Since reopening the evvai in São Paulo, after the closures imposed by the health crisis generated by the Covid-19 the chef Luiz Filipe Souza found himself grappling with a new model of consumption within the restaurant.
THE tasting menu , which always accounted for a maximum of 40% of orders each night, now represents 70% of demand. Reaching, in a few days, 90% of the service.
“It was a surprise for me. I thought this would only happen in five, ten years”, says the chef, happy to have his authorial work recognized.
But the change in consumer habits began to disrupt the operation. “We had to produce thinking on both fronts and we ended up throwing a lot of inputs away. It made no sense to continue with that”, he recalls, who gave up individual dishes to focus exclusively on gastronomic experiences at closed prices.
In this case, R$ 611 for a sequence of 13 courses, from starter to dessert. Value that can exceed R$ 1 thousand per person if you choose to pair with wines.
Following the show, wagyu snacks can be served with trout roe cured in prosecco and served in a jewelry box; a reinterpretation of the traditional oxtail with polenta in the form of gnocchi, stuffed with oxtail stew and Marajó cheese; and the cold tomato, guava, guanciale, cucumber and oyster salad, presented as a painting finished with gold leaf.
Inspired by royal banquets, the tasting menu was born with the advent of “nouvelle cuisine” – gastronomic movement that revolutionized classic cuisine in the 1970s, by preaching more delicate, light creations and served in small portions.
Widely adopted worldwide by the most gastronomic and authorial restaurants, such as SUN , Mani , The House of the Pig and oteque and gold in Brazil, the model has become increasingly common and well accepted by the public, especially in the post-pandemic period, when each outing became a small celebration for being alive and free to move around without fear.
After all, as the consultant predicted Carlos Ferreirinha from MCF, in this “new normal”, luxury has become much more related to unique occasions and experiences than to possessions.
No wonder, in some houses that work with both service options, the closed tasting already exceeds the number of requests for individual dishes. case of paulistano Puddle from the chef Tuca Mezzomo where the experience made up of seven stages (R$ 250) based on what is freshest of the day currently represents 70% of sales.
“This type of service is very cool to show all our repertoire and proposal. And it gives the customer the chance to taste many things that they would not have the courage to order if it were a single dish”, explains the chef. Katrin Bassi who next to her husband Dante run the restaurant kitchen Mango in Salvador.
There, orders for tasting menus are also growing “especially on weekends”. The sequence of 12 (R$ 290) or seven stages (R$ 195), can include hits like the beef rib on the breath with a thousand leaves of Swiss chard, eggplant puree with miso, perfect egg, kombu pickle and rib dashi .
Last year, with the operation still reduced by government determination, the chef Tsuyoshi Murakami decided to try out for lunch a simplified version of the tasting menu that reigns supreme at the house that bears his name, in São Paulo.
But, according to him, he had to go back on demand from customers, who arrived determined to live the full experience, regardless of the time of day.
Currently, the place only opens at night, with three options closed: the Murakami Experience, six times, at R$470, which includes slices of fresh fish and hot dishes; the sushi and sashimi menu, with 18 stages, at R$680; and the recently launched Experience Única, which has nine times, including a can of caviar, and costs R$1,150. The dishes served vary each day according to what is freshest in the kitchen.
This is also the case at the secret restaurant counter. omotebako from the chef Marcelo Tadashi Shiraishi where salmon, cream cheese or foie gras don’t come in on principle, but you never know exactly what awaits you.
“It’s all in the dark. People buy trust, service, brand. It’s an experience based on technique, quality and style that I want to deliver”, says the chef, who has worked at five-star hotels Royal Monceau (Paris), Mandarin Oriental (Munich), Baur au Lac (Zurich), in addition to Nobu restaurants in Mykonos and St. Moritz – all this before opening Hiden, in Miami and UN, in São Paulo.
With 18 to 19 stages, its “omakase” menu starts at R$800 and is available for just six diners per night (from Wednesday to Saturday), upon reservation and payment in advance. However, there are only vacancies available for three months from now. “People make their next reservation before they even leave,” confides Tadashi.
Filling the house has also not been a concern for the chef from Rio de Janeiro. Rafael Costa e Silva who recently transferred the restaurant lasai – 22nd position in the Latin American ranking of the award 50 Best Restaurants and a star Michelin – from a property with 40 places in Botafogo to another with only eight places, in Humaitá.
Installed around the kitchen, the seats ensure that no movement of the chef is missed and every detail of the gastronomic proposal is clarified immediately.
With a focus on sustainability and technical innovation, the Lasai tasting menu varies every night, with a clear appreciation of vegetables. Many of them come from the private garden (the restaurant also raises its own chickens). Among the creations that can be in the 12 to 14 stages (R$ 725 per person) are the turnip in butter with okra sauce, the hot cheese flan with fried radish, the crayfish with hearts of palm, homemade coconut milk and peas or oysters. with lime-caviar, honey and radish. But waiting for the surprise is also part of the game.
If in the past the presence of noble ingredients such as caviar and foie gras were the main justifications for the high prices charged for tastings, today it is exclusivity, the dedicated team, the technical skills involved, the knowledge acquired by the chef in years of experience, the investment in ultramodern equipment and the time that the diner spends in the house that weigh in the pricing.
“While I rotate the tables two or three times a night, the counter, where I serve the closed menus, only serves one shift”, explains the chef. Tassia Magalhães which started offering the service – limited to 10 people per night – on customer demand, in Nelita .
“It’s not even on the menu”, she adds, who confesses: “Having both operations is the terror of any kitchen”.
To make the routine easier, a cook is assigned to dedicate himself exclusively to the ten-time experiences, which costs R$390 per person. Value per dish well below the average for individual portions. But, even so, the average ticket for those who choose the counter can easily go up to R$600, R$700, with wine pairing.
But having a night worthy of Babette’s party doesn’t necessarily equate to a maxed out credit card. At Pig House 17th best restaurant in the world according to the 50 Best award, the gastronomic banquet with 8 times and “21 mouthfuls” costs R$190.
And it includes the famous San Zé Pork, roasted for 6 to eight hours, double chin sushi with black tucupi and fermented plums, pork tartar with nori and avocado, and vegetables from the family’s farm in São José do Rio Pardo (interior of SP).
“We are the cheapest experience restaurant in the world. Making an affordable high-end professional kitchen is what turns me on. My value thermometer is the steakhouses in São Paulo”, says the chef Janaína Rueda which on the return of pandemic closures reduced the individual dishes on the menu to just three.
“We always sell a lot more banquets than one-off dishes. But I don’t want to be imposing about anything,” she explains.
But, how to close the account with a value so different from that practiced by other houses of the same level?
“With volume. I serve 14,000 people a month. If it weren’t for that it would be impractical. But I can’t see us any other way”, points out the chef, who goes against the grain of her peers who, by increasingly reducing the salon, make the even more exclusive haute cuisine .
The issue of business modeling and clarity of the public profile that one wants to reach is the common point of all chefs.
Source: CNN Brasil
