The Caterist Files ~A Menu of Dreams

Since leaving Kinsloe, I've come to think of our entertaining on more of the family level. No more groups of 50, not even 25! Without a commercial kitchen, I'm limited to what I can do at home. So, it's mostly just family and my few close catering clients. Fifteen is our nice round number, these days! So, what does a retired caterer do in her spare time?

I've returned to my crafting roots...I was a Crafter long before I became a Chef. Candle Making and Wreaths, other pretty things, Barnwood Window Décor...so there are Craft Fairs, and such. But once the creations are created, we have to wait for them to sell...leaving lots of time to ponder other things. So, welcome to my world of food fantasy! I live in an imaginary world planning imaginary parties and feeding food to my imaginary clientele! But, I'm ready for anything, should the need arise!

I've got several detailed, planned menus on this site, for a variety of occasions, from the birthday, to Fourth of July, Christmas in Texas, Engagements through the Wedding, itself. There are International Menus for that especially special occasion. So, like the creative items for sale, these food ideas are waiting for their new homes. So, now what to do...let's move on to creating viable restaurant menus.

Let's talk about Saturation Point. That's the point where there's already enough for everyone. There's a misconception that ...if you build it, they will come...we call it the 'field of dreams' non truth. Demand builds business, not the other way around. If there are already 5 Mexican restaurants in town, it's really hard to think you'll build number 6, and leave all of the others in the dust. It doesn't work that way. Especially if your town's population is under 25,000! The town was oversaturated with the number 4 restaurant! A new restaurant needs a viable niche. What do people want, that they don't have?

Or, maybe, something with some new twists...

Familiar newness can bring success. What?...familiar newness?? Ok, that's my term for a food or cuisine that's somewhat familiar on one hand, with new things done with it on the other. We'll go deeper on this in a moment.

A hard look at what the town already has to offer is critical. I'm using Corsicana, TX as our reference point. We've got a lot of fast food for a town this size. We've got a couple of home style burger restaurants, too. No, we don't need more of them. Find another niche. Soup & Sandwich???

Not if it's the same old...you can never win if your only plan is to underprice your competitor. They're already struggling, and you'll be in a worse off spot.

Find a specialty if you're going to try that! We've got enough of the simple Soup & Sammy joints for the population. We've got a Subway, a couple of home style soup & sandwich shops, and even one with Keto friendly options...a couple of the burger shops do sandwiches, too. Unless you were to place your restaurant where there would be demand, but is presently barren (i.e. Hwy 22 by the hospital and clinic) I'd stay away from the Soup & Sammy Plan.

But, bringing up that area of Corsicana, it would be a really good location, for almost any restaurant venue, as there is truly nothing there, and there are hundreds of hungry souls to feed, between the hospital, the clinics, the doctors and dentist offices...and the residential area on the north and south side of 22...a gold mine, as far as location goes. All of those people currently have to drive downtown or over to Hwy 31/7th Avenue or out Hwy 287 for lunch out! Something to ponder, if you're looking at the restaurant industry as an investment opportunity.

When we had On Higher Grounds Espresso Cafe, our niche was being an espresso café, open for breakfast and lunch, with freshly brewed coffees and espresso beverages, freshly baked breakfast bakery goods (we were the first coffee shop/café in town, located in the Southland Center strip mall). Our food specialty was that we home made our breads... deli sandwiches were on home made breads and Panini done on our home made focaccia. It took a while for the town to understand what a Panini was! Our soups were our own recipes and made from scratch. This was our Familiar Newness...everyone knew what coffee was, and most had , at least, heard of espresso! And everyone knows a sandwich, the Panini was an imported idea to interest the clientele, the newness to the familiar.

Then comes that whole location, location, location thing! Yes, it is critical. Every town has it's 'main drag' or 'restaurant alley' where the majority of the fast food joints are located. Ours is Hwy 31, aka 7th Avenue. You'll find a few family restaurants along the way, too. The rent on the properties on any 'restaurant alley' are going to be sky high. The fact that it's the main road through the town makes it prime real estate. That's where it can make or break! It takes a big wallet to make it on the big strip!

The Strip Mall or Shopping Center is a medium risk bet, with a good deal potential clients coming your way for the sake of convenience to their own place of employment. The parking lots are generally a good size, that parking won't be a problem for those who drive in for their meal.

The newfound interest in our downtown area of Corsicana is blossoming. While a lot less expensive than a place on the main drag, many are still overpriced due to lack of adequate parking! A restaurant cannot fill its dining room if it's only got two or three places for folks to park. At that point, you become reliant on foot traffic and are doomed to be a destination location. No one has time on a lunch break to repeatedly circle the block in search of parking! If you cannot get people in the door, the food you've so lovingly prepared will go to waste. You've got a target time for lunch that starts at 11 a.m. and runs through about 12:30 to 1:00 p.m. That's the cafe owner's 'happy hour'!

If you can't get out enough food, within that short time span, to hit your target income, you will fail. There is no, "we can catch up tomorrow".

And, then, along come the restaurants...of other's dreams. The problem being, they seem to be dreaming the same dream! Find your own niche! The population can only support so many soup and sandwich shops in one downtown area! Or so many Mexican food places. We've got enough Chinese. What would Jeani do? Although I don't eat fish due to allergies, I can cook it! Jeani would do an Texas Centric, Americanized version of Fish & Chips Shop. I'll spill the beans on that plan in a later blog!

If you're bringing in something totally new or nearly foreign to the majority of the population, that ratio of income to overhead can kill a new restaurant quickly, well before the owner is able to create awareness within a substantial audience to support the effort. Knowledge of your customer base is critical! You've got to have enough buying foot traffic come through the door to support the rent, utilities, insurance, cost of goods, employee payroll and you've got to pay yourself, at some point! The restaurant business, unless you are already famous, will never make you rich...it's a labor of love and a love of providing for others that gives the restauranteur joy and a feeling of accomplishment, whether their 'baby' if a large family restaurant or a cozy little bistro!

And, having run a restaurant, I understand the relationship between location, potential for traffic versus cost of day to day existence...your food line can make or break you. Not that I'll ever start up a new restaurant, but that this information may be valuable to someone who plans just that!

Much of what I do, as a creative menu planner, is pure fantasy, based on effective food knowledge. Kinda like a romance novel, but with food...lush, not lust! If you've read the Blog posts here, you have seen menu ideas for parties that are or have been held only in my imagination! For people unknown, but with the local flavors we find here...some varieties of global local cuisine, using the readily accessible ingredients in new and exciting ways! Most of these menus will never present in the light of reality, they are entertainment for my own soul. Of course, I would wish that my ideas would inspire the actual menu selections of a reader...even better would be to be hired to present that menu idea in real time.

So, if you're thinking of opening a restaurant or café, and want some viable feedback, I'm here.

Let's talk about your Menu of Dreams!

#restaurantstartup #re #restaurantideas