A la carte or blind menu?

Only in brasseries and Chinese restaurants does a long list of dishes not frighten customers away. The latter have become accustomed to seeing ever-smaller menus, when they still exist... A recent phenomenon to be compared with the hundreds of (mostly American) menus put online by the New York Public Library (NYPL). Here you'll find French menus like no other: 71 à la carte dishes at Maxim's in 1906; around 50 (including 16 desserts) at Taillevent in 1977; ditto at Troisgros, even in 1991. But the context was completely different. Starting with the abundance of produce available, whatever the distance travelled or the season. Eating strawberries at Christmas doesn't scare anyone! In the kitchen, there are plenty of people to ensure the preparation of dishes, and people work hard without asking too many questions about hours and pay. Finally, there's a clear dividing line between gourmet restaurants, bistros and brasseries; we're not yet talking about bistronomy, let alone cuisine d'auteur. There are a handful of stars, but in most restaurants, the chef is not at the center of the proposition. Over the past decade or so, media, social networking and environmental and social concerns have changed the game, creating superstar chefs and the modern, responsible restaurant, where menus have become smaller and more unique. Costs and losses are better controlled, as is labor - which is becoming increasingly scarce - and, last but not least, the chef's ego is served by a demonstration that he controls from beginning to end of the meal. It's up to the customer to get on board and let himself be carried away, to agree to go to the restaurant to live a global experience where, in the end, he often loses the possibility of choosing his own route.

Economic and ecological arguments

When, in 2017, Mathieu Pérou took over their father and uncle's restaurant, Le Manoir de la Régate, in Nantes with his sister Anne-Charlotte, he initially kept a multi-menu menu. "Even though the restaurant was losing ground, we couldn't make too violent a transition and risk losing our regular customers," he explains. We already had a network of small producers, but not as extensive as the one I have today. It's made up of micro-producers struggling to make a living from their activities, and it requires a great deal of adaptability on our part. It's impossible to cheat and buy from a wholesaler. That would be a betrayal of my way of cooking." In 2018, he decided to drop turbot, sea bass and other so-called noble fish and serve only freshwater fish. He abandons the à la carte menu and introduces a single menu, which accurately reflects the catch of the day or week and, what's more, prevents waste. "When you work with catfish, lamprey, bream, perch or pike, species with a dirty mouth, 9 times out of 10 it doesn't speak to anyone and, à la carte, few customers would order them. It's up to my sister or the restaurant manager to explain to our guests that, for us, this approach is very much part of our identity. They also ask about special diets - we've already done this once over the phone - and from there, in the kitchen, we're ready to go. From there, in the kitchen, we draw up the menu in 3 (lunchtime only), 6, 8 or 10 courses, as chosen by the customers [and for the whole table, editor's note]."A single menu does not necessarily mean a fixed menu. The chef always has options B, C or D to take into account the particularities of each guest. Thanks to Anne-Charlotte, who notes what they ate on their last visit, Mathieu Pérou is even able to offer regulars something new. As for managing tastes - or rather, dislikes - it's often a question of listening and sorting out certainties and prejudices. Chef Alessandra Montagne has also evolved her offering. When she opened her Nosso restaurant in Paris in 2021, nine years after Tempero, she opted for à la carte dishes. A year later, she decided to concentrate on a single tasting menu in the evenings.Financially, I was heading straight for the wall," she says. The only way to go further in my cooking, to refine my style, was to introduce this menu." As with Mathieu Pérou, it's by accompanying the guest that he or she buys into the proposal. Do they want to abandon themselves to the menu blindly, or do they prefer to know?Some people tell us: 'I don't like seafood!'" continues the chef, who retorts: "Okay, but what about all the seafood? Because we've just received a magnificent lobster from Brittany. And they answer: ah no, I eat lobster! Sometimes I even take them into the kitchen to let them taste a preparation. It's allowed me to do things I wouldn't have tried before. For example, a predessert with bottarga and yoghurt. If I'd put that on a menu, nobody would have taken it! And if people don't like it, it doesn't matter, we'll replace it." The imposed menu thus enables us to take people where they would never have imagined going. Commendable, but is it always transparent? The opposite is true for Martin Maumet, of the Oktobre restaurant in Paris. After imposing the tasting menu on Friday and Saturday evenings, he reversed this decision last year by putting dishes back on the à la carte menu. "Already, we always ended up doing a bit of a la carte for customers who didn't want a tasting," admits the chef. And then, as a cook, I didn't really see myself in it anymore; on those evenings, we automated service a bit like robots. We knew how many portions we had, what we were going to do... I felt we were losing a little of the pleasure of cooking in the moment. Economically, I wondered about it, because it could reduce sales. But I took the decision anyway, because a table that is satisfied with a dish and a dessert à la carte will eat in forty-five minutes instead of two hours, freeing up space for others. In the dining room, this frees up time to devote to tasting guests, welcoming them and suggesting wines. And in the end, I haven't suffered any loss of sales."

A question of generation?

Many claim to have grown their kitchen thanks to this menu from which they choose all the data, mastering the sequence, continuity or rupture between dishes and tastes. A quest for perfection often motivated by the race for marks, toques and rankings. Some customers and critics love this kind of control; others less so, irritated by this itinerary which, most of the time, is imposed on an entire table, starting at a fixed time and, even worse, sometimes ending at a fixed time. And even if the tasting menu - whatever its length - is the royal road into the chef's world, some, despite the economic constraints, don't see their profession in this way. It's a question of restaurant size and clientele, but perhaps also of generation. "When you make a single menu, you obviously have to manage your merchandise more quickly, with fewer staff and less waste. It's something we need to listen to, because it's a real issue," says Fréderic Vardon, chef at Le 39V, a chic, hidden restaurant in Paris's 8th arrondissement that serves fine French cuisine. I didn't make this choice, firstly because I have a large establishment. I think a single menu is best suited to places that seat between 25 and 35; I have 70. However, it's a debate I've been having for a long time with my colleague in the kitchen, Erwann Bignier, certainly because he's from a younger generation. A restaurant menu should reflect the personality of the person who created it. And I'm not talking about whether he's going to do scallops or whelks. I'm talking about hospitality. I don't know how to receive with a strict framework. It's a good thing Erwann stopped me, because if I had my way, there'd be 12 more dishes on the menu!"Which already includes a good twenty proposals (starters, main courses and desserts), a lunchtime formula, a 5-course signature menu and a few special menus celebrating a product or an occasion. Fréderic Vardon continues:"For a long time, there was a menu-card halfway between the a la carte menu and the single-course menu . You could choose 5 starters, 5 or 6 courses for so many euros, with extras for foie gras or truffles. That's all been whittled down to a single menu comprising 2 small starters, 2 small main courses and 2 small desserts. I'm not a consumer of this kind of menu, because it doesn't correspond to my idea of a restaurant. All day long, I'm like everyone else, ruled by my phone, my e-mails... When I sit down to eat, I want to be free to choose! I want to eat - why not? - half a pâté en croûte, half a lamb's trotter salad, some soup, half a bar and a piece of filet au poivre. So, in my restaurant, I refuse to put people in a box!"

Customer pleasure first

Multiple choice or single choice, the last word obviously goes to the customer, who today no longer goes into a restaurant without knowing what he's getting into. Even on impulse. Before entering, they visit the website and social networks, consult reviews, and even know what they're going to order... or not. Whether it's a single menu or an à la carte menu, what they're looking for is pleasure. The chefs say it all.We can't reduce the restaurant to the number of dishes," insists Alessandra Montagne. But rather ask how the restaurateur can survive, buy his raw materials, pay his employees. Martin Maumet confides: "The nicest compliment anyone can pay me today isn't from someone who thought the tasting menu was incredible. No, it comes from someone who walked past the restaurant, found it beautiful and settled down for a simple à la carte dish. Frédéric Vardon concludes with a twist: "It's commendable to have a succession of flavors to please our customers. But is it a restaurant? In my opinion, the answer is no. Is it a table? Yes."