Carrot Top

There is a difference between "dining" and "eating". (*) And when one goes to a restaurant (of a certain type, but one would hope that all restaurants would strive to be of this type no matter what their category of cost or style) . . .it might be assumed that one has gone there to "dine". Dining is not just about what you put in your mouth and how it tastes. It is about being cared for through the "medium" of food. The level of care can be tasted in that food. Indeed, the level of care starts way before it reaches your mouth. It starts with how the place of dining has been planned to work. Has the physical space been designed to provide comfort and pleasure for the diner as well as providing a physical space that "works" for the people that are employed there so that they can perform their tasks in a way that flows easily? It moves on, into the planning of the operations. Have all the details been covered in terms of what is expected of staff so that confusion does not occur. . .so that everyone is on the same page? Has the menu been designed so that the diner will approve and be pleased? Will the menu be "doable" with the kitchen equipment that exists, or will it be difficult somehow. . . When the raw ingredients are purchased, care must be shown and this is a neverending process. Everyone knows by now, (I would assume) that if there are bad feelings in the kitchen it is likely to influence the food that reaches the table. So care must be shown there, in management of people and things each day. Finally the food is ready to come to the table. And here, each nuance of the person that serves that food is important. Their way of service and of being can make the diner feel as if they were experiencing a "nothing", or a negative, or. . .they can make the diner feel very. . .very well cared for. This is what we seek when we approach the table. Feeling cared for. And if. . .we approach that table where there are delightful things to taste and warming feelings to experience hopefully waiting for us. . .with a sense that we are there to "judge" the experience and then place a price on it (at least directly in terms of tipping for service, and indirectly in terms of the menu prices). . then there is a distancing from this feeling of allowing oneself to be well cared for in the first place. A wall has been started to be built. Dining. . .is about the generosity of the table. It is about experiencing one of the best sorts of care that one human being can show for another. Therefore, when I approach the dining table. . .I make sure I can pay the bill. . and I also make sure that whether it is a twenty dollar entree or whether it is a two hundred dollar bottle of wine. . . that I can feel ample generosity to leave a twenty percent tip, for I. . .would like to feel as generous and caring towards those that served me as hopefully they have felt towards me. Oh. P.S. Although I did come from the "yuppie" generation. . .I am neither "neo-liberal" nor "pinko". And I don't eat "health food" either . So my thinking on this can not be put down to those. . . things. (*) A nod to Rogov upon using these words. . .I believe he said quite the same thing recently.

It might be worthwhile to consider the fact that though wine is "marked up" at a higher percentage than food is. . .sometimes the profit from those bottles is used to subsidize the restaurants food cost on their operating budget, which makes it possible for some restaurants to provide perhaps a greater variety of offerings along with offerings that cost the restaurant more to make. . . to their customers at a better price than if the wine were not marked up. Wine markups are a part of good menu engineering.

Hey. Steven. Whether the irate waiters think you are a pinko or not, it is quite likely that they will go out now and spend some of their tip money on your book. You can be happy about this for the reason that *that* in itself is an exercise of capitalism and free markets that will benefit you and yours. . .or you can be happy that they might read a bit of you and decide that you are not so bad a guy after all. Either way, it is a good thing, no? All's well that ends well. And if it ends really well, well then write a rap song called "Waiters Call Me Pinko" and sing it all the way to the bank. . .

I know a lot of teachers and a lot of professors. In today's world, they do not disdain money as something crass. Most of them would be very happy to make more and indeed, some of them have either quiet depresssions over the fact that they don't or loud complaints that they don't. It is a completely different economic environment in reality and in the philosophic sense to most people*now*, than it was before the Eighties hit. And in the best places, the best restaurants, places like Per Se, money is not the only thing being held out as important to the servers or anyone else there. There is a sense of higher calling (which in this case would be immaculate service and stupendous food. . .choreographed to create a wonder of a moment in a guests mind and heart and memory) being used as incentive. And it is a real thing and a good thing.

Yeah, we definitely should get the thesaurus out on this one. What strikes me is that this is even "beyond" the traditional dinner table where, as you say, families learn so much about each other if they are lucky enough to be able to share the time, and when the parent(s) define that the time should be spent together. This is in "public". This is in a sense, on a special occassion. Does this in any way provide the children with any of the instruction in manners and "how to behave in public with other people" that they supposedly will need later in life to succeed and survive and do well in public places on public occassions? Urgh. Definite disservice to the children.

This is very sad. There's a definite attraction for people to disconnect from whatever is really going on in life into the world of electronic entertainment of all sorts, though. Just look at the amount of people walking around talking on cell phones about totally inane things while life is walking by in all its glory right in front of them. And for sure, kids are hard to turn into polite pleasant beings. They always have been. This is an easy straw to grasp for tired parents. But really, how terribly sad. P.S. I just scanned down just before posting this and saw GG's post. Same word. She used the same word. Yes, sad is what it is.

It really startles me to hear this, for it seems to me that a guaranteed salary to the staff would be one of the best tools that a manager could have in terms of "motivation". If their salary is secure and of a certain level, they should be expected to perform at a certain level. There can be no softness there in terms of them saying, "Well I just don't make *the money* here". It is what it is, one must assume they understood the salary when they took the job, and the service standards are what they are. And if the service standards are not being met, then that is a management problem that rather hints at lacksadaisical-ness (if that is even a word. . . ) on the managers part. Even at "only" 17% of the bill, they likely were taking in more than many of their counterparts who work at places with lower check averages. Plus they were getting a pretty good reference on their resume. That situation could be improved by better management or hiring practices.

For goodness' sake. I am not sure whether to exclaim, "Only in Scotland!" (due to the fact that I imagine it filled with grouse and salmon and the fellows in various sorts of caps stalking about that catch these things) or "Only in the World of Adam Balic!" Stag tongues. Well. It is good that I know someone that knows stags and their hunters, for now I can ask, what do they taste like? I do like a bit of tongue myself but have only had them from American beef and lambs. (Yes, it is difficult to write this without bursting out laughing. . .) Stags tongue. . .how is it? Seriously.

Tell ya what, though. I can't remember a single time within the past year that I've gone to a "family" style restaurant with my children where I didn't do just that, in lieu of finding a service person that knew what they were doing. I know where the napkins and silverware are in each of these places. (Not that we go often, even, perhaps once every two months.) And I know where to go to tell the kitchen that it left off part of the order, too. Because I am unwilling to sit there for ten minutes fiddling my thumbs trying to get a server (or even a manager) to pay attention, while the food is cooling and the children are understandably getting cranky. Why do I go back? Because sometimes that is the standard. . .one will simply not find better in the area.

Yeah. . .I just noticed that! Thank you so much for bringing it to my attention! Quite an interesting compositon there. Hmmmm. But aren't those TWO tongues? Bold, you are. Or else it is some historic Medieval recipe I've just never read up on. . .

Would not bother me in the least either, though it would not be something I'd "like" initially. But then I remember how good we have in the US on so many prices of things as compared to other places. Many people would be very unhappy with paying even the least bit more for their food, though. I recently was approached by a group in town here trying to get signatures for a petition to not allow a tax increase on restaurant sales within town limits. The petitioners could well afford to pay the tax increase. . .they seemed to all be well-heeled youngsters with their college debit cards loaded to the brim with dollars from Mom and Dad. It is just that they resented being asked to pay more for their pizza and beer. After all, one does need to buy those hundred-dollar blue jeans, too. (I am not sure whether to put a laughing smilie here or a shocked one or what. . .) I asked them if they knew where the additional taxes were going to be used. They said no, they didn't. I then explained that the taxes would be used for education, to ensure that the children in elementary schools would not have to go from having 18-20 in a classroom up to 30 in a classroom with one teacher. Did they care? Nope.

I have been trying to resist this temptation for an entire day and can do so no longer. Lovely banger you've got there! .................................................................................. Okay now that that's done. . . What surprises me about your blog is the sense that you have such a complete and burning interest in food in such a variety of ways. The history of it, the mechanics or science of it, the cultural connects of it, and most of all, the actual dealing with it hands-on. I remember being like this before entering into the profession of chef. There really was nothing else I could do. . .the thing just pulled me in. And although finally, it dissipated enough so that my passions went elsewhere "career-wise"(the idea of anything being as interesting as food being blaspemy to some eG'ers perhaps ), it still was absolutely the best thing to do. . .to indulge myself by making a career of it. I wonder. . .will you do so, Adam?

Then again, it could be an excellent management tool. And I am quite sure that people will, just because of the way things "feel" when they are given above-average service, tip over and above whatever the service charge is. Good hospitality pays.

In reviewing what I've said here, I think something else needs to be said. My own posts were arrogant in their own way. In the time and place that I did what I did, that was almost what one had to develop as a persona in order to "survive". And while I hope that the doors of opportunity will always be open (they have been throughout most of history as far as I can discern) to those who do not have "the best" education one can buy. . .or indeed in my case, no education i.e. self-taught. . .it does seem easier if one can follow the traditional path, if that path is in any way open to them and if it feels right. If I could look back in time and wish a thing to be true, it would be that I could have entered upon my career in a way that would not have had me proving myself each and every day I did it. . .and justifying my success to others afterwards forevermore. A good school can provide this entry to those that this might happen to otherwise. We know who we are. . .I don't have to define our "categories". So I would say, buy the opportunity for the best education you can. Even moreso now that this business is becoming more academic-credential oriented. People who "go it alone" will always hold a special place in my heart. The stories are more dramatic, the hurdles different than the usual. More than anything, I love a good story. But the story is not always what it is about, in life, for everyone.

So this is no "one-off" thing with the tipping system and his restaurant(s). . .its been done before and obviously the system has worked well in whatever financial ways it needs to for both the business and the staff. If it didn't work well, surely he would not risk it again. The only difference here is California vs. NYC. Interesting.

Here are some questions that are vaguely running through my mind: Do you think that Per Se had a formal cost/benefit analysis done on this before implementing it? (By their accountant or by an outside consulting firm. . .) Who is Per Se owned by. . .a partnership? An individual? Do you think that any sort of formal or informal poll was taken on what the service staff reaction (or indeed, even all staff reaction) would be to implementing this policy. . .before implementing it? Do you think that this change was implemented purely for reasons of what they hoped would be good business management for their own place. . .or do you think that it included a portion of "wanting to change the world" in the implementation of it. . .a hope that what they did would affect others in the industry? If a cost/benefit analysis were to be done on this, could it even be done to show what some of the "softer" benefits might be long-term? (These "softer" benefits would be things like employee satisfaction and retention and level of customer service.) Just curious.

Oh. . .I am not arguing for whole-scale conversion. It would take a greater ability to focus on the many variants that are involved than I have. . . for this is no uncomplicated matter. But the more one talks about and talks up the idea that it is possible to redefine an industry in a way that the industry could be re-shaped in ways that would be better for everyone involved. . .then the more concepts emerge that could potentially be utilized in the industry. I am an eternal optimist in a quietly fighting sort of way. If one can't close their eyes and imagine that it would happen. . .and if one can not put blinders on and muddle through things that otherwise would really be cause for despair. . .then really there is nothing to do but despair. Other industries have been re-shaped in the past. . .and have provided both better quality of life for their employees and better overall performance. Should this happen in the restaurant industry? Only if enough people believe it should. . . As far as "employees demanding access to financial records". . .I did not envision the employees demanding. I envisioned the managers providing access, perhaps in meetings where they could also provide a clear understanding of the global picture of "how things work" in a global sense in the operation. This sort of thing often creates the bonds of a real team between management and employees. . . .and it does that really fantastic thing often, too. . .it helps the possibly reluctant or frightened employee to "buy in" to what is going on. If employees do not "buy in" to a way of doing things, things will never really run well no matter how many policies or procedures are put in place.

That was one of the questions that was raised in my mind about the Julie Powell piece. . .it seemed that there were some parts of that just did not hold together as well as they should, not to mention some facts that seemed to need a lot of back-up to be considered factual if they could be considered so. (Ouch. Trying to be nice can make for a bad sentence. . .) I wondered if the piece had been edited without her knowledge or involvement. . .but your experience shows otherwise. . .if your experience is standard procedure for the Times, and I would imagine that they do follow standard procedures as a pretty hard-and-fast rule. They would have to, wouldn't they. . .

Some of the points they make are worthy of thought. I've certainly known difficulties to arise with tip pooling. The thing is. . .if a restaurant is going to enter into a more formal method of compensating their service staff (which the 20% service charge would be) there has to be a more formal method of assuring that the staff knows what the sales are each day. An easy way to do this is to post them in a simplified form each morning.

Wow. . .very cool, FG. That certainly happened quickly, didn't it! That must have been a very nice surprise to wake up to today! Nice tidy summary of an op-ed, too, with some amusement in there to boot. (I particularly liked the line about opposing tipping maybe being a little "French" ). And I would say that you have challenged some of my assumptions about how and why I myself tip. Lazily, I was assuming some things about my own behavior that just plain were not true. When closely examined, they had to be re-thought, most particularly the fact that I held onto that there was inherent power over quality of service in the standard scheme of tipping as we have it here. I had to ask myself what power there was, really, in a system where I basically never exercised it! And of course pooling tips is becoming so much more common than it was. That changes the whole ball game. Finally, after thought, I've decided I like what they are trying on at Per Se. It gives a new respect to the professional service staff that work there, and should be a boon to teamwork if implemented in the right sort of way. . .i.e. in the managing of the change and of the personalities that might get flustered by such a move, particularly in the kitchen. When FOH and BOH can consider each other as equal working parts of the equation (which this concept is helping to approach in my opinion) everybody benefits, including the customer. Well okay then. I'll stop ranting on, myself. Congratulations, again. . .I am very pleased for you!

Your last sentence rather struck a nerve. I do leave 20% all the time unless service has been totally obnoxious or somehow totally outstanding (neither of these extremes has happened in my recent memory, though I do once remember leaving absolutely nothing to a totally obnoxious server many years ago and also remember another time leaving a $100. bill on the table once on Christmas Eve "just because". . .) Why 20 rather than 15? I am old enough to remember the 15. Yes, I think its a yuppie thing. Or something that has to do with culture, society and guilt. . .(misplaced guilt, for some servers likely have more money in their pocket than I do, especially if they work at Per Se. . . but nonetheless, something to do with that sort of feeling.) One feels like. . ."If I've got enough money to eat here, then I've got enough money to tip well, too". Not always TRUE, but definitely part of the experience. . . I am definitely edging towards the view that tipping has more to do with one's personality, background, and/or mood than the actual realities of the service experience.

I respectfully disagree. CIA has financial aid out the wazoo, and it appears to be 99% need-based. Even scholarships that should be completely based completely on merit, are not. If someone wants to go there, they will.I would agree that the CIA does offer financial assistance. That, however, was not what I meant in writing this. In the fifteen years that I spent "in" the business, in a fine-food dining environment in NYC, and in the fifteen years since, what I have noticed is (just as in many other occupations or fields) that there is clique (naturally) among those "popular" high-end fine dining purviews (just as there is a clique among the fashion models or designers on the Upper East Side, on and on and on. . .). As has been noted, one hires whom one knows, usually "from" certain schools or even "from" certain geographic places. There is a cachet attached to working at these purviews, and a cachet attached to going to the CIA. That is all well and fine. My point here was that it can be bought, this cachet. (Or one can attempt to buy it. . .afterwards it has to be shown that one is "up" to doing the work of course). Buy CIA, buy cachet. And in this world, there are lots of people who, based on "how the world works". . .would have a much easier time entering into these types of resturants (in any position where they might be considered "seriously" rather than not. . .) if they did buy CIA. It's a style thing as much as a substance thing. There is a mindset that favors one's alma mater. However, anyone hiring a cook or sous chef without seeing them cook and speaking to their former employer, Extern site, and chefs at their school, is not doing their due diligence. I worked for someone who tried so hard to hire from their alma mater and the people refused to clean at the end of the shift. !! Credentials and education are two completely different things. Lots of that is attitude, of course, and how you intend to learn. The CIA is full of people who've been cooking for years, who are not getting positions of more authority because they have no culinary education -- and I have yet to meet one who doesn't say it's worth it for their own knowledge, as well. You can't just buy a credential. Or a CIA education. Again I think we are more in agreement than not, although I speak from the other side of the fence on some things and will continue to do so just for the hell of it. I like the world to be full of all sorts of ways to do things. . .it seems that people get boxed up into planned agendas too often, with results that don't work for them. To see someone know all the possibilities and then make their decision, thinking through a world full of ideas rather than just the one that everyone considers "the best" seems to me to be a much nicer way. I like to see people write their own narratives. It is just too damn easy to say "Go to Harvard". As you say, you cannot "buy" a CIA education. Any education must be attained. . . whether it is passed from one teacher with the required textbooks in a classroom to another; or whether it is found in real life with the teachers being those working in the field along with either the same books that schools use or other books. Hopefully one never stops learning, even after they leave their "alma mater". The piece of paper that says "CIA" can be bought, though. And perhaps some cachet bought along with it. Granted, one must pass the exams and do the schooling. But then again, we have many high school grads that can not spell nor write. . .we have college grads that do not know the basics of many common things in the workplace. . .and I've seen CIA grads that came out with absolutely the worst honkers about food, total "mistakes". Naturally, we can all make mistakes. But again, I say, it is the person that will make the experience the marvel that it could be. . .it needs to be a fifty-fifty proposition. I've seen too many people enter upon the idea of the CIA or of any good college with the idea that it will "fix" things for them. Not to sound all zen-like or anything, but it is the process that counts, not the piece of paper. To my mind. The potential for the piece of paper to be not of the ultimate value that some people might hope for it I approached in another post. And again, the CIA or other good school diploma could definitely be of help to "the people who have been cooking for years that are not getting positions of authority because they have no 'culinary education" as you note. These people, to my mind, are different than the person who is entering into this thing as a "newbie" or close to one. And it is to be hoped that in the end, what they seek will be found, too. Most people reserve that attitude for CIA graduates, which really is saying something for the school's reputation -- some of it is earned (that it is The Best -- heck, Bocus and Vongerichten sent their sons there!). A lot of the CIA's reputation is from graduates from other schools feeling like second-best (and that's not at all true). Sure, lots of cocky-a**ed people graduate from there. And they are that way before they started, all during school, and will be like that until they decide to pull that nonsense on their chef during service. School doesn't do that to them! Oh, my dear. I don't reserve that attitude for CIA grads. I am perfectly willing to offer it up whenever something seems "bullshit" to me. I've been told that I have "low bullshit tolerance". It is just that in my memory, there were more arrogant guys trying to out me from the kitchen (as a female chef then executive chef) that hailed from the CIA than there were arrogant guys trying to out me from the kitchen that hailed from anywhere else . The CIA guys had that piece of paper with cachet to base their claims on. The other guys just had to find other ways to try to do it. Unfair to them, really. I must add that not all of the guys were inclined to wish me out of the kitchen, no matter where they hailed from. . .for fear of sounding like it was always like that. Certainly it wasn't. What is kind of amusing is the many, many cooks who call CIA graduates "arrogant a-holes," and who would give anything to work for the Bennos, Carmellinis, and Ogdens of the world. Yeah, probably. I never wanted to work for Benno, Carmellini, or Ogden though. But offer me a dinner made by them and I'll be there in a New York minute. . . Karen

Well okay. If you all are going this far, then I might as well tell you. It is possible to eat pepperoni, melted cheese AND marinara AND bread. . .with ranch dressing. Yes it is. My daughter has a friend at school who dips her pizza. . .in ranch.

Phew. When the thread uploaded onto the screen, this is what I saw. And what I read (being a bit scatterbrained) on the bottle was "Male Ploy". Followed by "The wife's meal". Seemed reasonable (though a bit funny!) to me.

What you say in your post about the hopes that one pins on a CIA grad as opposed to a Big Jim's grad is all true, adegiulio. I'm not a Big Jim's grad nor a CIA grad. . .but I've been a chef hiring sous-chefs, and I've seen the Big Jim's guys do just as well as the CIA guys. Now. . .if one is looking for the opportunity to "be in a certain world" to "be in a certain circle" of golden opportunity with the Top Chefs of Today. . .then certainly the way to go is the CIA. In general, certain cliques stick to certain cliques. CIA is one way to buy a piece of the clique, if one's skills can follow through on it. Indeed I would say that, the world being what it is. . .there are certain "socio-economic" backgrounds that might not have as good a chance to enter the clique as others unless they do buy CIA. This is all yucky stuff. . .aside from the original point that I wanted to make before I got cranky. Do the thing because it feels right. Not because you expect something from it. Expectations are. . .tricky things.