Skip to main content 'The model's failed': Tipping at Zuni Cafe is changing forever, and some workers aren't happy FacebookTwitterEmail The Washington Post/The Washington Post via Getty Im When Chef Nate Norris started as a cook, he was highly aware of the pay inequality that plagued restaurants. He had never worked in a restaurant where he had access to customer tips and knew that co-workers who worked in the front of the house positions, such as servers or bartenders, would make two to three times more than he and his fellow cooks did. This behavior was (and is) typical of the restaurant industry as a whole. But as Norris moved up in his career and became the chef at San Francisco’s famed Zuni Cafe, he’s now pushing to implement a huge change: mainly moving to a tip-free model that is meant to ensure all employees are paid equitably.