About A la carte'

The company behind "Al a carte'" is The Yardstick Group pty ltd. It is an Australian based company located in Newcastle NSW, Australia.

The owner of the company has had 6 years’ experience in the hospitality industry with 3 of those years running a back of house kitchen & 13 years’ experience in finance & business banking with Small Business's & Small to Medium Corporate business's.

A La Carte’ –

History

The first restaurant menus arose roughly one millennium ago, during the Song Dynasty in China [1] - the only region of the world at the time where paper was abundant. At this time, many merchants often congregated in city centers and had little time or energy to eat during the evening. Because of the large variation found in Chinese cuisine from different regions, the restaurants could no longer cater to the local palates, giving rise to the menu.

The Story

The word "menu," like much of the terminology of cuisine, is French in origin. It ultimately derives from Latin "minutus," something made small; in French it came to be applied to a detailed list or résumé of any kind. The original menus that offered consumers choices were prepared on a small chalkboard, in French a carte; so foods chosen from a bill of fare are described as "à la carte," "according to the board."