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Occasionby Salty & Clever
Night record

Planning here works on its own. Once a night starts, it travels between the three tools by itself.

Compare

Two routes through the same night

Buffet or seated for the same menu — what does each one cost you in hours, in money, and in whether you get to sit down? Both plans are built by the same engine that builds the one you host from, and everything you do not vary is held identical.

The arithmetic is here. The argument about what a sideboard does to a room is over at Hosting and Service.

Current plan You have not built a plan yet, so this starts from the worked example. Build one on Plan and it will replace this side.

Go and build one
Step 01

What do you want to vary?

Everything you do not touch is held identical on both sides, so whatever the comparison reports is caused by the levers below and nothing else.

How will plates leave the kitchen?

now: Seated

Guests
8

same as now

Who is helping?
1

same as now

Day-of windowhours before service
5 h

same as now

How ambitious should the menu be?

same as now

Budget

same as now

Neither route is hostable as declared. Neither route can happen as declared — Seated has 2 hard stops, Buffet has 1. Fix a stop on one of them before comparing anything else. Comparing the money and the hours of two plans that both stop would be answering the wrong question.

Step 02

What actually changes

Now

Seated

60/100

Hands-on
206 min
A head
$20.61
Hard stops
2
If

Buffet

80/100

Hands-on
103 min
A head
$13.53
Hard stops
1
The decision

Neither route is hostable as declared.

Neither route can happen as declared — Seated has 2 hard stops, Buffet has 1. Fix a stop on one of them before comparing anything else. Comparing the money and the hours of two plans that both stop would be answering the wrong question.

What Buffet buys you
  • Cost a head $20.61 → $13.53
  • Hands-on time 3h 26m → 1h 43m
  • Made ahead 33% → 63%
  • Feasibility index 60/100 → 80/100
What it costs you

Nothing.

Different, not better
  • Hard stops 2 stops → 1 stop
  • How the night runs seated → buffet
  • Do you sit down yes, at the table → no, on your feet
  • On each plate 943 g → 654 g
Stops on Seated · current plan
Must-fix · the plan stops here

  • Seating has not been declared

    8 guests are expected, but seats were not stated. The plan will not invent chairs.

    Correction Enter the real seat count, or switch service style to buffet or grazing.

  • The kitchen has not been surveyed

    1 oven, 4 burners, a normal fridge and a medium counter are a starting position nobody has checked. Every timing and capacity figure below rests on them.

    Correction Open the kitchen panel, enter the real figures, and mark the kitchen surveyed. The plan will not go and look for you.

Stops on Buffet · hypothetical
Must-fix · the plan stops here

  • The kitchen has not been surveyed

    1 oven, 4 burners, a normal fridge and a medium counter are a starting position nobody has checked. Every timing and capacity figure below rests on them.

    Correction Open the kitchen panel, enter the real figures, and mark the kitchen surveyed. The plan will not go and look for you.

What decides it

Differences big enough to host the night differently for.

  • Can it happenDecides itRoute stops

    Hard stops

    Now · Seated

    2 stops

    If · Buffet

    1 stop

    Neither route can happen as declared — Seated has 2 hard stops, Buffet has 1. Fix a stop on one of them before comparing anything else.

  • MoneyDecisiveBetter

    Cost a head

    Now · Seated

    $20.61

    If · Buffet

    $13.53

    Buffet costs $7.08 less a head — $56.58 less across the whole night.

  • Your timeDecisiveBetter

    Hands-on time

    Now · Seated

    3h 26m

    If · Buffet

    1h 43m

    Buffet asks 1h 43m less of your own hands.

  • Your timeDecisiveBetter

    Made ahead

    Now · Seated

    33%

    If · Buffet

    63%

    29% more of the cooking moves off the day itself — that is work you do while nobody is arriving.

  • The night itselfDecisiveDifferent

    How the night runs

    Now · Seated

    seated

    If · Buffet

    buffet

    Seated means everyone sits down and the food comes to them. Buffet means guests get up and serve themselves. That is a choice about the evening, not a number to optimise.

    Not on a scale Neither service style is better. One is the night you want; the other is the night you can staff.

  • The night itselfDecisiveDifferent

    Do you sit down

    Now · Seated

    yes, at the table

    If · Buffet

    no, on your feet

    Buffet takes you off the chair: you are refilling and clearing while people help themselves.

    Not on a scale Some hosts want the seat; some want the room to move. The plan cannot pick for you.

Worth knowing

Real, and worth a look before you commit — but not on their own a reason.

  • Can it happenWorth knowingBetter

    Feasibility index

    Now · Seated

    60/100

    If · Buffet

    80/100

    20 points more margin against your equipment, time and hands.

  • How much foodWorth knowingDifferent

    On each plate

    Now · Seated

    943 g

    If · Buffet

    654 g

    289 g less on each plate. Both are inside the band a host would call a proper portion.

    Not on a scale Both plates sit inside the band where a portion reads right, so more grams is a preference, not an improvement.

  • Kitchen loadWorth knowingDifferent

    What runs out first

    Now · Seated

    Counter — the day itself

    If · Buffet

    Oven — the day before

    The pinch moves from counter to oven. Buffet does not free the kitchen; it changes what you would have to solve.

    Not on a scale A different bottleneck is a different problem, not a smaller one — whether an oven or your own hands is the ceiling depends on what you can borrow.

  • The night itselfWorth knowingDifferent

    What is on the table

    Now · Seated

    9 dishes

    If · Buffet

    8 dishes

    Gains Single-pot dhal with toast, No-bake pantry flapjack; loses Carrot & ginger soup, Chickpea & squash tagine, Dark chocolate pots.

    Not on a scale A different menu is a different dinner. Nothing in the arithmetic says which one your guests would rather eat.

Marginal

Measurable. Small.

  • How much foodMarginalDifferent

    Portions left over

    Now · Seated

    25

    If · Buffet

    15

    10 fewer spare portions on Buffet.

    Not on a scale You asked for some leftovers, not a number of them — neither figure is the right one.

4 figures moved below the level anyone would notice
  • Pressure on the host13% used → 14% used
  • Drinks to pour27 → 30
  • Kitchen headroom73/100 → 75/100
  • Menu balance100/100 → 100/100
What you changed to get here
  • Service style: seated → buffet
Step 03

Take one of them forward

Adopting saves the hypothetical as a set of conditions on this device and opens Plan, where one press loads it — with a diff first, so nothing you have tuned disappears without being shown to you.

Keep the current plan

Carries a stop Buffet does not currently work as declared. Adopting it takes the stop with it — Plan will show the correction, but the night is not hostable until you make it.

Both figures are planning estimates from your declared conditions, not quotes and not promises. Dietary readings are planning filters, not an allergen guarantee.