Knowing the answer to this question is essential in marketing your restaurant. A signature dish can make your restaurant stand out and separate you from your competitors. It can also make your restaurant more memorable. Throughout history, signature dishes have defined cultures and restaurants alike. Here are some ideas for developing, choosing and promoting your restaurant’s signature dish.
Popular Menu Items
Top selling items are a great start when deciding which signature dishes to get behind. If a particular dish is a big seller, fits the theme of your restaurant and provides a healthy profit margin, you may have a winner. Taking that dish and adding some unique touches like garnish, a new sauce or side dish will help to create a true signature menu item.
Authentic Cuisine
Using an authentic old-world recipe and perfecting its preparation can make for an extremely popular signature dish. The history of the dish, its ingredients and the country of origin will all help you to create a compelling story to promote it. In order to create authentic cuisine, you need authentic ingredients. Be sure you have a steady supply before committing to this type of signature dish.
Organic Creations
People are more health conscious these days than ever before, and your menu should at least partially cater to that trend. Many consumers are willing to pay up for organic ingredients and even actively seek out businesses that use them. Creating a signature organic dish and a few others for your organic menu can help increase revenue and attract an entirely new customer base.
Seasonal Dishes
A different signature for each season is a great way to show off the versatility of your kitchen staff and keep your signature offerings fresh. Taking advantage of seasonal inventory opportunities will help you control the cost of your signature items and ensure your ingredients are at peak freshness. Signature dishes need to stand out, so frozen or expired ingredients are a definite thumbs down.
Menu Specials
Take note of which daily specials receive the most orders and the best reaction from your customers. If you start to notice a trend of increased business during a certain special it may be time to make that one of your signature dishes. Daily specials are also a great way to begin promoting your other chosen signatures.
Guest Participation
Gathering input from your customers about their favorite items on your menu and what they would like to see added will allow you to personalize your menu to your customer base. Not only that, if you choose one of your customer’s ideas as a signature dish, they are sure to let their friends know.
Employee Favorites
Many people who enter the food service industry are amateur chefs with new and unique food interpretations. It is very possible your front of house staff is teaming with great ideas. Consider holding a contest where each staff member presents a dish and then hold a vote with the best dish making it to the menu.
Reinvented Trends
Developing your own take on current food trends will make your signature dishes recognizable while still maintaining the unique image of your restaurant. Many of the latest trends focus on nutrition, so having healthy options as your signature dishes can help you capitalize on the health-conscious niche. Taking it completely the other way and using decadent desserts as signature items can give your brand and revenue a boost as well.
Promotion
Promoting your signature dishes is the most important aspect of this exercise aside from creating standout dishes. Posting videos of how you create your signature dishes and photos of the finished product will help you drive engagement through your social media pages and increase the reach of your brand. Visual content is the most shared content online, with food being the subject matter of much of it.
