Why summer menus are all the rage

With the sweltering heat taking over this season, people are constantly looking to cool down with food and beverage options that are more customized and help them deal with this ordeal. A balance of taste and health is what's required to crack the code, and restaurants are going all out with their summer menus to appease their loyalists or attract new diners.

While newness is a factor that's important in today’s F&B space, the importance of seasonal ingredients cannot be undervalued. It's not advised to serve things against the law of nature–so if there's a specific fruit or vegetable or ingredient that's best served during a certain time of the year, it is a good idea to integrate it into your menu.

That's not all. Most diners have their favorite restaurants where they love to return to enjoy their star dish. However, sometimes fatigue kicks in, making them seek out seasonal twists that can make the menus more interesting and relevant.

My personal motivation behind changing the menu or having a summer menu at The Pasta Bowl Company (TPBC) is because I enjoy using the freshest of local produce. As much as we are sticklers of authenticity and try to use ingredients that can lend the original flavor to the cuisine, we also prefer supporting local farmers and the ecosystem. Also, the quality of ingredients is equally crucial. For instance, if we plan on using mangoes in December and fly them down from Bangkok, neither will the quality be at its highest plus the cost implications would be unreasonable.

At TPBC, we've changed the summer menu at least 24-25 times. This time around, the summer dishes are a bunch of surprises for regular diners. It has a range of unique offerings with a burst of flavours. There are sandwiches which can also be converted into a pizza. A sneak peek: it's a light, crispy pizza base made with top quality ingredients.

We are also dedicating this menu to the Sicilian lemon, so I have curated a signature dish of linguini with garlic butter, lemon rind, white wine, Stracciatella cheese and pistachio.

That's not all. There's gazpacho of prawns and some interesting pastas and desserts, plus the roast of the poultry that diners will absolutely love. However, we have retained our guest favourites, which will continue to be a part of future menus.

The idea of the summer menu is to showcase the diversity of ingredients and at the same time, be a support to the ‘vocal for local' movement. We've always believed in using indigenous produce, besides a few ingredients that we have to import from Italy.

But that doesn't mean that we can't experiment with our menu. Our endeavor is to always appease our diners with multiple options that cater to their palate.

At the end of the day, maintaining a balance between being experimental yet providing comfort is key. And the summer menu gives a chance to do that well!

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