The value in expensive restaurants

CNBC recently posted an article about the most expensive, Mechelin starred restaurants, some garnered prices up to $1700 a plate. I wondered what could possibly merit such prices so I read the article.

Japan seemed to have multiple entires in that category and that makes sense to a degree because of the cost of seafood itself, it's extremely short shelf life and its increasing scarcity.

I'm sure costs of housing such a restaurant and it's décor is a factor. (Personally I love dining in a well decorated restaurant and I don't mind paying a bit extra for it. That's not to say I've had some amazing meals from places that literally were served in what looked like a basement storage room. Thinking dim sum in China Town San Fransisco.) One restaurant the article mentioned accompanied their meal with a multi-media presentation put together by various artists and directors. So, more than just dining, it was an "experience" .

I'm fascinated by all this and what the public is willing pay for. I also know that there's a segment in marketing that stipulates "if it's expensive, the public will rationalize it's cost to fulfill their own emotional needs." (ie - it must be great, it's expensive. And by extention I'll be cool for having eaten there.)
I guess we all draw the line somewhere....what about you? Would it work in Louisville? Is it a new, legitimate industry reformation or merely fad?

So what makes the meal that you are willing to pay extra for? (let's assume the food is great.)
I'm interested to know what you guys think.

Sublimotion, Ibiza, Spain — $1,740

https://www.sublimotionibiza.com/main.html


I read that article this morning. The above is the most expensive and it is full blown theatre.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/03/japan-d ... rants.html

....and what did you think?

I'd love to do it, but I'm not paying that much.

The most memorable, best overall, and most expensive meal of my life was at Alinea. The food was fantastic, but not the best food I've ever tasted. It was a dining experience, not just a meal. We sat aside some money for a few months and looked at it as an attraction, not just a meal.

We did the same with Le Bernardin, but I probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone. The food was fantastic, but too simple and the service was over the top and made everyone uncomfortable.


I think CBS Sunday morning did a segment on extreme fine dining a few months ago. Their take was it was extremely important for teaching true hospitality/service and how to run a restaurant/business to future restaurateurs. They might not take their own restaurants to that extreme, but they have the knowledge to do so if desired.

This was one of my favorite responses to ridiculously-priced restaurants:
https://www.ladbible.com/news/news-food ... t-20211017

Rode past The French Laundry when on a wine tour in Napa. I'm sure it's lovely, but there's no way I could book a table on a months/years-long waitlist on the other side of the country.

This was one of my favorite responses to ridiculously-priced restaurants:
https://www.ladbible.com/news/news-food ... t-20211017

Two thoughts about these articles...
First - If you can't deliver on flavor, either make it inedibly hot or wrap it in gold. Free pass!
Second- Any grown man wearing red velvet shoes better be smoking a cigar in his own den or be a da%& genie.

Is there room in the industry for expensive meals without the patron just paying for some chef's inflated ego?

I will say that we once splurged on the Catbird Seat in Nashville, but it was closer to $250/pp with wine pairings. Catbird Seat was also theatre, only seated 20 people, the chefs interacted constantly with the diners, the food was amazing, and we still talk about it. It was well worth the splurge, but I could not fathom spending $1700 on a single MEAL! You could buy how many fabulous ingredients with that that would last you months?!?! Or a good vacation? Please!

I will say that we once splurged on the Catbird Seat in Nashville, but it was closer to $250/pp with wine pairings. Catbird Seat was also theatre, only seated 20 people, the chefs interacted constantly with the diners, the food was amazing, and we still talk about it. It was well worth the splurge, but I could not fathom spending $1700 on a single MEAL! You could buy how many fabulous ingredients with that that would last you months?!?! Or a good vacation? Please!

Something like that sounds like a blast and something I'd be willing to pay for.

[Robin Garr]

I just want to say that in the pandemic economy, this guy is not about to eat anywhere that costs more than $40 or $50 for two until things clear up.

I just want to say that in the pandemic economy, this guy is not about to eat anywhere that costs more than $40 or $50 for two until things clear up.

I certainly agree! While a meal like the one in the OP sounds amazing at this time it's something that I wouldn't consider it is time!

I'm wondering if ALL of our dining selections will change post Covid? I mean, is/will Covid changing the way we look at dining out under normal situations? (assuming 'normal' ever comes back.) Before Covid many people viewed dining out and dining out expensively as something that was done regularly....every birthday, anniversary, some holidays. Or couples dined out in mid or lower priced restaurants several times a week because it was either easier or cheaper than cooking at home. Then it became habitual because, well, that's just what you did on a Wednesday or Friday night. That was your routine. Has a cultural shift taken place? Are more people cooking? Are more couples likely to show off their culinary skills, new recipes, kitchen gear, hard to find mail-ordered ingredients ? Have we decided that for less than the $75 per couple that we were paying for a really nice meal we can now replicate at home for half of that and wear our jammies on the couch while we eat it? (That's pretty indulgent!) Before we almost NEEDED to dress up and socialize with others. Dining out in a fine restaurant was one of the ways we re-established our place in society or our community. Has that changed? Diminished?
I dunno. It just feels like some sort of shift is taking place for restaurants but maybe that's just my imagination.

I think this is just another indication of the plutocracy this country, and maybe the world, is becoming. One segment of society is wiping their butts with $100 bills while another segment goes to bed hungry.

My fiance and I chose Grassa Gramma and Steak & Bourbon for our respective birthday dinners last year. I would probably not go any higher price-wise than that. I'm not really one for theater and performance when I'm dining out. Give me good food at a reasonable price with excellent service, and I'm satisfied.

I'm still more likely to eat at a cheap, home-cooking style diner when I come across one than I am a fancy place.

As for cooking at home, I don't know that we're really doing that much more. My fiance has a "eat to live" approach rather than "live to eat," so he'll pretty much stuff anything in his face except coconut and mayo. My stomach is much more finicky, so I have to be very careful (onions, for example, are a big allergen for me, and onions are in EVERYTHING). I've cooked scrambled eggs more in the past year than I have in the past decade though.

Why waste $1,700 for a meal when I can apply that towards a $6,000 bottle of Pappy Van Winkle! Heck, if I'm really savvy I can get the same fire sale price that the Georgia Bulldogs reportedly paid for their bottle of Pappy--$4,300!