On the Menu

Book excerpt: From the Financial Times's long-standing restaurant critic Nicholas Lander comes this celebration of the history, design and evolution of the world's favourite piece of paper: the menu. On the Menu is a stunning collection of menus, from those at the cutting edge of contemporary culinary innovation, like Copenhagen's Noma, to those that are relics from another time: a 1970s menu from L’Escargot on which all main courses cost less than one pound; the last menu from The French House Dining Room before Fergus Henderson departed for St John; a Christmas feast of zoo animals served during the Siege of Paris in 1870; and three of the world’s original restaurant menus—now hanging proudly in London’s Le Gavroche. Throughout, Lander examines the principles of menu design and layout; the different rules that govern separate menus for breakfast, afternoon tea and dessert; the evolution of wine and cocktail lists; and how menus can act as records of the past. He reveals insights from interviews with Michael Anthony, Heston Blumenthal, Massimo Bottura, René Redzepi, Ruth Rogers and many more of the most renowned contemporary chefs of our time, who explain how they decide what to serve and what inspires them to create and design their menus. These are truly pages to drool over.