<p><strong>Chef Geoff Davis</strong> opened Burdell in Oakland to cook the soul food his grandmothers made — a distinct American cuisine rooted in migration and adaptation rather than Southern tradition. In 2024, Food & Wine <a target="_blank" href="https://www.foodandwine.com/2024-restaurant-of-the-year-burdell-8702727">named Burdell</a> the “Restaurant of the Year.” </p><p>On our recent <a target="_blank" href="https://www.californiasun.co/podcast/geoff-davis-on-soul-food-fair-pay-and-the-service-fee-that-sparked-a-firestorm/"><strong>California Sun podcast,</strong></a> he expalins how it was a 20% service fee at the bottom of Burdell’s receipts that recently started a<strong> </strong><a target="_blank" href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/restaurants/article/burdell-oakland-service-charge-controversy-21350089.php"><strong>national conversation</strong></a> about labor, class, and whether we’ve ever really reckoned with the racial <strong>history of tipping.</strong></p><p></p> <br/><br/>Get full access to Talk Cocktail Podcast at <a href="https://jeffschechtman.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_4">jeffschechtman.substack.com/subscribe</a>