Ristorante Italia
Ristorante Italia Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
What Is the Object of the Game and How Do You Win?
In Ristorante Italia, the Chef who has been most skillful at managing their own restaurant by the end of the game, accumulating the most victory points, wins. There are various strategies that can lead a Restaurant to success. In the Light version, points are accumulated by preparing recipes and adding them to your menu, pairing them with the right wines, using your bank account correctly, managing to cook recipes with the best characteristics to win the critic's favor, collecting stars and golden spoons, and securing the visit of the VIP of the moment — just like in a real restaurant. In the Classic version the game becomes even more complete, adding the possibility of furnishing your establishment, hiring new staff, and improving your own culinary skills, using a few tricks to season your recipes. In what proportion, and with what "type" of restaurant you want to compete, is up to you — the game leaves room for creativity. Let's look at how to play in detail.
Contents for the Light Version
- 30 Antipasto Recipe Cards
- 30 First Course Recipe Cards
- 30 Main Course Recipe Cards
- 18 Dessert Recipe Cards
- 40 Wine Cards
- 93 Coins in various denominations
- 6 "Chef's Hat" pawns — 1 per player, plus 1 for the Calendar
- 5 Spoon tiles
- 5 Restaurant Specialty tiles
- 10 Food Category Specialty tiles
- 4 VIP tiles
- 150 Ingredient tiles
- 5 Plastic Cups, one per player
- 1 Game Board
- 5 Restaurant Boards, one per player
Light Version Setup
To play the Light version of Ristorante Italia you will need the materials listed above; you can leave the extra materials in the game box. Tip: if all players help set up the game, you'll start playing sooner. Follow steps 1 through 9.
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Place the Main Board at the center of the table.
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Shop Reserves. Remove all the ingredient tiles from the punch-boards. Divide them by color, turn them face down, shuffle them, and form a pile for each of the 5 groups: Butcher (red), Fish Market (blue), Grocery (gray), Fruit Seller (yellow), Vegetable Seller (green). Place the piles next to the board: these are the shop reserves. From each reserve, draw 6 ingredients and lay them out visibly in the spaces of their shop, as shown in the figure.
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Bank. Remove all the coins from the punch-boards, divide them by denomination and place them near the board to form the bank. Remove the Specialty tiles, the Star tiles, and the Golden Spoon tiles from the punch-boards, divide them by type, and place them near the bank.
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Each player chooses a color and takes the Restaurant board, the plastic cup, and the "Chef's Hat" pawn of the chosen color. Place the players' pawns on the Cook-o-meter at the first position, the one marked "10". Each player takes coins from the Bank totaling 25 and puts them inside their own cup.
ATTENTION: Throughout the game, every player must keep their money secret, keeping it inside their own cup.
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VIP tiles. Take the 4 VIP tiles, remove them from their punch-board, and place them above the corresponding spaces on the board, as in the example.
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Calendar marker. Take the calendar marker (the white Chef's Hat) and place it on space 1 of the upper horizontal strip (the Calendar).
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Recipe Books & Wines. Take all the recipe cards and divide them by type, forming 4 separate decks: the Antipasti deck, the First Courses deck, the Main Courses deck, and the Desserts deck. Shuffle the decks and place them next to the board, within reach of all players, as shown in the figure. Also take the wine deck, shuffle it, and place it next to the recipe decks, as shown in the figure.
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You're ready to play! Decide who among you is the best cook: they will be the first player in the first round of the game.
At the top of the board is a calendar that marks the four phases of the game. Each phase is made up of 3 normal rounds and 3 special rounds. The special rounds are: the Culinary Critic Round, the VIP Round, and the Cash-In Round. The special rounds of the last phase are different — we'll look at them in detail further on.
Normal Rounds
In these rounds we try to draw useful recipes and gather ingredients so we can cook them during the Culinary Critic round. Players take turns clockwise. On their turn, a player may perform two actions, chosen from:
A. Draw a Recipe card or a Wine card, or
B. Buy an Ingredient
A player may choose the same action twice, or combine them in whichever order they prefer. The round ends when all players have performed their two actions. The marker on the calendar is moved forward one position and a new round of play begins. Each player therefore has exactly 6 actions before the Special Rounds that end each phase of the game. Let's look at the available actions in detail.
A. Draw a Recipe Card or a Wine Card
The player chooses which deck to draw from (Antipasti, First Courses, Main Courses, Desserts, or Wines) and takes five cards. Once the cards are drawn, the player chooses one to keep and returns the others to their respective discard piles (keep the discard piles separated by type).
If the chosen card is a Recipe (Antipasto, First Course, Main Course, Dessert), the player adds it to their hand, keeping it hidden from the other players.
If the chosen card is a Wine, the player immediately pays its cost to the bank and places it face up in their restaurant, in the designated space (right side of the board). If the player cannot pay for any of the 5 wines, they lose the action: wines never go into a player's hand. A player may never have more than 3 wines inside their restaurant — it is always possible to discard a wine to make room for a new one.
Attention: There is no limit to the number of recipe cards you may draw and hold in hand.
If, when drawing, a deck runs out of cards, the player takes the remaining cards, reshuffles the discard pile to form a new deck to draw from, and takes the remaining cards needed to complete their choice of 5 cards.
B. Buy an Ingredient
The player chooses one ingredient among the 6 available at a shop, pays its cost, and places it in their restaurant's pantry (the 6 spaces at the top right of the Restaurant board), then replaces the bought ingredient in the shop with one drawn from the corresponding reserve. The ingredient's cost is shown on the tile as a dark gray coin. A player may never have more than 6 ingredients inside their Restaurant. However, they may always discard an ingredient to make room for a newly bought one.
Before or after buying an ingredient, as part of the same action, the player may choose to change out all the ingredients displayed at any one shop: to do this, they place all the ingredients of the chosen shop into a face-up discard pile and draw 6 new ones (at random) from the reserve to lay out on the board.
We recommend creating these discard piles on the opposite side of the board from where you placed the shop reserves, so you don't get confused when drawing. On the next page you'll find an illustrated example of this action.
If, when drawing from a reserve, the ingredients have run out, thoroughly shuffle the discard pile to form a new reserve and draw the needed ingredients.
Recipe Card: Description
- Recipe Type: reminds you whether this recipe is an Antipasto, a First Course, a Main Course, or a Dessert.
- Recipe Name.
- Food Category Specialty: indicates whether a recipe is Meat, Fish, Vegetarian, or valid for all three specialties.
- Restaurant Specialty: indicates whether a recipe is for agriturismi (farm restaurants) or for high-class restaurants. If no icon is present, the recipe doesn't count for any specialty.
- List of Ingredients: this part lists the ingredients needed to make the recipe. Each ingredient has a background colored the same as its shop of origin, so you can tell at a glance which shop carries a given ingredient.
- Difficulty: the number of chef's hats needed to cook the recipe. As long as your pawn remains below space 20 on the Cook-o-meter, you can only cook one-hat recipes. Once you reach or pass that space, you can cook two-hat recipes. To cook three-hat recipes you must reach the top of the Cook-o-meter.
- Cash-In: indicates how much money you will collect during the Cash-In Round once you've added the recipe to your menu.
- Prestige Points: indicates the recipe's value in prestige points.
- Wine Pairing: indicates which wine can be paired with the recipe to earn more points.
Wine Card: Description
- Name: the name of the wine.
- Type: the color of the card tells you whether the wine is red or white.
- Cost: the number of coins you must pay to activate the wine in your restaurant.
- Cash-In: indicates how much money you will collect during the Cash-In Round once you've added the wine to your menu.
- Prestige Points: indicates the wine's value in prestige points.
Wines are very important in the game: they let you increase your restaurant's cash-in, and you can try to combine them with your recipes to earn more points at the end of the game.
Example: Federico wants to buy pork for one of his recipes, but he also needs potatoes, which are absent from the vegetable shop. He decides to buy the pork and change out the ingredients on sale at the Vegetable Seller. He pays the cost of the Pork (4) to the bank, adds it to his Restaurant, and replaces it in the shop with a new ingredient drawn from the reserve (the Turkey). He then puts all 6 ingredients displayed at the Vegetable Seller into the corresponding discard basket and draws 6 new ones: fortunately the Potatoes he needed are among them! He'll be able to buy them with his next action.
Special Rounds
After the three normal rounds, the special rounds that close out the phase are triggered. During these rounds no action is performed; instead, the rules described below are used. Also, players no longer take turns in order. In these rounds, each player will try to cook as many recipes as possible, collect as much income as possible, and welcome VIPs to their establishment through advertising.
Culinary Critic Round
In this round, players reveal from their hand the recipes they can and want to cook, adding them to their menu. This way they can present them to the Critic to improve their position on the Cook-o-meter. Starting with the first player, each player places, face up in front of themselves, their chosen recipes. To cook a recipe, the player must have, inside their restaurant's pantry, the necessary ingredients. They must also have enough chef's hats (see point 6 of the Recipe Card description). The player must discard the ingredients used and return them to the discard piles of the corresponding shops.
Strategic Tip: Not all recipes can be made in a single phase of the game. Some, especially the harder ones or those with more ingredients, require more planning and more actions to complete: keep them in hand so you can make them later in the game.
Any recipe not cooked stays in the player's hand, available to be cooked later.
Attention: If two or more recipes need the same ingredient, the player must have that ingredient two or more times in their pantry. Each recipe consumes the ingredients listed on the card.
When all players have cooked their recipes, they present them to the Culinary Critic, who rewards the best cook. Add up the prestige points of the recipes you cooked in this round. The player with the most points is the winner and wins over the Culinary Critic's tastes: move their "Chef's Hat" pawn three spaces forward on the Cook-o-meter. The second-place player is rewarded with an advance of only two spaces. All other players advance by only one space.
In case of a tie, consult the box at the end of this rulebook.
After moving the pawns, take the presented recipes and add them to the menu on your Restaurant board. A player may never have more than 2 recipes per type in their menu (2 Antipasti, 2 First Courses, 2 Main Courses, 2 Desserts). A player may, if they wish, discard a recipe from their menu to make room for other recipes (or discard the one just cooked).
Example: We're at the Culinary Critic phase. Federico has in hand the recipes shown here, and the ingredients listed below the cards. He would like to present all the recipes to add them to his menu, but unfortunately he can't: he would need two Mushrooms, an Artichoke, a Cheese, and a Veal, but he's missing one Mushroom. He decides instead to spend all the ingredients he has available to make the Woodsman-Style Artichokes and the Veal Roast. Alternatively, Federico could have made the Sautéed Mushrooms and the Veal Roast, keeping the Artichokes and the Cheese in his pantry for future phases.
Attention: As seen in the example, ingredients not used at the end of the phase remain in the pantry for later phases.
After presenting their recipes, Federico has a total of 10 points. Silvia has a total of 11 points, Giulio has a total of 8 points, while Riccardo only managed to make one recipe, for a total of 4 points. Silvia is first, advancing 3 spaces on the Cook-o-meter, followed by Federico with two spaces, and finally Riccardo and Giulio with one space each.
VIP Round
A very important person in the city wants to have dinner! During this round, players take part in an advertising contest to attract the VIP and bring them to dine at their establishment. Each player decides how much money to invest in advertising, placing it inside their own hand and keeping it closed in a fist, so their bid stays secret. Once every player has decided their bid, everyone reveals the coins inside their hand at the same time. The player who bid the most money pays the coins to the bank, takes the VIP tile, places it in the designated frame on their Restaurant board, and receives a Star tile to add to the sign of their establishment (VIP tiles are worth no points; they are purely decorative). The other players must pay half their bid (rounded down) to the bank, but they end up empty-handed regardless.
In case of a tie, consult the box at the end of this rulebook.
Strategic Tip: Each Star is worth 10 prestige points at the end of the game: winning many VIPs will help you win the game. But don't overdo it with your bids — you could end up with too little money to develop your game.
Example: Red Glove's publisher is in town for a local fair. The players take part in the advertising contest, betting their money and showing their closed fists to their opponents. Once everyone has placed their bid, they reveal the contents of their hand. Federico bid only one coin, Silvia bid 5, Riccardo bid 12, and Giulio, meanwhile, has an empty hand. The VIP is won by Riccardo, who pays the money to the bank. Federico, Silvia, and Giulio end up empty-handed: Federico pays nothing, having bid only one coin, while Silvia must pay two coins (half of 5, rounded down). Giulio doesn't have to pay anything.
Cash-In Round
In this round, each player collects their restaurant's earnings. Add up all the cash-in values shown on the recipes and wines active in your menu. Take that sum from the bank and add it to your money inside your cup. Remember that any cash-in value in the game is always shown with a light gray coin icon, while costs are always shown with dark gray coin icons.
ATTENTION: Once activated in your establishment, recipes remain active for the whole game, contributing to the Restaurant's cash-in. You don't need to buy the ingredients again to keep them active.
End of Phase
At the end of each phase, players don't have to give anything back: whatever they've accumulated remains in their menus, and any ingredients taken but not used remain in their pantries. If players have recipe cards in hand, they can keep them for future rounds. Move the marker on the Calendar forward one space to indicate the start of the new phase. Take all the ingredients from the shop discard baskets and put them back into the corresponding reserves. The first player of the new phase will be the player lowest on the Cook-o-meter. In case of a tie, consult the box at the end of this rulebook.
Last Phase: Very Special Rounds
The closing rounds of the last phase differ from those normally played. Let's look at them in detail.
Taste Guide
The moment has finally come to prepare next year's new Taste Guide: the critic is ready to judge your menus.
The first part of this round works exactly like a Culinary Critic round. Players can cook new recipes and add them to their menu, discarding the necessary ingredients. After doing so, each player, in turn order, must present the Critic with a complete dinner, made up of an Antipasto, a First Course, a Main Course, and a Dessert, moving the cards above their restaurant.
If a player cannot present a complete menu, they will not take part in the Taste Guide round.
After every player has clearly displayed their dinner courses, add up the prestige points of the chosen courses: the player with the most prestige points is the winner and receives a Golden Spoon to place on the sign of their Restaurant.
In case of a tie, consult the box at the end of this rulebook.
In addition, the Critic will reward Restaurants that made particular taste choices in their courses. If the dinner is made up of recipes all coming from the same food category (e.g. all fish) the player receives the corresponding tile, which they can place on their restaurant, in the circles below the star spaces. This tile is worth 10 points at the end of the game. All the food categories are listed at point 3 of the Recipe Card description.
If the dinner is made up of recipes all coming from one type of restaurant (e.g. all agriturismo) the restaurant receives the corresponding tile, which they can place in the circles below the star spaces. This tile is worth 15 points at the end of the game. All the restaurant types are listed at point 4 of the Recipe Card description.
Strategic Tip: Specialty tiles are important for winning: plan carefully which recipes to make and present. Achieving both specialties (food category and restaurant type) is very difficult, but the 25 final points will reward the effort!
Example: Silvia presents the recipes shown below during the Taste Guide round. Adding up the points of the 4 recipes, she finds she has 21 points. Unfortunately Giulio has more points: he totals 24 points. Giulio thus earns a Golden Spoon to add to the sign of his establishment. Silvia, however, made sure to present a dinner made entirely of fish-based courses: the critic rewards her with the corresponding tile. Silvia would also like the golden fork, symbol of a high-class restaurant, but unfortunately the recipe "Baked Salmon" doesn't carry any Restaurant type.
VIP Round
This round is played exactly like all the previous VIP rounds.
Monetary Prize
During this round, the player who has saved the most money over the course of the game is rewarded. Count the money remaining in your cups: the player with the most money is the winner and receives a Star to place on the sign of their restaurant.
Strategic Tip: Watch out! In the last phase, nothing is cashed in! Try not to overextend yourself in the last VIP bid: betting too much money for the VIP but not winning it could also cost you the chance to win the Monetary Prize. If you're not very confident in your economic strength, aim for only one of the two bonuses!
Example: At the end of the game Federico has 57 coins in his cup, Silvia has 23, and Riccardo has 48. Federico receives a star to add to his restaurant.
National Cooking Competition
At the close of the year, the chefs take part in the National Cooking Competition, where they bring their best recipe. Starting with the first player in turn order, each player presents one, and only one, of the recipes cooked in their menu. The player who owns the recipe with the highest number of prestige points is the winner and receives 2 Golden Spoon tiles. The runner-up receives only one. Golden Spoons are worth 10 points at the end of the game.
In case of a tie, consult the box at the end of this rulebook.
ATTENTION: The recipe presented at the National Cooking Competition is one already active in the Restaurant: you don't need to pay for the ingredients again!
End of the Game
Once the National Cooking Competition is finished, it's time to count up the points. We recommend writing them down on a sheet, divided by category. If you like, you can download a pre-formatted scoresheet to print from our website.
- A. The score corresponding to your position on the Cook-o-meter. Note the score of the space your chef's hat pawn is on.
- B. The scores coming from the recipes and wines present in your menus. Add up all the prestige points shown on the recipe and wine cards active in your restaurant.
- C. 10 points for every Star present in your establishment (every establishment has one basic star already printed on the board itself).
- D. 10 points for every Golden Spoon present in your establishment.
- E. 10 points if the player has obtained a Food Category Specialty tile.
- F. 15 points if the player has obtained a Restaurant Type Specialty tile.
- G. 3 points for every wine-recipe combination the player managed to create. Every recipe can be paired with one wine. Every wine can be paired with multiple recipes. Each pairing is worth 3 points. For example, an Aglianico paired with 2 recipes is worth 6 points.
Add up the total. The player with the most points is the winner. In case of a tie, the tiebreaking rules described below apply.
Ties — How to Resolve Them
During a game you may find yourself in a tied situation. If this happens, the tie is resolved following this order:
- The player with the pawn furthest ahead (highest) on the Cook-o-meter wins the tie. If you are still tied,
- The player with the highest prestige-point recipe present in their menu wins the tie. If you are still tied,
- The player with the highest cash-in value recipe present in their menu wins the tie. If you are still tied,
- Turn order decides the tie: the player who played before the other wins the tie.
Classic Version
Components to Add for the Classic Version
- 1 Extra Board (with a space for Cooking Courses, a space for Bonus Cards, a pot for Extra Touch tiles, and a Rooms space)
- 14 "Phase 1" Bonus Cards
- 14 "Phase 2" Bonus Cards
- 3 "Cooking Course" tiles
- 5 Standard Rooms
- 4 Luxury Rooms
- 2 Super Luxury Rooms
- 17 "Extra Touch" tiles
Classic Version Setup
Follow the normal game setup. Once you've set up the components for the Light version on the table, move on to adding the Extra Board as follows.
- Place the Extra Board next to the Game Board.
- Bonus Cards — Separate the "Phase 1" bonus cards from the "Phase 2" bonus cards, forming two separate decks. Shuffle both decks thoroughly. Then place the "Phase 1" deck on top of the "Phase 2" deck and put the resulting deck in its designated space on the Extra Board, marked by the back of a bonus card. Then draw the first 7 cards of the deck and place them face up in the designated spaces.
- Room tiles — Remove the Room tiles from their punch-board and sort them by room type. Place them on the Extra Board in the designated spaces. The exact number of tiles to use varies according to the number of players in the game, and is marked directly on the board. For example, if you're playing with three chefs, you should place 3 Standard Rooms, 2 Luxury Rooms, and 1 Super Luxury Room.
- Extra Touch tiles — Take 2 Extra Touch tiles (3 if playing with five players) and place them in the pot. The exact number of tiles is marked as a reminder on the Board.
- Cooking Courses — Take the Cooking Course tiles and place them face up on the Extra Board's chalkboard. The exact number of tiles to use is marked on the Board and varies according to the number of players in the game.
How the Game Is Played
The game is played exactly as in the Light version, but on their turn, a player may choose to:
A. Draw a Recipe card or a Wine card (as in the Light version)
B. Buy an Ingredient (as in the Light version)
C. Perform an Extra action
The Extra action can be:
- C1. Take an Extra Touch tile
- C2. Buy a Bonus Card
- C3. Buy a Room
- C4. Buy a Cooking Course
As in the Light version, actions may always be performed in any combination, and each player only has two actions per round of play.
C1 — Take an Extra Touch Tile
Every good Chef always prepares concentrated flavors to bring out the best in their dishes, ready to use at the right moment...
The player simply takes an Extra Touch tile from the pot and puts it in their cup. This action cannot be performed if there are no Extra Touch tiles available in the pot.
During the Culinary Critic's visit, during the Taste Guide round, or during the National Cooking Competition, a player can use an Extra Touch tile to add a +1 bonus to the value of the recipes presented. This bonus is only useful for the current Visit/Competition: after use, the cube is discarded and returned to the box.
Multiple tiles can be played together for a bigger bonus: for example, two tiles can be played to get a +2.
The tiles are played after all players have presented their recipes. Players take turns playing their own tiles onto the recipes, in whatever quantity they prefer. They can always raise, adding more tiles, whenever they want, but they can never withdraw tiles they have already played on the cards. Once all players agree and no one wants to play any more cubes, you can move on to evaluating the final value of the recipes.
Example: Riccardo and Marco are competing for the Critic's judgment. Marco has two recipes that, added together, total 11 points, while Riccardo has two recipes for only 10 points. They start playing tiles: Marco passes, while Riccardo plays 2 tiles to reach a total of 12 points. Seeing that Riccardo played 2 tiles, Marco plays one more, bringing himself level. He would win the bet, since he has the recipe with the highest prestige-point value in his menu, but Riccardo has been very careful during the game: he still has one Extra Touch tile in his cup. Riccardo plays it and reaches 13 points, winning the challenge.
C2 — Buy a Bonus Card
The player can buy one of the bonus cards, paying its cost. The player can never buy directly from the face-down deck, but can only buy from those available — the ones on the board, face up. Each card shows:
- Icon: Indicates whether it's a normal card (no symbol) or a special card — Free Action or One-Use (see below).
- Cost: The cost in coins to take it.
- Description: The effect of the Bonus card. The effects may contradict the rules described in this rulebook. In that case, the rules stated on the card apply, temporarily overriding the normal rules of the game, and only for the player who bought the bonus card.
When a player decides to buy a Bonus Card, they pay its cost to the bank and place it in their restaurant, in one of the four designated spaces. You can never have more than 4 bonus cards per restaurant, and you cannot discard bonus cards you've already bought — so plan carefully which ones to buy. Once a Bonus Card has been bought, its space on the board must remain empty: only 7 bonus cards are available in any given phase of the game. If there are no bonus cards available, the player cannot perform this action.
One-Use Cards
Cards with this icon in the top left corner can be used only once. If a player uses one of these cards, they must turn it face down, leaving it in its space inside the Restaurant regardless. A used card can never be replaced with another Bonus! Some cards are used the moment you buy them (check the card's own text), while others can be used at any time during the game. Using a One-Use Card doesn't spend any actions.
Free Action Card
Cards with this icon in the top left corner, like other cards, can be used multiple times during the game. If you buy the Orchard, for example, you'll be able to buy ingredients by choosing them directly from the Fruit Seller's reserve every time you use a Buy an Ingredient action. Unlike normal cards, though, if you buy a Free Action card, you immediately get an extra action to use the benefits of the card itself. In the case of the Orchard, you'll get a free action to buy an ingredient of your choice from the Fruit Seller's reserve. This extra action can also be left unused.
Example: Federico has decided to focus his game on fish recipes. He sees that the Fisherman is among the bonus cards and decides to buy it. He pays its cost to the bank and adds the Fisherman to his restaurant. From now on, Federico can buy ingredients from the Fish Market by looking for them directly inside the shop's own reserve, without waiting for them to be available on the board. Also, since the Fisherman has the Free Action Card symbol, Federico immediately activates the bonus card's effect: he immediately looks inside the Fish Market for a Cod, pays its cost, and adds it to his restaurant.
C3 — Buy a Room
The player can buy one of the available Rooms. Each Room has a cost highlighted on the tile, provides extra income during the special Cash-In 2 rounds, and will bring prestige points at the end of the game.
With this action, the player chooses a Room to buy from those available on the Extra Board, pays its cost, and adds it to their Restaurant, in one of the designated spaces (bottom left of the Restaurant board). Each Restaurant can have at most three Rooms. At any time, a player can decide to discard one of their Rooms to make room for another one just bought. The discarded Room is returned to the game box.
Not all Rooms are always available: Standard Rooms are available for the entire duration of the game, Luxury Rooms can only be bought from the second phase onward (from the fourth round of play onward), while Super Luxury Rooms can only be bought from the third phase onward (from the seventh round of play onward), as indicated on the Extra Board.
C4 — Buy a Cooking Course
The player buys a cooking course from those available, paying its cost (10 coins), and immediately advances one position on the Cook-o-meter. Once the course is bought, turn the tile face down to show that course has already been bought. If there are no cooking courses available, the player cannot choose this action.
Special Rounds — Modifications
The Special Rounds are played exactly as in the base version. Remember the contribution of Rooms during the Cash-In rounds, and to use your Extra Touch tiles during the Critic's visits, the Taste Guide, and the National Cooking Competition: they can be decisive for winning the game!
End of Phase — Modifications
At the end of each Phase, you must prepare the Extra Board for the next phase.
First, discard all the face-up Bonus cards that were not bought in the previous phase. If you prefer, instead of forming a discard pile, you can place them face up under the bonus deck. Then draw 7 new Bonus cards and distribute them across the spaces available for the new phase.
Then refresh the Cooking Courses, reactivating (turning face up) those that were previously used.
Finally, refresh the Extra Touch tiles inside the pot, taking tiles back from the box to bring it back up to the maximum number available.
Once the Extra Board is refreshed, move the marker forward on the Calendar and start a new phase: as in the Light version, the player lowest on the Cook-o-meter starts.
End of the Game — Modifications
At the end of the game, points are added up as in the Light version, but you must also add the following scores:
- H. Add up the Prestige Points present on the Rooms active in your Restaurant.
- I. Add up all Prestige Points, if any, coming from Bonus Cards.
Addendum for Demanding Chefs
If the base rules seemed too light to you, while the advanced rules satisfy you but you feel something is still missing, you can add the following rules.
Balanced Player Turn
If you want to further balance the game, you can run the turns of play differently. In every Phase, players will take their turn in the reverse order shown by the position of the pawns on the Cook-o-meter. The player lowest on the Cook-o-meter will therefore play first, followed by the one right above them, and so on, until reaching the last player, who will be the one highest on the Cook-o-meter. This system perfectly balances the turns, letting players who have fallen behind in the game buy bonus cards first and have more control in the early rounds of the phase.
Kitchen Boy Action
In addition to the normal round actions (buy an ingredient, draw a Recipe card or a Wine card, perform an Extra action), you can perform the Kitchen Boy action.
The Kitchen Boy action costs double, meaning it uses both actions available to the player during a round of play, but it lets you buy an ingredient directly from the reserve of the shop of your choice. This action can serve as a "parachute" action in case you can't otherwise manage to get the ingredient you're looking for.
Balancing Wine
If you think the economic path leads too easily to victory, you can reduce the total earnings in the game. The system is very simple: no one can buy Wines during the first Phase of the game. Wine cards are a fast way to make money: this way you'll have to manage your establishment's expenses more carefully!
Credits
A Red Glove production — First Printing — 2015. Red Glove di Dumas Federico — Via Carriona 259b, 54033 Carrara (MS), Italy.
- Game Design: Giulio Guerra, Riccardo Guerra, Marco Mutta
- Illustrations & Graphics: Guido Favaro
- Layout: Federico Dumas
- Production Direction: Federico Dumas
- Commercial Consulting: Simona Lombardo