Brunch: The Mother of All Menu Opportunities

Mother’s Day didn’t officially become a holiday in the United States until 1915, but it’s more than made up for lost time, becoming the busiest day of the year for American restaurants. According to the National Restaurant Association, nearly four out of 10 Americans take Mom out for a meal on that second Sunday in May—many of them throwing over the breakfast-in-bed tradition in favor of an indulgent restaurant brunch.

Can you say opportunity?

Even restaurants that don’t normally serve brunch on Sundays will pull out the stops on Mother’s Day, whether it’s a high-end a la carte menu or an elaborate buffet.

Susanna Foo, a popular upscale Chinese restaurant in Philadelphia, serves a special three-course prix fixe menu featuring a choice of appetizer (such as dim sum, citrus cured salmon or sushi), entrée (crispy duck with sweet potato puree and star anise sauce, crabmeat egg fu yung, shaking filet mignon & diver scallops), and dessert (coconut crème brulee, warm apple tart with vanilla ice cream).

The Mother’s Day brunch buffet at the Harvard Club, in Cambridge, MA, meanwhile, might include such luxuries as lobster bisque; an assortment of pates and charcuterie, salads, smoked fish, raw oysters, and shrimp cocktail; a hot buffet with blueberry blintzes, spinach cannelloni and poached eggs with chipotle Hollandaise; crepe, omelet and carving stations (featuring coulibiac of salmon and sirloin beef); and an over-the-top dessert table.

Mother’s Day is a wonderful time to experiment with indulgent variations on classic brunch and breakfast fare. Make French toast with rich brioche or challah. Create an upscale hash with duck confit, smoked chicken or prime rib. Poach eggs in wine or stock, instead of water. Vary eggs Benedict by using crab cakes, lobster or even foie gras, topped with a flavored Hollandaise such as blood orange or sundried tomato. Use and promote local farm eggs, artisan-made bacon and specialty cheeses in omelets. Or integrate classic luncheon and supper dishes like seafood Newburg, pasta, savory crepes or poached salmon.

The success of a Mother’s Day brunch also lives in the details, the special touches that make the matriarch feel like Queen for the Day.

• Hire a jazz guitarist, harp player, classical trio or other elegant live music
• Give a fresh flower—carnations are traditional, but roses are wonderful—to every adult woman in the party
• Place a basket of wonderful baked goods, like muffins, chocolate croissants, hot popovers, scones and Danish, on the table
• Pour champagne or mimosas, milk punch, or a special house drink (like Susanna Foo’s Lycheetini made with fresh lychee nectar)
• Bear in mind that many moms will be dining en famille, so offer a children’s menu or a special price for the younger set
• Ramp up tea service with special selections and beautiful serving pieces
• Present a small plate of chocolate-dipped strawberries, truffles or other small sweets at the end of the meal

And, if you suspect that you’re only seeing some of your customers on special days like Mother’s Day, use the holiday as an opportunity to promote yourself the rest of the year, perhaps with a tasteful card offering $10 off a return visit, or another incentive to convert special occasion patrons into regulars.

Finally, be aware that service can make or break your customers’ Mother’s Day experience—or any other busy holiday, for that matter. Schedule your best servers, incenting them if necessary with extra pay or a bonus of some kind (especially if they themselves would ordinarily be celebrating the day). Consider whether you need two hostesses on duty to handle seating, covering the door and phones. For a buffet, in particular, make sure you have plenty of bussers to clear tables and refill coffee, and other personnel to restock and tidy up the service areas.

And don’t forget to call your Mom!

© 2008 Custom Culinary, Inc. All rights reserved.