New York restaurant legend Danny Meyer wants to end tipping, a mercurial practice that leaves too much power in the hands of diners. He’ll raise prices to do it — and one immediate consequence is that waitstaff will be much happier when they hear French accents at their tables. (For decades waiters have dreaded Europeans, who don’t generally tip here because tipping isn’t a thing there.) Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group will make “hospitality included” the default mode of all its restaurants starting at The Modern, Meyer’s sleek shop in NYC’s MOMA — according to The Eater. And the extra $ will be passed along not just to the waitstaff, but past the kitchen door to the cooks, too. Bravo, Meyer!
But we’ll miss a few things. How will we know which celebrities are really decent people?! Tipping style has long been a tell for celebs, good and bad. Teflon Don Gotti used to drop $500 tips around town, and the waitresses so gifted were almost happy to forget where he got it. Steve Martin‘s character in My Blue Heaven knew the score. “It’s not tipping I believe in,” said Vinnie Antonellii. “It’s overtipping.” Charles Barkley is supposedly on Vinnie’s team. Tiger Woods allegedly sides with Quentin Tarantino’s Mr. Pink, who explains his philosophy on tipping below.
Gary Buscemi’s Mr. Pink doesn’t believe in tipping:
