How I make a menu.

Menu design combines three of my favorite things: food, lists, and themes.

1. Food.

I think it's preeeeettttttty clear that I love food. Food makes us happy, it fuels us, it brings us together, it honors our history or culture or traditions. The convening power of a meal is boundless, and dear lord I just love it. 

2. Lists.

Well this is meta.

I write my menus by hand, with lots of cross-outs and re-orgs, question marks and underlines, circles and arrows. You might call them maps. Maps to a meal. The ephemera of eating. Artifacts of gatherings and good times. I may be spinning out of control.

3. Themes.

When I host a meal, I want it to feel of-a-piece. Holistic. I want that prandial red thread, you know?

I tend to start with a single dish or profile -- something I've picked up at the food co-op or eaten at a restaurant or seen on Beat Bobby Flay. Something as specific as maiale al latte (pork braised in milk) or broad as "The Harvest." I'm not dramatic at all, obviously.

From there, I usually extrapolate to a region, and then to regional flavors. I imagine ways to apply those flavors to other dishes: apps, soups, sides, desserts, etc. Typically, I imagine way too many dishes for a single meal, but that's cool, because it's easier to edit than to fill out.

From the regional exploration and its resulting brainstorm, I devise a fabulous theme! This theme guides me as I revise and refine. It's the menu's polestar. I come back to the theme again and again when I'm weighing flavors or ingredients, and I do my damnedest to make every dish fit, patently or tangentially.

And for your amusement, a handful of past themes:

• A Classic Steakhouse for the 21st Century

• June Is Bustin' Out All Over

• Let's Go Baja-nanas

• Midnight at the Oasis Diner

• A "Bless Your Heart" Birthday

(You really want to know more about these menus, don't you.)

That's it. Oh, and then I cook the meal. Nbd. So how do you menu? 

yours,
aa