Menu and recipe development
Menus engineered to sell, and standard recipes your kitchen can deliver every service.
The problem
A good menu reads well, cooks consistently and makes money on every line. Getting all three right takes a chef who understands the guest, the kitchen and the numbers.
Brian McCune develops menus and dishes, writes them up as standard recipes with tested yields, prices them properly and trains the team to cook them the same way every time.
What we do
- Menu concept, structure and design
- Dish and product development
- Standard recipes with yield testing and service specifications
- Menu engineering and price-point setting
- Allergen information for every dish
- Food styling and plating for photography
- Kitchen and service training on the new menu
Who it's for
Restaurants launching or refreshing a menu, hotels repositioning an outlet, cafés and coffee shops adding food, and food brands developing new products.
The proof
- Farm to tableMenu concept for a Winelands boutique estateSeasonal, local and artisan-led dishes, written up with photography and service specs, then priced across the card.
- 6 outletsMenus and cocktails for a five-star Cape Town hotelSeparate menus for bar, waterfront restaurant, fine dining, lounge, in-room dining and pool bar.
- Every recipeStandard recipe rebuild, Cape Town wine estateAll recipes reviewed and rebuilt as part of a turnaround that cut food cost from 54% to 38%.
Straight answers
What is a standard recipe?
A standard recipe sets out exact ingredients, quantities, method, yield, cost and plating for a dish, so every cook produces the same result at the same cost.
Do you price the menu as well?
Yes. Every dish is costed and priced using menu engineering, so you can see which items make money and which do not.
Do you train our kitchen on the new menu?
Yes. Training the culinary and service teams is part of every menu project.