Innovative Guest-Created Dishes: Canada’s Best at the Table
In the current competitive restaurant environment, it takes more than a good menu and it is connected. A new trend is being adopted by Canadian restaurants where guests get to co-create dishes. Restaurants are starting to have diners creating what appears on their menu and the outcomes are innovative and fascinating.
Examples Across Canada
Discover the dishes around Canada:
Vancouver
A neighbourhood cafe has started a quarterly contest, “Your Dish, Our Kitchen“. A smoked salmon flatbread with dill cream was the winning entry that became a summer favorite and increased sales by 15 percent that year.
Montreal
A bistro invited Instagram followers to post and vote variants of poutine. “The Butter Chicken Poutine” that won not only was popular among the guests but also received media attention on the local front.
Toronto
One restaurant held a virtual burger creating contest where they challenged guests to make their perfect burger. The winner of the creation, maple-glazed bacon and jalapoini aioli, went on sale in a weekend pop-up and sold out before the end of the day.
Suggestions on How to be a Successful Guest-Created Dish
Keep It Simple: Select options such as burger, poutine, or dessert to avoid complex preparation.- Screen Submissions: Food safety, kitchen feasibility, and brand fit, should be taken into consideration before finalizing.
- Market Broadly: Social media polls, newsletters and in-store signage should be encouraged to ensure maximum involvement.
- Reward Creators: Provide the winner with a free meal, gift cards or menu credit, and public recognition.
Keep It Simple: Select options such as burger, poutine, or dessert to avoid complex preparation.The Bottom Line
Canadian customers like becoming a part of the story. Restaurants can turn some passive consumers/eaters into participants by opening the doors of the kitchen. It could be a competition, a social media challenge, or a community vote, but dishes that have been created by guests are proving that the best ideas sometimes reside outside of the kitchen.
