Pie and a Tip...

There’s the old joke which occurs occasionally in geometry class when calculating the area of a circle (A = πr²) and some wise guy will say “no, pie are round!”.  Well, today is what is referred to as Pi day, which is always fun.  Back in 2015 when it was 3/14/15, and then you could cheat with some sort of warped logic, and maybe append the hours, minutes and seconds to come up with 3 14 15 92:65:35 etc., or something.  Today’s two decimal places are kind of lame.   Anyway, Pi day has taken hold and is now a kind of a National event mostly allowing people to eat an actual pie (or a piece-a-pie or maybe a piz-za pie), so anything that relates to food is fine with me. And on a more somber note, it also marks the anniversary of Stephen Hawking’s death, which is somehow fitting. 

Speaking of food, I think I mentioned that the Urban Barbeque in Leonardtown has shuttered, but don’t think I’ve included the fact that Smokey Joe’s over here in “the Park” is going to move in.  Apparently the property it currently sits on will be sold some time in the future, so the owner has been looking around for another venue.  Perfect fit.

Apparently our newest addition to the Leonardtown food scene will open for burritos and tacos on 2 April.  Yippee!

Lastly, and I really don’t know enough about this to be speaking about it and far from authoritatively, but just to let you know in case you hear/heard something about it.   The state legislature is considering some form of a “minimum wage” bill that will mandate a $15/hour minimum wage by 2024. Just for reference, the current minimum wage in Maryland is $9.25.  so on the surface, we all would say “hooray” helps the workers, boosts the economy, etc.  Well, maybe not so fast.   These bills will now include what are referred to as “tipped workers”, which would include the person that comes to your table at a restaurant and asks “what can I get started fer ya?”; just after being seated, or later wants to know “if you’re still werkin’ on that”.  And the person who hands you the check at the end with usually a line for “tip”.

How all this figures into that person’s income is a mystery to me.  I believe that most restaurants pay their servers, bus boys, line cooks, a hourly wage much lower than that minimum wage, but that tips make up the difference as they get “credit” for the tips.  How those tips get distributed and accounted for to the staff is a mystery to me, and since cash is involved, it can get murky.  Usually there is a tip pool that gets divvied up by some scheme.  So if the “tip credit” gets eliminated and the owners have to actually pay all staff the (by 2024) $15 per hour, they will have to up prices, etc.   Many of my restaurateur friends are not in favor of this legislation.

One scheme that is being used at some places in New York is to adjust the cost of a menu item so that the costs of food AND service are included, and in the end you are expected to pay what the total of the food you enjoyed amounts to.  No fuzzy math required at the end of the meal with an alcohol clouded brain. 

I’m not so sure how people around here would feel about that, prices would most likely increase, and maybe you kind of lose the option to adjust your tip to reflect the service you received.  But it does take the normal end of meal struggle, and would certainly raise prices.

Anyway, keep your ears tuned…  perhaps as I learn more I’ll update this confusing report.  Let me know if you have some thoughts... while you

DFD