A signature dish is a recipe that identifies an individual

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

or restaurant. Ideally it should be unique and allow an informed gastronome to name the chef in a blind tasting. It can be thought of as the culinary equivalent of an artist finding their own style, or an author finding their own voice. In practice a chef's signature dish often changes with time or they may claim several signature dishes. In a weaker sense, a signature dish may become associated with an individual restaurant, particularly if the chef who created it is no longer with the establishment. It can also be used to refer to a culinary region, in which case its meaning may be the equivalent of "

national dish A national dish is a culinary dish that is strongly associated with a particular country. A dish can be considered a national dish for a variety of reasons: * It is a staple food, made from a selection of locally available foodstuffs that can be ...

". In many cases, restaurants will base their menu development on tastes and styles which are unique to the restaurant's geographical location. Local produce, restaurant décor, and even the type of building you choose can all contribute to a larger yield by taking on local sensibilities. Emphasizing (an establishment's) connection to its location provides great marketing possibilities.TigerChef
Capitalizing on Culture: Regional Food. At its weakest, the term can simply mean "chef's specials" which are in no way unique or even particularly unusual.

Examples

Franz Sacher Franz Sacher (19 December 1816 – 11 March 1907) was an Austrian confectioner, best known as the inventor of the Sachertorte. Biography According to Sacher's son Eduard, in 1832 Austria's minister of foreign affairs, Prince Metternich, order ...

sachertorte Sachertorte (, , ) is a chocolate cake, or torte of Austrian origin, invented by Franz Sacher, supposedly in 1832 for Prince Metternich in Vienna.Michael Krondl, ''Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert'', , 2011, p. 290: "my best guess i ...

Albert Roux Albert Henri Roux (8 October 1935 – 4 January 2021) was a French-British restaurateur and chef. He and his brother Michel operated Le Gavroche in London's Mayfair, the first restaurant in the UK to gain three Michelin stars. He helped trai ...

Soufflé A soufflé is a baked egg-based dish originating in France in the early eighteenth century. Combined with various other ingredients, it can be served as a savory main dish or sweetened as a dessert. The word soufflé is the past participle of t ...

Suissesse *

Gordon Ramsay Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British chef, restaurateur, television personality and writer. His restaurant group, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has been awarded 17 Michelin stars overall; it currently holds a tot ...

- Cappuccino of white beans with grated truffles *

Heston Blumenthal Heston Marc Blumenthal (; born 27 May 1966) is a British celebrity chef, TV personality and food writer. Blumenthal is regarded as a pioneer of multi-sensory cooking, food pairing and flavour encapsulation. He came to public attention with un ...

snail A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastro ...

porridge Porridge is a food made by heating or boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain, in milk or water. It is often cooked or served with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, (dried) fruit or syrup to make a sweet cereal, ...

Fergus Henderson Fergus Henderson (born 31 July 1963) is an English chef who founded the restaurant St John (restaurant), St John on St John Street in London. He is often noted for his use of offal and other neglected cuts of meat as a consequence of his philo ...

- roast bone marrow with parsley salad *

Daniel Boulud Daniel Boulud (born 25 March 1955 in Saint-Pierre-de-Chandieu) is a French chef and restaurateur with restaurants in New York City, Palm Beach, Miami, Toronto, Montréal, Singapore, the Bahamas, the Berkshires and Dubai. He is best known for h ...

- Crisp Paupiettes of Sea Bass in Barolo Sauce *

The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel The Waldorf Astoria New York is a luxury hotel and condominium residence in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The structure, at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, is a 47-story Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schultze ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Waldorf salad A Waldorf salad is a fruit and nut salad generally made of fresh apples, celery, walnuts, and grapes, dressed in mayonnaise, and traditionally served on a bed of lettuce as an appetizer or a light meal. The apples, celery, and grapes can all b ...

* Hotel Tatin,

Lamotte-Beuvron Lamotte-Beuvron () is a town and commune of about 5000 inhabitants in the Loir-et-Cher department of Centre-Val de Loire, France. The French Federal Equestrian Park, one of the largest in Europe, is based in Lamotte-Beuvron. Each July, the Fed ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Tarte Tatin The tarte Tatin (), named after the Tatin sisters who invented it and served it in their hotel as its signature dish, is a pastry in which the fruit (usually apples) is caramelized in butter and sugar before the tart is baked. It originated in ...

References

{{reflist, 2 Cuisine Restaurant terminology

Examples

See also

References