Tipping and Its Harm on Service

I just returned home from an all-you-can-eat sushi restaurant that would otherwise be unnotable except for one particular policy. No, it wasn't the "you must eat everything you order," which is a standby at any place that would offer AYCE for $20.95. It wasn't the "no sharing" policy either. That one makes perfect sense. Instead, this restaurant, Yuka on the Upper East Side, has a strict no tipping policy.
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It's no big secret that wait staff are commonly underpaid under the premise that tips would make up the rest of their salary. The result is wide divergence in the earnings from waiter to waiter, or even the same waiter day to day. The entire custom of tipping is ludicrous. People should earn a good salary for the work they do. When they go above and beyond, they can receive a tip as a gratuity for their service. By definition, a tip is not mandatory. When it is mandatory, it constitutes a fee. Let's not fool ourselves, when we dine out, we're paying at least 15% of a fee on top of our meal, not to mention the tax.

When I was in Egypt in December (great timing), there is a culture of tipping called baksheesh. Tourists will recognize it most in the open palms of anyone that aids you, from police point out the best photo spot to bathroom attendants enforcing a pay-to-pee fee. Many Asian countries are moving towards tipping as well, even though they traditionally have no culture of it. I like to blame Western tourists for creating this culture of handouts and corrupting the highly trained Asian service economy.

So what can you do as a customer? You can't stiff the tip at the expense of the poor waiters, unless they truly deserve nothing. Tipping is so ingrained in our culture now that it reflects badly on you when you leave less than 15-18%. What we need are more restaurants like Yuka that have a policy of no tips. In fact, any money left on the table will go to charity. Instead, Yuka charges a management fee of 12% for parties less than six and 18% for six or more. While I applaud the no tipping policy, the mandatory management fee makes me suspicious. Presumably, if it goes towards paying the higher salary for the staff, I can full get behind the charge. The restaurant cannot simply price in the management fee into the food; the restaurant business is too competitive at the price level.

What we need are more restaurants following this innovative policy for the benefit of both customers and waiters, not to mention all the people who work at back of house who don't have an opportunity to earn the tip on their own. Let's put a stand to the spread of mandatory tipping. I support no more nickel and diming customers and a fair wage to service people.



Yuka
1557 2nd Ave
(between 80th St & 81st St)
Upper East Side, NY 10028
(212) 772-9675
All you can eat sushi $20.95

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Fast Food is Best on Wheels: Frites 'n' Meats Truck

Update 4/12/11: The Frites n Meats truck exploded yesterday. Luckily no one was seriously hurt besides some minor burns. Hoping they'll come back to the street soon.


I've got wide tastes when it comes to burgers. Sometimes I'm satisfied with a McDouble. In fact, sometimes all I want is a McDouble and nothing more. But on the other end of the spectrum, you just can't beat Minetta Tavern's infamously difficult to photograph Black Label burger. Lately I've been getting my mid-high end fix at Mel's Burger Bar, not too far from my apartment. But Mel's has a wickedly bad wait time and is on the pricey end for what it is. Wouldn't it be nice if great burgers could come to me, cheaper and more delicious? Enter Frites 'n' Meats.
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Recently, food trucks of all different types (Korean tacos and Taiwanese Cravings Truck specifically) have been appearing outside my school. I always thought that outside a grad school would be a great locations for lunch trucks, but maybe students don't have the lunch budgets of office workers around mid-to-lower Manhattan. Hence I haven't seen very much food truck activity before this recent flurry.

My first experience with Frites 'n' Meats truck was actually with their frites and not their meats. Their handcut double fried Belgian frites are golden and crisp. They even withstood the dreaded soggy effect of leaving them in the bag too long when carrying them as takeout. A little on the salty side, but both their garlic aioli and horseradish aioli took the savory edge off a bit.

When the truck came around again, I knew I had to get a burger. They emphasize their quality ingredients--DeBragga & Spitler, Balthazar Bakery and Murray's Cheese Shop. I opted for the grass fed Angus on a potato onion bun topped with goat cheese, onion, tomato and mesclun greens. They also offer American wagyu and skirt steak sandwiches, but my preference for a burger is usually a heartier beef. American wagyu, even though it is a cross breed of Japanese wagyu and American Angus, tends to lack the beefy flavor of pure Angus that I want in a burger. The rich marbling of wagyu is best in small quantities.

As you can tell from the photo above, they make a pretty burger, especially since sandwiches are rather difficult to photograph well. All their burgers are cooked medium-rare, a commendable risk but gives you some confidence in the source of the meat. They even undercook to account for the carryover cooking when you order to go. As I've mentioned before, I've come to really appreciate the beef as the critical component of the burger. Too often, we're distracted by the fancy sauces and accouterments when what is most satisfying is biting into a rich and flavorful patty. Frites 'n' Meats obviously takes their burgers seriously, and I'll gladly patronize a place that loves its food as much as I do.

$5.50 for the burger
$.75 for cheese
$3.00 for fries
fritesnmeats.com
Check their blog and twitter for locations.


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Taiwanese in Manhattan

Baohaus Haus Bao and Chairman Bao

As a kid, I used to visit Taiwan annually. Moving from California to New York, I knew that the demographics would alter the culinary landscape. And until I'm willing to take the long train ride out to Flushing, Queens for good Chinese food, I usually settle with whatever is nearby or out of my own kitchen. Recently, I've been on a Taiwanese bent. Since I won't be going back home anytime soon, I sought out some local options.

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First is Baohaus, the mindspring of Eddie Huang, a second-generation Taiwanese-American. Besides his colorful antics, he also opened XiaoYe recently. Lower East Side is just so far away from me that it took almost a year for me to finally get down there for food. It was well worth it.

I tried three of the signature baos (Taiwanese steamed bun sandwiches) with high-end ingredients like Berkshire pork and free-range chicken. The Haus bao was a red-cooked hanger steak ($4.50). An odd choice of meat for the cooking style. Typical Chinese red-cooked meat is pork. While the haus bao had the right flavors, the texture wasn't quite right. I much preferred the Chairman bao the equivalent bun with pork belly ($4). Maybe it's the traditionalist in me, but the pork fat coated the bun just right in combination with the cilantro, peanuts and pickled mustard greens. I also enjoyed the Birdhaus fried chicken bao with a spicy kick ($4). To finish it off, some fried bao fries with black sesame sauce ($3.50) washed down with an Apple Sidra.

Second, I've been following the NYC Cravings truck for months. It serves Taiwanese pork chops and fried chicken rice bowls primarily. Unfortunately, as a truck, it's never near me at just the right time. And I still have issues traveling to get to a food truck. Luckily, last week it came up to my part of town. I eagerly got there early, anticipating a huge line. Seems no one else got the message. A few customers here and there, but no hungry masses. Good thing too, considering it took more than ten minutes for them to fill my order. Such a delay from a food truck is really not okay. No wonder its Facebook page has pictures of long lines.



I finally brought back pork chop and fried chicken bowls ($7 each) to my apartment. Alas, the meat was one-dimensional. All I could really taste was the "pork sauce," or what I thought was simply soy sauce. Both the pork and the chicken had no pizazz, had nothing to distinguish it from just another piece of protein.

So, one hit and one miss. I'll have to try XiaoYe next*. Or better yet, maybe I should just suck it up and make the perilous journey to the Chinatown in Flushing.

Baohaus
baohausnyc.com
137 Rivington St. (and Norfolk)
Lower East Side, 10002
(646)684-3835

NYC Cravings
nyccravings.com
Location variable
@nyccravings


*Update: Due to Eddie Huang's above mentioned antics, including an all you can drink Four Loko night, he has closed Xiaoye for good. Guess it's Excellent Pork Chop House for me.

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Maryland Blue Crab in Chesapeake Bay

This is a pile of eighteen steamed Maryland blue crabs coated with Old Bay seasoning. Armed with a small knife, mallet, and my bare hands, I dove into the stack. For the uninitiated, and non-squeamish, this is a quick how-to guide to eating these crustaceans.
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I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, tearing apart indigenous dungeness crabs. Those crabs are larger than the blue crabs and have much more meat in the legs. As a consequence of this training, I am fairly proficient at eating crab legs. But as you can tell from the picture, the legs on blue crabs have hardly anything worth salvaging beside what's in the claws.

Step One: Flip the Crab Over and Remove Apron


Almost all the blue crabs served in Maryland are male. There are strict catch limits on the female crabs, especially during spawning season from May until early Fall. To identify male and female crabs, the underside "apron" is shaped differently by sex. The rule of thumb is that aprons shaped like the Washington Monument, as in the picture above, indicate male crabs. The female crabs have rounded aprons shaped like the Capitol Building.

Insert the knife under the apron tab and pry it off. It should come off rather easily. This will then allow you to pry off the top shell, or carapace, from the back of the crab.

Step Two: Cleaning the Crab


Usually even at a Chinese restaurant, which is not afraid to show you the ugly side of your food, the gills and some of the digestive track have been removed prior to serving. When I was a kid, I had seen my grandmother pry off the shell of a living crab before in Taiwan, so this scene wasn't as unnerving as the one I'd seen before. There is some cultural conflict as to whether you can eat the yellow digestive tract of the crab. Many Asians would gladly eat this, especially over rice. In Maryland, it is commonly removed. It has a bitter taste, though it is intensely "crab-like." What people can agree on however, is removing the white finger-like gills on either side.


Step Three: Crack Open the Membrane and Pick out the Meat


Split the crab in two to access the meat underneath the semi-transparent membrane. Also, rip off the legs for easier access. The largest leg with the claw can be cracked open with the mallet to access some kernels of crab meat.

At this point the directions are rather free-form. My advice is to simply pick out anything that's white and soft and eat it.


Closing Details


The carnage from six crabs

Maryland crab season is from March until November. I went to the Crab Claw Restaurant in St. Michael's on the Eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay. It is about four hours away from New York City. Wear clothes you don't mind getting dirty. The price of the crabs vary daily. When I went at the end of October, the crabs were $32/dozen. If you do go to the Crab Claw, the crab cakes are a rip-off at $18 each, even with a side. There are great crab cake sandwiches elsewhere for around $10. Lastly, thanks to my girlfriend for demonstrating crab dismemberment procedures.

The Crab Claw
thecrabclaw.com
Route 33 West / Navy Point
St. Michaels, MD 21663
(410) 745-2900

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La Nuit du Gâteau: Night of Cakes at La Maison du Chocolat

Photos courtesy of La Maison du Chocolat

La Maison du Chocolat is celebrating its 20th anniversary of the first store opening in New York on Wednesday, November 3rd. At the La Nuit du Gâteau, or Night of Cake, all three of the New York stores will be premiering several of their pastries for a free public tasting.
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The tasting will be from 7pm to midnight at the flagship Madison Avenue boutique (Madison & 79th) and 7pm to 9pm at the Rockfeller (30 Rock) and Wall Street (Wall & Pearl). The event is open to all visitors and the highlights will be the chocolate tarts, macarons and ice-cream, along with exclusive treats for the event. The above pictured sTARTlette is a "crunchy sablé enrobed with ganache infused with ginger, passion fruit nectar and Sancho pepper" with what looks like a bit of gold leaf.


The Chocolate Tart is also making an appearance. A combination of dark chocolate ganache and natural vanilla, I can tell you from personal experience that it is absolutely delectable.


One of the big pastry premiers will be the classic eclairs, which will be available regularly in the New York stores. Though this is primarily a chocolate shop, the caramel eclairs made on sight have an amazingly delicate caramel cream that will make you smile without weighing you down. Also available are chocolate fillings and possibly coffee for La Nuit du Gâteau.



Don't miss the Salvador cake made of chocolate and raspberries or the omnipresent macarons filled with the signature ganache and in a wide variety of flavors.

I previously raved about my last experience at a La Maison du Chocolat tasting. I've also previewed some of the aforementioned pastries a few weeks ago. I'll certainly be making it back to their public tasting. This will be a great event if you already love their products, but also a good introduction if you've never had first-class chocolate before. If their Paris celebration back in July is any indication, expect long lines and big crowds.

La Maison du Chocolat
lamaisonduchocolate.com
1018 Madison Ave
Manhattan, NY 10075
(212) 744-7117

30 Rockefeller Center,
Manhattan, NY 10020
(212) 265-9404

63 Wall St
Manhattan, NY 10005
(212) 952-1123
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New Bern: Ancestral Home of Pepsi

No, I did not go down to the little town of New Bern, North Carolina just to visit the birthplace of Pepsi. I was actually in town for a wedding, but figured it would be a great opportunity to explore the local historical landmark.
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Coincidentally, my flight to the tiny airport was out of Atlanta's Hartfield-Jackson Airport. Atlanta is the home of Coca-Cola; I had a great time there when I visited in 1996. The museum and Coke displays were only topped by the bountiful samples of Coke products from all over the world. I also heard that the museum was recently renovated. I highly recommend a visit if you're in Atlanta.


Unlike it's rival, PepsiCo moved out of its hometown and set up shop in the small town of New York City. The remnants of its history in New Bern stay true to the mainstreet feel of the town. The one room Pepsi "museum" is mostly a store selling pro-Pepsi merchandise and a drug store counter with a fountain selling $.50 Pepsi and Mountain Dew.


Besides a placard on the wall and a book detailing the history of the soda and the company, there wasn't much else. A looping track played the 90s Joy of Cola jingle in the background. I sat at the counter and perused the store copy of the history book while chatting with Connie, the friendly Pepsi clerk. Like Coke, Pepsi was invented by an entrepreneurial druggist Caleb Bradham and originally named Brad's Drink. After some remarketing, possibly a combination of pepsin and kola, the product took off.

Though there wasn't much else to do in the store, I left content, reflecting that this huge global brand really did start in such humble beginnings.


*Full disclosure: in a Pepsi Challenge, I'd still pick Coke.

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M. Wells: Quebecan Diner in Queens

If you ever follow @samkimsamkim when he's in New York, you'll see all the amazing places he checks into on 4 Square. Despite living here, I can't keep up with all the new joints like Sam can. So when I had the opportunity to join him for a day, I met him up for lunch at M. Wells in Long Island City.
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Riding the 7 train out of Manhattan, I realized that this would be my first foray into Queens that didn't end in either Flushing or at JFK. There was a huge stretch of train stops that I've ignored as I've made the trek for Chinese food in the past. M Wells is right on top of the Hunter's Point stop on the train, actually very close to Manhattan. In fact, I was confused looking up directions initially because the directions only told me to get off the train and abruptly terminated. It took several minutes to figure out that the last step really was no more than walk outside.


M. Wells is in a retrofitted diner, opened by a husband-wife team from Montreal with training at Au Pied de Cochon. The concept is bringing simple Quebecan food to common American diner fare. Hot dogs, hamburgers, and hash shared the menu with foie gras, lobster rolls, and pickled pork tongue. I ordered a spiced lemonade while Sam and I decided on our lunch.


I'm Taiwanese. Spicy duck tongues were one of my favorite small dishes as a kid. I'm Californian. I always appreciate a good lengua taco. This was my first encounter with pickled pork tongue ($6) however. Considering I've taken part in ritual decimation of pigs before, it was odd that I've never had tongue. For $6, I was surprised how large it was. It would be too odd to make a meal in itself, but the pickled flavors permeated the meat and did not taste anything like beef tongue. Not bad, and seeing as how I have no reservations with offal, I would order it again in the future.


After reading the Serious Eats review of M. Wells, I knew I had to order the hot dog with sweet bacon chili and slaw ($5). My favorite dog at Pink's in LA was the coleslaw dog. While this hot dog lacked the traditional snap in the casing I use to judge hot dogs, the sweet chili put it over the top. I found myself scraping the plate for the remnants of chili. Good price for a gourmet dog, though it wouldn't be enough on its own for a meal.


Sam pointed me to the first item on the menu, the one he had heard the most raves for: egg-sausage sandwich with cheddar, tomato, pickled jalapeño, on an English muffin ($8). This mammoth of a breakfast sandwich would be more than enough for a satisfying lunch. The pickled jalapeño added less of a kick than an intriguing contrast in flavor. My problem with scrambled egg sandwiches is always the overdominance of egg, and typically bad egg. There was none of that here; it's certainly worth ordering.

As of this writing, the restaurant is only open for breakfast and brunch until 4 pm Sunday-Thursday. It serves quintessentially lunch food, but given the time it takes for the food to come out and the location, it wouldn't be pragmatic for office workers to make it out for a trip. I'll probably come back when they start serving dinner, but for now, I'll recommend it to anyone looking for a great lunch in New York.

M. Wells
mwellsdiner.com
21-17 49th Ave. (right off the Hunter's Point 7 train stop)
Long Island City, Queens
(718) 425-6917

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