Restaurants Increasingly Opt For Service Fees Over Tips
Image Source: John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune
While tipping is deeply ingrained in the American restaurant experience, the practice is changing due to pay disparities relative to state and federal minimum and subminimum wages (for tipped workers). In many cities, restaurants have implemented 20% service fees instead of tips to ensure that workers receive fair wages year-round regardless of tipping fluctuations. Restaurant guests are still adjusting to the fees, but it's generally understood that if your bill includes a service fee, additional tips are completely optional.
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Michelin Awards And Withdraws Stars In 2023 Restaurant Guide To France
Image Source: Laurence Mouton
Guy Savoy in Paris first received 3 Michelin stars in 2002. This year, the restaurant was downgraded to 2 stars. A total of 25 restaurants lost stars in Michelin’s home country this year. Of the 44 establishments awarded new stars, 37 are located outside of Paris. La Marine, a fish and seafood spot on Noirmoutier island, was the only new 3-star recipient, while 4 restaurants joined the 2-star ranks, and 39 restaurants received one star. Vive le France?
James Beard Foundation Names 2023 America’s Classics
Image Source: Bill Addison
While most JBF awards go to fine-dining chefs and restaurants, longstanding independent family restaurants also get the nod in the America’s Classics Awards. This year's winners include Joe’s Bakery & Coffee Shop (Austin, TX); La Casita Blanca (San Juan, Puerto Rico); Manago Hotel (Captain Cook, HI); Nezinscot Farm (Turner, ME); Pekin Noodle Parlor (Butte, MT); and Wagner’s Village Inn (Oldenburg, IN). Congrats all! The Foundation's fine-dining Restaurant and Chef Award winners will be announced on June 5 at Chicago's Lyric Opera.
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World's Best Restaurant Noma To Close
Image Source: REUTERS/Yuya Shino
At the end of 2024, the Copenhagen restaurant Noma will close its doors. Opened in 2003 by Danish chef Rene Redzepi, Noma put New Nordic cooking on the map and helped popularize hyper-local cuisine around the world. Noma has 3 Michelin stars and has been named World's Best Restaurant 5 times. Announcing the closure, Redzepi said it's impossible to make the math of fine dining work for his almost 100 employees and himself. Instead, Noma will transform into Noma Projects, a pioneering cooking lab that sells innovative food products like its already-sold-out smoked mushroom garum.
The 15 Best New Restaurants in America, According To Eater
Highly personal restaurants, fusion cooking, and bakeries dominated this year's restaurant openings, and Eater does a great job rounding up the best. Highlights include Audrey (Nashville), Causa/Amazonia (DC), Dept of Culture (NYC), Gigi's Italian Kitchen & Restaurant (Atlanta), Kann (Portland, OR), Khâluna (Minneapolis), Khmai Fine Dining (Chicago), Machine Shop (Philadelphia); Pijja Palace (LA), and San Ho Won (San Francisco). If you're in town, check 'em out. Congrats all!
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