An end to tipping, a battle of the yogurts and other food and drink news and views

Australian wine lobby slams study into higher taxes on cheap alcohol - The peak body for winemakers has slammed a Monash University study that found higher taxes on cheap alcohol could be key to reducing consumption. ... A key finding of the study was that a 'minimum unit price' was a more effective tool in reducing consumption than taxing each standard drink. The authors said policies that increase the cost of the cheapest alcohol, which is often wine and cider, were an effective way to reduce consumption, without unfairly impacting low income consumers. But the Winemakers Federation of Australia has rejected the study's findings, arguing that raising the price of cheap wine would simply shift problem drinkers to other alcoholic beverages or illicit substances. It said cask wine, one of the lowest taxed alcoholic products, was more likely to be consumed by elderly people on fixed incomes, while full strength beer was the most abused category for young drinkers.

Farewell to a favourite Greek eatery - One of the oldest restaurants in Adelaide's East End, Rundle Street’s Eros Ouzeri, closed its doors last week after 20 years of operation. Landlord Steve Maras, whose company Maras Group owns a strip of commercial property along the southern side of Rundle Street from East Terrace to Union Street including Ebeneezer Place, says the Eros Ouzeri premises went up for lease yesterday. “We want to ensure that this news is seen as having no bearing or relevance to Eros Kafe, which continues to run as a successful family business,” Maras says.

Chobani’s controversial new ad campaign - Last week, Chobani aired a cheeky new television spot that pits Simply 100, the Greek yogurt maker's new low-calorie offering, against the competition. The commercial opens with a woman lounging on a poolside chair. She reaches for a cup of Dannon Greek yogurt, reads its ingredients, and then promptly throws it into the garbage. In the background, the voice of a narrator calmly explains what's going on: "Dannon Light & Fit Greek actually uses artificial sweeteners like sucralose. Sucralose—why? That stuff has chlorine in it."

Another new video takes aim at Yoplait's low-calorie offering, alarming consumers that it has potassium sorbate. "That stuff is used to kill bugs," it exclaims.

How This Guy Convinced the Jacksonville Jaguars to Buy His Fish-Oil Cookies

Tom Douglas going straight to $15/hour, adding 20% service charge at 3 restaurants - The end of tipping is nigh at Tom Douglas Restaurants, Seattle’s largest upscale restaurant group. Douglas announced that a 20 percent service charge will replace gratuities at Dahlia Lounge, Palace Kitchen and The Carlile Room as of Feb. 1. His other full-service restaurants are expected to follow by the end of March, as the change is “closely reviewed.” The entirety of the 20 percent service charge “will be redistributed to our team through wages, commissions and benefits,” Douglas said in a news release. Among the goals of the change, he said, is to “provide greater compensation equity for front of house and back of house.” (The company said it based the 20 percent figure on average customer tips over the past three years.)

Harry F. Mariani, Who Introduced Americans to Lambrusco, Dies at 78 - Harry F. Mariani, who with his brother made a fortune introducing Americans to Italian wines, first through the chilled, sparkling sweet red Riunite promoted with a ubiquitous slogan, died on Tuesday in Huntington, N.Y. He was 78. Harry and his brother, John, imported their first 100 cases of Riunite Lambrusco, produced by an Italian cooperative in the Emilia-Romagna region, in 1967. Banfi, the sole importer, promoted the wine with the slogan “Riunite on ice, that’s nice.”