A growing number of restaurant operators are coping with shaky consumer confidence by touting small plates, tapas and bite-size snacks — and value-minded wine, beer and cocktail choices to match — as fun, cost-efficient alternatives to the rising cost of conventional restaurant dining.
Indeed, as entrée prices in some casual eateries zoom past $20 and premium wine pours and specialty cocktails travel into the teens, a meal with smaller portions and price tags may look a lot more feasible to patrons than a big-ticket experience. "Small plates are not only viable, they're critical now," said Clark Wolf, a New York City-based restaurant consultant. "They feel natural now and not like gimmicks."
In fact, a good portion of his consulting these days concerns small-plate scenarios. "I've been working on this with my clients for months," said Wolf. " 'What can we deconstruct to keep people coming' is what they ask."
Also arguing in favor of this sort of traffic builder is the popularity of sampling and sharing, particularly among young adults. "Younger people are better travelled and inclined to curiosity," said Brian Duncan, co-owner and wine director of Bin Wine Café, Bin 36 and A Mano in Chicago, in an email exchange. "They are samplers by nature. They tend to prefer more choices."
On weekends, Bin Wine Café's Afternoon Nosh menu entices between-meal grazers with items like an antipasto platter of cheeses, cured meats and olives ($24) and house-made fries with garlic aioli ($4.50). Included on the menu are the bin numbers of suggested wines for each nosh. According to Duncan, the key to promoting wine with small plates is presenting high-quality, affordable choices in a variety of serving sizes. "Your guests will learn to trust you when your selections over-deliver for the price," he said.
Also emphasizing versatile sampling is Randy Zweiban, chef-owner of the 3-week-old Province restaurant in Chicago. In addition to full-sized portions, his menu offers a section called "bites," which have amuse-size nibbles like Cuban Pork Bocadillo and Peeky Toe Crab Toast, priced at $3 apiece, and a section called "small," which offers dishes that two or more people can share, like House-cured Anchovies with Manchego Cheese and Arbequina Olives, Shrimp and Grits and Tasmanian Salmon Carpaccio, priced from $7 to $9. "It encourages people to try a lot more things without getting too full," said Zweiban.
Sixty of Province's 110 wines are priced at $49 or less, with 30 bottles at $40 or less, Zweiban said. Moreover, in the wine by the glass selection, only one red and one white wine have double-digit prices. Representing particular quality for the money are the two house wines, a chardonnay from France's Languedoc region and a Portuguese red blend, each priced at $6. Signature cocktails, like the Pimlico Grid, with Pimm's No. 1, Hendrick's gin, lemon-lime juice, ginger beer and a cucumber slice, and the Smart Money, with bosc pear-infused Woodford Reserve bourbon, Laird's Applejack, mint and flamed cinnamon, are priced from $9 to $11. "When wine and cocktail prices climb too far up the ladder, we're doing our customers a disservice," said Zweiban.
At the 4-month-old Spur Gastropub in Seattle, the worldview is summed up in the tagline "plates to share, cocktails to entice." Chefs Brian McCracken and Dana Tough author a dozen small plates, including Chicken Confit Drumettes ($12) and Cold-Smoked Salmon Crostini ($9). For his part, bar manager David Nelson, known for collecting American whiskeys and making his own bitters, crafts accompaniments like the Foreigner ($10), a mixture of rye whiskey, Ramazzotti Amaro, Strega, blood orange bitters and peach bitters and the Bijou Cocktail ($9), with Plymouth gin, sweet vermouth, Green Charteuse and orange bitters.
The 14-item Lounge Menu of Hawks Restaurant in Granite Bay, Calif., offers shareable bites like Sweet & Spicy Mixed Nuts ($6), Smoked Paprika Potato Chips ($5) and Ciccioli ($8), Italian-style pork shoulder, with warm grilled bread. While the 170-item Hawks wine list, which includes 14 wines by the glass and 16 by the half bottle, offers plenty of pairings, what really sets the beverage program apart is a house-brewing program that produces a rotating selection of craft beers in a 110-gallon brewing vessel on the premises. Currently on tap is Hawks Brau Pale Ale, priced at $4 per pint, which "has the weight and hoppiness to match the richness of the Ciccioli," said general manager and wine director Kevin Tyson. "We have a loyal customer base that looks forward to trying each new batch of beer."
Poppy, a 2-month-old Seattle restaurant, adapts an Indian-inspired small-plate format to American tastes. Each guest gets his own thali, a round Indian platter holding 10 different small dishes, priced at $32. Chef-owner Jerry Traunfeld experienced the concept first-hand in India, where he found the typical thali stocked with native fare like curries, raita, dal, chutneys, flatbread and rice. But at Poppy, it's a stage for seasonal American dishes like Chanterelle and Sweet Potato Gratin, Marjoram Polenta and Scallops with Cider Sauce. Factor in Poppy's nightly wine flight, three 2-ounce pours priced at $14, with the 10 thali items and the tasting opportunities increase dramatically. "Right off the bat, you have 30 different pairings," said Traunfeld.