Capacity is tiny and fixed. Ten seats across two sittings is twenty covers a night, so a single no-show removes a measurable share of the evening's revenue and cannot be filled at short notice.
Purchasing follows the reservations. The chef buys for confirmed guests, which makes a cancellation on the day a cost already incurred, and deposits exist for that reason rather than out of suspicion.
Requirements travel to the kitchen, not to a folder. An allergy recorded at booking has to be visible when the shopping is done and again when the sequence is planned, or it is discovered too late to matter.
Regulars deserve to be remembered. What somebody was served last time, what they avoided and what they loved is what makes a second visit feel like a continuation rather than a repeat.