I kept a running count of my platings for 6 months, and the number was 1,847. That one stat changed how I run my line.

Taylor Patel · 2026-10-13T17:30:04.118376+00:00

I got curious last summer and started jotting down every plate that left my station at the bistro on Grand Ave. Six months later the notebook said 1,847 plates, and 412 of them were the same salmon dish. Seeing that on paper hit me hard, because I had been treating every ticket like it was a brand new puzzle when almost a quarter of my output was one recipe. I timed myself on that dish and it came out to 9 minutes a plate with all the fiddling I did, the tweezers, the sauce dots, the little herb pile. So I stripped it down to 6 minutes and nobody at the pass noticed, not the servers, not the regulars, not even the owner. Meanwhile my specials, the stuff I was actually proud of, got whatever time was left, which was not much. Now I batch prep that salmon garnish on Sunday and spend the saved minutes on the dishes that actually sell the restaurant. If you tracked your station for a month, what dish do you think would show up way more than you realize?

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I kept a running count of my platings for 6 months, and the number was 1,847. That one stat changed how I run my line. | Chefs - Vivisector