Tapa' menu
Salmon salad niçoise
Piri piri, char-grilled chicken
Smoked chicken and bacon Caesar salad
Red pepper and spinach Spanish tortilla
Potato, spring onion and chorizo salad
Thai prawn noodle salad
Cumin and coriander spiced meat balls in tomato sauce
Garlic cheese bread
Grilled sardines with pesto dressing
"Here comes the sun" Now I reckon there's a song in there somewhere, and there's most certainly a menu. This is the time of year when our eating habits change dramatically: from face-filling, heavy-duty, industrial-strength comfort food, to light as you like, beach-wear-friendly fun.
We tend to eat less but perhaps more often, which means at less traditional times so tapas is a great way to introduce your summer menu. Not only can you add a whole range of light-grazing dishes for the punter to mix and match, but it enables you to keep on any winter favourites or signature dishes you'll simply be downsizing. This style of menu allows customers to create their own bespoke meal: how about a dish of sizzling barbecue chicken wings with another of spring onion, potato and chorizo salad. Or maybe a plate of garlic king prawns with a crunchy Caesar salad.
Having a tapas-based offering, allows for a slightly longer menu without really having extra prep. In fact, it allows for greater versatility on all fronts. For a start, you can do away with exactly that: starters. Main course and desserts also disappear, as the whole menu becomes one standard sized dish. Obviously prices have to be lowered accordingly, but this will give the perception of greater value and you may even find average spend increase, as people order more dishes.
Dishes can change daily to allow you to use up leftovers if you've got a few salmon trimmings, why not knock up a quick salmon salad niçoise with a few boiled potatoes, green beans and hard-boiled egg; dress with a lemon and crème fraiche dressing and you've created a summer classic. People will soon be grazing on your food with heady, summer abandon before you can say "Singing in the rain".
