This needs context, I’m also on mobile so the formating may be off a little im sorry.

I’m a chef and I work in a restaorant with a diverse menu, there s only 3 of us. Me and 2 helpers on shift ( 3 on the other shift ) it s a lot of work but we have our systems, due to the menu being diverse we usually prefere to do some things on the spot if an order comes in, for example, tomato salsa which is just cubed tomatos with olive oil, basil, and condiments, since it s used in only 2 dishes we prefere to do it on the spot so it s as fresh as possible, it defenetly adds to our work load and maybe the order takes an extra 2-3 minutes to come out but it s better then having it pre-made and ending up thrown out if it s not used.

We also do small portions for things we know don’t get asked for so often but we can’t make them on the spot like sauces which need time to cool down and thicken. Our boss knows about all of this and of course he preferes this system since almost nothing goes bad and ends up being thrown away.

The issue we had a few weeks ago is this:

My boss’s sister had a reservation for about 15 people and EVERY SINGLE ONE of thoese girls wanted baked potatoes as a side dish for their main, we did not have 15 portions of baked potatoes on hand since it s something that doesn’t get asked for often and we only baked about 6-7 portions that morning since they take about 45min- 1h to be done, this wasn’t a problem in the past but our boss got in our faces screaming at us that we weren’t ready, we embarrassed him in front of his family, we were being lazy and from now on he needs us to be prepared for everything for alacarte.

We followed through, for the next 2.5 months we prepared for EVERYTHING, 20 portions of baked potato per day that we throw out in maximum 2 days? Done. Salsas made in advance for 10+ portions? Done. Soups? Done. We also communicated the bosses order to the other shift and they started doing the same. We prepared everything in bulk, nothing we could run out of.

The consequences were catastrofical for the business, everything went up in costs significantly from the materials we used to utility bills. When it came close to the ending of the year and the big inventory came, our boss finally noticed how much money he lost for his tantrum. We simply played stupid and told him we did exactly as he told us to.