Like 200 bucks ish? Cheaper the better though
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Lazy is the way to go. Dialing in beans is already difficult as is.
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I’ve been using a Baratza for years.
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Baratza Encore or Fellow Ode 1
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That article is pretty confusing as to what the law will require. Maybe that’s not the reporter’s fault but the legislature’s.
It seems stupid to ban honest surcharges in lieu of tips. The Kato guy details exactly what’s good about that approach.
But there’s no way to determine this without adequate legislation. As a consumer it’s an article of faith which are operating in good faith vs the J&V’s skimming money.
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The article suggests that honest service charges like Kato’s would be banned. If true, that’s bad legislation.
Am I misreading? Where does it say that? All I see is a ban on unadvertised service charges and large party ones. I get that the article’s presentation of large party fees is opaque and confusing.
“The restaurants will need to factor surcharge fees into menu prices, as opposed to simply advertising them at the end of a bill, state officials said.”
If the law bans honest surcharges, then restaurants that have been using them in lieu of tips to provide health insurance, better pay for kitchen staff (who by state law can’t get a share of tips), retirement, profit sharing, vacation, 40-hour weeks, and so on would have to charge way more than restaurants that don’t.
I guess the relevant section of the law is this:
1770.
(a) The unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices listed in this subdivision undertaken by any person in a transaction intended to result or that results in the sale or lease of goods or services to any consumer are unlawful:
…(29) (A) Advertising, displaying, or offering a price for a good or service that does not include all mandatory fees or charges other than either of the following:
(i) Taxes or fees imposed by a government on the transaction.
(ii) Postage or carriage charges that will be reasonably and actually incurred to ship the physical good to the consumer.
There’s an exception for delivery services::
The Legislature intends that it is not a violation of paragraph (29) of subdivision (a) of Section 1770 of the Civil Code for a food delivery platform, as defined in Section 22598 of the Business and Professions Code, to list the price of menu items set by a food facility, as defined in Section 113789 of the Health and Safety Code. In addition, this act is not intended to require a food delivery platform to include in the menu price shown to the consumer the fees it charges for providing its services.
I’m guessing Nancy Skinner didn’t consult with her constituent Alice Waters when drafting these changes.
I have no experience with it but I would say Comandante. It’s so popular that you can always find recipes telling you the exact range of “clicks” to experiment with (yes yes, there will be slight grind size variation from unit to unit) and that’s really valuable as a starting point for any pour over recipe.
With my Forte, I wasted lots of beans to experiment with it…
Edit:
I didn’t realize that the Commandante is close to $300. Perhaps look into 1Zpresso for the same reasoning above…
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Yeah there are a bunch of good hand grinders in that price range. I was assuming they wanted electric but those you referenced are good!
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I’m going with electric ain’t nobody got time for that!
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If we strip away discussion of tipping waitstaff/bartenders (as it deserves (& gets) its own discussion), then I don’t understand what the issue is for me, the consumer (figuratively and literally). Employers should include the cost of adequately paying & providing benefits to staff as part of their business plan. It’s their cost, not mine. If they cant make a profit when including these costs with all their others, then they should consider not being in business. I don’t really need (or want) to see their itemized costs, labor or otherwise, on my bill in the form of “service charges” or a “credit card charge”. Include these in the cost of my food charges and I’ll decide whether it’s worth the price to eat there. Their “work around” has become my migraine.
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So avoid restaurants that try to give all their employees a living wage and benefits. It’s not like that makes the food taste better, so why should you care?
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Not what I was saying. I want an all inclusive price. I said nothing about my values vis a vis going to places that may charge me more than others for my food but provide employees with a living wage and benefits. Those are variables that I should (& do) care about. Separately listing “service”, “credit card” and other charges are not necessarily indicative of more benign employers.
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Yeah but as Danny Meyer/Union Square’s experiment with service included pricing illustrated, customers spend less, sticker shock basically, so restaurants suffer less sales. Few restaurants will put themselves at a competitive disadvantage like that.
It’s also why this can’t be disentangled from tipping. For most, tipping is all but compulsory. But that 15%-20% is not displayed upfront on the bill. We can laugh at our flawed human reasoning, but people buy more when the menu price doesn’t include tax and tip/service.
If this new law requires service charges to be disclosed/included upfront on menus, unless adoption is so wholesale that restaurants don’t see a decline in revenue, I’d guess we’ll see a move back to tipping, where menu prices appear lower.
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So it seems, with a little more research, that BOH/kitchen staff can participate in tips pools as of roughly 2018 or 2020.
If so, do service charges equalize FOH/BOH pay in a way that tip pools don’t? Is it mostly a money grab by owners a la Jon and Vinny’s?
I’m sure there are good and bad actors. And curious how much back of house is getting at places that pool tips for dishwashers, line cooks etc.
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Tip pooling can’t fund health insurance, retirement, vacations, or 40-hour weeks a la what restaurants such as Chez Panisse and Kato have been doing with their service charges.
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