Labor
We Need to Stop Talking About Tipping Fatigue
Bon Appetit 5/31
When I was a fine dining server, I never understood why confronting a guest who left a bad tip was considered sacrilege.
Jack in the Box’s Sweeping Plan to Solve Staffing
QSR Magazine 5/31
Jack in the Box CEO Darin Harris says labor still isn’t where he wants it to be. A meaningful number of stores operated at reduced hours during the chain’s fiscal second quarter, and many shut down dining rooms.
Food Industry Policy
The Legal Clash Over a City’s Landmark Natural Gas Ban
Route Fifty 5/31
When Berkeley, California, banned natural gas hookups to most newly constructed buildings in the city back in 2019, it was viewed as a landmark step by a local government to curb carbon emissions and combat climate change.
Looser Rules for To-Go Cocktails Pass State Senate, Food Requirement Might Be Nixed
SFist 5/21
That pesky “bona fide” meal requirement for to-go cocktails could be 86’ed under proposed revisions to California’s carry-out cocktail rules, as the state senate just unanimously approved an expansion of legal to-go booze sales.
On the Side
A Bay Area bakery sold mochi muffins for years. Then came the cease-and-desist letter
San Francisco Chronicle 6/1
CA Bakehouse, a small, family-run bakery in San Jose, had been selling mochi muffins for about two years when the cease-and-desist letter arrived.
Firebird Russian Restaurant Forced to Make Two Names Changes Within Two Months
Comstock Magazine 5/31
It couldn’t have come at a worse time for Firebird Russian Restaurant owner Alexandru Sirbu.