Variety and Balance

Balancing a menu means providing enough variety and contrast for the meal to hold interest from the first course to the last. To balance a menu, you must develop a feeling for which foods complement each other or provide pleasing contrasts. And you must avoid repeating flavors and textures as much as possible.

These principles apply whether you are planning a banquet menu, where the diners have no choices; a school cafeteria menu, where students have only a few choices; or a large à la carte menu, where customers have many choices. Of course, with an à la carte menu, the customers’ own choices determine how balanced their meals are. There’s nothing wrong with listing a creamed dish among the appetizers and another creamed dish among the main dishes. But you should offer enough choices so customers can easily select balanced meals if they desire. In other words, if half the appetizers and half the entrée selections are served in a cream sauce, you’re not offering enough variety.