Robin and Marion Jones, Croque-en-Bouche, Underdown - Grooms Cottage, Gloucester Road, Ledbury, Herefordshire HR8 2JE. UK

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The problem with menus is chefs get too close to them, emotionally involved. When we had a ressie, I can remember our agonising over moving from four main dishes to three. Would the customers complain? Would we lose our Michelin star? Eventually, we did it, and of course, all carried on as before.

I can offer you an objective view that’s seen loads of menus. I see it as taking your style and polishing it. Get the spelling exact, and the accents, and the layout. We all use computers now to do menus, but most of the stuff I see shows only basic skills. You can do a menu using just the return key and loads of default tabs. But it probably won’t look pretty! It’s not criticism; you have a hard business to run, cooking and serving. It’s difficult to be a DTP wizard as well.

By the way, I think Micro$oft WORKS, easier than WORD - that has too many bells and whistles!

I reckon it takes three or four hours to properly go over a menu. Say I’ve already discussed with you, the style points you want. Then we look again, and go through the options. Do we actually need the ‘£’ sign? What is the pricing strategy to be? I favour round figures. All 95’s, like 4.95, 5.95, 6.95 don’t work if your place wants to show quality. Keep it simple.

I have this theory... that everyone at the start of a meal works out what the final bill will be - don’t you do this? We do, even if it’s a no-expense-spared occasion. When we’ve have done that, the nasty bit is out of the way, and we can settle down to enjoy the meal.  Make the sums easy for diners. That’s why set-price menus can work well, but they’re not for everybody. These days entertainment more than hunger seems to bring people to restaurants; they want all the options. Just make sure every bum on every seat is profitable! See too my 10 menu and wine list tips?