I know this is a joke but as a burgeoning espresso snob, I can’t help myself from explaining:

A ristretto’s importance is in its stronger coffee flavor. It’s the same amount of coffee, but with less water run through the grounds. In a standard espresso, that last little bit of coffee added beyond a ristretto pull is much more watery, and so it mellows out the flavor. A ristretto is sharper and more of a punch. In my opinion, its most effective use is in a flat white, in which the aim is to remove as much water from the equation as possible and really let the coffee flavor shine through into the smaller amount of milk. Both ingredients’ flavors are more apparent in a flat white than in, say, a latte, which is in some regards a watered down flat white.