So, I’m reading this LA Times piece that Andy Wang shared* about Healthy San Francisco. At first I just got all mad and vowed to smash The Times for being naive enough to poke their nose in my market.
Then I got to the part where they talk to Jennifer Piallat, who owns Cole Valley restaurant Zazie. As opposed to raising overall prices to help cover their employer mandate, Piallat tacked a straight up $1 surcharge on the menu. (I don’t think they’re the only ones who do this, but it’s been so long since I could afford to go out to eat I can’t remember. Do you guys know who else does this?)
Though her customers have largely taken it in stride, one woman demanded an audience so she could say how “truly offended” she was “that I have to pay a dollar to subsidize your employees’ healthcare,” Piallat recounted recently.
Piallat’s response? “While we’re being honest, I’m offended that you’re wearing a 4-carat diamond and complaining about a dollar.”
For (and we must admit to bias here, as several of our staff are on HSF and adore it) or against our local health care program, Jennifer Piallat sounds like sort of a badass, able to size up gemstones and make vaguely commie remarks all while refilling your coffee.
*look at me, name dropping with whom I share items in Google Reader. I am such a turd.