# lost on food cost



## harvest (Jul 2, 2008)

Hey everyone. I have been in the restaraunt business for quite a long time but this end of the biz is very very new to me. Running a tiny kitchen in an art gallery and wine bar which has no stove and no oven. Go figure. But what I put out is very nice, of course. My boss likes to call it " artisinal " , I call it the food I grew up with ( Italian fare ). The boss just got married and I did the food for the rehearsal dinner and I had a antipasti station at his wedding. Pat on my back because I did it ALL by myself with no help. Never again. He now wants a food cost of everything I prepared so he can get a check from the in-laws. I honestly don't know how to approach this. I am assuming all he needs is a total cost of everything I purchased and prepared for both food events and no percentages? Dah! I ask here because I want not to look to rediculously stupid and have one up. Also, have to consider that enough of the food that didn't get used at wedding stayed here in kitchen and was used for the wine bar. 125 peeps were served. Any ideas of my approach?:crazy:


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## oldschool1982 (Jun 27, 2006)

The way I would approach it would be to take the food receipts, add them all together for a total of food. This should be a wash for any of the additional food that was left over and you used in the wine bar. If you were paid an hourly rate then that's all. If you were not then add 25% of the food total as your labor (yes a bit high since most kitchens run in the teens.......) If all else fails just ask your boss if he intended on making money on the party. Most of the time they'll say no. If he did intend on making money then Give him a total of all your costs and let him decide on what to charge the In-Laws. The left over food that generated sales is profit in my book, just maybe not enough. 

The other approach is to take the total of all your receipts and figure that would be 30% of the total that should be charged. Most weddings I used stations at would average $20-$25ppa. You could also calculate a cost off of that. 

Hope this helps.


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## chef.esg.73 (Dec 10, 2007)

There is a couple of ways to do this as oldchool pointed out. I don't think you would look stupid if you asked your boss to be clear in exactly what he wants.Most likely he just wants to know how much did the food cost that you ordered. I don't see him trying to make a profit on his own wedding and charging his new in-laws, allthough it depends on the in-laws, :lol: . Like old school said just add reciepts. Like you stated your new to this end of the biz. It is a great chance for you to learn the business aspect, what my opinion is the most important part of this thing we do. Food is easy figuring it all out, is the work part, untill you get used to it. 
Then its all icecream!!!


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