The kitchen stays in command.

Every prep, labor, pricing, ordering, and service call is presented as a suggestion for a manager to approve, edit, or reject.

The product is designed so the chef, GM and owner stay the decision-makers. The model surfaces options and trade-offs; people make the call. We will never ship a feature that bypasses that loop without an explicit, opt-in setting from the owner.

Daily briefs, prep plans, labor calls and pricing nudges are meant to be read and approved before they take effect. We encourage operators to treat MarginKitchen as a senior analyst who hands you a short list every morning — not as an autopilot.

Every recommendation shows three things alongside the number:

• The data sources it used (POS history, weather, invoices, schedule, etc.).
• The assumptions it made (for example, '4-week average minus last Sunday outlier').
• A confidence label and the cost of ignoring the recommendation.

When there isn't enough history to forecast confidently — a new location, a new menu, a holiday with no prior data — the system says so. Outputs are labeled "low confidence" with the reason, so operators know to lean on judgement.

Any par, price, labor call, sub or 86 decision can be overridden in one tap. Overrides are logged with the actor and the original recommendation, and they feed back into the model so future briefs respect how you actually run service.

After each shift, MarginKitchen reconciles forecast vs actual covers, prep vs waste, and theoretical vs real food cost. Those actuals — and your overrides — shape the next forecast inside your organization. Cross-customer training only happens with your explicit, written consent.

Margin Kitchen is decision support for restaurant operations. It should not be used as the sole source of truth for:

• Food safety, allergen, or HACCP compliance decisions.
• Employment legality — minimum hours, breaks, overtime, scheduling laws.
• Tax, accounting or regulatory filings.
• Any decision that affects the safety of guests or staff.

For those decisions, follow the relevant regulations and consult qualified professionals. Recommendations from Margin Kitchen are a starting point, not a substitute.