Café Rouge
Encyclopedia
Café Rouge is a French-styled restaurant chain in the UK, offering an all-day serving of main course meals, lighter snacks and salads as well as an extensive wine list. It is part of a bigger restaurant network owned by Tragus Ltd.
and Karen Jones as a small restaurant chain in 1989.
Café Rouge has over 100 sites across the UK. Its covers a range of French classics from croques and baguettes to more substantial meals such as steak frites and bœuf bourguignon. Likewise the wines are all French, many from less known regional producers.
The restaurant chain gained much exposure after being mentioned often in the 1996 novel Bridget Jones's Diary
, with the main character Bridget Jones
(and her friends) visiting her local branch of the restaurant regularly throughout the novel.
In 2008 the company was reported as paying staff less than the legal minimum wage, relying on tips to make up the difference. This led to a campaign in Parliament to make this practice illegal.
In 2009 the company was found to be threatening to dismiss wait staff who do not get customers to pay tips on credit cards rather than in cash. Credit card tips are used by the company to subsidise wages (which are usually the legal minimum) whereas cash tips go directly to wait staff. In line with changes to tipping legislation, which came into effect on 1 October 2009, Café Rouge reviewed and updated its policies to ensure that all tips, after a 10% deduction for administrative and other costs paid by credit or debit card, are now distributed through the payroll system to restaurant staff. This is via a TRONC system with 30% going to the kitchen staff, 20% to the bar staff and the remaining 50% to the waiter who served the table. Employees retain any tips in addition to their pay at the rate of the National Minimum Wage.
Tragus Ltd.
Tragus is a UK limited company which operates restaurants under the brands Cafe Rouge, Strada, and Bella Italia. The company is backed by the Blackstone Group private equity firm.-History:...
History
The business was founded by Roger MyersRoger Myers
Roger Myers is the co-founder of Punch Taverns, one of the United Kingdom's largest chains of public houses.-Career:Born in East Ham and educated at Quintin Kynaston Grammar School, Roger Myers joined Goodman Myers Smith, a firm of accountants in 1964. In 1966 he became a Partner in the firm which...
and Karen Jones as a small restaurant chain in 1989.
The restaurant chain gained much exposure after being mentioned often in the 1996 novel Bridget Jones's Diary
Bridget Jones's Diary
Bridget Jones's Diary is a 1996 novel by Helen Fielding. Written in the form of a personal diary, the novel chronicles a year in the life of Bridget Jones, a thirty-something single working woman living in London. She writes about her career, self-image, vices, family, friends, and romantic...
, with the main character Bridget Jones
Bridget Jones
Bridget Jones is a franchise based on the fictional character with the same name. English writer Helen Fielding started her Bridget Jones's Diary column in The Independent in 1995, chronicling the life of Bridget Jones as a thirtysomething single woman in London as she tries to make sense of life...
(and her friends) visiting her local branch of the restaurant regularly throughout the novel.
In 2008 the company was reported as paying staff less than the legal minimum wage, relying on tips to make up the difference. This led to a campaign in Parliament to make this practice illegal.
In 2009 the company was found to be threatening to dismiss wait staff who do not get customers to pay tips on credit cards rather than in cash. Credit card tips are used by the company to subsidise wages (which are usually the legal minimum) whereas cash tips go directly to wait staff. In line with changes to tipping legislation, which came into effect on 1 October 2009, Café Rouge reviewed and updated its policies to ensure that all tips, after a 10% deduction for administrative and other costs paid by credit or debit card, are now distributed through the payroll system to restaurant staff. This is via a TRONC system with 30% going to the kitchen staff, 20% to the bar staff and the remaining 50% to the waiter who served the table. Employees retain any tips in addition to their pay at the rate of the National Minimum Wage.