Menu Knowledge Checklist

The FDA Big 9: milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soy, sesame. For each menu item, mark which allergens are present and which are cross-contact risks (shared fryer oil, shared cutting board, flour dust). The allergen-aware manager on shift will spot-check this before you take an allergy ticket.

Guests ask. Know which farm or distributor supplies the steak, the fish (and whether it's wild vs. farmed), the eggs, and the seasonal produce. The chef's sourcing notes live in the BOH binder — read them, don't guess.

Spend 90 minutes on the line before service — sauté, grill, garde manger. Watch each station fire a ticket so you understand cook times before you quote them at the table.

Steaks at temp, the risotto, and anything from the wood oven all run long. Memorize the long-tickets so you can warn a four-top before they sit waiting and fire a complaint to OpenTable.

If a runner drops a plate at your table that's missing the microgreens or the lemon wedge, you should catch it before the guest does. Walk the pass with the expediter and review the plating photos in the BOH binder.

Schedule a 30-minute tasting with the sommelier or beverage director covering every by-the-glass pour. Take notes on body, acid, tannin, and the dish each one is meant to sit alongside.

For each entree, know one wine pairing and one cocktail or N/A pairing. Guests who don't drink wine still want a recommendation — a zero-proof option that complements the dish raises check average and beats a shrug.

Spirit base, sweetness, citrus, bitterness — describe each cocktail in one sentence a guest can picture. "It's good" is not a description. The bartender will run you through the build for any cocktail you can't place.

For each diet — vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free — list every menu item that qualifies as-is and every item that qualifies with one substitution. Gluten-free in particular: confirm with the sous whether the kitchen is celiac-safe or gluten-friendly (shared fryer = gluten-friendly only).

Walk through the allergy-flag procedure: ring it in as an allergy modifier (not a note), expo calls it on the line, dedicated cutting board and tongs, gloves changed, separate fryer or pan. The allergen-aware manager (PCFP or AllerTrain) signs off before the plate leaves the pass.

Pull the updated spec sheet and confirm which substitutions still apply. A new sauce on a returning dish often means the GF or DF status flips — the most common source of misfired allergy tickets after a menu change.

Base prices, add-protein upcharges, premium-pour upcharges, and split-plate fees. Guests notice when a server fumbles the price of a $58 ribeye — it reads as inexperienced and weakens the upsell.

Two scripted, dish-specific suggestions per service: one app suggestion when ordering entrees, one dessert suggestion when clearing entrees. "Would you like dessert?" is a closed question; "Our pastry chef just put the brown-butter tart on for the season — should I bring two forks?" lifts PPA by $4-8.

For tables of 3+, a bottle is usually less than three glasses. Know the price break for the top six BTG wines so you can offer the bottle without doing math at the table.

Specials get tasted at the pre-shift lineup. If you haven't tasted it, you can't sell it — pull the chef aside before the meeting if you missed the lineup tasting.

Inspiration, a key technique, the source of the headline ingredient — one or two sentences a guest can repeat to their tablemate. Specials sell on story, not adjective lists.

The GM or AGM picks five random items and asks: ingredients, allergens, prep, pairing, price. A miss on allergens is an automatic re-test before you can take a section.