Arts & Entertainment
Amuse Bouche: Why does that cost so much?
Published
5 years agoon
Posted By
Outlaw PartnersBy Scott Mechura EBS FOOD COLUMNIST
I can’t tell you how many times over my life and career I have heard someone I know, or a stranger, complain about the price on a restaurant menu. It could be a dessert, a bottle of wine or a beautifully composed entrée. It doesn’t matter, the criticism is always the same: “Why is this so expensive?”
Having dined in some of the finest restaurants in the United States and Europe, as well as places I should have questioned even stepping over the threshold, I can tell you this: restaurants do not make the money you think they do.
Let’s start with desserts. Desserts, on average, will cost between five and 12 dollars on a menu. That seems like a pretty reasonable deal. And it is, to some degree. The mark up for most desserts is between 75 to 85 percent. In other words, that dessert you just paid $11 for cost the restaurant, on average, approximately $2.20. That might seem like a great moneymaker for the establishment, right? Well, not many restaurants can survive on $8.80 in profit.
Luckily, they aren’t hanging their hat on their dessert sales. That’s where wine can help. But more on wine in a bit.
From data I used to have from a few years ago, average dessert sales in restaurants are about 15 percent. In other words, one in six people order one. Preparing them falls into the hands of a niche group of professionals that have the skillset to create them. And that in turn comes with higher pay. So the labor-to-sales value ratio is very high for desserts.
In addition, because dessert sales are not at the level of entrées, there is far more waste than other sections of the menu.
Entrées are the bread and butter of your income and menu. Liquor and the bar in general have a better margin than food, but on national average, 70 percent of your total sales still come from the dining room, not the bar, though there are exceptions for sure.
The big one: wine. “I can buy this wine at the grocery store for half the price it is on this restaurant wine list.” Yep, you probably can. But you’re not getting the meal, service, ambiance, experience, professional advice and tutelage from a knowledgeable staff member at the grocery store.
Wine is also a bandage for less profitable items, or sensitive items like fish, that can spoil easily if they don’t sell, similar to the aforementioned desserts. There are many things that can and do go wrong in restaurants from a waste or spoilage standpoint. And that $100 bottle of wine that may be $60 in the grocery store helps alleviate some of that. The whole system has evolved to do its best to work in a balanced harmony and success, in an industry that is seldom profitable, despite your bottle of wine.
Also, wines by the glass often rank up there with desserts in terms of waste percentage.
Yes, wines by the glass can be expensive, but so is dumping three quarters of a bottle that doesn’t sell within the short window in which it was opened. Particularly at sea level, where wines oxidize and go bad much more quickly than at higher, dryer altitudes.
A little advice: grocery and liquor stores typically use a static percentage for their mark ups. But in restaurants, the more expensive the wine on the list, the smaller the mark up. So you’ll “save” more, the more expensive bottle you order.
Now, before you find yourself short of breath as you open your next wine menu, just be glad you aren’t ordering something as simple and elementary as pancakes, soup or pasta, whose mark ups round out together in the neighborhood of 1600 percent.
Scott Mechura has spent a life in the hospitality industry. He is a former certified beer judge and currently the executive chef at Buck’s T-4 Lodge in Big Sky.
The Outlaw Partners is a creative marketing, media and events company based in Big Sky, Montana.
Upcoming Events
april, 2024
Event Type :
All
All
Arts
Education
Music
Other
Sports
Event Details
Children turning 5 on or before 9/10/2024:
more
Event Details
Children turning 5 on or before
9/10/2024: Kindergarten
enrollment for the 2024-2025 school year can be completed by following the
registration process now.
Children
born on or after September 11, 2019: 4K enrollment is now open for
families that have a 4-year-old they would like to enroll in our program for
the 2023-2024 school year. Please complete the 4K Interest Form to
express your interest. Completing this form does not guarantee enrollment into
the 4K program. Enrollment is capped at twenty 4-year-olds currently
residing within Big Sky School District boundary full time and will be
determined by birth date in calendar order of those born on or after September
11, 2018. Interest form closes on May 30th.
Enrollment now is critical for fall preparations. Thank you!
Time
February 26 (Monday) - April 21 (Sunday)
Event Details
Saturday, March 23rd 6:00-8:00pm We will combine the heart-opening powers of cacao with the transcendental powers of breathwork and sound. Together, these practices will give us the opportunity for a deep
more
Event Details
Saturday, March 23rd 6:00-8:00pm
Time
March 23 (Saturday) 6:00 pm - April 23 (Tuesday) 8:00 pm
Location
Santosha Wellness Center
169 Snowy Mountain Circle
Event Details
We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a
more
Event Details
We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a limited palette to create different color combinations? Are you tired of carrying around 15-20 different tubes when you paint plein air? Have you ever wanted to create a certain “mood” in a painting but failed? Do you create a lot of mud? Do you struggle to achieve color harmony? All these problems are addressed in John’s workbook in clear and concise language!
Based on the bestselling “Limited Palatte, Unlimited Color” workbook written by John Pototschnik, the workshop is run by Maggie Shane and Annie McCoy, accomplished landscape (acrylic) and plein air (oil) artists,exhibitors at the Big Sky Artists’ Studio & Gallery and members of the Big Sky Artists Collective.
Each student will receive a copy of “Limited Palette, Unlimited Color” to keep and take home to continue your limited palette journey. We will show you how to use the color wheel and mix your own clean mixtures to successfully create a mood for your paintings.
Each day, we will create a different limited palette color chart and paint a version of a simple landscape using John’s directives. You will then be able to go home and paint more schemes using the book for guidance.
Workshop is open to painters (oil or acrylic) of any level although students must have some basic knowledge of the medium he or she uses. Students will be provided the book ($92 value), color wheel, value scale and canvas papers to complete the daily exercises.
Sundays, April 14, 21 and 28, 2024
Noon until 6PM.
$170.
Time
14 (Sunday) 12:00 pm - 28 (Sunday) 6:00 pm
Event Details
Everyone is invited to join us in celebrating 2 years of arts education in the BASE Art Studio with us! Take a tour
Event Details
Everyone is invited to join us in celebrating 2 years of arts education in the BASE Art Studio with us! Take a tour of the studio, meet our instructors, and meet other artists of all levels in our community. We’ll be getting creative and you’ll have the chance to make your very own artful button pin.
Stick around for our Volunteer Appreciation and Social beginning at 6:30 p.m.!
Time
(Thursday) 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Location
BASE
285 Simkins Dr