Cost a menu item to a plate cost and food-cost percentage, then price it for a target margin. Use when asked to cost a dish, calculate food cost percentage, price a menu item, or engineer a menu for profitability. Produces a plate-cost breakdown (ingredient × yield × price), the food-cost %, a suggested price for the target margin, and menu-engineering flags (star / plow-horse / puzzle / dog) so the operator knows what to promote, reprice, or cut.
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Use menu-cost-engineer to cost [dish recipe] using [ingredient purchase costs] and [target food-cost percentage or margin], then provide plate cost, suggested price, contribution margin, and a menu-engineering flag.
Required inputs
[dish recipe]
[ingredient purchase costs]
[target food-cost percentage or margin]
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SKILL.md
name: menu-cost-engineerdescription: "Cost a menu item to a plate cost and food-cost percentage, then price it for a target margin. Use when asked to cost a dish, calculate food cost percentage, price a menu item, or engineer a menu for profitability. Produces a plate-cost breakdown (ingredient × yield × price), the food-cost %, a suggested price for the target margin, and menu-engineering flags (star / plow-horse / puzzle / dog) so the operator knows what to promote, reprice, or cut."
Menu Cost Engineer Skill
Restaurants don't fail on bad food — they fail on math they never did. A dish that "feels" priced right can quietly run a 45% food cost. This skill costs the plate honestly (accounting for yield loss and waste), sets a price to the margin the operator actually needs, and flags where the menu is leaking money.
Working from a brief
Given a recipe and ingredient prices, produce the full costing — estimate yields and waste where not given (label the assumption). If prices are missing, ask or use a stated regional estimate and flag it.
Required Inputs
Ask for (if not provided, else infer and label):
The dish — ingredients and portion sizes (recipe)
Ingredient costs — as purchased, with pack size/unit
Target food-cost % (default ~28–32%) or target margin, and current menu price if repricing
Output Format
Plate cost breakdown
Ingredient
As-purchased cost/unit
Yield %
Portion
Plate cost
Include a line for waste/trim and any garnish/consumables.
The numbers
Total plate cost, target food-cost %, and suggested price = plate cost ÷ target food-cost %.
Actual food-cost % at the current price (if repricing) and the gap.
Contribution margin per plate (price − plate cost).
Menu-engineering flag
Given popularity (if provided) and margin, classify: Star (high both — feature it), Plow-horse (popular, low margin — reprice/re-engineer), Puzzle (high margin, low sales — promote/reposition), Dog (low both — cut or rework).
Levers
2–3 concrete moves — portion, spec, supplier, price, or plate composition — to hit the target without hurting the guest experience.
Quality Checks
Plate cost accounts for yield loss and waste, not just as-purchased price
Suggested price is derived from the target food-cost %, shown explicitly
Contribution margin (not just %) is reported — a high % on a cheap dish can still lose
Assumptions (yields, missing prices) are labeled, not hidden
The menu-engineering flag drives a concrete recommendation
Anti-Patterns
Costing on as-purchased price and ignoring yield/waste (understates true cost)
Chasing food-cost % while ignoring contribution margin per plate
Pricing on gut instead of the target margin
Repricing a plow-horse so hard it becomes a dog
Treating supplier prices as fixed when spec/portion are the real levers