Balthazar Served 1,003 People Last Friday Brunch, and More Crazy Numbers

Restaurateur Keith McNally’s Balthazar turns 20 today. It’s open 365 days a year, with people working 24 hours a day to make that happen. According to the company’s management and At Balthazar: The New York Brasserie at the Center of the World, a new book by author Reggie Nadelson, here’s how the French brasserie that has captured New York City’s imagination for the past two decades works, by the numbers:

330: Number of staff, per Erin Wendt, Balthazar’s general manager and deputy director of the company. According to Nadelson: “It took one executive chef, two assistant general managers, seven managers, four maitre d’s, ten hosts, one wine director, one wine assistant, the cellar master, ten bartenders, three barbacks, 49 waiters, 14 runners, 47 bussers, 6 sous chefs, 1 pastry chef, 25 line cooks, 15 prep cooks, 8 raw bar prep cooks, 6 stewards, 15 porters, 13 dishwashers plus bakery staff.”

$25 million: Sales per year

1 million: Meals served each year

1,500: Approximate number of meals served each day

3: Types of VIPs at Balthazar, marked A, AA, or AAA in the reservation system

60, 61, 62: The numbers of the most sought-after tables; they are three big red booths in the back

84: Degree at which the mirrors on the wall are tilted so diners can see themselves and the rest of the room

$2.85: Cost, to staff, of a staff meal, whether that’s breakfast — eggs, ham, sausage, or eggs Benedict — lunch or dinner, which is always protein with carbs and vegetables

$70,000: Amount the chef spends on food each week; It goes up to between $90,000 and $120,000 during Christmastime

24: percent of the restaurant’s revenue that was spent on food; 32-35 percent of the restaurant’s revenue spent on labor and benefits; 8-10 percent on operating costs; 8 percent to admin; 3 percent to repairs; 12-15 percent to rent

$88,000: Said to be Balthazar’s monthly rent in 2014; rumor has it the rent went up to $280,000 last year

15: Number of walk-in coolers

2013: The year Balthazar’s original chefs left and Shane McBride took over as chef de cuisine.

400-700: number of people served per weekday; 1,000 at brunch

1: Refrigerated trash room, to help with the smell

2000: Year the bread bakery moved from the basement to a facility in Englewood, NJ

2: Times a day baguettes are baked at the Englewood, NJ bakery

3: Months it takes for the cattle that produces the beef used at Balthazar to get to its full weight, 300 pounds

200: Number of seafood towers sold each month

48: Approximate number of wine glasses that break each month

700: Average number of bottles of wine sold per week, excluding wine by the glass

$4,000: Menu price of the most expensive bottle of wine on the wine list, a Corton–Charlemagne Grand Cru J-F Coche-Dury 08'

138: Average number of cocktails sold per day

$300 for a 2-ounce pour: Price of the most expensive shot you can order at the bar, of Remy Martin Louis XIII

14,000: Square feet of the bakery in Englewood, which makes all of the bread and croissants

19: Number of bakery trucks that deliver bread to Balthazar and other wholesale clients throughout the city

60: Large round loaves of bread emblazoned with the company’s signature B that are produced each day

2: Stars the NYT gave the restaurant in 2004, the last time it was reviewed

12-15: Number of cases of potatoes used per day for Balthazar’s french fries

10: Cases of wine Balthazar orders at a time

$10,000: Amount of Chateau du Taillan sold per month at Balthazar

$400: The approximate price of chef Shane McBride’s Japanese knife

1: Time a mirror came off the wall; 1 customer was injured

10: Number of playing cards stuck to the restaurant’s ceiling

• All Balthazar Coverage [ENY]