 Of Foam and Beef Cheeks! That is the question!
First off I love cheeks. It is nothing new as a matter of fact it was considered peasant food for eons. Throw a faddy foam on it w/ a couple of puree's and don't forget the balsa-wine a whatever-veal glace reduction (you can figure it out) and some fried chip and voila, Haute Cuisine. All I see are old standby's with a new twist. Foams are pretty much a fad to me. Flavored air with a life span of seconds. Hardly real food to sink your teeth into. Yes, I am guilty of serving them.
I am running meatloaf tomorrow against the filet. Reason? Filet is costing me $11.51 per portion with plate cost inclusive and I can only charge $20.50 per plate. I work at a yacht club and regardless of what you hear, these members as well as all members of any private Yacht club have a common thread in them. Namely, they are cheap as* bast*rds They love meatloaf though (and I make a dam* good one, thanks to my years of Garde Manger) so that costs only 3.50 per portion w/ plate cost inclusive and the selling price of $13.50. My plan is that the expensive filet at only 56% food cost will be offset by the meatloaf at 26% food cost. If I sell twice as many meatloafs then the food cost will wash out to somewhere at a 36% food cost. Of course I will be selling chicken, a burger, pasta, an entree salad, swordfish, a sandwich and the soup IS........ French Onion Soup. I just had to do that per the hot conversation of last week. With all of that included my food cost should end up at 30%. I usually nail food cost all of the time.
ciao,
David
PS meatloaf comes with a roasted garlic demi glace topped with gorgonzola.
Filet is served w/ Peppercorn Demi glace and topped with crispy fried onions. (Gotta get that fried item in).
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