so lets say you were opening a restaurant....it will have a wine by the glass aspect to it

you want to serve food that is quick to make, relatively inexpensive food cost wise, and can be sold for a small per plate price and if the customer desires more quantity they can order again, yet feel they are getting their QPR on each plate....yes something like the soon to be tired tapas items

to make it easier to imagine.....think back to those college days and the bar that had the dollar brats and dollar bad beers....and you could feel pretty good on 10-12 bucks

only now you want something WAY more upscale than that....wine....and better foods...but you want the QPR and you want the "hey im still hungry one more " " for 3-4 bucks" type system

it could be a salad...fruit/cheese....tapas....no limits on the theme

so what would you serve food wise

one other thing

you are aiming for wines in the 3-4 dollar a glass (no wine recommendations needed) and food items in the 3-4 dollar a serving range and you want to clip the customers for about 18-25 per person (say 23 avg.)

Provencal Tomatoes, Pomme Frites with aioli, Sweet Potato Fries, Simple Rissotto, Squash Blossom Quesadillas, Spinach Salad with warm bacon vinagrette, are just some of the quick, cheap and easy things I make.

wow with some of those the cost per plate could even be a bit smaller....maybe go with better wines by the glass

way to start things off psyco

I like p-r's suggestions but you'll need others to pair with red wine. How about tidbits of grilled marinated skirt steak on toothpicks, a small cheese plate, or a piece of baked Brie?

some form of mac n' cheese. frequently seen from the most famous restaurants to the smallest of neighborhood diners.

Sizzling fried egg with a small grilled sausage. I'd never turn something like this down, even after desert.

Rice is very cost effective. If you want to up it, go with fancy rice - red, forbidden, camargue, all the Spanish bombas, etc. Emphasize their uniqueness, flavor, origin. Sell the terroir in other words.

Who eats spinach nowadays anyway?? I would not offer any basic salads. Screw them, we only serve hot items with wine, like in Europe. You want salad, go to supermarket and get yourself one of those prewashed bags and knock yourself out. By avoiding fresh salads and opting for serving them cooked you are in effect dramatically extending the shelf life of your veggies.

Pastas = Goldmine.
Small plate of Penne with anchovies, roasted peppers and garlic, or spaghetti with garlic, chilies and parsley, or something with arugula to serve with white Italians.

The possibilities are endless.

So TexasVines, when do you open for business?

There's an upscale place in Seattle that serves mini Kobe beef burgers for a couple bucks that are tremendously popular. You can also get a small paper cone filled with garlic pomme frites along with that.

How about some sort of a fancy fajita made with some beef equivalent, say bison or vension (premarinated so it's not soo tough). Slap some unique toppings on the side... caramelized onion... multicoloured julienned pepper.... blue cheese.

Pow!

quote:

Originally posted by Board-O:
How about tidbits of grilled marinated skirt steak on toothpicks

i like that.....do you mean put on some peppers ect. and make a mini-kabob?

how would you plate that?

quote:

Originally posted by spo1977:
So TexasVines, when do you open for business?

well really this was more of an idea for a one "slow night" a week way to draw in a bigger crowd to a winery...perhaps on a Sunday evening when most college dorm cafeterias are closed..but with the great ideas so far hell i think the concept could work with just a wine bar/food concept without a "winery" per say...and open any and all nights of the week

either way it would be well down the road.....but some of these ideas i will probably cook up for myself in the mean time....they are great so far

Any way you want. You could have peppers and onions with it, or just the steak pieces. You need some kind of meat that people would like to have with red wine.

quote:

Originally posted by grunhauser:



Who eats spinach nowadays anyway??

The possibilities are endless.

Obviously not the guy that recomends fried eggs with wine.

Grunhauser has a thing for eggs.

quote:

Originally posted by Board-O:
How about tidbits of grilled marinated skirt steak on toothpicks

I like it too, but logistics may prove troublesome. Do you ask people to bring their toothpicks when they are done picking their teeth(careful, some meat may fall off on the way to the kitchen) or do you wait patiently by their tables and provide your hungry customers with the freshest, well-chewed cuts of meats. May still be warm, if you do it this way.

I'm with the marinaded beef crew- skirt/flank and top blade are my favorites. The other benefit is they can/should be served at room temperature. Pork tenderloin with a port reduction can be pretty cost effective on a per unit basis as well.

I'm with Grun on the pasta, it's the first thing that came to my mind. Make up three to five sauces and have three types of pasta - spaghetti, tagliatelle plus penne or fusilli. The one thing to look out for is over-cooking the pasta, so par-cook and then finish off.

With bolognese and meatballs w/toms (see Hunter's meatballs thread) being the staples ready-made, carbonara ingredients to make in three minutes (trust me this can be done if the pancetta is half-done), maybe a marinara and a smoked salmon or Alfredo, oops... plus veggie. I reckon you could make it up for a little over a dollar and sell for $3.50 - $5 depending which one.

Remember to go heavy on the pasta.

I would serve...

Mozzarella Caprese (sliced tomato, fresh mozz, basil & olive oil)

Prosciutto e Melone (thinly sliced prosciutto crudo wrapped around ripe canteloupe...one of the world's most simple, yet delicious dishes)

Polenta e Gorgonzola (Italian cornmeal covered with melted bleu cheese)

Bruschette Pomodoro on Toasted Baguettes (Tomato, Basil, Garlic and Olive Oil bruschette)

...but then again, I already do serve these things.

quote:

Originally posted by Board-O:
Any way you want. You could have peppers and onions with it, or just the steak pieces. You need some kind of meat that people would like to have with red wine.

OK, I like grilled meats; especially with red wine. I don't care much for vegetables, I'll eat the salad and side items; but I want a platter of grilled assorted meats. Skirtsteak on a stick, sausages, marinated strips of beef or game tenderloins, pork tenderloins, alligator, monkey, wildebeast.....I don't care. This is not a $3-4 item. However, I would gladly pay $15-20 for a decent platter, or more if it was really decent. I understand that these are not low cost items, but if I'm drinking high quality Cabs, I want a platter of meat. Perhaps I'm at the wrong restaurant. Sorry, carry on.

Makes sense to me, lou. I don't see anything wrong with a few higher priced otpions.

quote:

Originally posted by Board-O:
Makes sense to me, lou. I don't see anything wrong with a few higher priced otpions.

That is what I was thinking, then I mentioned "high quality Cabs" and remembered his $3-4/glass range, and realized that this probably wouldn't fit his intention. And if I'm eating a grilled meat platter, I don't want to be drinking swill; I want a decent Cab.

this venture would be a LONG way off

and while the members of this forum would be a worth while target demographic i was thinking of shooting more for the exposed thong/trucker hat wearing crowd (or what ever look they are throwing down when the venture gets off the ground)

hence the 3-4 dollar range.....aiming for the "upscale" dollar beer and hotdog college crowd

quote:

i was thinking of shooting more for the exposed thong/trucker hat wearing crowd (or what ever look they are throwing down when the venture gets off the ground)

hence the 3-4 dollar range.....aiming for the "upscale" dollar beer and hotdog college crowd

These people will only drink Coors light and jagermeister shots.

well the trucker hat guys are all about the coors/coors light

i believe the key is to get the exposed thong crowd in there with the air of faux sophistication ....sweet inexpensive wine....and decent entertainment....then the trucker hat crowd will be there for sure....honestly i could care less about the guys

i believe "wine" in general is on the up....beer and shots will never die, but it can fall back in line to "wine"

"wine" being yellowtail and rose and champaign and whites....slowly move them to the "good stuff".....again no flawed wines or just plain crap....but yes a lot of the stuff people on this forum have moved past

and it is as much or more about making money that truely moving people to drink like the members of this forum do....that is too big a task for me

i do see wine as being more and more "in" that is where the real concept is....just something new for the college crowd...or the just out of college crowd....or the should have been out of college by now crowd besides what they get beat over the head with at every club/bar/restaurant