St. Paddy’s Day Appetizer Menu
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Hosting St. Patrick’s Day Ideas for the Home or Restaurant
Smoked Salmon Toasts with Mustard Butter
Food and Wine’s Smoked Salmon Toasts recipe. Pyrex Bowl and Magnetic Measuring Spoons pictured are from Amazon.
Buttered toast. So simple it's a staple in many households. I grew up with bread and butter on almost every dinner table so when I see an online recipe for delicious butter, I give it a click.
This recipe popped up on Food and Wine’s list of 21 dishes to make for St. Patrick’s Day. I was already set on making the Irish Buck cocktail, and I wanted to pair the drink with fancy appetizers that incorporated traditional Irish ingredients or flavors.
The mustard butter was easy to put together. Except, the recipe called for two mustards: grainy and Dijon. I thought we had Dijon and we didn’t. I asked Mike to see if he could come up with an alternative with some Dijon sass. He mixed a little mayo with honey and added dry spices like garlic, onion, and paprika. I might try making this butter again with Dijon, but honestly, I’m not sure it would be any better because it ended up being so good!
Trader Joe’s is my go-to for smoked salmon. They always have more than a few options to choose from. Dill is always a fun fresh herb to pick up. I don’t use it enough to consider growing it, but I love the smell of dill and it always brings a unique flavor to a dish.
Food and Wine’s Smoked Salmon Recipe Food Photography PHOTO: © FREDRIKA STJÄRNE Ramekins and Black Slate Charcuterie Platter pictured are from Amazon.
Leek and Potato Soup
Food and Wine’s Creamy Leek and Potato Soup recipe. Bamboo Tea Tray and Cast Iron Dutch Oven pictured are from Amazon.
With most potato soups you can expect to buy a large sack of potatoes, but this recipe called for a single potato. The star of this soup is the leeks. I get pretty teary-eyed when it comes to onions, so I like using leeks because they irritate my eyes less. I’ve read on bonappetite that chilling onions before cutting them help minimize eye irritation, but I always forget to do that. That’s another blog on a different day.
The Leek and Potato soup does not call for a lot of ingredients and I found it really easy to make. I followed Food and Wine’s recipe exactly as written and it turned out perfectly!
Food and Wine’s Creamy Leek and Potato Soup Recipe Food Photography PHOTO: © LISA LINDER. The ramekins and soup bowls pictured are from Amazon.
St. Patrick’s Day Cocktail and Appetizer Short Menu
My Short Menu
Little Plates St. Patrick’s Day Short Menu featuring cocktails and appetizers.
Mike and I had a great Food and Wine Night with this menu. The cocktails were perfect, the salmon toasts were so yummy. We had leftover ingredients to make them again the next day. The leek and potato soup was delicious! It was light but had all the flavor of a hearty soup.
I would make these again. And soon. The mustard butter toast and leek soup are perfect dishes for Spring.
My Smoked Salmon Toasts Appetizer
My Leek and Potato Soup Appetizer
Running St. Patrick’s Day Specials for Your Restaurant
This restaurant's short menu is for food and drink lovers. I mean this to say, it’s not for every establishment. If you already own an Irish pub or restaurant, you are going to be slammed for St. Paddys. So for the rest of us, how do we show love for the holiday?
I’ve been to places that make way too many off-menu items that have me wondering if there will be net loss and food waste at the end of the night. I’ve also been to Irish pubs that have done a total Irish beer tap take-over or run specials with items you wouldn’t normally get. It’s very cool. Then I’ve been to places that do nothing. Don’t be that place.
Running St. Patrick's Day specials at your restaurant on St. Patrick's Day can be a good idea for several reasons:
Capitalize on the holiday: St. Patrick's Day is a widely celebrated holiday, and many people like to wear green and enjoy going out to celebrate with friends and family.
Increase sales: Specials can entice customers to try something new or indulge in a favorite dish or drink. By offering St. Patrick's Day specials, you can potentially increase your sales for the day.
Showcase your creativity: You don’t have to make the classic Sheppards Pie or Corned Beef and Cabbage (though always delicious.) St. Patrick's Day specials can be a chance for your restaurant to show off its creativity and culinary skills by creating unique dishes or drinks that incorporate traditional Irish ingredients or flavors.
Generate buzz: Running St. Patrick's Day specials can generate buzz and excitement for your restaurant. By promoting your specials on social media and other marketing channels, you can attract new customers and remind existing customers of your restaurant.
Your Restaurant’s Short Menu
This is a FREE short menu demo using the dishes I made for Food and Wine Night at home. You can use this menu example to celebrate the holiday, potentially increase sales, and showcase your restaurant's creativity.
Little Plates Restaurant St. Patrick’s Day Short Menu featuring cocktails and appetizers.
Although these ingredients are easy to find in California, every kitchen should make use of the ingredients they currently use on their menu. Another great way to avoid food waste is to use your ingredients for future specials.
For example, if you decided to purchase smoked salmon for your short menu, make sure you have backup dishes planned for the rest of the week that would use up the smoked salmon. This is what Chef Jose at Twisted Oak Tavern in Camarillo does with their weekly specials menu. They make modern tavern food with a twist and their weekly specials menu is a unique way they showcase their creativity.
Generating St. Patrick’s Day Buzz
I always find this holiday to be a strange one to promote if you are not an Irish pub or restaurant. However, it’s widely celebrated in America and will drive people out especially when it lands on a weekend. Green clothes, green beer, green food, Irish cocktails, those “kiss me I’m Irish” shirts (how are those still a thing?)…in other words, there is lots of content you can start using on March 1st. Let your social media audience know that you have exciting plans for them this month.
Ask your Social Media Manager to design a St. Paddy’s Day campaign that promotes your specials with digital graphics and carousel images of your specials. You should post regularly leading up to the holiday, but promoting the day before and the morning of the event is especially important. Not everyone plans this holiday in advance. If a customer scrolls over an image of your bartender wearing green and pouring the first green beer of the day, that customer can be swayed to come to your restaurant.
Sláinte!
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