Testing Testing, New Menu Coming Through

I've been testing new dishes these past few weeks. Thank you to everyone who tried them. When it's slow, it's hard to tell whether it's the economy or my food. Statistically, it's probably a bit of both, but your feedback encourages me to keep testing new things. I appreciate that.

I have noticed something peculiar about the dishes I've been running: the feedback is great, but the sales aren't. More often than not, the folks who seem most excited about the direction I've been leaning in aren't from Cleveland.

Scene Magazine released its Best of Cleveland finalists, and while we were nominated in the Best Vegan category, those of you who've followed us over the years may have noticed we weren't nominated in as many categories as we were in the past. I've written about these polls before, but the short version is that they tend to reward name recognition and larger businesses over little shops like ours.

It's a vicious cycle. The polls help get our name out there—which matters, because people still ask me, "Why haven't I heard of Foodhisattva?"—but I also don't want to spend my time encouraging local media that often treats small businesses as an afterthought. That's why I didn't ask anyone to nominate us during the first round. If you have the time or energy to vote in the finals, I'd encourage you to support smaller businesses.

Which brings me back to the specials.

I've realized I'm not particularly well suited to the hot dog-and-tater-tot crowd, or the "elevated" sausage-and-mash version of that same childhood combination. The food I enjoy making tends to attract people looking for something new, or at least new to them. Combined with my own moral obligations, that's not exactly what's trending at the moment.

I think one challenge with Foodhi is that we've always attracted students, travelers, and transplants passing through Cleveland. Old-school Foodhi—the pop-up-inspired, bar-food version of the restaurant—still has a loyal following, but that audience has shrunk as people move away from Cleveland Heights, or Ohio altogether. That leaves me trying to balance two very different styles of cuisine while keeping pace with ever-rising costs.

And that's where my head has been lately.

I'm working on a new menu. I try to offer a mix of those old-school Foodhi classics and newer, more adventurous (for both of us!) dishes. I always do my best to balance those two sides. I should probably pretend it comes naturally, that I'm some sort of culinary enigma who knows exactly what he's doing, but I'm not. That marketing mask fell off before we opened.

I'll be taking a short break to reset the menu, catch up on accounting, and hopefully get a couple nights of rest before the new menu drops. I do hope you'll join us. I'm bringing some classics back, along with a few dishes that may never be big sellers but are near and dear to my heart.

It's a balancing act, and I've got shaky legs.