beerSadar Bazaar is an ace attempt to mix stiff cognac with the fragrance of sandalwood and the nutty taste of laccha supariCourses in historyChefs and culinary experts trace the arrival of the modern menu to India crediting the British and the FrenchMenu cards were introduced in India by the British ldquoThe oldest menu cards were found in British clubs and for dinners attended by governor generals Most were handwritten for a single event carrying a list of the various courses to be servedrdquo culinary anthropologist Kurush Dalal says He adds that sometimes various guests would receive a variety of menus the one to have booked the table would get the one with the prices listedOld menus from the Taj Mahal Palace amp Towers archive including one that showcases a dinner and cabaret evening and another one thatrsquos a New Yearrsquos Eve special for the year 1943ldquoMost of the older membersonly clubs still have a menu of daily specials which is handwritten on card paper Udipi eateries and Irani cafeacutes used to have their menus placed under the glass tabletops ldquoThis kept the menu cards from being handled too muchrdquo says DalalBefore paper we had blackboards with a list of the dayrsquos dishes written on it Every time the kitchen ran out of a dish a staffer would arrive to strike it off the boardldquoOver the years we went to boards that used plastic letters that fit into slots to make up names and pricesrdquo The early menus at the Taj group of hotels were different from what we see today says executive chef Rajesh Wadhwa of Taj Palace Delhi ldquoIt has always been the chef writing out the dishes So in a sense you can call us content creators The descriptions were verbose presenting a story with every dish Back in the day our menus were essentially all about food Design was important but the visuals were limited and the focus was on ensuring that the descriptions were well articulatedrdquoiFive stars adopted the French classical menu style that divided the meal into entrees appetizers mains and dessert ldquoSlowly the menus got shortened and became of two kindsmdashagrave la carte and tableau drsquohote TDH menu also known as a set menu usually for a fixed group of diners says Paul Noronha executive chef ITC Grand Central Mumbai ldquoFolklore has it that much before menus were written Maharajas were shown the pictures of dishes and they pointed out what they wanted to eatrdquo says Noronha As peoplersquos dietary preferences widened menus came with green and red symbols to identify if a dish was vegetarian or not Then came symbols for seafood nuts and glutenPaul NoronhaAfter the onset of COVID menus slowly began to be digitised especially with the growth of QR codes and iPad menus ldquoNow you have menus on iPads with images With technology much has happenedrdquo says Noronha