When I worked in the restaurant biz, presentation was everything. We used to do a simple clam chowder bowl. Chowder went into an oversized off white coffee cup. The garnish? A single pat of butter in the center slightly melted, with a small bit of fine chopped chives in the center of that. The idea was that the butter would be completely melted by the time it hit the table. The diner would get the full aroma of the dish, then mix the garnish into the chowder when they started eating it.
We did something interesting with a baked potato so it didn't look so plain. We made a sour cream 'dip' with wasabi, shallot juice, and bacon fat. It all went into a piping bag, then squeezed out on top of the potato. On top of that went a chive sprig for garnish. Customers could get more of the dip if they asked for it.
We also did something called a porkloin pour over. It was like an open faced sandwich. We slow baked one of those big 8-10 lb pork loins and then shave cut the cooked meat onto a grilled onion roll. Over the meat went a slaw of shredded carrots, vidalia onions and tart apples. The slaw was only slightly cooked in a mix of butter and apple cider. We sent that to the table with a 'pour over gravy', this stuff had bourbon, maple syrup, pan drippings from the pork loin and some cayenne pepper for heat. It also came with coffee beans in a pepper mill that diners would grind on. They expected black pepper, but this was loads different flavorwise. The coffee bean mellowed out the heat from the cayenne, the maple & bourbon was the base. The gravy would drip through the slaw and meat picking up flavor along the way. What was great about it was that the diner was ready for that soaked piece of roll at the bottom of the dish, it had flavor from everything on the plate.
Our prices were reasonable for the time, apps were between 4-10 dollars, but we did have a raw bar that was a big hit. Entrees were typically from 5-30 bucks. Desserts were brought in from a bakery only at the end of the block. The bakery made these mini cheesecake sets that would send your tastebuds into orbit. For the bakery, they used just the normal toppings, but we married the cakes with all manner of fruits & booze. The cheesecake sampler at 9 bucks would sell out most nights, and more than a few repeat diners were pissed that they didn't get any. We averaged probably 100 tickets for lunch, and 150-200 for dinner service.
