June 28th, 2009

Recently I had an intriguing conversation with Rod Jessick about what entrées cannot be removed from the menus at the Coeur d’Alene Resorts multiple restaurants.  The day I stopped by, Jessick was finalizing the children’s menus for each of the resort restaurants and I noticed that every single one included breaded ‘chicken fingers.’  I pointed this out and Jessick acknowleged that it was simply impossible to offer a children’s menu without the chicken fingers.

“How about chicken in some other form?”

“We tried it,” he said.  “It didn’t work.  It has to be the breaded  fingers.”

Following this conversation with Rod, I have asked a few other chefs and owners what they cannot take off their menus and most immediately list a few signature dishes that must remain or there will be rioting in the parking lot.  Most are unique to each place: the lamb here, the prime rib and baby backs there, the carrot cake at the spot across the street.

But  now I’m musing more generally.  I realized I keep seeing many of what are essentially the same appetizers, entrées, or desserts on menu after menu… particularly in the bistro category.  Calamari up front.  A burger on the lunch menu.  Cheesecake and creme brulee for dessert.  The list goes on.

In fact, I’d like you to add to my initial observations with the dishes that you see again and again on menu after menu with only minor in-house variations.  I’d like to know.