fabrisse

The restaurant minimum wage is a joke. Federally, and in most states, the amount is $2.13 per hour. (Boston is $4.35, and DC is $3.89.) Several, but not all, states require that the amount of tips should bring the worker's wage equivalent to the state minimum wage. (Massachusetts is $12.00 and DC is $13.25.) A few states require that restaurant workers get the state minimum wage before tips -- this includes all three states on the West Coast as well as Nevada, Montana, Minnesota, and Alaska. Only California and Washington State have state minimum wages above $10 per hour.

I'm covering this because I took myself out to dinner last night to celebrate payday. The total came to $29.99. The restaurant had a row of suggested tips with 20% at $5.45. I calculate my own tips. $29.99 is near enough $30 that 20% is $6.00 (My calculator says 5.998). I reported this to the restaurant, and I was told they'd look into it.

I'm worried that this could be more than just a mistaken calculation or misprogrammed digital register. This could be systemic either with this company, this area, or across the restaurant industry.

If your receipt has "suggested amounts" at the bottom, please calculate at least one yourself to verify they're within spitting distance of accurate. It's bad enough that we don't pay restaurant workers well, but to short them on tips -- I'm not talking about poor service, btw -- is terrible.

I don't eat out that often, not like my parents do. Soup Noodle at the one shop in Chinatown that makes their own every couple of weeks, the odd gelato, but I generally eat at home. Some of this is because I'm a good enough cook that many restaurants just don't live up to what I can do.

Tonight I had dinner at a French restaurant. I dined outside, and it was pleasant. But while my vichyssoise will probably never achieve the perfect veloute texture, since I don't own a blender or food processor, I know, if I attempted it, the soup would have better flavor. The salad wasn't bad, and the scallops tasted good, but were cooked just past the point where they would have been perfect which made them tough. And yet...

The most expensive item on my bill was actually the digestif. Vieux Carre Absinthe. I've been wanting to try it for awhile, now that it's legal. I like pastis (prefer Ricard to Pernod), so I had an idea what to expect.

It was nothing like I expected. Even though the waiter had already added the sugar and water when it came to the table, it wasn't sweet. The aromatics were fresh, perfect on a late summer's evening, and the louche really does have a green tinge to it.

I ended up adding just a touch more water to it mostly because I found myself sipping it faster than I would most high proof liquors or liqueurs. There wasn't any bitterness to it, and something, made my lips go a little numb, but it was pleasant, like a lover pressing his lips to yours and the warm rush that comes just after he releases, not like "OMG this is loaded with MSG!" which is a highly unpleasant numbness. The mint was almost like the au revoir in a good champagne, a last flavor that comes along well after you've swallowed your sip. It's a sharper green flavor than peppermint, and I wasn't surprised to find from the website that they use spearmint.

I kept licking my lips as I walked home. My tongue is slightly tingly, and I feel a little detached. It's not like I'm elsewhere, but like I can observe the world more clearly.

Absinthe is a sensual little sip.