How to use daily specials for restaurant to save food cost?

This post is part of the series on 31 days to better Food Cost in your Restaurant.

In this series, we will deep dive into the steps to ensure that we save food cost in your restaurant and improve profitability

Daily specials for restaurants are dishes that you prepare fresh and have available only for the day

It can take the form of a buffet or as an a la carte dish.

Now did you know that having a daily special and teaching your team to sell it can help you manage your food cost better?

In this article lets us see how to indent better and use daily specials to save food cost.

Planning for daily specials

Making a daily special begins with planning for the dish. Every day in the morning, as a chef, you would know what is available in the kitchen.

You must use a production chart to list down all the items that is used in your kitchen. Once you have it, you will know exactly what dish are nearing the 3 day shelf life.

You can also alternatively walk through the refrigerator and coolers and make a list.

Designing the menu

Once you know what all are available in the kitchen, make a list and see what you can make out of it.

If you have raw ingredients, it is very easy to just convert it into dishes, however if you have a mise en place, use your imagination to come up with a dish. For e.g: If you have some grilled vegetables in the Garde manger, make it into a lasagne or a stew for the buffet.

The key is to make the dish that people will recognize instantly and is popular.

If it is an a la carte dish, tell the service team members to sell it. Give them the tools to sell

• What is the specialty of the dish?
• What can you pair it with?
• Is there an unique story associated with the dish?
• How many portions are available to sell?
• What is the price of the dish?

Safety and HACCP consideration

Often times it may be tempting to keep the dish for one extra day, to save on wastage. However the safety and HACCP regulations of food should be considered when making that call.

If the food has been thawed and reheated, you must follow protocol and throw it away so that you do not end up poisoning someone.

While reusing dishes for daily special, you must be aware of the hygiene norms and food safety

Enroll in the free course on Food Safety

In conclusion

Daily specials for restaurant can help in reducing food wastage and save food cost.

While selling ensure proper consideration to food safety and HACCP regulations

Discard any left over once you reheat it.

Make it into a popular dish so that people eat it on a buffet or buy it on a la carte.