Cost and finalise the spring menu

You are the Chef de Cuisine reporting to the Executive Chef.

Simulated workplaceAdvanced missionCAQA Harbour View Hospitality

What is going on

Tidewater Restaurant launches its spring menu on 6 October with eight new dishes across entrees, mains and desserts. The Executive Chef has developed the dishes and tested them, but the recipe cards have no costings, yields or allergen identification yet. Supplier prices in the stock register have moved since the winter menu, seafood in particular. The business targets a food cost of 30 per cent and the General Manager will not approve the menu at the operations meeting without a costing that shows each dish against target and a plan for any dish above it.

Mei-Ling Chao, Executive Chef
Subject: Spring menu costing due before the ops meeting

The spring menu launches 6 October and I need the costing finished before Monday's operations meeting. Please cost the eight new dishes using current supplier prices from the stock register, build recipe cards with yields and portion sizes, and show me the food cost percentage for each dish against our 30 per cent target. Flag any dish above target with a suggested change. Include allergen identification on every card so the front of house team can brief guests.

Your brief

Produce complete recipe cards and a costing summary for the eight dishes, calculate the food cost percentage of each dish at the proposed selling price, identify allergens for the front of house team and recommend changes for any dish above the 30 per cent target.

Work through it

You do not need to do it all. Doing a few of these will show you what the work is like. Your ticks and notes stay on this device.

Read the Food Safety Program allergen management section and the Food Safety Policy so that allergen identification on the cards is complete.
Extract current unit costs for every ingredient from the stock register, noting any lines with recent price changes or rejections.
Build a recipe card for each dish with ingredient quantities, yield, portion size, method summary, plating notes and allergen list.
Calculate the portion cost and food cost percentage for each dish at the proposed selling price, and present them in a costing summary.
For any dish above 30 per cent, propose a portion, ingredient or price change and show the revised percentage.
Prepare a production plan for the launch week that shows mise en place, staffing and the order quantities to add to the stock register.
Write a one-page brief for the Executive Chef summarising the results and the decisions needed at the operations meeting.

My notes: what did I enjoy, and what surprised me?

What someone in this role would produce

Eight recipe cards with allergen identification
Costing summary with food cost percentages and recommendations
Launch week production plan and order list
Brief to the Executive Chef

Printing this is a record of what you explored. It is not a certificate or a qualification.