7.2023 Edition

Hey Reader,

I made a promise in my video announcing Repertoire that I’d build this thing in public.

“Building in public” is a concept popularized by solo-preneurs and scrappy startups, who, instead of keeping their operating strategies, struggles, and opportunities private, will share them with the world as it’s happening.

This is often in stark contrast to what you see a lot of companies do where the story only gets told after the scoreboard turns off (success or failure).

To be clear, this practice doesn’t require splaying your financial reports wide open, giving free access to valuable IP (intellectual property) or uploading your meeting recordings to a public YouTube channel.

Quite the contrary; the idea is rooted in the ethos that more transparency, in today’s world, when done well, can become a massive competitive advantage. If you’re willing to strategically share, dots start to magically get connected 👇

An Instagram story where you share your new building’s location (and your excitement that it’s getting built out) leads to a local marketing firm becoming a frequent customer of yours because their office is right next door
A thread on Twitter where you write your last 6 months of wins leads to you getting connected with a business partner that helps you operationalize
A livestream where you tour your setup and share your struggles leads to a brand reaching out to sponsor your work

There’s no shortage of stories like this - it gives me hope in the concept of the “world wide web” after-all!

Some of my favorites to watch right now are previous podcast guest Chef Authorized, @notyetachef on TikTok with his Feld concept in Chicago, Daniel Dobra on Instagram, the list goes on.

And the benefits go beyond that one degree of separation…

The people who will realistically never interact with your business (buy your product, use your service, travel to come eat at your place) end up becoming evangelists for you because they know your story in-depth. They know how you started, what you’re all about, and feel more connected to you than your big, shady, corporate competitor.

Remember, you’re in control of what gets shared, but you can rarely imagine the places that sharing will reach after you put it out there.

In fact, I’ve been doing a massive amount of strategic work on Repertoire after 1 year in business. I’m excited to share what I’ve learned and what’s the plan in the next few week’s newsletters - consider this a tee-up.

Hope you’re having a great week!

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Top Hits 💥

Today’s New Tipping Etiquette: How Much to Tip Everyone

Asking for a tip is more common than ever, and not just in restaurants but also in delis and specialty grocery stores. To avoid being rude, it's important to know the new social expectations around tipping.

Tips for restaurants have increased from 15-20% to 20-25%, no matter the quality of service.

For coffee shops, tip at least 20%, and for food delivery, tip a minimum of $5 or 20%, whichever is greater.

When picking up takeout, tip at least 10%, and at the bar, tip $1 per beer and 20% for a cocktail.

Tipping is also expected at food counters, ideally 10%.

For services like hairstylists, waxers, and movers, tip at least 20%.

And for people who provide regular weekly service, tip annually.

Our Take: We want to give you two different point of views to this “social expectation”, one from the side of a customer and one from the service provider who has been in the F&B industry for over 10 years.

Customer’s POV: Although it is courteous to show gratefulness to a service you loved through tipping, it does make you question of how it has become the “norm”. Meaning, even though your server didn’t go above and beyond during dinner, you MUST tip them at least 20% which means your dollar-amount for every meal has increased significantly. So it is not incorrect for customers to ask “why should we, individuals, bear the cost and compensate for the low wages businesses, with funds of hundreds of thousands of dollars, set?

Justin’s POV: This goes beyond spinning iPad memes - seeing a shift like this leads to more feelings of inflation for guests. Notice, I said “feelings”, because a price hike for a lot of businesses has been long overdue. The fear of “I’ll get backlash if I increase prices” quickly fizzles when you see this change happen in real time. There’s a bakery here in Seattle that prides itself on being tip-free, and I pay extra attention when I’m there standing in line to see what guests say - hearing the “oh, that was so nice, it’s all included?” gives me hope that the complicated nickel-and-diming surcharges, extra steps, service fees and tips can get consolidated for a more streamlined experience with mutual understanding. We also had an experience yesterday where my wife bought a bottle of water for $4.50, she picked it from the case herself, and was asked to tip on the POS system 😭 See also: I never got to benefit from tips in any of the restaurants I worked in because I was BOH, so…

This Restaurant to Ban Kids, Post Pandemic

Kids have been welcomed since Nettie’s opened in 2018, but the restaurant announced on social media this week that it’s banning young children starting March 8.

“Between noise levels, lack of space for high chairs, cleaning up crazy messes, and the liability of kids running around the restaurant, we have decided that it’s time to take control of the situation,” the announcement reads.

The new policy has led to a flurry of close to 3,000 comments that run the gamut from “I love you” and “Stay The F*ck Home, Kids,” to complaints of how “awful” it is since “children are a part of the family unit.”

Meanwhile, over on Nettie’s Yelp page, there’s a “higher activity than usual” message that prevents users from rating Nettie’s at all, while on Google, ratings are mostly five stars from the past week, with only one user goose-egging the place because it doesn’t allow children.

Our Take: Ooooo! This is a controversial take for sure! I can see non-family customers being over the moon about having “peaceful” meals now, and customers with family taking offense about such an extreme public decision.

Honestly, hot take, but if the restaurant decides to ban kids then they decide to ban kids! There are hundreds of other places in the city that families can choose to go for meals. This way at least the customers that want some “peace” know exactly where they would like to go!

I would love to know what some of you think about this? Think of yourselves as a staff of the restaurant AND as a customer too.

Chef Behind ‘The Menu’ Bringing $850 Omakase Pop-Up to Miami

Even in a city not shy about excess, an $850 omakase pop-up might raise a few eyebrows — and fire up the FOMO.

Mila Omakase of South Beach is teaming up with three-star Michelin chef Dominique Crenn to host an omakase pop-up at the restaurant in early March, the restaurant announced. For two nights, 20 patrons can snag a seat at the table for $850 a pop.

The price (not including tax or tip, per the announcement) will get you a two-hour dining experience, a pre-fixe menu and bragging rights.

Crenn is the owner of the Michelin-starred Atelier Crenn in San Francisco and the first woman chef in the U.S. to be crowned with a three-star Michelin rating. Among other accolades, she also helped create the singular meal that features in the 2022 movie “The Menu.”

Our Take: We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again - if you can get the bag, get it. We should be applauding chefs who have built a reputation and audience that’s clamoring for this type of an event. The folks coming to this pop-up are comparing this experience to buying plane tickets to SF, a hotel, and the time spent in transit - $850 is a steal if you’ve been dying to have Chef Crenn’s food. It also hopefully shows the second and third order benefits to working on projects like The Menu, which is a key example of leverage. Spoiler alert, both days are sold out…

ICYMI 🙌

Prep List Mastery - Join Justin, live, in his 1st of 3 sessions with 7shifts as part of their #ServingWhatsNext campaign. He'll talk about the 3-step process that you can use to streamline extensive lists, complex projects, and stay ahead of things in your day-to-day!

New podcast episode with Akshay Bhardwaj is up now! We talk about Family-Run Restaurants, Indian Fine Dining, and Finding Balance. It's always fun recording in-person, but we don't always get to do it inside an NYC, 1* Michelin restaurant.