Coast and Valley

Restaurant Prices Are Skyrocketing. Here’s Why.

"At Coast and Valley, a California-focused wine bar in Greenpoint, co-owner Stephanie Watanabe was forced to increase wine prices by about 15 percent after wildfires in Northern California, where the bar sources most of its bottles, drove wholesale prices up last year. Additionally, in response to a year of extremely difficult working conditions, Watanabe and her business partner, Eric Hsu, decided to eliminate tipping, opting instead to pay their staff a universal living wage of $25 an hour. In order to make this change, they added a blanket 20 percent administrative fee to the menu." - Mahira Rivers