Patrons indulge thirsts as grazing, sharing grow

Nation's Restaurant News,  Oct 28, 2002  by Jack Hayes

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When Atlanta chef-restaurateur Tom Catherall went concept shopping in Los Angeles last month, his hunch about a radical shift in customers' ordering habits was confirmed.

Like operators in other cities from coast to coast, Catherall has been watching more and more guests adopt what some now call a "tasting" attitude--asking for two or more smaller portions to share with others in their dining party.

Meanwhile, a growing number of restaurant patrons are permitting themselves to spend more on alcoholic beverages with their meals, whether on an establishment's larger signature drinks or on "flights" of smaller portions of wine and cocktails to accompany those shared-food selections.

"We did five restaurants a night in L.A. for several days, and the busiest places were doing those sharing portions," said Catherall, who was accompanied on his West Coast scouting trip by his company's operations director, David Abes, and the executive chef of his soon-to-open Twist Restaurant & Tapas, Peter Kaiser.

Emboldened by that trip, Catherall is dedicating 5,000 square feet--half of the new Buckhead District restaurant's floor space--to a bar area that will offer Twist's array of tapas, sushi and satay items and $3 martinis.

"We'll become known as the house of the $3 martini when we open in January, and we will stay full," Catherall predicted.

Moreover, no entree on Twist's regular dining-room menu will exceed $12.95. Entrees are being reduced to about two-thirds the size of those in his other restaurants, which also are slated for downsizing to meet new market demands. "When we get through this opening, we'll go back and adjust portion sizes at Goldfish and Noche," Catherall said.

His company, Here to Serve Restaurants, also has a high-end steakhouse, Prime, but its guests aiready have the option of creating a small-portion lunch or dinner at the sushi bar or in the main dining room.

Upon returning from his Southern California investigations, Catherall had high praise for the popular Beverly Hills restaurant Mako, whose chef-owner, Mako Tanaka, only three months ago revamped his entire menu to offer smaller portions.

Catherall said Tanaka's motivation, echoed by a growing number of restaurateurs these days, was the belief that customers regard three bites from each of three different plates as having more appeal than 10 bites from the same plate.

"We could have spent a great deal more there, but the choice was given to us," Catherall added. "When you empower guests like that, they will keep coming back."

It's not just operators' aims to please fickle palates that are driving the smaller-portion trend, but also an awareness that today's unsettled economy is influencing the way guests look at menus. Beginning a menu with a page of sharing-sized entrees can ease customers' perceptions of how much they will wind up spending, according to restaurateurs who are helping to propel the less-is-more movement.

"Sticker shock is a reality we all are dealing with now," observed veteran Atlanta restaurateur Bob Amick, whose urbane One Midtown Kitchen, launched in August, became an instant hit because of its focus on small plates in the $4 to $12 range.

Amick imported New York chef Kevin Reilly, who had made his name there at Union Square Cafe, Zoe and China Grill, in order to create an "approachable" finedining venue that also would be adventurous and fun and where bottles of quality wine would start at $18.

Another Atlanta veteran, Michael Tuohy, took the same approach at his new Woodfire Grill concept. It features sharing portions in three sizes: "tastes" at $3 to $6, "small plates" at $5 to $12, and "sharing platters," which offer food for more than two in the $25 range.

"People are making meals from these small portions or platters with bottles of wine, and finishing with courses of cheese or dessert or both," Tuohy said. "Their options are wide open."

"In a lot of cases, guests look at these sharing-plate prices and order more than they would have with a single entree," Catherall said. "It's more about perception than actual cost. Customers today want to take control of their spending, and if you give them that choice they will often spend more."

That sentiment is echoed by Bradley Weiser, founder of the Miami-based

Cafe TuTu Tango chain, which led the way in the trend of sharing-sized portions and signature drinks with the debut of its tapas-anchored menu in 1991.

Operating also in Orlando, Fla.; Atlanta; and Orange County, Calif., Cafe TuTu Tango is known for tables set with stacks of small plates and utensils; every menu item fits the "sharing" definition.

"Everything on our menu is $8.95 or less, but we still put strong emphasis on the chef, and we do everything from scratch because people are looking for quality," Weiser said. "Sales are continuing to grow at every location. Especially in tougher times it's a style of eating that does even better."