Part of Lesson Plan: The Menu

Activity Overview / Details

Teacher will introduce the names of the different types of menus…

The types of menus are:  Fixed, Cycle, Du Jour, A La Carte, Semi-A La Carte, Table d’Hote, Prix Fixe, Meal Based, California, Continental, Ethnic.

Teacher will then explain to students that each one of them will randomly select an index card but first the teacher will be randomly drawing a card.

Teacher will then “randomly” draw a card. ( It is not really random... Teacher will already know the menu they will select ...It will be Prix Fixe Menu)

Teacher will read the description of a Prix Fixe Menu aloud to class...

" A prix fixe menu is similar to a table d'hote menu in that it offers a complete meal for a set price. With a prix fixe menu, however, the customer chooses one selection from each course offered by the restaurant. Prix fixe menus are sometimes used at elegant restaurants. Some banquets also use prix fixe menus."  (Description is taken from page 310 in The Culinary Essentials textbook)

Teacher will then go to one local restaurant website and show an example of prix fixe menu....  http://www.emilesrestaurant.com/menus/2010-Parisienne-Pre-Fixe.pdf      http://www.emilesrestaurant.com/menus/2010-Parisienne-Pre-Fi

Then teacher will pull up a second example (attached here...pdf file) :   

With each menu shown, teacher will discuss the samples of the prix fixe menu. The teacher will then pull up one last example... the famous French Laundry  restaurant website (link below).  The French Laundry  Prix Fixe menu will be my "third" sample of this type of menu.

Explain to students now that it is their turn to select a random index card and complete the assignment (like I just showed them).

(Each index card has a letter on the back side and on the front side it has the name of a certain type of menu, the textbook page number that the type of menu is on and a list of two restaurants websites that the students can go onto to look at that specific type of menu.)