Sookie St. James is much more than Lorelai's business partner and co-worker at the Dragonfly Inn and Independence Inn, she's her best friend, closest confidant, and the only woman Lorelai trusts besides her daughter, Rory. Without Sookie's presence in her life, Lorelai wouldn't have a female to go to for advice or to give it to her straight.
However, when Lorelai and Sookie's time at work is shared, it's painfully obvious how careless and, at times, selfish Sookie can be. While she's known as one of the best chefs in the area, her business decisions are often rash, not thought through, and can affect those around her. Gilmore Girls fans often wonder if going into business together was the right move for Lorelai because Sookie only cared about the food portion of the business. Sookie is a great cook and friend but when it comes to business, her decisions can be questionable.
She's Wasteful In The Kitchen
Sookie's strong passion for food is inspiring but she's incredibly wasteful. She tosses dishes out at the last second because she changed her mind, she makes countless cakes before throwing them out because she's not happy with them, and the list continues. She wastes a ton of money on food that she never ends up giving to customers. As a business owner, this should enrage her but it doesn't cross her mind.
She Wasn't Able To Make Hard Decisions
The number of rooms that the Dragonfly Inn had is under investigation with Gilmore Girls fans. It's been said a few times that the inn has anywhere from 10 to 15 rooms. Nevertheless, as a new business with limited space, Sookie should have made cuts when cuts were needed for the better of the business's finances.
On opening weekend, she was supposed to let go two kitchen workers but simply couldn't because they were "too good." As a business owner, she has to have the ability to make those kinds of decisions and not leave it all in Lorelai's hands.
Her Short-Lasting Catering Business
As a way to make money in between their Independence Inn and Dragonfly Inn days, Sookie suggested a catering business. The idea was good in theory; Sookie would be the executive chef and Lorelai would run the business side of things. However, after planning a party for the Gilmores—and it falling through—it became clear that a catering business wasn't their passion. Especially when it came time to cater a child's birthday party (see below).
She Took Over Luke's Diner In The Worst Way
When the Independence Inn caught fire, Lorelai took charge and found shelter for some of the guests that night. The next morning, the ladies wanted to serve their guests breakfast but didn't have a kitchen to work in.
They bombarded Luke's diner and essentially kicked Luke and Cesar out and took over their kitchen. Sookie even insulted Cesar's cooking and told everyone that her food was better. It was a low blow to an establishment like Luke's and was pretty presumptuous of Sookie.
Skipping Out On The Sink Delivery (And Not Telling Lorelai)
In the fourth season, the Dragonfly Inn is under construction and is prepared to open in the next couple of months. Lorelai has been practically living at the inn and making sure everything is getting done on time. But when Lorelai's schedule became too hectic, she asked Sookie for one thing: be at the inn when her legendary sink from Canada was delivered. But was Sookie there? No. Lorelai got a frantic call from the delivery guys about no one being there to sign for the sink. When Lorelai finally took care of it and ran to Sookie's house to see what happened, Sookie claimed that she simply fell asleep. As a business owner, that is entirely unacceptable and unfair to her partner.
A Chef Who Doesn't Know How To Make A Vegetarian Meal?
When Sookie and Lorelai were running their catering business, they booked a child's Lord of the Rings birthday party. Lorelai reminded Sookie that this wasn't an adult party, this birthday party was for kids and the food should reflect that. Sookie, however, ignored Lorelai's point of view and made outlandish dishes that were only semi-appetizing for the adults. And let's not forget that she didn't know how to make a vegetarian food option and joked about hiding meat-based products in the dishes to change their minds. Ignoring the dietary restrictions of her customers as a chef is horrendous.
She Was An Awful Business Partner
Let's be honest, Sookie was a phenomenal chef but an awful business partner. It was Lorelai that was making all of the tough decisions, running the meetings, making deals, and even furthered her education to run an inn effectively. Sookie, on the other hand, acted selfishly and was totally out of touch.
When the Dragonfly was under construction, the lead construction worker had a light conversation with Sookie and Lorelai about being short on money. Sookie had no idea where the funds were going or where they were coming from. She ran away from the conversation and later told Lorelai to ask Luke for the money... As a business partner, Sookie left way too much in Lorelai's hands.
Sneaking Into The Inn Because She Didn't Trust Her Staff
As a chef and business owner, Sookie has to be able to trust her staff, or what's the point in keeping them on as employees? However, it's obvious that her controlling nature in the kitchen prohibited her from fully trusting those she hired. Not only did she not hire a backup head chef for when she was on maternity leave but she also hid in one of the Dragonfly Inn's rooms and ordered food that the kitchen was making because she didn't trust what Luke was doing in "her" kitchen.
Lunch At The Dragonfly Inn
When the Dragonfly Inn opens and the staff fine-tunes everything, their financial advisor suggests cutting lunch from the menu to save money. They were wasting too much time on staff and ingredients for a meal that wasn't popular at the inn. They should be focusing on breakfast and diners. However, Sookie refused. She didn't want to cut lunch from the menu because lunches were "her thing." Once again, Sookie wasn't thinking about the business or Lorelai, she was thinking about herself.
Harassing A Food Critic
When a very well-known food critic leaves an outstanding review of Sookie's food, Lorelai demands to frame the review for the inn. There's only one problem, the critic casually said something that didn't sit right with Sookie about the risotto. She then spent countless hours going through the meal and its ingredients to see where the staff went wrong. Not only was that a waste of time and ingredients, but it was also pointless. The review was already published. She eventually realized it was because he was sipping the incorrect wine with the meal, so what did she do? She showed up unannounced to the critic's home and forced him to eat her food with the right wine.