Fat Duck Restaurant: Menu Development and Service Method Factors

This presentation provides an analysis of the Fat Duck Restaurant, a renowned establishment in the UK, focusing on its menu design, recipe development, and service environment. It delves into the factors influencing menu planning decisions such as paradox of choice, decoy effect, social proof, semantic salience, and target audience. The presentation also discusses the principles of recipe development, emphasizing the importance of healthy, nutritional food prepared with the correct cooking procedures. Furthermore, it justifies the Fat Duck's menu design in relation to its French/British cuisine and modern culinary developments. The analysis extends to the factors influencing service methods and food service environment development, including location, cost, adoption of new trends, and kitchen parameters. The presentation also justifies the restaurant's food service environment development in the context of the evolving food industry, highlighting its role in shaping service recreational habits, traditions, and overall atmosphere. The presentation refers to Task B of an assignment which requires the application of design principles of a menu within a service environment.

FACTORS AND DESIGN
PRINCIPLES OF FAT DUCK
RESTAURANT IN THE UNITED
KINGDOM
NAME
INSTITUTION
TUTOR

FAT DUCK RESTAURANT
• The Fat Duck Restaurant is the top most restaurant in the United Kingdom and in the
world at large
• Many tourists from various parts of the globe have recommended the restaurant for
its palatable dishes, amazing drinks and service delivery. This has made its reputation
to grow over the years.
• The restaurant is located along the High St, Bray SL6 2AQ, UK. The British Chef Heston
Blumenthal is the leading Chef who has pushed the Fat Duck to greater heights due to
his expertise in menu and recipe development (Ruiz et al., 2013 p.71)
• Fat Duck menu is a quirky one and the prices are fixed despite the on- or off- peaks
• Customers have endorsed it’s amazing and taste food, great service, incredible
atmosphere, enthusiastic and friendly staff, and numerous selection of food and
drinks.
• Heston Blumenthal has been described as a culinary wizard who has diverse
knowledge in menu design, recipe development, and service style.

Menu planning
• Menu design plays a huge role in determining the number of customers it will
attract and retain. That’s why Chef Heston has invested a lot of resources and time
in making the Fact Duck menu.
• Menu planning is a critical element in ensuring the success of a restaurant.
• It encompasses the type of dishes and drinks the restaurant will provide, nutritional
elements of the food, the prices of each item (pricing strategy), and number of
hours the restaurant will be open. For instance, will it open on holidays, weekends,
or late at night?
• A properly designed menu guides the attention of both the patron and customers
on the available dishes hence creating a competitive advantage over other
restaurants
• Fat Duck restaurant has understood the importance of designing a great menu that
provides quality dishes composed of healthy balanced diet at an affordable price.
Their menu also contains entrees and the service delivery is done by qualified and
experienced individuals.

Fat Duck menu
• Menu design
Aerated Beetroot
Nitro Poached Aperitipis
Vodka and lime sour, Gin and Tonic,
Tequila and Grape Fruit
Red cabbage gazpacho
Poemerry grain Mustard ice cream
Savoury Lollies
Waldoef Rocker, Salmon Twister and
Feast
Jelly of Quail, Marron cream
Snail Porridge
Josedito Ham. Shaved Fennel
Roast Fote Gras
Barberre, Confir kembu and crab biscuit
Roast Marron
Sea Lettuce, Shitake
Mad Hatters Tea Party
Mock Turtle Soup, Pocker Watch and
Toast Sandwich
“Sound the sea”
Salmon Poached in a Liquorice Gel
Vanilla Myonnaise and Golden Troak
Rue
Lamb with Cucumber
Green Pepper and Carraway
Hot & Iced Tea
Eggs in Verius, Verius in egg
Botrytis Cinerea
The Not So-Full English Breakfast
Whiskey wine gums
“Like a kid in a sweet shop”
The Day Before We Go: Are we
nearly there yet?
Change-of-air
Just the tonic!
A welcome drink, who will be the
dragon?
Morning: Rise and Shine, Its
breakfast time
Excuse me, there seems to be a
rabbit in my tea
Why do I have to choose between a
variety pack and a full English?
Mid-Morning: First one to see the
sea…
The original Sound of the Sea
Can I have some money for the ice
cream van?
Then we went rock pooling!

Factors influencing menu planning decisions
• Menu is the selling point of a restaurant, communicating to the people on the services offered.
Several factors, therefore, influence menu planning decisions;
Paradox of choice
• Once the guests sit in their tables, their eyes are set at the menu. The manner in which the menu is
designed indicating the choice of dishes available will determine the selection by the customers.
• It is crucial to understand that people usually have an inadequate space especially in their short-term
memory. Therefore, one should avoid overcrowding of the menu (McCall and Lynn, 2008, p. 442) for
the customers to make the right selection. Similar pieces of information or dishes should be grouped
together eg. Appetizers, main dishes, drinks
Decoy effect
• Decoy effect influences the pricing strategy of your most profitable dishes (Yang, Kimes, and
Sessarego, 2009, p. 158).
• According to cognitive psychologists, customers may change their preference when there is another
option that shows the value of a certain product.
• For instance, if fries go for $10, hamburger for $20, and hamburger and fries for $20, then many
people will go for the hamburger and fries at $20 even though they had decided to take fries only at
$10

Factors influencing menu planning
decisions continuation
Social proof
• Certain quotes written on the menu will influence the choice of customers.
• Social proof theory explains beliefs and actions that a certain group of people adopt, hence
playing mind trick on the customers. For instance, Heston is a renown chef, therefore, a
quote like “Heston’s favorite” will go along way in selling the product.
Semantic salience
• The manner in which symbols and signs are used regarding price presentation will
influence customer’s choice. For instance; $10, $10.00, 10, 10.00, and ten dollars, all have
the same value but will play trick on the mind of the customers.
• Similarly, indicating $9.99 instead of $10, will encourage customers to buy more.
Target audience
• The restaurant should also understand their target audience and their taste and
preference. For example, Fat Duck caters for a wide variety of customer from children,
middle aged, and elderly. Some are vegetarian some are not. Therefore, taking into
consideration these factors will ensure you create a menu that caters for all groups.

An example of how paradox of choice and
social proof would influence Fat Duck Menu
• r Breakfast Main meals Drinks
Extras
Roast Fote Gras
Barberre, Confir kembu and
crab biscuit
Roast Marron
Sea Lettuce, Shitake
Kids
Diversity of Breakfast,
meals & sweets for all
kids
Morning: Rise and Shine, Its
breakfast time
Mad Hatters Tea Party
Mock Turtle Soup, Pocker Watch
and Toast Sandwich
Hot & Iced Tea
Eggs in Verius, Verius in egg
Botrytis Cinerea
The Not So-Full English Breakfast
Red cabbage gazpacho
Poemerry grain Mustard ice cream
Savoury Lollies
Waldoef Rocker, Salmon Twister and Feast
Lamb with Cucumber
Green Pepper and Carraway
Perking Style Dim Sims
“Heston’s Favourite”
Steamed Pork Dumplings
Assorted Vegetable Dumplings
Boiled Fish Dumplings
Shangai Wonton Soup
Silver Shred Roll
Turnip Cake
Chopped Meat and Vegetables
Shallot Pancakes
Aerated Beetroot
Nitro Poached Aperitipis
Vodka and lime sour, Gin and Tonic,
Tequila and Grape Fruit
Snail Porridge
Josedito Ham. Shaved Fennel
Whiskey wine gums
A welcome drink, who will be the
dragon?

Principles of recipe development
• For a restaurant to stand out, they need to understand the idea of recipe development such
as the necessary ingredients and their cost.
• The Fat Duck restaurant uses the following principles while designing its recipe.
Making a healthier recipe
• Chef Heston believes in making not only a tasty and munchy dishes but also a balanced diet
containing all the necessary ingredients hence giving out a meal that is heathy for all people.
Making food of nutritional value
• Fat Duck aims to prepare a meal that if of nutritional value. They ensure that carbohydrates,
fat, and proteins levels are mixed in the right proportions to give a balanced diet.
• The ratio of salt, calories, sugar, and fat is also put at the right doses.
Right procedure for cooking
• Fat Duck ensures the right procedure for each recipe is followed during the cooking process.
For instance, vegetables are not over fried while the meat is not overcooked. The idea is
applying the right heat to ensure the flavor of the food is not lost and still remaining edible
and digestible.

Justification of the Fat Duck menu design
• In line with recipe development, Fat Duck has designed its menu in such a way that it brings
out the best out of its French/British Cuisine.
• Its prepares amazing meals that has made the restaurant acquire a great reputation of
invention and precision.
• It deals with various modern culinary developments such as flavor encapsulation, multi-
sensory cooking, and food pairing.
• Chef Blumenthal develops new concepts of dishes daily together with his team. He uses a
combination of various cooking techniques to develop different menu of dishes (Hollows and
Jones, 2010, p. 525).
• For instance; slow-cooked lamb- this prevents shocking fibers in meat thereby avoiding
seizing, freezing cuttlefish thereby making them tender through breakage of molecules, and
also using mineral water for cooking vegetables since calcium in water causes vegetables to
discolor.
• The fourteen-course tasting menu that the restaurant offers incorporates psychology as well
as diner perception into the dishes. For example; the hotel provides sardine with toast
sorbet that leaves the mouth salivating for more.

Justification continuation
• The British Food Industry is growing at an alarming rate. With the emergence of many
fast food outlets, restaurant such as the Fat Duck as a huge role to play in providing
healthy and balanced diet.
• Obesity is affecting millions of people worldwide according to the study released by
the National Health Service Britain.
• Poor eating habits such as junks has led to occurrence of various self-eating ailments.
Once the body mass index (BMI) crosses 30, it creates abnormality in the body system
such as high blood sugar, coronary diseases, and other metabolic diseases.
• Therefore, preparation of food that contains balanced diet, less sugar, fat, calories,
salt such as the way Fat Duck does, plays a vital role in ensuring a healthy lifestyle
(Edwards-Stuart, 2012, p.99).
• Today’s modern people engage themselves in taking food with excessive fat and
containing high calorie contents and still with little or no physical exercise.
• The outcome is detrimental health of the individual. Therefore, as the restaurants
engage in creating healthy food, it’s important for the people to invest their money
where its worth rather than in treating self-created diseases.

Factors that influence service methods and
food service environment development
Location
• The restaurant should understand the location in which it is situated, the traditions of the people together
with their social norms. The aim should be to motivate the neighborhood ambience.
Cost, supply, and variety
• It is vital for a restaurant to avoid overrating itself. The cost of the meals should tally with its quality. The
cost should be buyer friendly. Its only in few occasions that customers have complained of the high prices of
some of the dishes of Fat Duck. Otherwise, the prices are standardized for many people to afford.
Adoption of new trends
• For a restaurant to become successful, it has to be upfront in adopting new trends in service delivery
methods and meal preparation. Chef Heston with his team spends most of their time in their laboratory
trying to come up with new service delivery methods and new recipes.
Kitchen parameter
• The restaurant management need to make sure that all the items listed in the menu can be provided at any
moment. Otherwise, it will cause demotivation of the target customers when they are unable to offer what
is in the menu. It is crucial also to be able to offer dietary change on demand.
• Flexibility is key in ensuring development of a successful service environment in food industry.

Food service environment development justification
• With the ever changing food industry around the United Kingdom, it is crucial for a
restaurant to put into consideration food service delivery style and methods as well
as the environment surrounding it.
• Restaurants plays an important role in the lives of many people. Fat Duck has
invested heavily in offering change in habits regarding service recreational,
traditions, and the general atmosphere of life.
• They offer a wide diverse of dishes that are prepared with the proper ingredients
giving a balanced diet.
• They create a conducive and friendly service delivery environment whereby the
meals are of good quality and also affordable to many
• The healthy balanced diet dishes are served by skilled personnel and the customers
are offered a choice to make for the accompaniment such as entrees.
• Through the development of food environment that deals with healthy and
balanced diet, the Fat Duck influences greatly the feeding habits of the people in
the United Kingdom.