| Words have the power to whet appetites and | | | | Deborah Grossman for her article in Flavor & The |
| motivate people. They might even be the determining | | | | Menu magazine, Wansink said: "When faced with food |
| factor in whether a restaurant succeeds or fails. Just | | | | choices, what we taste is influenced by what we read. |
| ask Dr. Brian Wansink, who has researched the | | | | What is more appealing, calf thymus or sweetbreads? |
| psychology of food for years at the University of Illinois | | | | Fish eggs or caviar?" |
| and Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab. He found | | | | Grossman also interviewed Jeff Tenner, executive |
| restaurants that named dishes using geographic, | | | | director of culinary operations at Legal Sea Foods, the |
| sensory or nostalgic labels (e.g. "traditional Cajun red | | | | fabulously successful Boston-based restaurant chain. |
| beans with rice," "satin chocolate pudding," "grandma's | | | | Tenner said the use of commonly understood words |
| zucchini cookies"), saw sales rise 27 percent | | | | on the menu made items more accessible to diners. |
| compared to the same menu items with plain names | | | | For example, when "roasted ancho chile chicken" |
| ("red beans and rice," "chocolate pudding" and "zucchini | | | | undersold at Legal Sea Foods, Tenner changed the |
| cookies"). | | | | name to "apricot-glazed chicken." The result was a |
| But when "succulent Italian seafood fillet" was | | | | dramatic rise in sales of that food item. Tenner found |
| truncated to just "seafood fillet" on a university | | | | that diners assumed that "ancho" meant spicy-hot |
| cafeteria menu and offered at the same price, sales | | | | rather than smoky-mild. It's yet another example of the |
| dropped. Use the right adjectives and modifiers and | | | | power of language. Choose the right words and you |
| menu items become mouthwatering. Serve up | | | | can activate the human senses and motivate buying |
| milquetoast terminology and salivary glands dry up. | | | | decisions. |
| When interviewed by food and wine journalist | | | | |