Your food isn't
the problem.
Your restaurant is.
I walk into struggling restaurants, read the menu like a balance sheet, and rewrite both. What follows is the evidence.
Fine Dining · Food Cost Crisis
A 42-seat French bistro in Lincoln Park. Consistently full on weekends, perpetually broke. The chef-owner had never looked at his food cost percentage — he'd been running at 38% for three years, funding the neighborhood's dinner parties with his own salary.
Before
Food Cost %
38%
industry danger zone
Avg. Cover
$52
prix fixe underpriced by $18
Weekly Net
−$1,200
after labor
Staff Turnover
4 servers/yr
below avg, but rising
“I thought my food was the problem. Turned out I was buying like a chef and pricing like a tourist.”
Marcus Webb
Owner, Maison Dix-Sept — Chicago, IL
11 weeks engagement
After
Food Cost %
28%
rebuilt 6 anchor dishes
Avg. Cover
$74
reframed as destination dining
Weekly Net
+$3,400
same covers, rebuilt margins
Staff Turnover
1 server/yr
wage increase funded by margin
First-Time Owner · Pricing Failure
A 28-seat modern South Indian restaurant that opened to sold-out weekends and a 4.9 on Google. Priya had never worked in hospitality management — she'd worked in tech. She priced by feel, portioned by generosity, and watched $180K in revenue produce $4K in take-home over 18 months.
Before
Revenue (Annual)
$182K
strong for 28 covers
Owner Take-Home
$4,200
18-month total
Menu Item Count
34 dishes
operationally unsustainable
Table Turn Time
97 min
no dessert upsell system
“My grandmother's recipes were perfect. My spreadsheets were a disaster. I was basically running a charity.”
Priya Nair
Owner, Taro & Salt — Austin, TX
8 weeks engagement
After
Revenue (Annual)
$214K
same seat count
Owner Take-Home
$38K
year-one post-restructure
Menu Item Count
18 dishes
tighter, faster, more profitable
Table Turn Time
74 min
dessert close rate: 61%
Recognize any of this?
One more case study below. Then the booking form.
Multi-Location · Cannibalization
A respected Brooklyn brunch institution opened a second location in the West Village. Within 14 months, the flagship's weekend covers dropped 31%. Same menu, same prices, same chef — but the original had lost its identity and the new location hadn't found one.
Before
Flagship Covers (Wknd)
−31%
vs prior year baseline
Location 2 Occupancy
54%
vs 80% target at month 14
Combined EBITDA
3.1%
below debt service threshold
Brand Differentiation
None
identical menus, identical price
“Location two was supposed to prove the concept. Instead it was eating the original alive.”
Daniel Okonkwo
Managing Partner, The Larder Group — New York, NY
16 weeks engagement
After
Flagship Covers (Wknd)
+22%
repositioned as original, exclusive
Location 2 Occupancy
79%
distinct neighborhood identity
Combined EBITDA
11.4%
above debt service with reserve
Brand Differentiation
Full
separate menus, separate positioning
Book a Table Read.
I read your menu, your covers, your food costs. You get a direct assessment of what's working, what's bleeding, and what changes first. No deck. No jargon. Ninety minutes at a corner table.
Not ready to talk yet?
Download the same menu audit checklist I run through before every first engagement. Fourteen questions. Most operators can't answer more than six.
- Food cost % by category, not just total
- Which dishes are subsidizing which
- Your table turn time vs. your rent per square foot
- Whether your pricing is anchored or arbitrary
- The one menu section killing your kitchen speed
Recent engagements