MenuMasters 2015 Best Menu Revamp: Bonefish GrillMenuMasters 2015 Best Menu Revamp: Bonefish Grill

Bonefish Grill's menu revamp

What makes the menu a winner:

1. Spicy Tuna Bowl: Premium sushi-grade tuna is seared in a crunchy sesame coating and served rare. The dish comes with avocado, sweet chile sauce, jasmine rice and passion fruit salsa.

2. The Cold Snap Fresh Ceviche: The dish is a colorful display of chilled bay scallops, shrimp, fish, vegetables, avocado, cucumber, jalapeño, citrus and cilantro, all served in an ice glass. It is served with warm tortillas.

3. In the Shell Street Tacos: This dish capitalizes on the popularity of food trucks and street food. Three warm tortillas are filled with tuna and lobster, lettuce, tomatoes and sour cream.

The story behind the new menu

The menu was the first major menu revamp since Bonefish Grill was founded 15 years ago, Pleau said. The restaurant concept was acquired by Bloomin’ Brands Inc. in 2001.

“There had always been tweaks and little adjustments to the menu,” he said. “This was the first time a larger menu adjustment had been made. We were responding to guests and guest feedback.”

Some customers were asking for more indulgences while others were looking for lighter and newer ways of eating, said Pleau, who began working with the Bonefish research and development team seven months before the new menu was ready to roll out. The team worked with back-of-the-house and front-of-the-house staff as well as its procurement and purchasing teams.

Such collaboration led to dishes such as the Cold Snap Fresh Ceviche, a seafood dish served in a cocktail glass made of ice. Bonefish mixologists had been using the ice glass for a Cosmopolitan drink, which the culinary staff realized had additional possibilities.

A marketing and public relations blitz helped launch the new menu. Pleau went on the Food Network and prepared a dish.

“So far the menu is doing what we wanted it to do and that’s make people happy,” Pleau said.