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The debate on the minimum wage for tipped restaurant workers in D.C.

We discuss the District’s Initiative 77 and we discover a high-tech way to “age” spirits.

June 10, 2018 12:49 pm

1 min read

Hosted by David and Nycci Nellis. Today:

• On June 19 D.C. residents will vote on Initiative 77, the highly controversial proposal to eliminate the tipped minimum wage in all District restaurants. The ballot measure has the potential to transform the way restaurants operate, servers and bartenders are paid, and diners eat out. Good? Bad? The answer’s not all that easy.

So, in with us today to discuss all sides of the issue are two of D.C.’s highest profile restaurateurs, Jill Tyler, co-owner of Tail Up Goat, and Genevieve Villamora, co-owner of Bad Saint, as well as a seasoned server, Thea Merl.

• Candy Schibli is the owner and founder of the Southeastern Roastery, a small batch specialty coffee roasting company in D.C. One of her main focuses is to incorporate women throughout her supply chain. We sip, sample and chat about how women are making an impact in what still is a male-dominated industry.

• This month, at the Ritz-Carlton Washington, D.C.’s Quadrant Bar & Lounge launched a revolutionary, sound-aged spirits program using sonic wave technology to mimic the taste and qualities of traditionally aged spirits. Quadrant’s lead mixologist, Chris Mendenhall, is in to tell us about it and to pour some tasty spirits.

• What makes the wines of Margaret River, Western Australia, so different from the rest of Australian wines? Australian Bruce Dukes is a consultant and winemaker. He’s in with tastes and talk of exceptional, but not yet widely appreciated, Margaret River wines.