Caught a cook using $18/lb microgreens to practice plating at 4:45 — great initiative, terrible math; we swapped to parsley stems and I turned it into a 10-minute teach-back on cost per plate that saved us about $70 by service. Anyone else turn a near-meltdown into a mini class before tickets drop?
Do you run a 3-minute mock ticket before doors? I keep a labeled ‘practice pantry’ (parsley stems, cabbage chiffonade, fake sauces) and a fridge sheet with per-ounce prices so ‘cost per plate’ is visible and we don’t treat confetti like caviar…
I started a ‘red shelf’ for anything over $12/lb; after 4:30 you need a training chip to touch it, and cashing the chip triggers a 60-second per‑plate cost walk‑through — keeps the reps without torching food cost, @hana30. Only caveat: two chips max per station so last‑minute fixes don’t get crowded out; you run caps or open season?