Bet on autumn brunch to boost your business

With summer starting to wane, why not give your customers something to look forward to by introducing an autumnal brunch menu packed with seasonal favourites? Brunch menus have become an increasingly prominent trend among successful restaurants, and have proven a successful strategy for building and enforcing customer loyalty. In this article, we’ve compiled a list of the season’s trending products and ingredients to help your restaurant benefit from introducing a delicious autumn brunch and stand out from the competition. 

Does your restaurant already offer a successful brunch menu? Are you planning to offer brunch for the first time? Or you still haven't decided whether to include it in your restaurant's offering. TheFork recommends autumn brunch menus as a great strategy for attracting customers and ensuring they leave satisfied. 

As a gastronomic concept, Brunch allows for mixing ingredients, products and recipes with a fair degree of freedom because it blends both breakfast and lunch dishes. This means a very varied offering. It is either served as a buffet or as dishes à la carte and/or on a tasting menu of different dishes. 

Seasonal autumn ingredients to elevate your brunch

Making the most of seasonal ingredients is the perfect way to give brunch menus an autumnal touch. By highlighting the flavours and produce of the season, you can add a touch of depth and richness to your menu. Perfect warming flavours are present everywhere in autumn. To give it a go, try ingredients like pumpkins, butternut squash, apples, pears, and root vegetables like sweet potatoes. Use these ingredients across both sweet and savoury dishes - from a caramelised dessert topping made from apples and pears to a hearty butternut squash soup, the options are endless.

Must-have dishes for an autumn brunch menu

Eggs

As the stars of any brunch, eggs are a versatile and profitable product that can be served on their own (poached, fried, boiled or as an omelette) or with other ingredients, and are bound to please across the board.

The most popular egg-based brunch dish is eggs Benedict. Served on bread topped with slices of ham, and lightly coated in hollandaise sauce, they are an essential part of any good brunch. From a strategic point of view, it is best to use and promote free-range or organic eggs.

Because eggs go well with almost all ingredients, if you want to stand out from the crowd it is worth offering more sophisticated dishes that will make your customers come back for more. The Benedict in the Marais neighbourhood of Paris took this approach, offering a range of dishes of amazing variety based around eggs Benedict with cheddar, truffle or even salmon.

Bread

Although somewhat basic, bread can be a vital and versatile ingredient for new autumn menu ideas. For some time, customers have sought more than the classic baguette (made with white or wholemeal flour), croissants or pastries. They prefer more sophisticated breads made with all sorts of cereals like rye, spelt and quinoa, as well as those featuring dried fruit and seeds. To keep it autumnal, consider the addition of pumpkin seeds. You'll score extra points if your brunch includes different types of bread, although don’t forget to also cater for coeliacs and gluten-free diners. 

The Bel-Ami restaurant in Paris, which offers a huge brunch, stands out for the incredible variety of sweet and savoury breads on offer. The thing that customers like most is that the bread is all handmade with organic ingredients.

Sandwiches

Any self-respecting brunch should include a comprehensive range of sandwiches and bagels made with different breads and all kinds of fillings: chicken, beef, pork, fish, vegetables, charcuterie, and cheese. Sandwiches are a very versatile offering that customers enjoy eating. As an example, you can serve them with sesame seeds, salmon, ricotta, rocket and pan-fried tomatoes. Don't forget burritos and wraps either, small wheat tortillas that you roll into cones and fill with ingredients similar to those used for canapés and bagels - they're shared all over Instagram.

In the Brunch Café in Lisbon, which offers an extensive sandwich menu, it's the smoked salmon bagel with cream cheese, pepper and shallot that takes first prize.
 

Soups and veloutés

Because autumn often comes with changeable weather and chilly days, it's the perfect season to offer your diners soups and veloutés made with local seasonal ingredients. You can always rely on classic pumpkin or mushroom soups or a butternut squash velouté. Delicious, hot, creamy dishes made with three classic seasonal vegetables, plus that little extra touch that makes all the difference. 

Cereals, fruits and crêpes

Because brunch is sometimes seen as a particularly big breakfast, its most famous component must feature cereals. Served in bowls, mixed with yoghurt, fresh fruit, dried fruit and seeds such as chia seeds, they are very popular. You can offer the different ingredients individually by serving them buffet-style so customers can make up their mixes or put together their recipes.

Fruits should also play a key role. Think about what is in season now: apples, pears, figs, grapes and pomegranates - all autumn foods that go beautifully with the other brunch star players.

Pancakes

Pancakes, those small round crepes beloved by the British, are another classic brunch ingredient. If you do decide to include them, you can be sure that they'll be a big hit with your customers. They are generally served as soon as they're made, topped with a sweet syrup. The Benedict restaurant in Barcelona offers two very mouthwatering versions. The first is served with Greek yoghurt, maple syrup, strawberries and Chantilly cream, the second with dulce de leche and bananas.  

Desserts

A little bit of sweetness is an essential part of a good brunch. As well as croissants and sweet flaky pastry treats, restaurants frequently offer a variety of cakes and patisseries to suit every taste. For example chocolate gateau, apple tart, carrot cake and cheesecake. Nevertheless, to ensure customer loyalty, a better idea is to include one or two original house desserts. These should be irresistible and unique so that customers won't find them in any of your competitors' brunches.

Let's take the example of the lemon meringue tartlets, strawberry marshmallows, and choux buns with salty butter caramel, all of which are served every Sunday at Le Gabriel restaurant in Paris, which has two stars in the Michelin Guide.

Drinks

No brunch is complete without natural fruit juices, the most popular being orange juice. That being said, juices that blend fruit and vegetables are also very popular. Smoothies or milkshakes combining citrus and red fruits with ingredients like broccoli, red beetroot, carrot and herbs such as mint and basil can make all the difference to stand out from the competition.

Of course, the most important thing is to serve good coffee, with a variety of milk options, as well as a varied menu of teas and tisanes. Other drinks that sell very well on brunch menus are cocktails such as Micheladas (beer, lemon and tabasco-style sauces), Bloody Mary (vodka, tomato juice, salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce and lemon) or Mimosas (champagne, orange juice, sugar and cherries), like those served at brunch in the Carmencita restaurant in Madrid.

Vegetarian dishes

You're sure to have noticed that the number of vegetarian customers is on the rise. It's very wise to offer dishes that will increase customer loyalty. It's also a great idea to include one or two dishes without meat or fish on your menu and to have several different recipes in your repertoire.

The Eixampeling Brunch Café & Bar in Barcelona offers "vegetarian brunch" options, including granola with almond milk, spirulina and chia seeds, a variety of fruit, poached eggs served with mushrooms, spinach and halloumi cheese, homemade fruit tarts, as well as a long menu of vegetable drinks and vitamin-packed fresh fruit juice cocktails. It's a great way to ensure that there are dishes to please everyone. Would you like more advice on attracting more customers to your restaurant this autumn? You'll find three brunch ideas here.

The best thing about brunch is the variety, so we advise you to offer products such as cheeses, an assortment of charcuterie, quiches, savoury tartlets and fresh salads. Offering dishes suited to every taste is the fastest way to successfully increase your number of loyal customers.

Want a foolproof way to design the perfect mix of dishes for your brunch menu?

You can use TheFork Manager’s database to record all your customers' preferences so you know what produces the best results and increases your revenue. If you don't have it yet, click here.

In any case, armed with our autumn brunch ideas, your restaurant should be fully booked regularly and successfully increase its loyal customer base. And now, make yourselves comfortable, brunch is served!