Designing my restaurant

[jrshaul]

Also still need a name. Must be French or a word that doesn't exist in English (sacwich or something)

I'd suggest trying to find a French name that Americans already know, or bears a strong resemblance to a familiar phrase. Words like "masion" are a lot easier to remember than, say, "embrayage".

After running a few words through Google Translate, I am especially enamored of "déjeuner," which I'm at least 70% sure is the correct term for "Lunch."

Edited August 7, 2011 by jrshaul (log)

[Panaderia Canadiense]

You can always go with something like Le Dîner - this will be acceptable to both your Francophone and Anglophone customers and is a nice play on ''Diner''....

[KatieLoeb]

One of the few places I've seen the chalkboard thing done right is Salt of the Earth, in Pittsburgh. The entire back wall of the first floor (far right in this photo) is chalkboard and all the menus are listed - cocktails, wine list, appetizers, main courses and desserts. No writing in this picture but you get the idea. It's big enough to be seen from anywhere and works particularly well with the communal long tables set up in this dining room.

Scroll down to September 10, 2010 entry to see photo

Downside to this has been mentioned. Daily upkeep, penmanship of the staff or whomever is in charge of this. Consistency. Nothing worse than the board looking sloppy because the person with the nicest writing is off that day.

I'm a fan of menus that allow instant change with inserts. Once your format is down it's easy to "save as" with the date and print before service each day. Either replace the entire menu with specials included (everything is special because you print the menu right before service daily), or have small clipboards or some other holder for the specials menu if there's a regular set menu.

[Blether]

Ho many joints are there in Montreal already with the name "Gouter" - which is nice for being the verb "to taste", as well as this -> gouter.

[Simon_S]

Ho many joints are there in Montreal already with the name "Gouter" - which is nice for being the verb "to taste", as well as this -> gouter.

But perhaps a little too close to goiter for comfort, though? Maybe that's just me...

Croquer means "to crunch" which might be nice for a salad and sandwich kind of place, and it also links nicely to croque-monsieur in my mind. Very much depends on the kind of place, though.

[Mjx]

Ho many joints are there in Montreal already with the name "Gouter" - which is nice for being the verb "to taste", as well as this -> gouter.

But perhaps a little too close to goiter for comfort, though? Maybe that's just me...

Croquer means "to crunch" which might be nice for a salad and sandwich kind of place, and it also links nicely to croque-monsieur in my mind. Very much depends on the kind of place, though.

Heh. Most people would be hard-pressed to identify the thyroid, let alone any of its pathologies. But good point, about checking any potential name for awkward meanings in other languages (at least the major ones).

There's a place SoHo (NYC) called the Tisserie, and it cracks me up every time I see it: 'tisse' means 'piss' in Danish, something its would-be hipster staff is clearly unaware of.

I walked past it with my (Danish) boyfriend, when he was visiting NYC and we were on the lookout for a caffeine and carb. fix; I was curious as to whether he'd notice it. He did.

We got coffee and pastry just down the street, instead of at the Tisserie, because we couldn't get a grip on our unseemly giggling.

For us, funny; for the establishment, probably not so much (you'd be amazed at how many Danes are wandering about NYC at any given moment).

[howsmatt]

Those are some really good names. Gouter (was just autocorrected by my phone to goiter btw!) could be spelled goutez to avoid problem. Dejeuner usuall refers to petit dejeuner which is breakfast. I believe le diner already exists.

My catering company was la bouchée which means little bite but the restaurant is in an area with tourists and it sounds like (is same as) boucher or butcher.

Croque is pretty good, kinda of like the french version of smunch (also pet name for my 12 month old).

[Country]

Ho many joints are there in Montreal already with the name "Gouter" - which is nice for being the verb "to taste", as well as this -> gouter.

"Gouter" brings to mind gout. People might get the idea they're going to get gout eating there?