Between 2019 and 2026 the freelance service pool in most European cities shrank and then repriced. Captains who cost 30 euros an hour now cost 45 to 55, and the best of them are booked for December by September. Food inflation gets the headlines; wage inflation is what actually moved private dining prices.
What it means in practice
Book staff before you book a menu for any date in a peak window, and name people in the contract rather than accepting a head count. The difference between a captain who has run two hundred dinners and an agency temp is not small, and at twenty four guests it is the whole evening.
Where hosts get it wrong
Cutting one server from a 6,000 euro dinner to save 200 euros. The brigade ratios exist because a plated course has a temperature window; break the ratio and the last four guests eat a different dinner. The staff planner gives you the numbers for your format and your market.
