Tipping and a White House chef
I regularly get an e-newsletter from the National Restaurant Association pointing me to interesting stories in papers and trade magazines. OK, and some not-so-interesting ones.
But today there was a link to a story in the Wall Street Journal, a follow up on one of our favorite subjects, tipping. I thought I would link to it to cheer everyone up. Haha. Just kidding.
There was another interesting story, too, a former White House chef talking about his old job and what the Obamas should expect. I've been meaning to blog on something along those lines, so I followed the link right to...the Baltimore Sun. It appeared in yesterday's paper, which is still on my kitchen table waiting to be read.
I'm really on top of things today.








Comments
I like that article. Walter seems like a nice guy.
What a horribly terrifying job though...
Posted by: Rebs | November 11, 2008 10:20 AM
So, does the President have to buy his own food for the chef to prepare, or does that come with the government housing?
Posted by: Bucky | November 11, 2008 12:13 PM
Bucky, my first thought was that it must be some sort of per diem, but then, who wants the job where you say, "Sorry, Sir, you've eaten all your food allowance for the month?"
Posted by: Eve | November 11, 2008 2:00 PM
Bucky - I believe the first family pays for their own food and beverages for themselves and any guests unless it is a state dinner, then tax dollars pay and you don't get to go. I am not sure if they are billed for a portion of the 80 staff at the white house.
Posted by: Kitkat | November 11, 2008 2:43 PM
25% Tip! Only twice in my life have I left such a thing, and tonight was one. Shabu Shabu (in Mission Viejo, CA) is the kind of hole-in-the-wall one-of that I think we need to declare an endangered species and try to preserve -- and maybe especially here in California where everything is part of a "mini-chain" (a word I have seen in the local guides) or a "restaurant group," which around here means something different than a local crazy man.
What fun (especially for a lonely traveler) to sit at a U-shaped bar, each seat equipped with its own hot pot and burner. The owner (an amazing local character who shares newly devised sauces with special customers and will gladly accept their offers of Sapporo and sake) blends hospitality, education (for a newbie like me) and marital advice from seat to seat in a seamless fashion -- until she has to dash back to the slicing station to deliver plates of translucent rib eye or pork belly. (H-Mart should have a slicer so sharp!)
The closest thing I have experienced to this is stopping in at Greg's bagels and having the owner compliment me on my choice of salmon that morning.
Posted by: MD Canon (In the OC on the Left Coast this week) | November 12, 2008 10:36 PM
Kitkat - Thanks for that explanation.
Posted by: Bucky | November 13, 2008 9:11 AM