Read all about it: UGSRP ‘Tipped Out?’ Forum a success!
This past Monday April 29th UGSRP held its ‘Tipped Out?’ forum at George Brown College in Toronto. Speakers at the event included academics, restaurateurs and a member of provincial parliament. The audience of industry members and students was treated to a two-hour passionate discussion about this very controversial subject. Here are some of the highlights.
Chris Klugman is the proprietor of Paintbox Bistro, a social enterprise in Toronto’s Regent Park. Klugman started off his talk by asking the audience to think about the following, “What does the restaurant of the future look like?” The pursuit of this question is what motivated Klugman to open up Paintbox Bistro. At his restaurant Klugman employs a system of tip pooling that sees gratuities distributed equally amongst all front and back of house staff. Klugman shared with the audience that he provides wage incentives for his employees for each semester of culinary school they complete.
Another unique perspective on tipping was presented by Jay Porter, owner of The Linkery restaurant in San Diego. Porter explained to the audience that at The Linkery they add an 18% service charge on the total of the bill. Any additional money left on the table, or ‘tips’ are taken and donated to a local charity within the community. Since moving to to this model 6 years ago the restaurant has experienced a variety of customer reaction. Porter stated that a good amount of people have embraced the flat service charge. It seems they welcome the idea of not having to face the social stigma of tipping, or even just doing the math. There has also been reaction at the opposite end of the spectrum. Some people, almost always male, are offended by the idea of paying the flat fee and often comment that they always tip higher than the allotted 18%.
Lastly, Yasser Qahawish of Guelph, Ontario’s Artisanale spoke passionately about his thoughts on tip sharing. He started off by stating that tips are split in the following way at Artisanale, 60% goes to the front of house, 30% goes to the kitchen, and the last 10% goes into a fund which is strictly for career development, emergencies, and other unforeseeable costs. Qahawish shared, “service is not the only element of a dining experience, and there are other contributions.” He added, “I want the service to be as good as the food.” Qahawish lastly mentioned that if the standards are higher, we should be able to charge more for service.
Stay tuned for the video coverage of the event, which will be posted on our blog shortly.
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