To the editor,
Upon reading Liz Feltham’s article “The eat beat” (December 29), I was of the opinion it seemed a bit incomplete. She mentions restaurant owners are having a hard time finding good servers due to a labour shortage. Logically, wouldn’t the solution to this be to actually raise a server’s wages above minimum wage? If minimum wage plus tips isn’t enough to cut it for low-wage earners anymore, maybe it’s time for restaurateurs to re-think the model. She includes lack of knowledge about the menu as a serving flaw that’s as unforgiveable as obnoxiousness and indifference. In the serving jobs I’ve had, there have never been taste tests for servers. If a server is curious about a menu item, he/she has to pay for it themselves. I’ve also been employed at places where no training was offered for sections of the menu simply listing an item without descriptors. Even though Liz may be bored of always blaming owners for these problems, many restaurateurs are just too cheap to provide good training to their employees and to pay them well.
By Will Thomas
This article appears in Jan 12-18, 2006.