The CulinaryWoman Newsletter, 6/25/23
How much should servers earn - and how should they be paid?
Hello and welcome to the CulinaryWoman Newsletter! A warm hello to new subscribers, and a special thank you to our new paid subscribers.
This week marks CW’s third anniversary! For those who don’t know its story, I started the newsletter as the pandemic was getting underway. It was a chaotic time in journalism.
One of my primary news outlets, to which I was a senior contributor, notified me in spring 2020 that it was cutting my monthly payments in half - and those payments were already half of what I had been receiving a few years earlier. Further, it also said it was going to base future payments on a complicated data-driven formula.
Nuts to that, I said to myself. I knew that writers who had previously been bloggers were moving into the newsletter realm. Having published the Curbing Cars Newsletter, which was funded via a Kickstarter, I knew I could compete in the space. But I would have to step aside from the news outlet, and proceed on my own.
Deep breath: and here we are. My readership has more than doubled this past year. Many of you have come through recommendations from friends like
and and I am so grateful you have found me.As year four kicks off, I’ll be sharing more business topics in the restaurant and food worlds, which I don’t think get covered nearly enough. I will keep describing my own food adventures at home and when I travel, and let you know what I’m up to.
For paid subscribers, I will offer more recommendations through Red Beans and Advice, and highlight books in the CulinaryWoman Reading Room. We have more fun giveaways lined up. Your support keeps the newsletter in business, and I appreciate it. Readers can upgrade any time.
Thank you so much for reading CulinaryWoman! Happy birthday to us!
Servers Want Higher Pay, But Is It Affordable?
I talk to restaurant servers as much as possible, especially when I’m eating alone. I love hearing about their lives and how their work is going. They become like friends. It was nice to walk into Nick’s House of Pancakes in Ann Arbor last week and see several servers that I knew by name.
I never worked in a food service job, but I did work in several retail jobs, so I know what it’s like to wait on people. I also know how commissions work. Many servers receive an equivalent in tipped wages, a widespread practice across the American restaurant industry.
Employees are paid a fraction of the minimum wage, and get the rest of their pay in tips. There is a federal tipped wage minimum of $2.13 an hour. The employee should receive enough in tips to reach the standard minimum wage of $7.25; if they do not, the employer is supposed to make up the difference per hour.
States can implement higher tipped minimum wages, just as they can higher minimum wages. Thirty-four do so, but the rest apply the federal minimum.
I have never liked this type of compensation structure. It seems like there is little protection against a slow day, and it also creates the impression that service positions are not as vital as those that conventionally receive minimum wage.
On the other hand, a high tipping restaurant can mean healthy take home pay way above minimum wage, and in elite restaurants, servers can earn upwards of six figure income per year.
In the Michigan spotlight
In Michigan, the state Supreme Court is about to decide on a measure that would significantly raise the state’s tipped wage amount. Currently, tipped wages in Michigan are $3.84 per hour. Several years ago, Michigan voters passed a ballot proposal calling for the tipped hourly wage to be raised to $11.73.
However, in 2018, the Michigan legislature, then controlled by Republicans, modified the tipped wage figure in passing the laws needed to implement the ballot proposal. They also lengthened a roll-in period.
Backers of the ballot proposal sued, arguing that the state Constitution required the increase to be implemented in the same manner in which the idea was put before voters.
Bridge News reported that restaurants are divided on whether the higher tipped scale would hurt or help them. Remember, the proposal was passed before the pandemic, and all the problems the industry has faced since then.
Some proprietors argue that paying higher wages now will simply cripple them, given higher costs for food as well as increased wages that many had to offer in order to find people to fill jobs.
Some servers told Bridge they were afraid that wage increases could prompt restaurants to employ fewer workers, and that patrons would tip less because meals were more expensive.
On the other hand, higher tipped wages could make restaurant jobs more attractive, and get rid of some of the inequities in the way serving jobs are viewed. There’s no word on when the court will rule.
How do you want to be paid?
At the same time, there is a shift going on in servers’ expectations about the way they are paid. Increasingly, many want to be paid at the end of their day, rather than get a weekly or biweekly pay check. You might have seen signs at fast food restaurants promising pay on the first day of work.
I am a member of a Facebook group for hospitality workers, and I constantly see queries about places that will pay per shift. Some potential employees also want to know whether a restaurant operates on pooled tips among serving staff. From what I can tell, that idea doesn’t seem very popular, even though it might seem fair on the surface for servers to share tips.
Just as many aspects of restaurants are changing, so is the area of compensation. If you’re curious about things where you live, have a chat with your server, the way I do. And no matter what, leave a nice tip.
Tock Ticks Restaurants Off
When the pandemic hit, many restaurants did only minimal online business of their own. The main way to order online was through a delivery service such as Door Dash or Grub Hub.
Tock made it possible for many restaurants to accept online orders via their websites. Now, Tock is ticking off some of its restaurant customers.
It is adding a 99 cent fee to every online order over $10. Restaurants won’t receive it, the money goes straight to Tock. The fee won’t be apparent, according to the Boston Globe; it will be folded into an area called “taxes and fees.”
I’ve spotted multiple social media posts from restaurants upset about the change, like the one above from The Common Good. At a time when higher menu prices are causing some people to curb dining out, another dollar touches a nerve - both with proprietors and customers.
The Bear Returns For Season Two
Last year, food lovers were abuzz about The Bear. The FX series made a star of actor Jeremy Allen White, and set off national interest in the Chicago specialty sandwich known as an Italian beef.
Now, The Bear is back and it has moved beyond beef - and even the kitchen. This season, the restaurant pivots to fine dining. And while it remains centered in Chicago, there is a trip to trendy Copenhagen, and a variety of cameo appearances from notable actors and food figures.
The former include one of my favorite actresses, Olivia Colman, and her fellow Oscar winner, Jamie Lee Curtis.
The latter include Donnie Madea, partner with Paul Kahan in a slew of Chicago restaurants including the Publican, and Dylan Patel, executive chef at one of those places, Avec.
You can read the guest star list here. https://time.com/6289319/the-bear-season-2-guest-star-cameos/
If the lineup brings to mind David Simon’s much-admired HBO series Treme, it’s a good thing. The Bear was wearing some viewers out with yelling and dramatics. Rick Bayless, arguably Chicago’s best known chef, said recently that he doesn’t think Season One did the industry any good.
But, hopefully the less-tense new season will be more focused on theatrical drama and less on kitchen crises.
Fresher Grab And Go Shops From H-E-B
If you live in Texas or follow the grocery world, you know about H-E-B. You could call them the Wegman’s of Texas for their variety and the warm feelings that customers have about them.
For some time, H-E-B has operated small satellite shops, its version of convenience stores, where customers could run in and grab a few things, and get a fountain soda or a six pack of beer,
Now, it is rebranding and expanding. The smaller H-E-B stores will be called Fresh Bites, with better quality food, like salads, soup, sushi and sandwiches. And, many locations will have cafes called True Texas Tacos.
This offspring idea is popular in England, where a variety of stores such as Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s operate quick stop, take out kind of shops. You don’t see it as much in the U.S. But as more people shift their work and dining habits, they may be receptive to quick trips out, versus time consuming grocery hauls.
Keeping Up With CulinaryWoman
Remember that we have a giveaway underway for our paid subscribers. Some lucky reader is going to enjoy the Turbo Trusser, as seen on Shark Tank. Will it be you?
I’d love to hear from you about setting up a book event or using my CulinaryWoman Coaching feature. Here’s where to find me.
Email: culinarywoman (@) gmail dot com.
Instagram: (@)michelinemaynard
I’ll see our paid subscribers tomorrow and everyone else next weekend, which will mark Canada Day and kick off the Fourth of July holiday. Does it seem like summer season is already flying by?