Why tipping is bad for everyone

TV’s “Top Chef” star Tom Colicchio is tops for bravery. Risking the wrath of customers and waiters alike, he’s boldly launching a lunchtime no-tipping policy at his popular restaurant Craft.
Just about every other big-name owner or chef in town I talked to defended tipping, fudged the issue, or ran for cover.
But I hope Colicchio extends the plan to dinner, as he says he’ll do if his “service-included” lunch proves successful. Except in a very few rarefied establishments, tipping corrupts the business, demeans waiters and drives customers nuts.

Today only a tiny handful of New York restaurants, notably ultra-expensive Per Se and Atera, include service in the bill. Craft is the first large, midpriced restaurant to go the no-tipping route.
“I believe it’s time to change the way people get paid,” Colicchio said. “Waitstaff should no longer be beholden to someone who might not like the way they look” — referring to the capricious way some customers reward or punish waiters.

At lunch, “management will pay the floor crew out of revenue from a menu priced higher than it would be under the tipping system,” Colicchio said.
Craft’s service-included lunch tabs of $23 for roasted octopus and $30 for roasted sea bream seem entirely reasonable. (Although service is included, as it is in much of Europe and some other parts of the world, a customer may leave a few extra bucks at his or her discretion — but unlike normal tipping, it’s truly optional.)
Colicchio is optimistic his experiment will work. “The younger generation is more and more being introduced to a cash-less society,” he said.
And the Craft program is less risky than it might otherwise be because the restaurant was not previously open at lunch, so the new policy won’t change anyone’s habits.
I’ve long believed that a service-included system would benefit everyone by stabilizing restaurant floor service, which often sees wholesale turnovers every month. It would draw more waiters who’d take the work seriously than those out to make a quick buck on the side.
I sympathize with hard-working floor crews, women especially, who take abuse from obnoxious customers. A fellow who joined me one night at a Vietnamese place near Chinatown had vacationed in Vietnam and thought he knew the cuisine better than our Saigon-born waiter.

I believe it’s time to change the way people get paid. Waitstaff should no longer be beholden to someone who might not like the way they look.

 - Tom Colicchio

“Don’t leave them a tip! Don’t leave them a tip!” my ex-pal bellowed loudly enough to wake up all of lower Mulberry Street. But those who believe tipping is optional should not leave the house.
That said, my loyalties lie more with customers than with a certain class of waiters who can earn between $60,000-$150,000 annually for working a five-shift, 40-hour week.
I’m fed up with those who, to boost the tip pool, try to upsell us on “share” plates, side dishes and endlessly intoned, “any coffee, tea, espresso, after-dinner drinks?” — when we’re all clearly eager to go home and sleep.
Doing math in dim lighting is the last thing I want when I’m bloated and woozy from wine. Am I leaving too much? Too little?
It’s easy only for low-ballers who simply double the 8.875 percent sales tax. Those who prefer to leave 20 percent or more fret over whether the tip should be based on the total including or not including tax. (Base it on the pre-tax total.)
How much more do we tip if an otherwise modest total for four is jacked up disproportionately by a pricey bottle of wine? (Nobody’s ever come up with a good answer to that one).
Yet, tipping bedevils staffers as much as it annoys diners. Bernard Collin, a partner in Rock Center’s Brasserie Ruhlmann as well as a manager of Le Colonial and Orsay, says the unprecedented tidal wave of foreign tourists leaves staffers “on edge” as never before.
“Some from Europe pretend not to know that tipping is customary here, or they only leave four or five percent,” Collin said.
Built-in service charges would also put an end to some unscrupulous owners’ and managers’ practice of illegally claiming a chunk of the tip pool for themselves — source of many recent lawsuits settled for big bucks.
Eliminating tips would also insulate waiters from abuse by managers who assign shifts. Tips are “pooled,” but each pot in which floor staff share equally applies only to the shift.
As Monday lunch is not as lucrative as Saturday dinner, waiters jockey for the best shifts — an invitation for abuse by bosses who assign them.
Of course, if everyone switched to service-included overnight, it would take time for the dust to settle. Collin said, “Change the way people make their livelihoods and everybody freaks out.”
But we’ll all be happier eaters and feeders in the long run.

The chefs have their say

Don’t expect other restaurants to follow Tom Colicchio’s no-tipping experiment at Craft any time soon. Here’s what they told us:
Eric Ripert, Le Bernardin: “Integrating the tip into prices is bad for the customer, the waiter, and the restaurateur.
“You see terrible service in some Paris bistros because there is no incentive for the waiters. It is not good for clients to have a system where waiters have a guaranteed income.
“I like the idea of tips. I always give more [than 20 percent] and I’m happy to contribute to the well-being of waiters.”
David Bouley, Bouley and Brushstroke: “Not planning that right now”
Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Jean-Georges and nine other Manhattan places: “No plans to make any changes at the moment”

Bobby Flay, Gato, Bar Americain: “I’m just watching how customers and staff react [to Craft]…I’m not rushing to make a change until I get a better sense of what is working and what is not.”
Danny Meyer, owner of The Modern, Gramercy Tavern: “Danny has long questioned the sanctity of the tipping system. We are always exploring if, when and how we might find a better way to care for our employees.”
Mario Batali, Babbo, Del Posto: “We are carefully investigating several different scenarios and will definitely have some plan in place by year end where it makes the most sense,” later clarified by a rep to, “Our team is still weighing options.”
Daniel Boulud: Restaurant Daniel, Cafe Boulud: “We have no intention in the near future to change the tip situation. But for sure, everyone in our industry believes that today, service not included is a serious issue and soon to be a thing of the past — but a little more challenging to implement”