January can be a tough month to get menus and customers energized. Local sourcing of fresh produce is limited to root vegetables in many parts of the country and the cold weather creates a high demand for comfort dishes. To beat the winter blahs, consider these three ideas from the restaurant side.
1. Restaurant Week promotions
Restaurant Week promotions are popular in January, with several cities offering $22 lunches, $33 dinners and other multi-course meal deals at upscale spots. Not only does this marketing strategy put butts in seats, it encourages guests to try new places and spurs return visits. For commercial operators, it’s a win-win—restaurant-week menus usually are composed of the least costly entrée items, such as chicken, salmon and pasta.
While restaurant-week promotions may not seem applicable to noncommercial, offering special three-course meals at B&I, senior living and C&U can re-ignite enthusiasm for a foodservice operation. It’s also an opportunity to try out new recipes or create a themed promotion. One Chicago restaurant is serving a Julia Child-inspired menu, cooking up one of her famous appetizers, entrees and desserts and promoting it for lunch and dinner. Bundling and promoting special meals for a limited period of a week or two can pay dividends without overtaxing the kitchen.
2. Low-alcohol cocktails
Low-alcohol cocktails, also known as “sessions” or “shims,” are gaining fans among operators and customers on the restaurant side. These drinks typically use sake, shochu, hard cider, vermouth or sherry, all lower in alcohol content than hard spirits like vodka or gin, to create on-trend craft cocktails. They’re also typically lower in price than full-strength cocktails. For that reason, a beer and wine license is sufficient to serve the mixed drinks.
3. Individual cast-iron vessels
Individual cast-iron vessels for cooking and serving are showing up on casual and fine-dining restaurant tables. Although these wares are being used year round, they seem to multiply in winter, holding hearty dishes such as mac ‘n cheese, vegetable gratins, cassoulet and rustic desserts like bread pudding and fruit cobbler. The trend can be adapted to noncommercial with more practical enameled cast iron pieces or simple tempered glass or ceramic bakeware that go straight into the dish machine. The individual vessels can upgrade the presentation of homey winter comfort food.