Considering that menus are the first things served to a guest of any restaurant, it's amazing how often this easy opportunity to make an appetizing impression is botched. Which would you rather eat? (1) "meat and potatoes" or (2) "Ferdinand-pedigree beef slaughtered by the light of the harvest moon served with apples of the earth coaxed to a rustic bouquet of flamboyant flavor"? The former sounds half-baked, while the latter's description is obscenely frou-frou without even mentioning any specific ingredients or spices. Either billing would give a sensible customer reason enough to close the menu and head for the door.

Since few restaurants survive longer than nine months, the pressure is on chefs to win over a following with whatever means possible -- and that includes menu literature. The French Culinary Institute is determined to train chefs who will keep hungry folks in their seats and keep them coming back for more. Denis Williams, Head Day Chef of the Institute, grades students on their ability to construct a menu, and has accumulated many opinions on the subject, as you can see from his responses to CuisineNet's questions below.

What's the key to a great menu?
Balancing the flavors. Originality helps, but you know, it's like the Greeks said, what's new under the sun? What hasn't been done? Menus shouldn't be composed of pieces from different puzzles. Don't have Thai appetizers and German entrees. While too much choice is just as bad as too little, one should be able to pick anything savory on the menu and follow it with anything else on the menu.

One of the most important things about a menu is that it should be able to breathe and grow. No chef should be lugging around the same dishes year-round that taste best only in certain seasons. We live in a four climate zone and we're lucky. Don't serve strawberries and tomatoes in January. Use what's about. Add dishes incrementally to the menu as things become available; you don't have to overhaul a menu all at once. Work with what God gives you and not what you want to make it into -- you're not Frankenstein, you're a chef.