Manage 95 percent of your business down to the last penny, spend the last 5

The Rule of 95/5 would turn out to be one of my central operating principles at Eleven Madison Park. Wine pairings - a taste of wine to accompany each course in a tasting menu - are common in fine dining. And, as with everything, there was a budget for what we could spend on those pairings. But instead of splitting that budget evenly across all the wines we served, which is how it’s often done, I’d ask our sommeliers to select slightly less expensive wines for the majority of the courses (these were no less excellent, because our wine director was so expert and our cellar was so diverse). Then, at the end, we could splurge on one special, rare, and more expensive glass.

If you love wine, it’s always exciting to drink Grand Cru Burgundy. But the chance to do so almost never happens during ordinary wine