Why separate dessert menus?

[JerzyMade]

I think there's another factor here. A separate desert menu allows to restaurant to encourage or discourage a desert, depending on how busy the restaurant is. When people are waiting for a table, and one person at a table orders a desert and proceeds to consume it at glacial pace, the house is loosing potential revenue. That's $5 or $6 per table, per half hour, while you could sell four entrees for about $100 in the same time. On the other hand, at the end of the day, few extra bucks per table may look more attractive. A separate menu allows more flexibility.

I'd be interested if any restaurants are using such tactics.

[Steve Klc]

John--trolleys are still appropriate and still in use in the US as well, in the (mostly older French) restaurants which have enough space in the aisles to wheel them around and have a clientele more exposed to and appreciative of what can be the more-relaxed pace of European dining. But with space at more of a premium--you're often paying for this privilege with higher price points all around--than if you were offered a choice of plated desserts, i.e. "self-contained standalone works of art." I personally would prefer it if more American restaurants working in the rustic/homestyle/Americana genre would offer a French-style trolley but with pies, tarts, cobblers, fruit salads and cakes of the day rather than a separate dessert menu--but even then the problem would be many desserts don't hold well on the trolley--it's hard to keep cold things cold or provide any temperature contrast--a warm cobbler with ice cream for instance--and that puts even more pressure on the servers and waiters, which as we all know is often the weakest point in the food creation and delivery system we call a "restaurant." Trolleys put more pressure on the weakest link and require even more time--which JerzyMade just raised as an interesting aspect to this question.

Another way I still see this accomplished is to set up a kind of dessert bar--which simpler but good things could be displayed like the tureen of fruit soup, the bowls of fruit salad or mousse on ice--and which guests can walk by--which removes the hassle of wheeling a trolley around the tight corners.

While I'm in favor of both of these approaches, John, I think the over-riding reason you see "dessert" as a plated dessert is not because it is a self-contained standalone work of art--but that that's the best, most efficient and most consistent way to get something good to the customer--even if what we're talking about is a cobbler (not that a cobbler can't be presented artistically.)

A careful chef plans the meal so that the customer will never be too full to have dessert.

I'm not so sure I agree with this Godito--what I've seen increasingly over the past 5 years in the US is chefs, especially older or celebrity chefs, diminishing desserts and the role pastry chefs play in their system--how often have you read reports of the brilliant cooking of Thomas Keller and while the desserts "looked good" we were too full to have any of them? Chefs who maintain the huge app and huge entree approach to dining--or the largesse of a long tasting menu--often subtly and not-so-subtly discourage the desserts they're not proud of, that they don't create and/or don't put much effort into anyway.

Some chefs still see a meal in its entirety, transition to dessert well and offer compelling choices appropriate to their cuisine and style; however, I'm afraid an ever-increasing number of chefs are acting like they'd prefer it if you just left after the entree. They turn tables faster, sell more apps and entrees, and excuse themselves for not following through with strong desserts anyway.

[foodie52]

I love dessert but I rarely order it because I know that after a couple of bites, I'll be satisfied and there will be too much left over. If I'm dining with my husband or close friends, we usually share a dessert.

But that means that you have to agree on what to have!

I wish the dessert portions in restaurants were half as large. I'd love dessert to be more like a "tasting" menu" concept. Instead of a slab of chocolate mousse cake, why not just a couple of bites?Mini tarts instead of wedges. Espresso size cups of mousses. Spoonfuls of wonderful flavors.

I know somebody does this. French Laundry does, right? I wish more places did this. Then I'd be happy to have dessert, knowing that I'm not going to leave feeling awful! Too much dessert negates the splendor of the entire meal.