Price for Designing a Menu

[dealinhoz]

hello chefs, i've been asked to design an appetizer menu (15 items) for a friend who is starting up a winebar/asian fusion restaurant. considering i would be developing recipes, instructing the cooks how to cook/plate and giving her full ownership of the recipes... what would you charge for this service? thank you.

[powers]

Tell her not to open an asian fusion restaurant and charge her $30,000 consultant fee :-)

Really though, come up with an hourly fee. This way you log your time and deliver a result. If you give her a flat fee, as a menu consultant, she will continue to add chores to your list, then you have to bring up the money issue every time. Make sure, though, that you are charging her what you are worth, no more, no less. It could be a new avenue for you.

I say: "always get in over your head"

[oldschool1982]

Like powers said...It's your time what's it worth to you. I've seen as much as 40k for a flat fee and then been worked to death for the next 3-4 months or been paid by the hour and then have it all nailed down in a couple weeks. Are you to provide the costs too? This is where it really turns into a chore if you don't have a standardized system down. Gotta love doing those yield tests and item costs. Especially on the more complex, multi-multi ingredient recipes.

Somehow that KISS theory escaped me every once in a while.

[castironchef]

The key phrase was "for a friend."

The answer depends on how much your friendship is worth. My philosophy (learned the hard way) is that one simply shouldn't charge friends for professional services. Let them reciprocate when they can in the way that they can.

If you charge your friend too little, (s)he'll not value your contribution. If you charge the full bore amount, (s)he'll wonder why you're being so tough on a friend.

Do it for and with love and you'll be happy for a lot longer than if you're paid.

[Tanasy]

As a rule I consider my work and profession as a business. If the work is for a personal friend who owns a restaurant, it’s expected that they will benefit from your achievement. Therefore I would say to charge her $100.00 dollars for each item = $1500 dollars and provide the recipes, cost analysis & training in the plate composing. This should be about a week’s amount of work, give or take day or two. Leaving your friend gratefully satisfied. I think this is a good negotiation.

Tanasy