Dishes on the menu
17
Across snacks, entrées, mains, sides & desserts
Every dish ranked by what it earns and how often it sells — not by how it photographs. Five dishes are quietly working below the floor; here's what to do about each. Read by Eleanor Marlowe, Chef
Stars — high volume, healthy margin. Protect them; never discount. The duck and the pie floater carry the room.
Puzzles — good margin, sells thin. The venison Wellington lives here: $55 a plate but only one table in three orders it. Reposition, don't reprice down.
Plough-horses — popular, slim margin. Mostly sides and puddings doing their job. Leave them be.
Dogs — quiet and slim. Rework or rest them, or keep them honest as a seasonal special.
| Dish ↕ | Category ↕ | Price ↕ | Food cost ↕ | Margin ($ GP) ↕ | Food cost % ↕ | Sell-through ↕ | GP contribution ↕ | Recommendation ↕ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manuka-smoked duck breast | Main | $46 | $18 | $28 | 39.1% | 60% | $6,720/mo | Star — feature |
| Barramundi en papillote | Main | $44 | $24 | $20 | 54.5% | 75% | $5,970/mo | Below floor — reprice +$5 |
| Pie floater | Entrée | $34 | $12 | $22 | 35.3% | 70% | $6,140/mo | Promote — protect price |
| Oysters Coffin Bay | Snack | $32 | $14 | $18 | 43.8% | 55% | $3,960/mo | Below floor — supplier cost |
| Smoked ocean trout | Entrée | $30 | $13 | $17 | 43.3% | 45% | $3,040/mo | Below floor — reprice +$3 |
| Crocodile boudin blanc | Main | $42 | $19 | $23 | 45.2% | 30% | $2,760/mo | Below floor — reprice or cut |
| Venison Wellington for two | Main | $96 | $41 | $55 | 42.7% | 35% | $3,900/mo | Reposition — hold price |
| Saltbush lamb tartare | Entrée | $28 | $10 | $18 | 35.7% | 40% | $2,870/mo | Puzzle — reposition |
| Pâté en croûte of kangaroo | Snack | $26 | $9 | $17 | 34.6% | 40% | $2,700/mo | Puzzle — reposition |
| Whipped goat's curd | Snack | $22 | $6 | $16 | 27.3% | 50% | $3,160/mo | Plough-horse — hold |
| Lamington soufflé | Dessert | $18 | $5 | $13 | 27.8% | 60% | $3,100/mo | Plough-horse — hold |
| Pavlova reconstructed | Dessert | $18 | $5 | $13 | 27.8% | 55% | $2,870/mo | Plough-horse — hold |
| Feijoa & kiwifruit ice cream | Dessert | $18 | $5 | $13 | 27.8% | 50% | $2,580/mo | Plough-horse — hold |
| Pommes purée | Side | $12 | $3 | $9 | 25.0% | 65% | $2,350/mo | Plough-horse — hold |
| Charred broccolini | Side | $14 | $4 | $10 | 28.6% | 50% | $2,010/mo | Plough-horse — hold |
| Bush tomato gratin | Side | $14 | $4 | $10 | 28.6% | 45% | $1,780/mo | Dog — rework or rest |
| Manjimup truffle ice cream | Dessert | $20 | $7 | $13 | 35.0% | 30% | $1,550/mo | Dog — seasonal special |
Margin floor: plate food cost must stay at or under 40% of menu price (a 2.5× minimum mark-up). The rules engine blocked a draft suggestion to drop the venison to $74 to lift its volume — that breaches the floor, so it never reached this list. Recommendations are ranked for a human; nothing is applied automatically.
It's a signature and a Star, and it's also the worst breach on the list at 54.5% food cost. People seek it out; it'll hold velocity at $49. This is the single biggest leak.
A Puzzle sitting below the floor. A $3 rise is well inside what the dish carries, and it nudges the margin back over the line without touching the kitchen.
$55 a plate is real money, but it only lands at one table in three. Move it up the menu as the centrepiece "for the table" and let the floor sell it — three extra orders a week pays for itself. Holding the $96 price.
Lowest-volume main and below the floor. Either take it to $45, or give the slot to something that earns it. A Puzzle that's been a Puzzle long enough.
Below the floor, but it's a market-priced Star — guests know what oysters cost. The lever here is the Coffin Bay supplier price, not the menu. Hand to supplier tracking, don't reprice.
Right now this is cost-based pricing with a margin floor: it costs each plate, ranks dishes by contribution and sell-through, and flags anything where food cost runs above 40% of the menu price. That's an honest, defensible floor — but it only knows what a dish costs to make, not what it's worth to a guest. The interesting work is closing that gap, from cost-based to value-based pricing.