Cash Handling and Credit Card Tips Policy

Cash Handling and Credit Card Tips Policy (Updated 3/3/2017)

FOH employees come in contact with very large sums of money during the course of their shifts. Cash sales, cash tips and credit card usage must be handled with extreme care and due reverence by all employees.

The listed policies should work as guidance to prevent financial injury to the guest, the team or the restaurant. Any mistake with money (no matter how small) must immediately be communicated to the MOD. Our first priority is to solve the problem and correct the charges, and we need all available information to do so. Additionally, many problems don’t become problems until the guest goes home and looks at their credit card statement. They deserve all the information available to them before doing so. Hiding a known mistake from management or from a guest will not be tolerated.

Repeated instances of negligent mishandling of money, and any instance of evasive or deceptive communication about money errors, may result in discipline up to and including termination.

Wrong Checks

When dropping a check, always verify that you have the correct bill, and that that bill is complete. If it’s not your table, ask the server before dropping! Servers are expected to close checks as soon as possible after the guests leave to prevent mistakes. As a safeguard,  when processing a payment or closing a check (for your table or someone else’s) always use the check number as the identifier, and double check the value before processing.

Cash Handling During Guest Transaction

Guests paying cash should always be given their change unless they clearly state that they don’t want it. Asking “do you need change?” is not acceptable. The server should instead say “I’ll be right back with your change”--which gives the guest the opportunity to indicate that they don’t need any (if they so wish) without adding any pressure to the situation. When making change, always round up to the next dollar if you/ the bar don’t have coins. The restaurant would rather lose a few cents than make the guest feel cheated.

In some instances, guests may hand us a bill to “break” so that they can better divide the check with their party. Please take a moment to clarify what the guest would like (are they trying to apply it towards the check or simply looking for small change).

If a cash transaction is completed by anyone other than the server responsible for that table, the check and cash must be handed directly to the server/ bartender. Leaving cash in the service stations is not acceptable. If the server is unavailable, a manager should be handed the cash/ check instead.

Credit Card/Debit Card Transactions

While credit cards simplify our lives tremendously, they come with associated risks. The most common mistakes with credit/debit cards result from a) closing the wrong check (see above), b) entering the wrong amount (most commonly when splitting checks multiple ways) or c) entering the wrong tip. To prevent the two latter mistakes, staff members must take extreme caution when processing cards and entering tips. Any mistakes in splitting a check must be immediately communicated to a manager and to the guest (ideally by the manager).

If a card needs to be re-processed, we always use the same authorization number do so. For most financial institutions, this results in an immediate refund of the first charge, but unfortunately that is not always the case. Even in the best case scenario,  a double charge will be visible on the guest’s bank statement.

Debit and credit cards, while they look identical, have very different policies and corresponding effects in our guests’ lives--a mistake on a debit card, no matter how small, can result in a rent check bouncing (unfortunately we learned this lesson from experience.)

Take extreme care in closing credit cards with gratuities, and always double check the value before pressing “ok.” Carefully double check the gratuities on your cash out before handing it in.

In instances when the “gratuity” line and the “total” line don’t match, our general rule is to use the total, assuming both make sense. If the total doesn’t make sense (e.g. it’s smaller than the bill total, it’s several hundred dollars higher than it should be, etc.) a manager might approve a different total and initial the slip. Similarly, when the signed copy of a receipt is missing, but the guest has left the “guest copy” either signed or imprinted, it’s up to the MOD’s discretion to decide if the guest’s intention is clear or not. The MOD should initial the slip to indicate the approval.

Missed Transfers/ Open Checks

Open checks are the responsibility of the server. If a guest leaves the table to either be transferred to another table or depart the restaurant, it’s that server/bartender’s responsibility to ensure the check gets transferred or closed appropriately. While the restaurant will take responsibility for any guests who purposefully or accidentally walk out on their bill, the team member must alert the MOD immediately. “I don’t know what that check is” is not an acceptable excuse/ explanation, especially when hours have passed. All tabs open under a server’s screen are that server’s responsibility.

Bank Handling

All team members must take extreme care in handling the cash handed to them, and make sure to organize their server books in a way that is conducive to best practices. Servers and bartenders working double shifts should make every effort to close their AM shift and cashout before dinner service starts. All money should be kept in the same place, organized and tidy. Money shoved in the bottom of pockets or aprons is not acceptable.

Servers are welcome to make a mid-shift deposit with a manager if they are handed a large amount of cash and would prefer to have it in the safe.

Each server/ bartending team is responsible for the “cash owed” line of their cashout as well as tips owed to the pool (in case of discrepancy, 20% of cash sales, and 20% of credit cards closed to zero tip will be assumed.). All good faith efforts will be made by the manager to find the root of the discrepancy if there is one, but the onus of good money practices (and communication in case of a mistake or problem) is on the employee.

Aeronaut Robot Crush, Allagash White

AERONAUT, ROBOT CRUSH

Style: American Pilsner

ABV: 5.1%

Size, Price: 16oz, $7.5

Aeronaut is a relatively young local operation and have only recently started distributing beyond their immediate area in central Somerville (they’re equidistant to Union, Inman, and Porter Squares).  This is their take on an American Pale Lager finished with citra hops, lending it a touch of citrusy bitterness to the finish.  This beer won the 2016 Gold Medal for American Pilsner at the Great American Beer Festival.

Nose: Smell is a little sweet with some lemony hops.

Taste: Clean, a little sweet, a little peppery, with just a trace of hop bitterness. Mouthfeel is clean, modestly carbonated, a little fresh hops aftertaste.

ALLAGASH WHITE

Style:  White Ale
ABV: 5.0%

Size, Price: 16oz, $7.5

From the brewer: Our interpretation of a Belgian-style wheat beer is brewed with oats, malted wheat, and unmalted raw wheat for a hazy, “white” appearance. Spiced with our own special blend of coriander and Curaçao orange peel, White upholds the Belgian tradition of beers that are both complex and refreshing.  Though it’s brewed in Maine, the recipe sticks to its Belgian roots. We’ve worked hard to make sure that the White in your hand tastes the same as it did back in 1995, when Rob Tod brewed the first batch.

Arugula Salad Deconstruction

Arugula Salad

Little Leaf Farms

Located in Danvers, MA, just a little north of Boston.

Sustainable development is often defined as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”  This is the goal of Little Leaf Farms.

Water Conservation
Our greens are grown hydroponically using 100% captured rainwater. Unless New England finds itself in a drought, we will never use our valuable groundwater reserves. We have also built an advanced fertilization and irrigation system that uses up to 90% less water than field-grown greens.

(Hydroponics: the process of growing plants in sand, gravel, or liquid, with added nutrients but without soil.)

Energy Conservation
We use a natural gas-powered heating system that operates with over 95% efficiency. In addition to heating our greenhouse, we have a specially designed system to capture CO2 and use it within our growing system to optimize plant development. Plus, a significant portion of our electricity is generated from solar energy!

Natural Sunlight
Our greenhouse is built to maximize the use of natural sunlight. This starts with using some of the best glass in the world allowing full use of free and carbon-free natural sunlight. Due to low-light conditions during the winter, we supplement the natural light with LED-powered grow lights to ensure consistent production throughout the winter months. Our LED grow lights consume 40% less electricity than conventional grow lights!

Food Miles
Over 98% of U.S. lettuce is grown in California and Arizona and shipped throughout the country. The lettuce on our New England store shelves has been trucked 3,000 miles. Little Leaf Farms delivers our greens to stores within a day’s drive – doing our part to lessen the environmental impact by minimizing diesel consumption and pollution. And the biggest benefit to consumers is our unparalleled freshness, taste and quality.

Today, Little Leaf Farms is proud to have built the most technologically-advanced, lettuce growing greenhouse in the world. And Paul and Tim are excited to share with you the freshest, best tasting baby lettuces available in New England.

From Little Leaf Farms:

We grow our baby greens year-round in New England.
We use 100% captured rainwater.
We never use chemical pesticides. Ever.
We grow hydroponically to protect precious topsoil.
We only ship our baby greens to stores within a day’s drive.

Moving on…

Arugula: what is it and why should we eat it?

Arugula, also known as rocket and rucola, is a less recognized cruciferous vegetable that provides many of the same benefits as the better-known vegetables of the same family - broccoli, kale, and Brussels sprouts.

Arugula leaves are tender and bite-sized with a tangy and peppery flavor.

Along with other leafy greens, arugula contains very high nitrate levels (more than 250 milligrams/100 grams).

High intakes of dietary nitrate have been shown to lower blood pressure, reduce the amount of oxygen needed during exercise, and enhance athletic performance.

Arugula contains significant amounts of the three specific minerals that help control your blood pressure and it also contains a combination of nutrients known to help normalize and control blood pressure levels makes arugula a heart-healthy food.

Another cool fact is that Arugula is an excellent source of several nutrients that support eye health, including beta-carotene, a carotenoid your body can convert into vitamin A. Per 2-cup serving, raw arugula provides about 950 International Units of vitamin A, or 19 percent of the nutrient’s recommended daily value based on a 2,000-calorie diet. Getting enough vitamin A in your diet promotes good vision, particularly at night -- vitamin A is essential to your ability to see in low light. 

What is Frisée?

Frisée—pronounced free-ZAY—is a petite, pale curly endive produced by blanching. It has an opened, flattened shape. Its leaves are frizzy and finely cut, yellow-white to yellow-apple green in color.

Frisée has a bittersweet taste and it’s tender on the tongue unlike other curly endives. Frisée will spice up a salad mix or add a bit of zing to a light entrée such as fish.

Fall is the time that frisée comes to market. Although it is one member of the chicory family that can be harvested during the summer, like other chicories and endives too much warm weather and sunlight can make frisée overly bitter.

Bitter is not the ideal taste when it comes to frisée. Rather peppery is how a good frisée should taste.

Both frisée and plain leafed endive belong to the leafy vegetable group of peppery tasting plants that are often grown specifically for fall and winter salads. Joining frisée in this group are mustard, garden and pepper cress, watercress, arugula, chicory and radicchio.

A traditional dish featuring frisée is the classic Frisée aux Lardons, which is standard fare in the typical French cafe or bistro. It's made by blanching bacon and then dicing and browning it, and then combining it with olive oil, mustard and lemon juice to form a vinaigrette.

The frisée is tossed with the vinaigrette, and then served topped with a poached egg and shaved Gruyère cheese, along with toasted croutons.

The Science behind Vinaigrettes

Vinaigrette is made by mixing an oil with something acidic such as vinegar or lemon juice. The mixture can be enhanced with salt, herbs and/or spices. It is used most commonly as a salad dressing, but can also be used as a marinade. Traditionally, a vinaigrette consists of 3 parts oil and 1 part vinegar mixed into a stable emulsion, but the term is also applied to mixtures with different proportions and to unstable emulsions which last only a short time before separating into layered oil and vinegar phases.

That's a starting point, but vinaigrette must also be wholly or at least partially emulsified!

What exactly is an emulsion? At its most basic, it's what you get when you force two things that don't easily mix to form a homogeneous mixture. In cooking, this most often occurs with oil and water (and for all intents and purposes, vinegar or lemon juice can be considered water, as it behaves in the same way). Put them in a container together, stir them up, and eventually, like cats and dogs, they will separate and stick with their own kind.

There are a couple of ways around this.

The first is to disperse one of the two—the oil, say—into fine enough droplets that water can completely surround it. Kind of like putting a single cat inside a ring of dogs—there's no way for it to escape and rejoin its fellow feline friends.

An easier way to form an emulsion is to add an emulsifying agent known as a surfactant. Culinary surfactants are molecules that contain one end that is attractive to water (hydrophilic), and one that is attractive to oil (hydrophobic). Common kitchen surfactants include egg yolks, mustard, and honey.

It's easy to see the work of a surfactant in action.

The container on the left contains oil and balsamic vinegar mixed in a ratio of 3:1. The container on the right has the same ingredients, with the addition of a small amount of dijon mustard. Both containers were sealed and shaken vigorously until they looked homogeneous. I then allowed them to rest at room temperature for 5 minutes. As you can see, the container without the mustard separated much more rapidly than the container with mustard.

Unless you emulsify your vinaigrette, you end up with a pile of leaves dressed in oil, and a pool of vinegar at the bottom of the salad bowl, completely destroying the flavor of the sauce. An emulsified vinaigrette however, uses the power of surfactants to help both oil and vinegar cling tightly to the leaves. Balanced flavor in every mouthful.

Looking at the greens themselves was even more revealing.

The salad dressed in the badly emulsified vinaigrette showed definite signs of wilting, while the salad dressed in the proper vinaigrette was still crisp and fresh-tasting. Apparently, straight-up oil is much more damaging to leaves than an oil-vinegar mixture.

Adding some crunch: Pistachios

Mostly all nuts have a good percentage of healthy fats and higher protein. Nuts in a salad also bring more density to the dish. These nuts can turn a light snack salad into a full meal.

Pistachios are members of the cashew family. The trees thrive in dry weather with long summers, which help in the ripening of the fruit.

Like other members of the Anacardiaceae family (which includes poison ivy, sumac, mango, and cashew), pistachios contain urushiol, an irritant that can cause allergic reactions.

The health benefits of pistachios include a healthy heart, weight management, protection against diabetes and hypertension, and improved digestion. The vitamins, minerals, fats and protein found in pistachio are all very good for your health. Pistachios are one of the oldest nuts that were commonly used in the world.

Bresaola

Bresaola is air-dried, salted beef (but also horse, venison and pork) that has been aged two or three months until it becomes hard and turns a dark red, almost purple colour. It is made from top (inside) round, and is lean and tender, with a sweet, musty smell. It originated in Valtellina, a valley in the Alps of northern Italy's Lombardy region.

The word comes from the diminutive of Lombard bresada (braised).

A strict trimming process is essential to the rich taste. Legs of beef are thoroughly defatted and seasoned with a dry rub of coarse salt and spices, such as juniper berries, cinnamon and nutmeg. They are then left to cure for a few days. A drying period of between one and three months follows, depending on the weight of the particular bresaola. The meat loses up to 40% of its original weight during aging.

In Valtellina, a similar process is applied to smaller pieces of meat. This produces a more strongly flavoured product, slinzega, which is similar to South African biltong. Traditionally, horse meat was used for slinzega, but now other meats, such as venison and pork, are used, as well.

Serving

As an antipasto, bresaola is usually sliced paper-thin and served at room temperature or slightly chilled. It is most commonly eaten on its own, but may be drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice or balsamic vinegar, and served with rocket (rucola, arugula) salad, cracked black pepper, and freshly shaved Parmesan cheese. (AHA!)  

First literary evidences of Bresaola go back to 15th century, but its origin is certainly older. Until the early 17th century its production was kept for familiar consumption. In 19th century Bresaola’s production and trade strongly increased, starting export to near Switzerland. Today Bresaola is widespread all over Italy and it’s conquering new foreign markets.

Saba, Vin Cotto, Mosto Cotto: What is the difference?

They're basically all the same thing, although mosto cotto and saba (cooked grape must) are more similar by some explanations than vin cotto, (cooked wine) but saba is referred to vin cotto in Southern Italy, so I'm not completely sure there's that much of a product difference between cooked grape must and cooked wine; the bottom line is, the names is interchangeable and regional.

"Syrup vinegar that is produced from the unfermented residue referred to as "must" that is produced from Trebbiano grapes as they are processed into wine. Fruity in flavor, Saba is a mildly sweetened vinegar that is aged for over 2 years, going through a natural fermentation process that concentrates the consistency and flavor of this vinegar as it matures and becomes balsamic vinegar. In Italian, Saba is often labeled as mosto cotto, which translates into "cooked grape juice." It may also be referred to as Saba grape mosto reduction. It is a vinegar that is typically served with meats, poultry, and desserts or combined with other sauces to enhance the flavors."

Coming Soon: Two European Classics, Saison Dupont & Weihenstephan Hefeweisse

BRASSERIE DUPONT, SAISON

Style: Farmhouse/Saison

ABV: 6.5%

Size, Price: 16oz, $9

The Saison Dupont is a top fermentation beer with refermentation in the bottle.  First brewed in Brasserie Dupont’s farm-brewery during the winter of 1844.  After the initial brew, the beer underwent a second refermentation in the barrel.  During the next summer, this very thirst-quenching beer was served to the “saisoniers” who worked the fields on the farm, from which the style’s name (saison) derives.  For much of the saison’s history it was a seasonal summer offering but has been produced year round for many years.  Secondary fermentation now occurs in individual bottles (also known as “bottle conditioning”) rather than in barrels, allowing the beer to be drank right away or cellared for an extended time.

Nose: Orange citrus up front, over florals, fruity-estery-funk and some peppery notes.

Taste: Medium body with high carbonation reminiscent of champagne.  Banana bread funkiness, some citrus, and a long dry finish.

WEIHENSTEPHAN, HEFEWEISSE

Style: Wheat beer

ABV: 5.4%

Size, Price: 16oz, $8.00

Weihenstephan traces their history back to almost a thousand years ago (1080 AD), when the Benedictine monks founded their monastic brewery on the site that they currently occupy. The brewery was eventually taken over by the Royal Bavarian State Brewery, and to this day is operating as a state directed enterprise under the control of the Bavarian Government. It is the oldest continuously-existing brewery in the world, standing upon the Weihenstephan hill, surrounded by the comparatively very young Weihenstephan Science Center of the Technical University of Munich, allowing a unique brewing tradition and culture to develop over the centuries. Weihenstephan prides themselves on using the most modern technology without forgetting their own history and high standards.

The Hefeweisse is the flagship brew of Weihenstephan.  The brewers describe it as: “Our golden-yellow wheat beer, with its fine-poured white foam, smells of cloves and impresses consumers with its refreshing banana flavour. It is full bodied and with a smooth yeast taste. To be enjoyed at any time,goes excellently with fish and seafood, with spicy cheese and especially with the traditional Bavarian veal sausage.”

Up Next: Breakfast Stout, Fat Tire, Abita Strawberry, Pivo Pils

FOUNDER’S, BREAKFAST STOUT

Style: Imperial Stout

ABV: 8.3%

Size, Price: 16oz, $8.50

The coffee lover’s consummate beer. Brewed with an abundance of flaked oats, bitter and imported chocolates, and two types of coffee, this stout has an intense fresh-roasted java nose topped with a frothy, cinnamon-colored head that goes forever.

NEW BELGIUM, FAT TIRE

Style: Amber Ale

ABV: 5.2%

Size, Price: 16oz, $7.25

From the Brewer: “Named in honor of our co-founder's bike trip through Europe, Fat Tire marks a turning point in the young electrical engineer's home brewing. Belgian beers use a far broader palette of ingredients (fruits, spices, esoteric yeast strains) than German or English styles. Together with co-founder Kim Jordan, they traveled around sampling their homebrews to the public. Fat Tire won fans with its sense of balance: toasty, biscuit-like malt flavors coasting in equilibrium with hoppy freshness. Fat Tire: Pairs well with people.” Also, according to their website, pairs well with bikes and jousting.

Nose:  Sweet biscuity and caramel malts, subtle notes of fresh fennel and green apple.

Flavor: Toasty malt, gentle sweetness, flash of fresh hop bitterness. Medium bodied, the malt and hops are perfectly balanced.

ABITA, STRAWBERRY LAGER

Style: Fruit beer

ABV: 4.2%

Size, Price: 16oz

Abita Strawberry Harvest is a lager brewed with pilsner and wheat malts and Vanguard hops. Real Louisiana strawberry juice is added after filtration resulting in a crisp lager with a sweet strawberry flavor, aroma and haze. It is wonderful with desserts or lighter fare such as salads and pastas. Fresh cheeses such as Burrata, chèvre, Crescenza, mozzarella or Teleme pair well with Strawberry Harvest.

FIRESTONE WALKER, PIVO PILS

Style: Hoppy Pilsner

Abv: 5.3%

Size, Price: 16oz, $7.50

From the Brewers: “Pivo Hoppy Pils is a classically rendered pilsner with a West Coast dry-­‐hopping twist, showcasing stylistic influences from Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic. Lighter beer styles like pilsner have been hijacked by industrial lager beer in the United States, and it’s time for craft brewers to take it back. Pivo Hoppy Pils offers impeccable balance with floral aromatics, spicy herbal nuances, and bergamot zest and lemongrass notes from dry hopping with German Saphir hops.”