Jane Adams. Photo: Chuck Hodes, HBO.

A struggling actor is all a-Twitter claiming his celebrity-sighting Tweets cost him his job.

Jon-Barrett Ingels, 31, says he worked at Barney Greengrass, the cafe on the fifth floor of Barneys New York in Beverly Hills, Calif., and documented his celebrity encounters under the Twitter username, PapaBarrett. Ingels had dished about his on-the-job celeb encounters to his followers, with comments like "Thurs: Tori Spelling eats salami eggs and onions. BTW when did Tori become hot? Also Emilio Estevez looks like his dad," or, "Watched Neil Strauss (The Game) pick up girls and Mindy Kaling talking at a hungover BJ Novak (The Office). My work is not reality!"

But he tells Slashfood that his Twitter of an encounter with actress Jane Adams put an end to that job.

When we were talking about how much we tip in restaurants last week, some people expressed a bit of consternation over having to do math right after eating to come up with the tip. A Tip Table, which denotes what 15% and 20% are of various dollar amounts, makes tipping easier because it eliminates the need to think about how much to leave.

I will note, however, that the Tip Table is not without problems. For example, though the range it gives will certainly cover many meals and it's not too difficult to combine various amounts to reach higher totals, is it really necessary to say that 20% of $1 is 20¢? And is it even appropriate to leave such a small tip - regardless of the percentage - in all instances?

I agree with the commenters in the previous post who said that tipping rules are not hard and fast - especially when you want to be generous. And the Tip Table, practical as it may seem, cannot take exceptions into account. Leave more than 20% when you sit sipping your $1 coffee for an hour and reward outstanding service in general.

Every so often - by which I mean frequently - a thread (or three) comes up at Chowhound about tipping. Since Chowhound is a community of people who not only love food, but love to eat out in restaurants, the debates can get pretty heated. Though some feel that the new minimum tip should be 20%, the standard tip is about 15% of the check. Since most places have a significantly lowered minimum wage for tipped employees, tips are not bonuses, but a substantial part of the income of servers.

Tipping philosophies vary widely with age, life experiences and even personality. Some people tip the same percentage - no matter what. Others take into consideration every aspect of the service, as though they have a formula that deducts or adds percentage points accordingly. A few seem to begrudge the fact that they have to pay to eat out at all (despite the fact that these people often eat out frequently) and tip little to nothing.

In California, where the sales tax is fairly high, I double it to get the tip amount and usually end up tipping somewhere from 16-18%, depending on which county/city I am in. If I'm visiting friends in a state with low sales tax (6% or less), I'll triple it. This makes my calculations short and sweet, though I'll definitely consider tipping extra for excellent service or if a member of my party was difficult for some reason.

How much do you tip, and would anything about the service change the amount?

There are some restaurants that you just don't go to. Maybe you don't go to them because they're further than you'd like to drive, but – admit it – there are some in your neighborhood, like the restaurant a few blocks away that you have just never been to. It just isn't in your list of possibilities. You might not be able to say anything bad about it, but you don't want to go there, either.

I have a restaurant like this near me. Actually, it's one neighborhood over from mine, a branch of a chain of Mexican restaurants that I happen to like quite a lot. A big part of the reason I like the chain is that the one in my neighborhood had a great chef and was one of its original restaurants. The reason I'm saying "was" is that the restaurant's lease recently expired and, due to a huge spike in the rent, they opted not to renew it. Twenty plus years of good Mexican food and memories – gone.

When I discovered that the place had shut its doors, I was actually standing just outside of them. After I read the notice announcing their closure, as well as the notice announcing the grand opening of its replacement, I decided that I might as well head to the chain's other location. I still wanted Mexican food and my options were limited.

How bad could it be, I thought. I'm sure that the only reason I don't go there is because the parking is lousy.

At Blogging Baby, there is a bit of a debate going on as to whether it is necessary to clean up after your kids in a restaurant. Karen was busy cleaning up the mess that her 10-month old daughter was making at the table, when a women from a nearby table not to bother, saying,  "The wait staff are going to clean up after us anyway.  I just leave them a big tip and let them do it.  It is, after all, what they're paid to do."

I appreciate the fact that she at least said she leaves a big tip, but I think that that is the wrong idea to have. Does she let her kids throw food around and smear it on the table at home? Asking for a vacuum is going too far, but it's a restaurant, not a day care. Is it so difficult to sop up spilled juice with a few extra napkins?

Sarah recently posted about the fact that sales of spaghetti are down at the leading supermarket chain in England because "younger British diners lack the same culinary skills their parents have." That doesn't hold true in the US, where long, thin spaghetti is still the best selling pasta shape. Since most people buy their spaghetti premade and dried (even restaurants, according to Waiter), Real Simple magazine took the opportunity to taste test fifteen common store brands and pick out their favorites. They judged the pasta on flavor and texture, looking for a slight nuttiness and noodles that didn't get mushy after cooking. Dressed in simply olive oil and salt, the spaghetti went to a tasting panel and they picked out their top three: (1) De Cecco 12, (2) Barilla,  (3) Colavita. De Cecco is twice as expensive ($2/pound vs. $1/pound) as the other brands, but tasters thought it was clearly the best choice, with great flavor and texture.

Maybe if they switched to one of these brands, the spaghetti-challenged diners wouldn't mind a chance to practice their fork-twirling skills.

With very few exceptions, I have never had a problem getting a reservation at a restaurant that I wanted to eat at. Holidays like Valentine's Day can pose their own problems, of course, but I am speaking of an ordinary night out. If I have not been able to get a reservation, I go somewhere else. If the restaurant is closing when I walk in, I go somewhere else. Some people don't want to go somewhere else, though, and either bribe the hostess or outright lie to get in. They have fake reservations. A fake reservation is what some diners use to get into restaurants that are full or closing, knowing that most restaurants will not question their claim. But here's something they may not know: they're not fooling anyone. The restaurant knows that you're faking.

No matter how much you want to eat at a restaurant, it's not going to be as satisfying if you're faking. Service will be slower because the staff is slammed. The staff will be annoyed that they have to hang around for hours after closing. You'll get annoyed because your waiter is brusque, or not all the specials are available. Try using OpenTable.com to make your reservation based on existing availability. This way you won't have to fake it.

With a hat tip to Mr. Bruni, the restaurant critic who took a turn as a waiter, the Waiter stepped out of uniform and took a turn as a reviewer. The Waiter of WaiterRant.net is best known for his sharp, humorous accounts of the daily goings-on in the busy Bistro where he works. While no customers were screaming for their food or throwing fits about receiving the "wrong" table, the review of Mary's Fish Camp is no less interesting. He gets a recommendation from his waitress, samples a few dishes and leaves well-satisfied. Ever thought of a career change, Waiter?

Frank Bruni, a New York Times restaurant critic, just spent a week working as a waiter in a restaurant to see how the other half lives. Though he still experienced the difficulties and irritations of the job after only a few days, he was at an excellent restaurant and he got to leave after only a week. Maki Itoh, whose food blog is the oft-mentioned i was just really very hungry, has written her own account of what it is like to work in a restaurant. She worked as a host in one of New York's most popular sushi restaurants back in 1998 and covers more than a week's worth of celebrities, regulars and why the job isn't as easy as it looks.

And for a truly entertaining, ongoing account of waiting tables, be sure to check out Waiter Rant, the blog of an anonymous waiter, who tells tales of everything from tipping, both good and bad, to the people who sniff rubber wine corks. He is also nominated as the Best American Blog in the 2006 Bloggies.