As a restaurant owner I agree tipping culture is out of hand. I wish we could get rid of it - it comes with too many headaches: fights over tips, splitting, reporting, table greed, internal disputes. We start our tipped workers between $18-24 per hour then they make anywhere from 30-60 an hour more in tips. We’ve discussed removing tips altogether, bumping wages up to $30-40 but all of the team members want tips. They have said they will probably get other jobs. This is the problem, it’s systemic. All the restaurants that have removed tipping have had to revert back to the original system or have closed. Look up the stories. BUT keep in mind, not all restaurants use this to “underpay” team members. As I said, I’ll gladly pay 30-40 and remove tips. But it won’t work. Look at the evidence. Question: if you were at a full service restaurant and there was no tip option 1. Would you tip cash? 2. Would you get mad at the restaurant?

Cost and logistics aside, I love duck fat for fries. Universally, the best fat is beef tallow. The double fry method is overrated. The real technique is to blanch the fries in water with a dash of vinegar first, then freeze and fry from frozen. The water "poach/blanch" cooks the potato and the vinegar prevents the starch/pectin from breaking down. It also dilutes the sugar which prevents excess browning. The double fry method typically burns the sugars before the fries are finished. The water blanch and fry method produces a super crispy exterior. This is how McDonald's does it as well.