Menu Research: Are You Hunting for Great Recipes?
By Peter Langlois, co-editor Weekly Restaurant Connections

When I was growing up in the business this was a particularly arduous task. I remember when as a Food Production manager I was given a God Send by my Food and Beverage Manager, Fred Poppe, for an anniversary of employment. I literally wore out the pages of “La Cuisine” by Raymond Oliver in the mid-seventies developing menus. My other key resource at that time was “Betty Crocker.” By using these two, I was able to blend the mundane with the sublime, keying off “La Cuisine” for Continental for our upscale restaurants, and Betty Crocker for American-style coffee shops.

When I was growing up in the business this was a particularly arduous task. I remember when as a Food Production manager I was given a God Send by my Food and Beverage Manager, Fred Poppe, for an anniversary of employment. I literally wore out the pages of “La Cuisine” by Raymond Oliver in the mid-seventies developing menus. My other key resource at that time was “Betty Crocker.” By using these two, I was able to blend the mundane with the sublime, keying off “La Cuisine” for Continental for our upscale restaurants, and Betty Crocker for American-style coffee shops.

Today, when working with clients and students, I have the world at my fingertips because of technology. My problem now is the over-abundance of information that can be so difficult to sort through. If you “Google” chicken recipes, for example, who knows how many recipes will come up? So, I generally look at just a few resources for inspiration and foundations. Here are my favorites.

My number one resource these days is StarChefs.com. This New York-based web site has an almost unbelievable search program that taps into celebrity chef recipes. There are thousands of recipes from some of the greatest chefs we have. You can use the search function to find recipes from soup to nuts, from coq au vin to wild boar to you name it. This service is free, and, unlike several other web sites, which feature recipes from multiple sources, StarChefs has verified the recipes. Of course, you’ll have to scale them up and make spice adjustments to fit the profile of your restaurant. (There are free Excel Spreadsheets on www.RestaurantU.com in E-Tools to do this).

I balance this with looking at two magazines, “Cooking Light “ and “Southern Living,” two magazines with mostly feminine bents and, in my mind, contemporary insights into nutritional trends and homespun recipes. I recall one issue of “Cooking Light” where wines were paired with Salads and other light fare that was simply outstanding. I think one of the wine consultants from the Culinary Institute of America-Greystone laid out some wonderful pairings. Why do I focus on these? Who do you think makes the decision on where we’re dining tonight?

My fourth resource is a colleague at the Art Institute of Houston, Chef Peter Lehr, who either currently teaches or has taught the gamut of cuisines, including Asian and Spanish, which are so trendy today. Recipes for these classes are listed on his web site for students but of course there is universal access via a link on www.RestaurantU.com by clicking on “Chef Peter” in “Main Attractions.”

As I said when I started, the information available can be staggering, but these are my picks. And, by the way, I’m still using “La Cuisine” and “Betty Crocker” as well. Sometimes thumbing through the pages of a good book still does the job for me.