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name: menu-cost-engineer description: "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

Example Trigger Phrases

• "Cost a dish."
• "Calculate food cost percentage."
• "Price a menu item."
• "Engineer a menu for profitability."