The money
Food cost is typically 25-35% but labour is the monster, often 35-45% of sales because brigades are large and prep is intensive. Covers are low, sometimes 20-60 a service, so average spend and wine attach do the heavy lifting. Beverage, especially wine, can carry much of the profit. Many celebrated rooms run margins in the low single digits or are subsidised by a group, hotel or investor. No-shows hurt badly, which is why deposits and prepaid tickets are now common.
Numbers that matter
- Covers per service
- guests served each sitting
- Average spend per head
- food plus drink per guest
- Beverage attach
- drinks revenue as a share of the bill
- Labour %
- wages as a share of sales
- No-show rate
- booked guests who never arrive
- Food cost %
- ingredient cost as a share of food sales
What keeps owners up
- Labour cost and the end of unpaid overtime cultures
- Ingredient inflation on premium produce
- Guide and award pressure
- No-shows and late cancellations
- Recruiting experienced front-of-house
- Mental health in high-intensity kitchens
What we talk about
- What a star is actually worth to the business
- Four-day weeks in fine dining kitchens
- Stages: education or free labour
- Front of house as a profession, not a stopgap
- Sommeliers and the economics of the wine list
- How deposits changed booking behaviour
- Cooks who left fine dining and what they took with them