Page 26 - Foodservice magazine may 2019

26
MANAGEMENT
SHARE PLATES:
TONY ELDRED
HOW WE GOT HERE
FOOD SERVICE
WHEN COSTS RISE, OTHER THINGS SHRINK, LIKE THE SIZE OF YOUR STAFF, VENUE, AND MEALS. TONY ELDRED REFLECTS ON HOW PORTIONS, PLATING AND PRICES HAVE CHANGED IN THE LAST FEW DECADES.
When I first entered
the industry in the 1960s, the high-
end restaurants were mostly following the same traditional dish structure of a substantial slab of protein with two or
three vegetables on one plate. Today, it’s smaller portions, and “everything is designed to share,” as your server will tell you.
But it’s not just the boundary- pushing chefs at the top with their puree smears and spherified liquids that dictate industry trends.
Back in the ‘60s, restaurants hit resistance when rising costs forced main-course prices to reach the $15 barrier (how things have changed). The solution was to start taking things off the
plate and presenting them as “side dishes”. This allowed a price rise by stealth, as customers often ordered several side dishes at $5 or $6 each and ended up spending $25 or more on a meal. The public saw this as fashionable and the trend spread like wildfire.
Costs continued to rise
and further changes became necessary. The first of these
was the shrinking of protein portions. Savvy chefs discovered that if they halved the size of
the protein, they could pile on a cheaper vegetables or grains, and, success! The majority of diners hardly noticed.
Nevertheless the average price of restaurant meals continued to hike and restaurateurs struggled to present the perception of value – especially when they reached the $25 barrier. Something had to change.
This was when secondary cuts started to share the limelight because initially they were much
E
N
T
M
E
G
A
A
M
N