3% “HEART OF HOUSE” fee
effective June 4, 2020
Perhaps the most significant ongoing challenge for chefs and restaurateurs is attracting and retaining a strong, qualified kitchen (“back of house”) staff. Historically, kitchen workers as a whole have been required to work very hard, in unrelentingly demanding environments, for very little money so that customers could enjoy good meals at reasonable prices; while simultaneously, restaurants could adequately cover operating costs and expenses. Fortunately, the market has adjusted somewhat over the past few years, and the public has demanded that restaurants pay kitchen staff something closer to what they are worth. At The Mav Kitchen & Tap House, we have been blessed with sales growth that has enabled us to happily increase our hourly wages for back of house staff by approximately 35% during that period.
Despite the back of house wage increase, there remains a significant gap between what back of house staff are able to earn, versus the much higher amounts that tipped front of house staff earn. Unquestionably, our dedicated front of house staff work hard for their tips, yet our back of house staff work just as hard for their wages. The Mav, like most other restaurants, face significant and momentous challenges in our ability to pay kitchen workers their full worth for their strenuous work and dedication to their craft.
Very simply, the current economic model for the restaurant industry, in which this back of house versus front of house wage gap persists, is not sustainable. The economics need to work for ALL staff, as well as for the restaurant, and its guests. Forward thinking restaurants throughout the country have been researching and experimenting with different models to create more equal pay for their employees. Experiments have been launched by chefs and restaurateurs nationwide; testimonies have indicated this particular model has been a big success, and the management team here at The Mav has decided to emulate its structure.
In short, we will be implementing a 3% “Heart of House” administrative fee that will be retained by the company and distributed to kitchen staff fairly and equally. From the guest perspective, it will effectively be a 3% price increase. However, we will not be structuring it as a straight-up price increase on menu items, because we want all of the proceeds to go to back of house employees exclusively. A more traditional price increase would result in higher tipped wages for front of house staff as well, thereby offsetting any potential reduction in the wage gap that we are valiantly trying to address.
In the end, we hope you agree that paying a few extra pennies on the dollar will probably make little difference in your lives, while cumulatively making an enormous difference in the lives of our kitchen staff. We appreciate your understanding, and we will continue to do all that we can to ensure that you find value in this small extra charge.
In the meantime, we thank you for joining us here at Mav - we would not exist without you.
Sincerely,
Sue Baldwin
Proprietor
Justin Burch
Chef, General Manager
HOURS OF OPERATION
Sunday: 11am-9pm
Monday: 11am-9pm
Tuesday: 11am-9pm
Wednesday: 11am-9pm
Thursday: 11am-9pm
Friday: 11am-10pm
Saturday: 11am-10pm
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