Geoff Davis on soul food, fair pay, and the service fee that sparked a firestorm

Chef Geoff Davis 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 named it the "Restaurant of the Year." But it was a 20% service fee at the bottom of Burdell's receipts that recently started a national conversation about labor, class, and whether we've ever really reckoned with the history of tipping.