No Tips Accepted

I will find a bagel in New York City this morning. This is my current thought although it has zero pertinence to the following post. 

Over the last few years, I have developed this obsession over the concept of tipping. When is is necessary? I've kind of developed a disdain toward tipping because it's entirely a gray area. 

A few weeks back inside a Richmond coffee shop, the barista swiped my credit card through his iPad POS (point of sale, or piece of shit, up for interpretation.) Many of these neat, food-oriented point of sales programs have a built in tip calculator. They do the work for you, yay! Not so fast. He swung the iPad around on its swiveled-podium as I elected to tip $1, assuming I'd have two hot cups of drip awaiting me after Apple's technology registered my gratuity. 

Never assume. On the contrary, I was met with two paper cups. My face must've signaled utter confusion. He then used his finger to point at the carafe station at the back of the establishment. My head was spinning. I just tipped 20% to do arguably all the 'service' myself.

After explaining the entire incident to my David, my better male half, we entered this amazing discussion surrounding tip culture. 

I am perturbed when I roll through a coffee joint and see a tip jar that couldn't support a six pack split amongst the entire staff. But our cultural norm is when you enter a bar, squeeze in between the reject who's never made it out of his hometown and the perfume-laden woman looking for a successful third marriage just to reach a frazzled bartender who hands you a tepid can of high life, a dollar tip is the norm. 

Alcohol controls tip culture. 

If your total is $3.36, you're not going to be the person who tips .64 cents, are you? You pocket that and remove a fresh dollar bill and leave it on the counter .

Please don't misconstrue my opinion, however. With a budget in a small town, I frequent three establishments. Anyone locally reading this will know those three, no need to rifle off names. I take pride in this because they offer great service.

There's not much better of a feeling of entering a local bar and the face behind the bar greets you by name and your normal beverage. This can't be expected everywhere, obviously, but this is service. This is being served. 

This led me to my search for dinner in the city Thursday night. NYC is one of the front running cities experimenting with eliminating tipping, altering prices to account for tip and divvying they money in a more equal manner amongst front and back of house employees. Having worked in two kitchens, I would concur in the need for change. Watching a waiter roll through for a dinner shift and net $150-$200 easily while kitchen folk are wrangling roughly $10/hour. Far from cool. This new trend is permeating through much of the food scene here, according to reports.

I admittedly was overwhelmed last night in Brooklyn. I was trying to do so much in a finite allowance of time before meeting up with the Queen of NYC, Brooke Yen as she returned from work. Rough Trade, Brooklyn Brewery, Williamsburg, riding into SOHO via the Williamsburg Bridge. I needed fuel. I needed food. I felt like Anthony Bourdain, a solo traveler on the prow for adventure, and more so for culture. I wanted to find good food in arguably the food capital of America. 

I cracked open the door of YUJI Ramen on a whim. I was met with a three-table restaurant featuring a low-hanging three-top bar. This was it. I was met with a neatly-arranged seat featured above. A tiny, ceramic mug filled with room temperature water. Two chopsticks, a soup-style spoon nestled next to a small sliver of stone. 

A small card menu was brought over my right shoulder. $20 and up was inked alongside each of the 10 or so house specials. I swallowed heavily. A good chunk of cash for a solo dinner. 'Stephen, you're in f---ing New York, not Harrisonburg. This is not even expensive in context. Treat yourself.' 

"Sir, would you like anything else to drink other than water?"

I grazed the menu and saw multiple Japanese beers, about $10/pop. My mind thought, $20 dinner, $10 beer, $6, $7, maybe $8 tip. Goodness!! 

"Ummmm, I think water will do just fine, thank you." 

::Mmmm this is great water!!::

One ball out experience isn't going to break the bank, just my frugal mindset. 

I elected for a Mazemen dish, similar to ramen, but different in its own right. Noodle-based, but more focused on the toppings, sans broth. As I somewhat struggled to successfully wield chopsticks through my experience, I realized the quality in this dining experience offered. The restaurant was occupied completely by 'table for one' patrons. In retrospect, I feel as if regulars flock here in search of a calm, contemplative meal amidst the sound of water boiling and eggs frying on the flat top. When the woman beside me received the check, I noticed here taking a picture of it. I couldn't really seem to find a solid reason for it other than think she was surprised by the cost for a bowl of noodles. Everything came full circle when I was presented with my bill. "No tips accepted.' It added such an interesting twist to the dining experience. George, my server, cook and the host asked how my meal was. I affirmed that it was more than I could've asked for. I then went out on a limb to inquire about the tip. This began the most stimulating tip conversation I've had to date. He took a seat next to me and expressed his opinion on how tipping ruins the experience for diners. 

I had unknowingly taken part in a dining experiment that is looking to rewrite the industry. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. 

Stephen