Restaurant Recipe Creation from Concept to Reality
Often a recipe can be all title and no substance. The quattro formaggi pizza doesn’t amount to much if one of the four kinds of cheese is Velveeta. Like having a movie script start with the title instead of the story — i.e., snakes on a plane instead of a well-crafted script that naturally gains a title. Curating great food is a culmination of balance, structure and creativity to value the consumer’s palette above anything else. After that, it’s operational awareness and knowing how to execute it effectively. Hence, all staff and customers are keenly aware of this item’s value proposition and why they should buy it. Here is my process for achieving that.
New Menu Item Conceptualization
Any great recipe starts with inspiration, whether a spin on something you’ve had yourself or something unique. The best recipes come from items you long to eat yourself. They don’t come from simply seeking to people please, without a heart behind it, to make the best possible thing. Even making a gluten-free pizza, assuming you have no gluten intolerance, must still be made from a place of intrigue and dedication to greatness because no one wants to go to the second-best pizza place in town. Then once you’re inspired, it’s time to create and make the best version possible. If you have proficient culinary staff, a quarterly menu submission meeting is a great team builder and an opportunity to freshen up a menu.
Testing and Agreement
Once the concept is ready, it’s time for it to take a tangible form. Prepare your pizza, taste it, refine it and repeat this process until you hit the sweet spot where the best creation possible has been achieved. The testing phase is a series of trials and errors, incorporating feedback from your staff, customers who dig you, and people who don’t care if they tell you something you don’t want to hear.
Process Creation
Upon successfully testing the new recipe, the next step is establishing a comprehensive process that enables the kitchen team to recreate the same pizza consistently. A well-documented process should specify each ingredient’s weight or volume, prep order, cooking times, temperatures, if applicable, and every other detail that ensures consistency and quality. Specificity is your friend on a recipe. The process creation step is the blueprint that helps transform your unique concept into a replicable product.
Meanwhile, training your staff to prepare the new recipe ideally is another significant aspect. Knowledgeable and skilled kitchen staff are the backbone of your operations. Having staff cook the new item off a few times to learn it with repetition ensures a run on the new item goes well. Additionally, having staff try the pizza so they can speak to it and sell it in their voice should occur from the kitchen test runs of the recipe.
Ingredient Sourcing
The next stage is to source the right ingredients. If you made the recipe from items purchased at a grocery store, it’s time to find it affordably sold in bulk from your supplier. You can only price it out once you know what you can legitimately and consistently produce the item for.
In-House Menu, Description and Pricing
Once the item is ready to hit your restaurant’s floor, you must prepare it for its digital debut. Integrating the recipe into your in-house menu involves having a solid description and menu placement with a price that justifies its unique value proposition and exceeds the target profit margin. The price should be based first on food cost, then what it’s comparable to in the market, and last but not least, what you can sell it for if it’s so unique and special that it’s a must to try it.
Menu Synchronization
With the new items ready for its launch, it’s time to synchronize all your menus – in-house, takeout, catering and online. Every platform must reflect this new addition, ensuring a cohesive customer experience across all ordering channels. I find it easier to print and prepare all the materials and change everything out Sunday night after closing so you can come in Monday ready to rock with a new menu. If you are doing one item with a slow rollout, that’s fine too, but eventually, the extensive process needs to occur if the item is a winner.
Online Presence and Delivery Services Menu Updates
In this digital era, a significant chunk of your business might come from online platforms. Ensure your new recipe’s description, price and pictures are updated on your website and other online delivery services. Remember, your online menu serves as a virtual gateway to your pizzeria. It’s your digital front door, and having a bad one is like a restaurant with the open sign not turned on.
Marketing and Promotion
The last step is a proper launch with pinpoint targeted marketing. Use all the tools in your marketing arsenal, including social media platforms, e-mail newsletters, and in-house promotions. Organize more food tastings for staff day of launch, push your promotions on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and ensure a consistent marketing message across all channels. Invite the news to try the new items; you never know what might get picked up on a slow news day. A press release is not out of the question and costs nothing if you do it yourself.
If that’s not your speed, direct messaging people with large followings in your community to try the new item on you, i.e., free, is an easy and also low-cost way to get your fast social presence for the item. This sounds like influencer marketing, and it is, but go after people with influence to your demo, not people who advertise themselves as paid influencers. In Tulsa, the television weather people carry more social clout and followers than the average MLM marketer who wants constant paid freebies.
In Summary
The recipe process from concept to a tangible offering on your menu is a detailed and comprehensive system that demands a blend of creativity, precision, and business acumen. Every pizza that leaves your kitchen is not just a food item but a testament to your dedication, hard work and commitment to delivering value to your customers. If it’s not, you are selling a commodity — and commodities only fight in a race to be the cheapest, not the best.
Mike Bausch is the owner of Andolini’s Pizzeria in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Instagram: @mikeybausch
