Inside the Work · Venn Advisory

the specimen

pdf · eight pages · also in portuguese

grass pea falafel · tomato water · black sesame.

eight pages, adapted from the kitchen’s own working specification. the structure, the controls and a good part of the production data are intact. formulations, critical steps and some figures are withheld, and a shaded field marks each one so that the field itself stays visible.

01
operating specification
what the document is, and what it covers
02
the dish
components, course record, allergens, producers
03
sourcing
who grows what, procurement controls, the facts about grass pea
04
preparation i
tomato water and the lacto-ferment, with by-products routed
05
preparation ii
the falafel and the chutney, with reject rules
06
the arithmetic
batch to service, one input three outputs, labour, cost
07
service assembly
six moves at the pass, in order, photographed
08
controls
what has to be true before it leaves, and what changes at scale

three things from inside it

batch to service

dried grass pea, one batch1.000 kg

portions at 3 per plate44

seats in the room26

full services per batch

refrigerated hold before cooking2 days

batch cadence

the batch size was not chosen for the food processor. it was chosen so that a kilo of a crop we asked a grower to plant is used inside its hold, every time, on a 26-seat room. change the room and this number changes first.

one input, three outputs

tomatoes in4.000 kg

salt at 2%80 g

tomato water out, clearapprox. 60 portions

pulp out, reservedto the ferment

chutney out1.2 to 1.4 kg

brine out, starter for the next fermentreserved

the pulp from the water goes into the ferment. the brine from the ferment starts the next one. nothing from this course goes in the bin by design.

reject at the pass if

the water is cloudy, or warm

the falafel have cracked in the fryer, or are fewer than three

the fennel has gone soft: it was cut too early

the flowers are wilted. last thing on, first thing seen

a specification that does not say what failure looks like is a recipe. this one does, for every component.

every ferment carries its name and start date on the jar

red currants, the morning they arrived

four seasons of one ingredient

one ingredient, four menus, more commitment only when the food and the supply held.

early autumn 2025carrot terrineacorn as a foam. a garnish on a dish that survives without it.
winter 2025kamut pastablended into the dough for the first time. one component of one dish.
spring 2026polenta and wild mushroomsstructural, still carried by other things on the plate.
summer 2026lasagnettethree flours cut into ribbons. the dish depends on it.

what we weigh, every time: cost per kilo, reliability of supply, handling in service, what it does for the dish. acorn flour from landratech, blended with barbela and khorasan rather than substituted, passed all four, and the supply held every time we asked more of it.

what changes at scale

the second document is a study, and says so.

at four hundred covers this is a different document. the batch is set by what the combi and the fryer can take, the falafel are cooked in batches and regenerated, the tomato water sets the prep schedule because it cannot be hurried, and the ferments need dates on a calendar. we have not run this at that scale. the scale study working it through is in preparation, and it will be labelled as a study, not as work we have delivered.

a finished plate, handed across the pass

the pass, july 2026

what a client receives

the same structure, for your own menu, complete.

a diagnostic returns this document for one course of yours, alongside a written plan for the problem you brought us, with your purchasing data behind every cost line and your constraints, not ours, setting the numbers. from €2,500, credited against the project fee if you go on.

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