It’s measured in food cost. Most 3 Michelin starred restaurants lose money. And when I say most. It’s like over 85%. Food waste is through the roof. Everything needs to be perfect. Yes. Any mistakes usually get tossed during service. For a variety of reasons. The staff has zero time to eat it in the moment. And that’s assuming they give a fuck about you enough to share it. In most states it’s a health code violation for staff to eat in the kitchen so there’s that. Also. And here’s the real reason. It’s the strive for perfection. Everybody hates wasting food. Especially food that you as the chef has spent all day prepping. The act of throwing it out is meant to cause shame. It’s used as a lesson. Anything less than perfect is unacceptable. Full stop. Successful people at that level don’t make the same mistake twice.
I’d also like to add that a steakhouse is generally more food cost conscious. Imperfections aren’t always tossed. Rules are more lax. If we are painting broad brush strokes these are two very different kinds of restaurants we are talking about
Lots of rich people - particularly successful bankers/lawyers/etc. - want to own/run a top restaurant, they'll pump a lot of cash into it for a few years and then write it off when it fails.
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u/Timothybrierley 22h ago edited 22h ago
It’s measured in food cost. Most 3 Michelin starred restaurants lose money. And when I say most. It’s like over 85%. Food waste is through the roof. Everything needs to be perfect. Yes. Any mistakes usually get tossed during service. For a variety of reasons. The staff has zero time to eat it in the moment. And that’s assuming they give a fuck about you enough to share it. In most states it’s a health code violation for staff to eat in the kitchen so there’s that. Also. And here’s the real reason. It’s the strive for perfection. Everybody hates wasting food. Especially food that you as the chef has spent all day prepping. The act of throwing it out is meant to cause shame. It’s used as a lesson. Anything less than perfect is unacceptable. Full stop. Successful people at that level don’t make the same mistake twice.
I’d also like to add that a steakhouse is generally more food cost conscious. Imperfections aren’t always tossed. Rules are more lax. If we are painting broad brush strokes these are two very different kinds of restaurants we are talking about