Tips in the balance
Late night. Italian restaurant. You've polished off your tiramisù, downed your espresso, necked the complimentary thimbleful of limonchello, and done that wiggly-finger thing we all do when we want the check.
Along comes the bill. But hang on: is service included in the total, or not? If so, is it at 12.5% or 15% - and what's the tip box for at the foot of the bill? Time to ask for another limonchello, and a calculator…
We've all been bewildered by service charges at some time or other. Now, the publishers of the AA Restaurant Guide have branded as "inconsistent" and "confusing" the current charging practices of UK restaurants. Their survey has found that operators employ a dizzying range of tipping policies, leaving customers nonplussed and often embarrassed.
While the majority of restaurants treat the service charge as optional, almost one in five automatically add it to bills, placing the onus on customers to "untip" if they feel service was lacking. Others include service in the price on the menu.
Clearly, we need a transparent, industry-wide approach to tipping. Operators should have sufficient confidence in their product and service to trust customers to tip appropriately. And customers deserve to feel confident that they are not being shafted every time they sign for a bill.
The smoking ban works
Notable side effects from my annual autumn golfing trip to Ireland have traditionally been a horrendous hangover, a dreadful cough and a bag of clothes that reek of cigarette smoke. But this year's trip felt different - and not simply because our gang of thirtysomethings had suddenly stopped acting like 20-year-olds.
We may not have smelled as fresh as daisies after this year's trip, but we felt a damn sight less kippered than normal. As a smoker, I was concerned about the effect the smoking ban would have on our trip. I needn't have worried. The Guinness was still flowing and most of the locals agreed that, where food was served, pubs were doing better business than before the ban.
I quizzed members of staff in pubs; they generally preferred working in the smoke-free environment. And who can blame them? No more stale tobacco odours on clothes and no more harmful effects from passive smoking.
Yes, it was a drag to step outside and brave the wind and rain for a fag, but it really didn't make that much difference. There was always someone out there to talk to - and it made a break from supping the black stuff.
Privates on parade? If you still think that private cookery schools are an irrelevance for the industry, it's probably time for you to reconsider. Yes, they still turn out a fair quota of girls heading off to the ski chalets, but the best of them are now also producing highly skilled graduates who are serious about making a go of it as professional chefs.
Joanna Wood, Chef editor
Ideas tester Every operator would like a crystal ball to help them plan for the future and determine whether projects would work, or could be done better, before they are implemented. In the absence of such a tool, there is optimisation software, which helps take some of the guesswork out of running a business, helping operators to maximise profit by running "what if" scenarios for new ideas.
Karl Cushing, Business editor
