OnThe Menu

 Has anyone ever taken a good read at their menus? Do you know what your favorite eatery serves?Or the font that it's printed in?what about the graphics and size?Well, there's a new survey that shows exact;y what's on those pages.

Regular contributors Priya Krishna. Tanya Sichynsky and Umi Syam wroteabout this fascinatingaspect of restaurant lif in today's New York Times food section. After dealing with the pandemic , plexiglass barriers, QR codes that brought menus to our phones , masked servers and curbside delivery menus are back, They've become works of art. Mses Krishna, Sichynsky and Syam looked over a whopping 120(!!!) menus and discovered some interesting trends that emerged.One is the Ceasar salad.There are dozens of varieties of it ,from a catfish Casar, redolent with fried green tomatoes ,boiled eggs and cheddar to a Thai one with puffed rice croutons to a Casar del jardin that is loaded with carrots.There is even a tofu Caesar that many places are serving.Another interesting point is that menus have literally shrunk in size. They're not as large as they used to be. Menu colors have become brighter too.  Some are a dazzling Barbie pink while others are a cheery canary yellow.

Restaurants have also become more creative with their fonts. There are many different types and they 've become smaller. They're now fiv points (in comparison to Times which is printed in seven to eight points)  . Another phenomena popping up on menus are mascots. They could be drawn by a creative employee or borrowed from Hnri Matisse and Jean Cocteau. Like fashion restaurants have become brands. Logos are too obvious but a mascot is a sublte way of advertising.A big trend  is informal. Most look likey they've been created by a design school freshman  .Cheesy fonts reign supreme as do wonky formatting and using printer paper.A more eco version is using an inkless embossing stamp to impress a restaurant's name on a menu. The anatomy is also changing. Restaurant employees are also getting salary increases thanks to their bosses cutting down on menu costs;There's also a service charge explanation also included as well as eateries telling  diners that they offer health benefits for their help. Also on the menu is having entrees explained as smaller or bigger along with listing mocktails with their sodas and teas.

Menus are the window to any restaurant. new innovations in them show new innovations in the kitchen. They are the bestway to introduce a new diner to great cuisine.