Have Menus Gotten Too Complicated?

Posted by Carey Jones, September 23, 2009 at 10:00 AM

Now, this is a simple menu. The way things should be? [Photograph: Robyn Lee]

In his review of new French steakhouse Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecote today—well, if a piece that doesn't review the food can be called a review—Steve Cuozzo barely mentions the steak, but has an awful lot to say about the menu. Or lack thereof. L’Entrecote serves steak with frites and a green salad with walnuts—and that's it. And to Cuozzo, it's "heaven."

This is the first new restaurant in a long time where I don’t feel like I’m working. No struggling to read a menu in dim light. No wasting time deciphering 22 categories the waitstaff can’t explain. No guessing which dishes would arrive when, subject to the kitchen’s whim.

Just bring us the food, people!

He calls out Craft, Megu, and Joseph Leonard for their indecipherable menu categories, which give a diner little sense of size, value, or timing. I couldn't help but think of a recent meal at Rye in Williamsburg, where the dinner menu had Snacks, Appetizers, Sandwiches, Entrees, and the Grill—but some of the Grill items were starter-sized and others could have fed two, some of the Appetizers could have been meals, and no one was sure whether Snacks or Apps would arrive first.

What do you think? Would we all be better served by a return to the traditional appetizer, entree, dessert menu progression? Or is this free-form dining here to stay?

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Tags: menus