One more quick note about tonight's CB3-SLA committee meeting... as previously noted, Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group is opening Martina, a pizzeria, at 198 E. 11th St./aka 55 Third Ave.
They are on this month's docket to get approval for a four-table (eight seat!) sidewalk cafe ... here's a rendering (PDF) via the CB3 website... showing off that
The street-level pizzeria proposes to operate the outdoor seating Sunday-Wednesday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Thursday 11 a.m. to midnight, and Friday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.
CB3 OK'd the beer-wine license back in November. Apparently this didn't include the sidewalk cafe. Not sure!
The CB3-SLA meeting is tonight at 6:30 in the Thelma Burdick Community Room, 10 Stanton St. (corner of the Bowery).
Previously on EV Grieve:
Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group planning Martina for 55 3rd Ave.
17 comments:
If you click on the very complete PDF application and scroll down, one of the pages is a photograph of the required "Attention Residents and Neighbors" posting. A NY Post is held up for date confirmation - check out the size of that rock!
Danny Meyers is a greedy bastard. He abolished tipping from all of his restaurants, thus implementing a service charge on top of a check, which is distributed to the back of the house, the last of which lines his already heavy pockets. Being a server is a stressful job. It requires a lot of devotion, focus, attention, multi-tasking, working with a myriad of difficult personalities, a large section, and rude customers. Tips compensate the waiter for going through all of that. Now, that he pays his employees an hourly wage, its a slap in the waiters face. For an hourly wage, I'd rather work in an office without the stress or the pressure.
His restaurants are just a reminder of how impervious he is to the plight of those who work as waiters and bartenders to support themselves. How many places does he need to open in order to feel successful or happy?
10:26 am: I was a waiter in my twenties. It's not as hard as you describe. In fact, it's a fun job when you're young. Maybe it's less fun if you're not making tips. But the system has NEVER been fair to the kitchen staff and I think Danny Meyers is attempting to ameliorate the restaurant class system. Whether or not he's greedy I don't know.
If he gets the 4 tables he'll open the front of the restaurant. If he opens the front all the noise will come out and add to the noisy mess of the neighborhood. NO OUTDOOR TABLES. NO OPEN FRONT. AND NO TO USING OUR PUBLIC SIDEWALKS FOR PROFIT!!!!!!!!!
Imagining that open front... combined with the Smith's open front just around the corner. JESUS CHRIST. I'm guessing I won't ever be passing by there again. You will probably be able to overhear that din from Union Square.
Whose fault is it if the restaurant kitchen staff is being underpaid. The waiters? No, it's the restaurant owner! This is why so many restaurants are getting into legal trouble by dipping into waiter's tips (like Babu Ji which is still closed down, and Saigon Grill before that). Danny Meyers makes a fortune off of these restaurants, but obviously he won't dig in his own pocket to pay his staff more. Now he found a legal way to shift the tip money to other employees. But watch what happens when his service levels go down and good waiters flee for better opportunities. Greed and stinginess are the worst kind of business plans.
Idiots it's not to line his pockets - it's to make it a better experience for the customer like in every other normal country where tipping the way we do is not done. And also, to make it fair to the people in the back of house who are ALSO busting their ass, to share in the extra income. Makes sense all around. Anyway, these four tables at a pizza spot don't scare me too much. The constant amount of places opening with completely open facades, like Hair of the Dog, etc. have become a nightmare though.
I imagine this is pitched to the "chic" and the "in-crowd" - which leaves me and most long-term residents out. It'll fit right in with the Moxy-upscale millennial "vibe" though!
But, hey, we long-term residents don't really matter anyway, as far as I can tell. I don't imagine I'll be spending any money there.
Maybe all the NYU students in the dorm across the street can convince mom & dad to let them order pizza delivery from there, b/c the number of actual seats do not make sense relative to the $$$ this place must be paying in rent.
@149 pm
What an incoherent comment. Service is universally considered better in the US than other countries because waiters depend on tips. It's definitely not to improve the customer experience. If he wanted to make pay more "fair" for the back of the house, he could, you know, pay them more. Instead, he's replaced tipping with a "service charge" that the house can legally dip into. It has nothing to do with pay equity, and everything to do with greed.
I swear. 2:04 has to be a bot. Word for word, most canned comment ever.
@1:49PM. Have you been to restaurants in other countries where there is no tipping? The service is much worse. Try Paris and see how nice they treat you. They include a 15% service charge in the bill which is supposed to go to the staff, but their wages are barely over minimum wage. As a result they have some of the grumpiest and rudest waiters in the world. You sound like a closet sous chef.
I swear this is the worst bunch of people in the fucking world. All you guys do is bitch, bitch, bitch. Just fucking die already jesus
This is directed to the commenter who posted at 1:49.
You must have not worked in restaurants. What do you mean when referring to a "better experience?"
The entire point of tipping is to compensate someone for their hard work and attention. Perhaps you haven't been outside of the US, but yes, the service, as another commenter pointed is terrible. Most abroad make hourly. And they are not happy. I've been to Paris, Berlin, London, and Amsterdam. The service isn't grand or desirable like it is here. Because waiters make tips. They work for you essentially. Danny M has afforded himself a loophole where he can greatly benefit from the hard labor of the front of the house. He is a greedy bastard. It is obvious he doesn't care about the well being of his staff. I know someone who quit his empire when the no tipping policy came into place. They were going to offer him $17.00 an hour. After taxes, he was going to make something like $13 an hour. Why in the hell would someone sign up to run around like a chicken with his head cut off for hours on their feet for $13.00? He ended up working as a receptionist for $20 an hour. Go figure. I hope this restaurant tanks. Sorry. I just do.
What some people don't seem to realize here is that with tipping you get your money right away instead of having to wait a week or two, and you get it in cash without all the taxes deducted. Danny Meyer is cutting the take home pay of the front end staff to help pay for the back end staff. His best waiters will just go to other top restaurants, and he will be left with a bunch of newbie waiters in a restaurant where customers demand the best service.. Good luck with that.
@3:11PM
"You sound like a closet sous chef."
Love you.
Just by the handful of comments here its plain to see how deeply entrenched the American foodservice tip-wage paradigm is. Also says something about the perception of servers and their duty to customers. Tipping implies a kind of servitude, it could be argued. Why else would food serving be considered such an exceptionally onerous job that it, above all other jobs in the world, merits its own special system of wage distribution? I'm sure Danny Meyer is a giant prick, but I somehow doubt he's doing this as an easy way to increase his bottom line. Clearly he is putting profit at risk, since diners are so vehemently against no-tipping.
@10.26 if you think waiting tables is more stressful than your typical NYC office job you are severely out of touch
@2.53&5.26 this comment section is unbelievable at times, I'm not looking forward to another pizzeria but sweet Jesus how do people get so worked up over a couple sidewalk tables in a place that doesn't even serve hard liquor or play loud music?
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