Developing content for your promotional items and menus can be an incredibly frustrating task. How do you describe a delicious meal in a way that doesn’t sound hokey but will get across the message that this food is worth buying? How do you keep your restaurant’s marketing strategies on-brand with the demographic you are targeting? Words are powerful. Using the right ones can make or break your business. Thankfully, the experts at Dot It Restaurant Fulfillment have taken the guesswork out of choosing the right terminology. Use this lingo to take your restaurant menu content to the next level.

“Local”

Getting your ingredients locally is not just smart from a freshness perspective, but it also shows that you are supportive of the community at large. Making connections with local farmers or ranchers is also a great networking tool. Their friends and family are much more likely to frequent your establishment if they know you are cooking with produce they are familiar with. Find a local farmer’s market near you.

List the Preparation Method First

People like to imagine eating a dish before they have ordered it. Try to paint a picture of how the dish was prepared. For example: “Seared Lamb with Garlic Sauce” has a much better mental image than just “Lamb with Garlic Sauce.” You can almost hear the lamb hitting a hot skillet, smell the caramelization of the meat.

Descriptive food preparation terms to use:

  • Baked
  • Blanched
  • Boiled
  • Breaded
  • Carved
  • Chilled
  • Chopped
  • Crushed
  • Cubed
  • Diced
  • Dusted
  • Drizzled
  • Garnished
  • Glazed
  • Grated
  • Infused
  • Juiced
  • Marinated
  • Peeled
  • Plucked
  • Roasted
  • Salted
  • Seared
  • Seasoned
  • Shelled
  • Shredded
  • Shucked
  • Simmered
  • Sliced
  • Spiced
  • Tossed
  • Whipped

Unique Characteristics

Make sure when you are describing a menu item, that you highlight something unique about it. Is there a hard-to-find or rare ingredient in it? Was it imported from somewhere special? Is it made in-house daily? List something fun about the item. For example: “Fresh Baked Bread: Made to Order.”

Consider the following unique characteristics of food:

  • External factors such as size, shape, color, and consistency
  • Texture and flavor
  • Rarity
  • Native geography

Be Very Specific

When describing an ingredient, be specific rather than vague. For example, instead of just listing an ingredient as “mushrooms,” specify the exact type. Are they cremini mushrooms? Shitaki? Chanterelle? Reishi? By being specific, you can provide the guest with a much better visual picture of the dish, while really selling home your own culinary knowledge. You could also add the source of the ingredient. For example: “Wild-gathered chanterelle mushrooms,” sounds intriguing. Here’s a great list of adjectives to describe food.

Contact Dot It Restaurant Fulfillment today. Call 800-642-3687 to speak with a customer representative.