Before time or ere the earth was, bread appeared at the restaurant dinner table within 1 minute of the guest being seated. Unless it was a Mexican restaurant. Then it was chips. But I digress. While pondering the menu, the guest took a knife to the frozen pat of butter and attempted to apply it to the non-compliant roll, and thus the dining experience began.
There may be only two reasons why that scene still plays out in many a restaurant. Older guests still expect the free bread, and …. The other reason comes later.
"Offer it and they will eat" is certainly true. It's like plane travel. Isn't it intriguing that when the flight attendant passes by with peanuts/pretzels, everyone takes a package, when in real life, they wouldn't be prone to eat such things?
But times are changing, and many people are taking control of their food life. Up for scrutiny are carbs and gluten. One restaurant chef I interviewed for a recent FSR magazine article (http://bit.ly/15c2mMf) said that guests are starting to refuse the bread for such reasons, but he continues to offer bread because many expect it. Some restaurants are starting to charge for it. Others are dropping it.
But not all restaurants. Because while you have the don't-give-me-carbs-and-gluten crowd, you also have those who love local, artisanal bread, and what better place to experience it than at a restaurant? The quality of bread is one way for restaurants to distinguish themselves upfront.
Case in point. Who, while driving to Red Lobster, doesn't salivate over the anticipation of getting their mouth around a cheesy biscuit? Red Lobster officials spilled the success beans to a Wall Street Journal reporter in January. The chain's diners eat an average of 2.4 biscuits per visit. Some 77% eat two or more.
LongHorn Steakhouse, also owned by Darden, has been rethinking the bread basket, but not for the purpose of eliminating it. The chain's executive chef has realized the artisan-bread trend among consumers and that a plain old dinner roll isn't good enough. So, he tested some new bread types in a few restaurants in January: a honey-wheat roll, a garlic-cheddar roll, and White Mountain cheddar bread. I asked LongHorn's PR person how the test went and for the results, but mum was the word.
Besides artisanal bread, you have the quality-pizza trend going on, and you have restaurants adding wood-fired grills, which are perfect for creating interesting bread that no one else has.
In light of all of this, I think average table bread will disappear from restaurants. Either they will get rid of it, or they will improve the quality to differentiate. For a closer look, read my FSR article.
Tell me what you think.
Jody
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