my %known_formats = (
        'format1',
[
[qw[ meal drink cost  ]],

'(.+)\s\"(.+)\"\s(.+)\s(\d{1,2})' 
]

);

for my $format ( keys %known_formats ){
    my $re = $known_formats{$format}[1];
    my $fields = $known_formats{$format}[0];
    $dockets{$docket_cnt}{@$fields} = $line =~ /$re/;
}