No more tipping (sorta) at Per Se in NYC

http://money.cnn.com/2005/08/16/pf/tips/index.htm

Gee, What a shame, and just when i was going to treat a bunch of my Roadfood friends to dinner at PerSe...

Cheers, John

quote:

Originally posted by seafarer john

Gee, What a shame, and just when i was going to treat a bunch of my Roadfood friends to dinner at PerSe...

Cheers, John

Don't worry, I'll take care of the tip differential. So, when's dinner?

quote:

"The owners of those restaurants are making huge profits," said Guilfoyle. "If you have these huge checks and these huge tips, why can't Keller afford to pay his staff more?"

As I was reading through the article, all I kept thinking was that this is a Thomas Keller restaurant -- the same guy who owns The French Laundry (about which there is a running thread already, discussing whether or not it is "worth" the cost). If this is guy is raking in $450 for a meal (the amount used at the beginning of the story), I would like to think that the people -- all the people -- who made that meal possible could be adequately compensated.

I also suppose that one of the things that helps bring up that average check size is the bottles of wine that are served with these meals. I generally don't order bottles of wine with my dinner, but is one expected to tip 20%+ on a $200 bottle of wine? If one ordered a $30 bottle of wine (perhaps something not available at one of Mr. Keller's restaurants?), would that also necessitate a 20%+ tip? And, if the answer to both questions is yes, then why is it $40 to the waiter to pour one bottle of wine and $6 to the waiter to pour the other? Isn't the workload the same?

Read about this trend in a USA Today article. Don"t approve but I am not likely to be eating at Per Se or French Laundry anytime soon.

Just got back from France, where the included gratuity is the norm. Although after my first meal there, I went to tip about 18%, when my French friend reacted in horror. That is when I learned that tips are included. Personally, I don't know which is better, but a restaurant that doesn't figure out some system to compensate its back end staff is going to suffer. Clean dishes, good food, efficient busboys, clean restrooms all add to the experience. And what do I do when I have had a delicious meal, but really poor service?

How come we end-up talking about weird things like tipping at Per Se or finding a home for the Battleship Iowa? I don't think Per Se is really roadfood unless you drive a Maserati and I don't know what the Battleship Iowa has to do with roadfood. Just complaining

HOORAY!

I'l be honest, this is one of the main reasons I didn't persue a career as a cook. I loved to cook. I liked the life, the hours and, most importantly, the the food. I couldn't pay my rent. I was working 70-80 hours a week and making about 21K a year, if that. Mean while, servers who didn't know the difference between a truffle and a ****ake were making 60+K at the places I was working. They avereages about 35 hours a week.
I have worked on both sides of the house and I can assure you BoH is much tougher, no question. It is about time someone, especialy some one high profile (no matter what you think of his prices or food) did something to ballence out this inequality.