Skip to content
TrackPodcasts
artsNov 9, 202330:12pending

How to read a menu

The Food Chain

About this episode

Pan fried, artisanal, gourmet: there's a fashion for foodie words. Why?

In this episode, Ruth Alexander finds out how restaurants use language, psychology and behavioural economics to whet your appetite and increase their profits.

Linguist Dr Keri Matwick of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore explains the research that shows the longer the description of a dish, the more expensive on average it is.

Chef Caroline Martins of Sampa at Blossom Street Social Wine Bar in Manchester, England talks about the mistakes she made when she first designed her menus.

Sean Willard of Menu Engineers in California gives us an insight into the power of using a box on the menu.

And thanks to listener Simon in London who emailed [email protected] with the idea for the programme. Neither he nor we will look at a menu in the same way again.

Presented by Ruth Alexander. Produced by Beatrice Pickup.

(Image: a woman holding a menu in front of her face. Credit: Getty Images/BBC)

Get every episode summarized

Each time The Food Chain publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.

Email me new episodes

Free for 3 shows. No card needed.

Hosts & guests

No transcript yet

This episode has not been transcribed. Request it and it moves to the front of the queue.

How to read a menu

The Food Chain

0:00
30:12

More episodes

More from The Food Chain

View all episodes →