海角大神

Restaurateur聽Danny Meyer announced Wednesday that he will eliminate tipping at all 13 of his New York City restaurants by raising the price of all meals, in a move that he expects will improve the lifestyle of his employees.

Mr. Meyer鈥檚 includes many popular New York City restaurants, such as Union Square Caf茅, Gramercy Tavern, Blue Smoke, and The Modern, inside the Museum of Modern Art. Beginning in November, customers' checks at these restaurants will say 'hospitality included' and the tip line will be removed from the receipt.聽

But this change won't make service free for customers. Diners can expect to see a 30 percent price bump on menu items at Meyer's restaurants.聽

鈥淲e will now have the ability to compensate all of our employees equitably, competitively, and professionally,鈥� Meyer writes in a . 鈥淎nd by eliminating tipping, our employees who want to grow financially and professionally will be able to earn those opportunities based on the merit of their work.鈥�

Meyer his belief that hospitality is a 鈥渢eam sport鈥� and the practice of tipping leaves out servers鈥� colleagues such as cooks, hostesses, and dishwashers who 鈥渁ren鈥檛 able to share in our guests鈥� generosity, even though their contributions are just as vital to the outcome of your experience at one of our restaurants.鈥�

Meyer told The New York Times that income for kitchen workers has not increased more than 25 percent during his 30 years in the New York food industry. 鈥淢eanwhile, dining-room pay has gone up 200 percent,鈥� .

He fears that if this pay gap continues in kitchens across the United States, which is fueled by a law that prevents back of house staff from sharing in pooled tips, then New York City won鈥檛 be able 鈥渢o attract the culinary talent that the city needs to keep its edge.鈥�

But this initiative isn鈥檛 entirely unexpected.

Since as early as 1994, Meyer has openly expressed frustration at America鈥檚 tipping system. He would prefer the US fully transition to a European or Japanese style of dining where tipping is already included in the price of the meal. If restaurant guests (instead of management) , Meyer says managers are left without a way to promote and reward particularly excellent service.

鈥淚 get to give merit raises based on what kind of job I think you鈥檙e doing,鈥� Meyer told the . 鈥淎nd I have all kinds of ways to make those judgments now that I鈥檓 your boss, and John Q public is not your boss.鈥�

Los Angeles restaurateur Gabriel Frem already made the transition to no-tipping, and told The 海角大神 Science Monitor in January that it will not only help the wait staff, but also improve business.

鈥淲e think that if we stabilize the lives of our employees, they can then focus on the customer,鈥� Mr. Frem told The Monitor's聽Daniel Wood. 鈥淚f people came to work and didn鈥檛 know what they were going to make for the week, that tension would eventually translate to the customer.鈥澛�