Seasonal · Winter 2026
The holiday money.
Time60 minutes this week
You needYour calendar, your private dining notes
You leave withA gift card push, a holiday party plan, a New Year’s Eve menu and a plan for January
November and December bring money that doesn’t exist the rest of the year: gift cards bought by people who may never have eaten with you, office parties booked weeks ahead, one night where every seat is worth more. Then January goes quiet. The restaurants that do best plan all four at once, now.
The calendar
| When | What | Chapter |
|---|---|---|
| This week | Holiday party packages and minimum spends ready; reply template set | 8 |
| This week | Email local offices, regulars and past event guests about holiday parties | 7, 8 |
| By mid-November | Gift cards on the host stand, the check presenter, your website and Instagram | 9 |
| By mid-November | New Year’s Eve menu set, priced and bookable with a deposit | 5, 8 |
| Early December | Gift card reminder to your guest list | 7 |
| Mid-December | January plan ready: a slow-night offer, a January-only dish, a letter to the list | 6, 7 |
Gift cards that also fill January
A gift card is cash now and a guest later, often a new one. Make it easy to buy and give people a reason to buy it from you.
- Put them everywhere people already are: host stand, check presenter, website, Instagram bio, your email list.
- Use a bonus to move visits into your slow season. For example: buy a $100 gift card, get a $20 bonus card to use in January or February. The cash comes in now; the bonus brings someone in during your quietest weeks.
- Keep the rules clear. Purchased gift cards and promotional bonus cards can follow different rules. Print the terms on the card and check your state’s gift card rules.
- Track what’s outstanding. Unredeemed gift cards are money you owe in meals. Your accountant will want the number.
Holiday parties
Use your minimum spends, packages and reply from Chapter 8; the Private Event Builder works them out. Two additions for the season:
- Ask before they ask. Email past event guests, regulars and nearby offices with your holiday packages and open dates (Prompt 1).
- Push weekday dates. December weeknights fill fastest at a fair price; save your Saturday minimums for the groups that want Saturdays.
New Year’s Eve
One night, every table at a premium. Keep it simple and decided in advance:
- A set menu, built from your Stars (Chapter 2), with one special course.
- Two seatings with fixed times, so you turn the room once on purpose.
- A deposit or prepayment for every booking (Chapter 5). Nobody no-shows on a night you could have sold three times.
- A price that works on paper first. Prompt 2 checks it.
The prompts
Prompt 1 · Holiday party outreach
Write a short email inviting [past event guests / regulars / local offices] to book their holiday party with us. Our packages: [paste from Chapter 8]. Open dates: [list, weeknights first]. One clear next step: reply with a date and party size. Under 100 words, warm, no hard sell, no exclamation marks.
Prompt 2 · The New Year’s Eve menu
Build a New Year’s Eve set menu for two seatings at [times] from these dishes: [paste your Stars and their plate costs]. Add one special course. Suggest a price per person for each seating, the plate cost, the contribution per guest and the total contribution if we sell [number] seats per seating. Add an optional drinks pairing. Show your working.
Prompt 3 · The gift card push
Write gift card copy for: a small sign at the host stand (under 15 words), a line for the check presenter (under 15 words), an Instagram caption (under 50 words) and an email to our guest list (under 80 words). Include our bonus offer: [offer and dates]. In our voice.
What you leave with
Everything from this chapter you can keep. No email needed.
- This chapter’s 3 promptsReady to paste into your AI assistant. Fill in the [brackets] first.
- The prompt libraryEvery prompt in the guide, by chapter, as one PDF.