Holly Moore

Greetings and great write-up gaf. Just one significant correction. One isn't "stuck" in Philadelphia. One celebrates the opportunity to savor Philadelphia.

As Frances Urquhart so often observed when pressed by the press in one of my favorite BBC dramas, House of Cards, "You might well think that; I couldn't possibly comment."

We should start a club. Like a Miata club, only nerdier. ← Being eligible to join an exclusive club boasting Russ Parsons and Mayhaw Man strikes me as excellent criteria for selecting a refrigerator. I sought out the Kenmore Elite. Alas Kenmore does not manufacture an Elite model for my puny 30" wide space. I am limited to a basic, unelite Kenmore. The helpful man from Kenmore product information assures me that, "Both have the same outstanding quality that consumers have come to expect from Kenmore." Off the record he confided that the only difference in the Elite version is a more natty design. Natty is not my middle name. My fear though is that I will not qualify for membership if I do not knock out a wall to pick up the extra 6 1/2" required to fit an Elite model into my kitchen

My trusty 30" wide, brand X refrigerator of the last 24 years is showing signs of packing it in. Time to look for a replacement. Sub Zero seemed like a nice place to start. I had heard good things about them. I thought a stainless steel Sub Zero would pair nicely with my even more trusty Garland Range. So I put in a call to ABC Discount Appliances across the river in Pennsaucken. They get most of my appliance business. The obvious question, "How much?" $5,500 friggin dollars. That's how much. I knew Costco would deliver and install a Whirlpool for $500, so I had been thinking maybe $1500 for a Sub Zero. I was even willing to rationalize myself up to $2000. But $5,500? I don't think that even includes the optional ice maker. What is it, beyond new-gained awe and respect from any foodies that happen through my door, that would make me even consider spending $5,500 for an ice box?

The above was offered more in amusement than as fodder for serious discussion. I've got to remember to use s. But 19 percent is a very wierd number to settle on service charge wise. It's like 20 percent marked down to 19 percent.

Thanks for the suggestions to date. Please keep them coming. I have a few LA locations on the site already. Pink's, one of my favorite dogs anywhere, is one of them. Also Cassal's, Original Pantry, Phillipe The Original and Tail O' the Dog. At this point my schedule is unsettled. I'll know better in a week or two. Will PM those who have asked about getting together then. But always great to have a tour guide or 10. Especially when I can beat the freeway traffic and go by helicopiter. Right Chris? An Oki-dog if they are still around is definitely on the agenda.

Greetings, I'm going to be in the LA and San Diego area for just over a week, starting September 9th. Going to have plenty of time to do some research/eating for my web site. Would appreciate any and all recommends for grease-stain worthy dining in the general area. Particular areas of interest - burgers, dogs, fries, local institutions, regional road food, ice cream, real frozen custard, etc. Thanks,

The kitchen staff always sees the grass as greener on the other side of the pass thru. And it usually is. However it has been my limited experience that good cooks don't usually make good servers. Different skills; different mindsets; maybe even different views of the customer as friend or foe. What surprised me about that article was that Per Se lost one talented cook because of pay. I would hope that at comparable skill levels that Per Se's cooks would be among the highest paid in the city. Assuming the cook stayed in New York, such a departure would only make sense if the cook left Per Se to become a chef or sous chef at a different restuarant. But that is the natural progression and not attibutable to tips or lack there off. I'm still interested in how Keller will be adjusting the various salaries. Will server wages be raised to that of cooks? Will cooks wages be lowered? Will the 20% be divided equally among all staff? What about floor and kitchen management? Also I've got to wonder why the staff at Per Se is worth 1 percent more than the staff at the French Laundry, service charge wise.

My story is the opposite. I was staying at the Hyatt in San Antonio. I asked the concierge for directions to a barbecue place in what was evidently considered a bad neighbor. Her repy, "Oh no, we could never send our guests to that neighborhood." She then pointed me to a tourist trap bbq along River Walk. To be fair, I don't know for sure if it was a tourist trap, but it was on the River Walk so I'm fairly sure it was worth avoiding. The doorman finally gave me directions. The neighborhood was anything but "bad."

The benefit for servers with building the service charge into the menu price is that, human nature being what it currently is, diners will soon want to reward good servers and start adding additional gratuities onto the bill. Maybe 5 percent to start. Then when that becomes common, 10 percent. And in another 20 years a new generation of eGulleters will once again be having this discussion. Maybe the compulsion to tip in restaurants can be genetically bred out of future yupscale diners, but in the present and the forseeable future, the servers are certain to benefit if and when service charges are incorporated into the menu pricing.

Best I can surmise from this article - the burden to report tips accurately is shared by the employee and the employer. Restaurants are required to report credit card tips. Both restaurant and employee must pay taxes on any reported tips. Restaurants are required to file a form with the IRS stating total sales, total credit card sales, totals credit card tips and total tips reported by the employee. It is solely the burden of the server to report cash tips (assuming the credit card tips make up more than 8% of sales). I assume that most of Per Se's sales are by credit card. But I am not sure what percentage of credit card customers add tips and what percent of customers want to be "good guys" and leave a cash tip. Most likely more people do add the tip to the charge sale, but not all. Another consideration is the assumption that on large checks, especially those where wine is a significant part of the check, many customers do not tip a full 20%. If that is the case, then the service charge on credit card sales will total more than the voluntary gratuity added by the customer. As a result, overall gratuity as a percent of sales will increase, meaning higher employee benefit costs once the service charge is imposed. All in all, Per Se's employee benefit costs, as a result of imposing a service charge, will increase over what they are now. Not as much as I initially thought, but they will go up. There is another rub from this article. Service charges imposed by a restaurant are considered sales by the IRS and many states and municipalities require that the restaurant must collect sales tax on the service charge. If that is the case in NY or NYC that would make the service charge paid by the customer more that 20%.

My understanding is that the employer declares a certain percentage of the tips for the employee but not all of it. The service charge would definitely increase Per Se's cost. Added as an edit - from Paychex's summary of tax regulations for restaurants: If I am reading this right, restaurants are reporting 8% of gross sales as employee tips. Per Se will be forced to report an additional 12%.

The discussion on taxes got me thinking about a result of the service charge that Keller might not have anticipated. Per Se's employee benefit cost is very possibly going to sky rocket. I'm assuming that the service charge, as it is passed on to employees, has to be treated as payroll. Both employee and employer will have to pay federal, state and local taxes on the service charge. Per Se is essentially increasing its payroll by 20 percent of its sales. It is possible that Per Se runs a 20 - 25% labor cost. If it is 20 percent, Per Se is actually doubling the labor cost by incorporating the service charge. The payroll cost won't be more as it is a wash with the service charge. But all the emloyer taxes are going up - employer share of FICA, Medicare, Federal and State Unemployment and any other wage based taxes New York State or City might impose. Let's say Per Se sales are $3 million - total guess and probably low. That means Per Se's payroll just went up $600,000. The employer share of FICA and Medicare is 7.65% on the first 90,000 earned. That means on $3 million in sales, Per Se's employee benefit cost went up almost $50,000. Add Federal and State Unemployment - probably another maybe $10,000. I'm estimating that will be a 75 percent to 100 percent increase - tough for any restaurant, even a very successful restaurant to absorb. Workmen's compensation insurance is also payroll based. That is going to go up too. Not sure if it is scaled down with volume. If not, it will come close to doubling too. I'm also assuming the service charge collected will be considered revenue. Other costs and taxes are based on gross sales. In Philadelphia there is a business privledge tax that is partially based on an establishment's gross sales. If that is the same in NYC, more taxes to pay. Plus insurance rates are based on sales. It could be the same with the lease a base plus a percentage. This is somewhat overstated as Per Se has already been declaring a percentage of server tips for the server. But I'm not current on how much that need be. All in all, while I only play a CPA on eGullet, this could be a very expensive decision for Per Se. Perhaps the next step will be for Per Se to add tax and insurance surcharges onto the service charge as UPS does with a fuel surcharge, to cover the additional expenses. Then again, maybe a real CPA has a way around all this.

Today's Inquirer carried Bobby Koch's obituary. Anyone who passed an hour or two in line at Koch's Deli in West Philadelphia knew and loved Bobby Koch. At Koch's I always looked forward to the long wait. Got to spend more time chatting and joking with Bobby. I hope Koch's survives without Bobby, but I can't imagine it ever being the same.

I am coming into this discussion late. I have tried to read the whole thread. But it is so long and my attention span is so short. I apologize if/where I am simply repeating what others have said. 1. I like control - all kinds of control including awarding a server for exceptional service and penalizing a server for lousy service. With voluntary tipping I have such control. With a service charge, unless I want to get into a dialogue with a manager, I give up much of that control. I don't like to give up control. 2. Penalty tipping, even when there is pooling, does penalize a poor server. Not directly. But as I was quoted at the start of this thread, servers who are pulling in low tips because of bad service will soon be recognized by their fellow servers. Soon after they will either shape up or ship out. 3. Tipping or service charges are really just a game everyone plays - kidding themselves. A better label would be "Salary Adjustment." A mandatory service charge, especially, has nothing to do with "To Insure Proper Service" (Tips). The service charge simply adds enough value to a server's very low wage to make the job worthwhile. The nature of the restaurant business, since Adam served his first order of ribs, has been for servers to rely on gratuities. When I fly, a cabin attendant brings me my food and beverages. He/she does not expect a tip. It is included in the cabin attendant's salary. It's the nature of the beast that servers rely on tips and no smart restauranteur is going to take the lead and do away with tipping and, rather, pay servers much more and reflect that in new, higher menu prices. 4. When I started out tipping, back when Adam was serving up that first rib, 15% was considered a good tip. Along the way the percentage went to 18% and now it is 20%, maybe more. I am not sure why that has happened. I don't believe servers have improved. Logically restaurant prices have kept up with inflation and the cost of living. Since tips are based on restaurant prices, servers' wages have done the same. So why the extra 5 percent? What great strides in service have led to an overall 33% increase in gratuities? I suggest it is a yuppy, keeping ahead of the Jones' thing. 5. The Page 6 piece doesn't talk about the pay scale of servers versus other staff. Typically servers are paid very low wages by the restaurant - lower than bus people and kitchen workers - because of the amount of money servers make in tips. For Keller's system to work, servers would have to be pulling in a wage representative of their skill. Then sharing everything equally makes a lot of sense. 6. With a service charge - or even with pooled tips - how can I recognize a server who goes way above and beyond for my table? On the honor system - any money he gets has to go into the pool. Other than a hearty handshake and a gracious "thank you" how can I do what tipping was intended to do in the first place? 7. Now that Keller is charging a service charge - just like crusted fish and flavored martini's - it will become the suave, "in" thing. A restaurant that doesn't add a service charge may soon be viewed as, and perhaps view itself as, a lesser restaurant. Old hat. Yesterday's restaurant.

Let me add my congrats. I am curious what the best food blogger does at the Best of Philly party. Restaurants serve food there. Others demonstrate their products or services. Did you sit at a computer and blog? Egad - you're going to be an aggie. I know the Cornell Daily Sun can use some astute food writing. As you said there is a decent hotel school across the campus. You might want to snag some electives there. Give you some restaurant insights apart from the customer point of view. eGullet is not just Philly, but international. So I hope you'll keep posting on eGullet as the mood strikes. Of late I've missed your posts. As to your site, there is a surprising amount of good eating in Ithaca and around the Finger Lakes region. I respect that you want to commit your time to studies, but in the spirit of college freshmen everywhere, you're going to need to break away on occasion. Given you're at the Ag school there should be plenty of those opportunities. Use at least some of those occasions to eat about and keep Minor Gourmandry flourishing. I'm hoping you will keep Minor Gourmandry going as long as you're going. Imagine 80 years of Minor Gourmandry. Would be quite something and would live on as a valuable source of opinion and information. Give my regards to Davey.

I'm not sure if that law is laid down by a regulatory agency or by the insurance company. My suspicion is that Jersey would hold back on such rules after their short term and ill fated "no eggs sunny side up" law. That said, it's pretty much impossible to cook an 8 or 10 to a pound anything less than medium.

Suddenly I became curious. Why the name White Manna? Manna I know. And these burgers qualify. But white? So I did a search. From the Catholic Encylopedia Aha, I never knew manna is white. And their buns are indeed, "bread tempered with oil." - Tempered, oozing and dripping "oil" all over my shirt.

Alas I have not been to every coffee house in the country, but that has never limited me before with similar declarations. I'd be surprised if La Colombe does not rate within the top two or three coffee houses in the country. Both product and service - they are as close to perfect as I have found. My two complaints - they close too early, and all too often they are SRO.

Me thinks you just did. OK what categories are missing from the Best of Philly food compilation and which places should win in the categories you would add?

Wasn't challenging you. Between the mid 70s and the mid 80s Burger King and McDonald's both went down hill quality wise. I'm not sure but pretty certain that when I was with BK the patties were fresh. I know there was no salad bar. No chicken. A limited menu. Just the Whopper, Whopper Jr. and the Whaler as I recall. And the burgers were made as close to order as possible. Think Ethyl and Lucy on the assembly line but with less drastic results. Burgers were fed into a conveyorized gas broiler. They emerged broiled and glistening. Burgers went onto prepared Whoppers and into a heated holding bin and were sold very quickly or tossed. At least in theory tossed. That depended on how the manager was doing at making food cost and how much empasis his boss placed on percentages. As soon as a special order was called, someone built the sandwich as specified and grabbed the next patty off the broiler. Incidently, prior to Burger King's extremely successful "Have It Your Way" campaign, McDonald's discouraged special orders even though they grudgingly complied. Counter workers were instructed to yell out "grill" and pass across a written slip whenever a special order was placed because customers would not get that a "grill" was a special order. McDonald's feared that calling out "no pickle" or such would encourage other customers to request specails too, and McDonald's production system was batch based and could not handle too many specials.

Again, as has been the case with McDonald's, Burger King too has evolved from stressing quality to getting by. When I did marketing for BK in the mid 70's the patties went straight from the flame broiler to the sandwich to the customer. It was the advent of have it your way and those sufficiently savvy to take BK up on that offer earned a sandwich made to order from a patty piping hot and fresh from the broiler. There was a time when a Double Cheese Whopper was a great burger.

It's too hot today to muster the effort to read through this entire thread to see if anyone has yet pointed out the collateral damage done by the chains coming to Center City Philadelphia. The rents for commercial spaces are staggering because chains seem glad to pay whatever rent it takes to get a certain space. Beyond that, all other things being equal, the landlords and realtors favor tenants with the deep pockets of the chains as opposed to the deep debt of the entrepreneurs. Not just restaurants, but all manner of retailers. Compounding things - South Delaware Avenue's burgeoning strip mall killing off the local hardware stores, movie theatres, furniture stores and many other retailers. I don't envy today's aspiring entrepreneur.

Surprisingly missing from the CNN list, but now included here, America's oldest ice cream company, Bassett's Ice Cream Comany, regional to Philadelphia and a few, fortunate outlying providences.

McDonald's was my first full time job out of college. Nope, I wasn't a Liberal Arts grad majoring in English literature. I worked new products for McDonald's. Black sheep of the Cornell Hotel School. First grad to go into the fast food industry. Was in on the most successful fast food new product ever introduced, the Big Mac. Came up it's packaging that kept it from being crushed in the bag and was in charge of scheduling its national introduction. Also helped develop McDonald's frozen hamburger patties and proved McDonald's couldn't sell roast beef sandwiches of fried chicken. Worked on the original McNuggets though they hadn't been named at that time. Ours were not the "pre-chewed" version McDonald's came out with - but chuncks of chicken breast battered and fried. Ray Kroc would never have permitted the McNuggets as introduced by McD's. As I've said elsewhere on eGullet, I love the McDonald's of the 60's and 70's and hate the McDonald's of today. Back then some franchisees would only hire teens with A averages. The position of respect was the grill man who cooked runs of 12 patties at a time - the great grill men flipping patties four at a time, a spatula in each hand. Quality, service and cleanliness meant something. And the menu was sufficiently limited that everything was fresh and when the place was hopping, pretty much cooked to order - nothing older than a few minutes if that.