Delicious Autumn!

Mud Dock Chef Magda is the prime mover behind our new Autumn/Winter menu. But co-owner Beverly Newman and Cafe Manager Anna also have influence and input into the process. In the first of four posts, Magda and Anna discuss the creative adventure a new menu presents.

Why have you changed the menu?

Anna: "Like many restaurants, our À la carte menu is completely changed twice a year. We have a Spring/Summer menu; followed by the Autumn/Winter menu. So really change is driven by the seasons. 

"We have now got more food that will warm you up as the temperature drops and the rain starts to spread across Bristol!"

Roasted polenta with mushrooms, gorgonzola and almonds

What is the process you go through when updating a menu?

Magda: "We have to think about how each course works with the next. We start with simple building blocks, the base ingredients: vegetables, fish, cheese, meat. Then we work it up from that, keeping the season in mind. There has to be something for everyone.

"And there are bigger, more complex decisions to make, too. The new menu has to fit together like a symphony. The starters and main dishes and desserts need to go well together, in multiple combinations.

"So it is a bit like putting a big jigsaw together, except we are making up the pieces as we go, trying things out, discussing ideas, it is a fascinating process, and one we enjoy very much."

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would
fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. 

George Eliot

Anna: "The other factor we consider is the range of choice. You want enough choice, but not too much. It is well known that too many options makes decisions harder, and the dining experience less enjoyable. So we limit the a la carte menu to 5 or 6 options per course."

Magda: "Creating a new menu is a complex process. We refine things as we go along. We start to make connections between the dishes: taste, smell, presentation... we have loads of ideas! The challenge is bringing it down to a matched set of dishes.

"So there is a process of elimination with several people making an input, everyone in the kitchen will have a view."

Do the owners Jerry and Beverly have any influence on the menu?

"Magda: Absolutely. Beverly is heavily involved in the development of our menu, right from the outset. Once we have a finished menu, we present dishes to them. I like it that way, to present quite a finished menu. We take in a lot of opinions along the way, from our customers, to our staff, and we have got it mostly right when the owners come to taste it."

In the next post Anna and Magda get into detail about what's new — and what could never change — on Mud Dock's menu.