Truth in Menus---not so much in the golden corner   

As a restaurant owner/manager, you have the right and obligation to  represent your food in the most attractive way--- in such a way as to entice customers to make choices that benefit your bottom line.  But, in addition to the obligation to the business, there is an ethical and legal  obligation to your customer.  For that reason, we have Truth in Menu laws, much like the truth in advertising laws with which we are all familiar. 

As part of every culinary curriculum across the U.S. there is a class that teaches menu management.  Yes, we are taught how to graphically create a menu, but that is a very small part of one chapter of a very large textbook.  So, what is in the rest of the book?  With the menu as the hub, we are taught how to plan and execute the business model based on that menu---the food, service and concept in that menu, everything from kitchen and front of the house design, to human resource requirements, ingredient sourcing, food preparation, to cost control as well as sanitation and safety.  Unfortunately, there is little or nothing about truth in menu.  Perhaps that is why there are so many Untruths in Menus, here in the Golden Corner of South Carolina. 

The purpose of Truth in Menu laws is to protect the consumer---to ensure that the food is represented in such a way that what the customer gets is what the customer expects.  For example, if a menu item is described as gluten free, then it MUST be that.  If the cooking method is described as char-grilled, then it cannot be pan fried.  If the price is $ 9.00 for one dozen mussels, then there MUST be one dozen mussels served.  If it specifies, Prince Edward Island (PEI) Blue mussels, then it must be one dozen, PEI Blue mussels.  Do you see where I am going with this?

During our hiatus from Beyond the Bull, and on our quest to find a new location, we have spent a great deal of time eating out, mostly to see how our competitors do it, but sometimes to consider purchasing the business or equipment.  So we get to see a lot of horrifying kitchens as well as unsafe practices.  But, what disturbs me the most is when I am the customer and I have to pay for something that is NOT what I expected.  Although I would like to list the restaurant name, address and all of the specifics in each of the examples that follow, my business ethics got in the way and prohibited me from doing so.  I am certain that in some cases, the menu is not meant to mislead, as certain as I am that in some cases, it is. 

On the other hand, I feel an obligation to blow the whistle on behalf of my fellow diners in the Anderson, Clemson and Seneca areas.  So here is my list of the most frequently published untruths from some of the most popular menus in the area.  The next time you see one of these, you might want to ask the server for the truth in the menu:

Food ingredient source

This is perhaps the most often published untruth on local menus.  From a well established downtown Anderson fast casual restaurant, local ingredients are promised, but not delivered.  Produce suppliers do not deliver “garden fresh” tomatoes, eggplant and basil in October.  In Clemson, a popular fine dining restaurant claims their starter mussels are from Prince Edward Isle---not!  They are Chilean cultured, yummy, but not PEI.  FYI, Beyond the Bull serves Chilean rope cultured mussels as well, but we are proud of them and don’t lie about it.

It is understandable that sometimes in order to provide a standardized menu, a restaurant has to source ingredients from away.  At BTB we strive to keep a consistent menu selection in order to protect our guests from disappointment.  If South Carolina farmers grew Brussels sprouts, we would buy them and make the claim that they are local.  But, our Brussels sprouts come from farms in Santa Cruz, California.  With our modern transportation systems and refrigeration, they are pretty good! We’re proud to serve them and don’t try to fool our customers into believing they are buying something they are not getting.  

Item name

If I order a menu item that is called roasted lamb lollipop, I want ground lamb on a stick, and I want it roasted.  But this fine establishment in Anderson served me mini lamb chops, with grill marks---what?  Call it what it is!

Made from scratch

Made from scratch or house made, is harder and harder to find in restaurants these days with the ease of use offered today by major restaurant food suppliers.  Revenue wise, it is sometimes more cost effective for a restaurant owner to buy it already prepared.  But, buying frozen pizza dough which is then turned into a pizza “pie” is not from scratch, nor is crème brulee from a box, to which you add milk and bake, or a dessert cake made from a package mix to which you add eggs and oil then sugar coat with frosting to which you add flavoring, or soups and sauces to which you add stock from a box, or frozen produce with additives to ensure “freshness”.  Scratch cooking means from  fresh ingredients, produce, meat and fish, rice and dried beans from start to finish.  At BTB, all menu items are made from scratch, even our salad mix is made by us from fresh heads or bunches of greens, stocks, sauces, soups, dressings, sides, all from scratch as are our signature pot de creme desserts.   

Heatlthy

No one should make this claim on a menu unless it is proven by a dietician and documented.  Yet the word “healthy” is used somewhere on half of the menus I have read in the last three months.  Not only is it most likely an untruth, but it can be a harmful claim to an uninformed consumer with diabetes, obesity, heart disease, etc.  

Grilled or roasted

Last month we dined in a restaurant in Ram Cat Alley that offered a grilled fish selection.  What I expected was grill marks from a char-grill.  What I got was a blackened fish cooked on the flat top, basically fried in a butter flavored oil.  An order of roasted lamb came out as a chop with grill marks, a grilled chicken breast was roasted and an order of wilted greens were steamed or boiled. 

Fresh

Fresh frozen is not fresh!  This is an especially common untruth applied to seafood products.  In case you haven’t notice, The Golden Corner of South Carolina is not on the coast.  Unless it was flown from the dock to the restaurant, it is not fresh.  That is not to say that there is anything wrong with fresh frozen.    And in my opinion, fresh frozen at sea will beat fresh in quality, texture and flavor.  Even on the coast, if it’s not from a day boat, it ain’t fresh, folks.   

Farm to table

Farm to table, local, fresh, sustainable, all have different meanings, but to most consumers, they may as well be synonymous because most consumers think they are getting food right from the farm without any middle man or additives.  Advertising your restaurant as farm to table simply because you use local suppliers is an untruth.  Farm to table only exists where the food ingredients, basically protein and produce, are farmed, processed and prepared for dining---from the farm to the restaurant table.  How many of those are in the Golden Corner? 

Buyer beware!  The next time you dine out, read the menu with a new perspective and ask your server for the truth.  If you are like me, I work hard at making a living and if I am buying a dozen steamed-in-lager, farm-raised littleneck clams from South Carolina, with house made heart healthy cocktail sauce, don’t serve me less than a dozen, boiled in salted water, wild littlenecks, with ketchup (not healthy) to which you add bottled lemon juice concentrate and horseradish sauce from a jar.  And if you do, I am not paying for it!

EAT SMART, and speak up, America!

Buon Appetito e Buona Salute, Chef AngelaB

P.S. For those of you following Beyond the Bull, we have narrowed our search for a new location to two, both in Clemson---stay tuned!