Vacation Cafe
KITCHEN NOTE 06SEASONAL

Seasons & Events

Spring through winter: tourist waves, Ferragosto, the wine festival, and what to stock.

Evening service: the signal that Prosecco hour has begun
▲ Steam screenshot — Evening service: the signal that Prosecco hour has begun

Spring · Reopening (Year 1 opener)

Trickling tourists, returning regulars — the practice season.

Stock: Standard amounts. Daily dairy, practice recipes.

  • •Easter egg hunt on the square (pure sightseeing)
  • •Regulars' "usuals" start forming — write down what they order

Summer · Tourist Waves (incl. Ferragosto)

PEAK SEASON

The revenue core of the year. Ferragosto week (around Aug 15): tourism ×2.

Stock: Flour ×2.5, gelato stock maxed, prosecco price-locked in advance. Seafood stays daily — do not copy the bulk camp here.

  • •Ferragosto: biggest revenue window of the year and its biggest stockout warning
  • •Evening prosecco hour extends by one
  • •Heatwaves: gelato and spritz demand spikes

Autumn · Wine Festival

Tourists ebb, locals return — average ticket actually rises.

Stock: Wine aplenty; root vegetables cheapen; seafood hits its best (autumn catch).

  • •Wine festival: winery direct price -10% more — the price-lock camp's annual party
  • •Falling leaves: terrace ambience -5; the moment lighting pays off
  • •Regulars' birthday season (three of them; remember the cakes)

Winter · Slow Season & Hearth

Tourists nearly gone; just regulars and you. Lowest revenue, favorite season of many.

Stock: Stock flour and sugar; panettone proofs for 10 minutes — perfect errand window.

  • •Christmas week: town lights up, hidden indoor ambience +10
  • •New Year: the annual settlement and achievement checkpoint
  • •Snow: terrace camp's first regret, hearth camp's first smugness

The Ferragosto playbook (survivors' notes)

  • 01T-3 days: winery price-lock (prosecco hits its annual low right before the festival).
  • 02T-2 days: flour to ×2.5 normal. Do NOT stock mozzarella early (2-day shelf; farm-direct the day before).
  • 03T-1 day: gelato stock full; cut the menu to six dishes — everyone who ran ten dishes during the wave cried.
  • 04The day: batch cooking (threes of a kind); prosecco sells out by 6pm more likely than not — hang the SOLD OUT board with pride.
  • 05After: every regular gains +2 rep (they watched you hold the line). Rest a day. Go to the beach.

▸ Year-one Ferragosto is not about max profit. It is about: no stockouts, no collapse, no losing your coziness.