A new restaurant in Halifax doesn’t let you tip any of its workers.
Vincent Morley and his wife, Kristyn Green, opened The Bonfire last week. They said they’re the only restaurant that doesn’t allow tips in the province.
Morley said he’s worked in kitchens for 22 years, often feeling underpaid and underappreciated, and they wanted to open a place where they would want to work.
That’s why their employees get $20 an hour, and they split 50 per cent of the business’s profits.
“We really believe that a business model based on collaboration is a better foundation for a restaurant experience,” said Morley.
He said they do “comfort food off the grill,” with an extra focus on any dietary restrictions or potential allergies people may have when they come in.
They also did what they call a “not-so-secret sober open.” That means they don’t have a liquor license yet to sell alcohol, but they put a sign out front and let people come in. But after several news reports, support has really grown. They have 5 employees now but are quickly trying to hire more to meet the demand.
People offered several different services, including someone who worked in human resources, who offered free services to help them out. A web company also reached out and offered to create a website for them for free.
“We always wanted this restaurant to be a collaborative experience, but we’re really feeling a community, collaborative experience, and it’s been so rewarding, and we just feel really lucky and so grateful,” said Morley.
He said the support is so overwhelming, they had their first profitable day on Wednesday.
He would not reveal how much they are bringing in exactly, because their hours are only 4 to 9 p.m. and they don’t yet have their liquor license, he said. so it would not be a fair representation of their goals.
Their goal is to make enough profits so when the employees split half, it’s about the same as an extra $15 an hour on top of the normal $20 they make, Morley said.
“The sales that we’re seeing right now, we are well on our way to working towards that,” he said.
“I think May is going to be a really great month, and I think we’re going to get a lot closer to it than I would have guessed even a week ago.”
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