restaurants

Staff in the kitchen of The Modern, a restaurant operated by Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group and located in the Museum of Modern Art.

Danny Meyer To Banish Tipping And Raise Prices At His N.Y. Restaurants

12:09pm October 15, 2015

by NPR Staff

Meyer says "something fascinating and completely unfair" plagues the restaurant industry: Waiters' incomes have risen far faster than other staff. To balance salaries out, he'll charge more for food.

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Laura Martinez may be the only blind chef in the country running her own restaurant. La Diosa opened in January. Martinez was hired directly out of culinary school by acclaimed Chicago chef Charlie Trotter and worked for him until his restaurant closed in

Chef Wants Diners To Remember Her Cooking, Not Her Blindness

8:17pm August 24, 2015

by Cheryl Corley

Laura Martinez defied many skeptics when she opened up her Chicago restaurant, La Diosa, this year. It helps that she used to work for the late Charlie Trotter, one of the city's most acclaimed chefs.

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Chef Homaro Cantu holds a tomato in the kitchen of his Chicago restaurant Moto in 2007. Haute cuisine and extreme science collided in the kitchen of Chef Cantu, who took his own life Tuesday.

National

Late Chicago Chef Sought To Open 'A New Page In Gastronomy'

10:19am April 20, 2015

by NPR Staff

A star of molecular gastronomy, Homaro Cantu, 38, took his own life this week. Cantu owned a Michelin-starred restaurant, but he also wanted to cure world hunger and improve Americans' eating habits.

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Diners fill Riverpark, a New York City restaurant, in January. Restaurateurs fear that the tipped-wage hike being proposed in New York will force them to get rid of tipping altogether.

Economy

Will A Tipped-Wage Hike Kill Gratuities For New York's Waiters?

7:20pm February 24, 2015

by Joel Rose

New York's wage board is proposing a boost in the minimum wage for people who work for tips. Some restaurateurs say this could raise labor costs and force them to drop tipping and raise menu prices.

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Srirupa Dasgupta opened Upohar, a restaurant and catering service, with a social mission. Her employees — primarily refugees — earn double the minimum wage.

National

A Restaurant That Serves Up A Side Of Social Goals

7:23pm January 01, 2015

by Jeff Brady

Burned out from her high-tech job, Srirupa Dasgupta opened a restaurant and catering service that hires primarily refugees. On the menu: a mix of cuisines from South Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

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A peek inside the kitchen of Next, an early adopter of the ticket system that's replacing reservations at some restaurants.

National

No More Reservations: Exclusive Restaurants Require Tickets Instead

10:57am August 11, 2014

by Jeff Tyler

High-end restaurants featuring rock star chefs are starting to turn to tickets to stem the tide of no-shows. In the future, going out to eat could become a lot like going to a sold-out concert.

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Economy

Triad Restaurant Ends Its 'Thankfulness' Discount

9:50am August 07, 2014

Local diner ends its 15% discount for diners who pray before their meal.

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National

Remembering Chef Charlie Trotter, Chicago Fine-Dining Visionary

2:55pm November 06, 2013

by Cheryl Corley

Charlie Trotter was one of the country's most influential chefs. His death comes just a year after he closed his namesake restaurant in Chicago. Authorities plan to conduct an autopsy on Wednesday.

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People gathered outside a Wendy's restaurant in New York City on Monday as part of a one-day strike calling for higher wages for fast-food workers.

Fast-Food Strikers Demand A 'Living Wage'

8:22am August 01, 2013

by Joel Rose

Picketers in seven cities say McDonald's, Wendy's and other fast-food chains should pay employees $15 an hour. But the restaurant industry says that would force those companies to cut jobs.

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