Eat Out Magazine teaser

Scribbled in the candlelit semi-darkness of restaurant booths, tips are the culmination of complex social choreography. Within the greater ritual of human public meal consumption, these incentives vary in scope, and could be delivered with pomp or in silence. Tipping is a divisive matter, with underpinnings of both virtue and vice – moral good springs to mind, as do matters of justice and greed.

Worldly ways

At New York’s caviar establishments, a 25% gratuity is all but expected. Meanwhile, in Paris, waiters may scoffat proffered financial favours. “Do you tip your heart surgeon?” they may ask, cheek twitching. Different countries have different pay models for staff in the hospitality sector. In certain countries, waiting staffearn a decent basic salary – a career wage. In others, not so much. It follows that some armchair economists opine for customer tips to be abolished altogether, placing the onus back on the employers. Why enable a system where patrons supplement the wages of serving staff, who ought to be adequately remunerated?

To read the full story, grab your copy of the 2025 Eat Out Magazine – on shelf at your nearest Woolies or online for R130.