In my experience, there is a big difference between high-end restaurants and super-high-end restaurants, in terms of how they approach courses and portion sizes. **Emerils **is a high-end New American type of restaurant - fewer courses, decent-sized portions. A place like the **French Laundry **in Napa is more of a super-high-end nouvelle cuisinesorta place (wiki link). I have eaten there and been served (absolutely wonderful) short ribs where they brought out a clean white bowl bigger than a pasta collander with the short ribs, about the size of a hockey puck, sitting waaay down in the middle of the bowl. Very much in line with what the OP is asking about…
But you know what? The ribs were so rich and good that I found myself satisfied - oh, and the other courses helped, too…
Judging by the second picture, that place is either serving a sauteed twinkie or a stick of butter in caramel sauce. Either one sounds delicious right about now.
I went to a 4 star restaurant recently, and the entree was incredibly filling. My wife couldn’t finish it. However, the appetizers were incredibly expensive (e.g. $7 per small raw oyster, $2 per shrimp in a shrimp cocktail, etc.) I have noticed this trend in many restaurants, not just the 4 star variety.
As a general rule, expect to spend $50 per person, plus 25% for wine/alcohol, plus another 10-20% for a tip.
$100 would be the bare minimum for 2 people, no desert or drinks, but can go as high as $200.
But, that’s just me. I would scan the menu to get a rough average of the entree price. If it’s over $50, I probably won’t stay. The most expensive places I go to charge about $35 per seasonal entree, while on average, I usually get $25 dinners.
If the entrees average ~$25, expect to spend $100 for 2 people, $120 with tip, $150 with drinks, maybe even more with desert.
“Very high end restaurants” are going to be WAY more expensive than this. Alinea, for example, is considered one of the top restaurants in the country, and one of the top 10 or 15 in the world. They have two dinner choices if I recall correctly - the 15 course and the 22 course. The 15 course meal is $150/person. The 22 course is $225/person. That’s with dessert, but no drinks. I think I remember reading that tasters of wine chosen to go with each course runs about another $125/person.
So altogether, you could easily be talking as much as $850 for two, including drinks, dinner, and tip.
The French Laundry was mentioned uptread. In The French Laundry Cookbook Thomas Keller explains why the portions are so diminutive the higher up the culinary chain you go.
You really only taste and savor the first few bites of any dish. After that, it’s just taking on fuel. If you’re going to a restaurant run by a master chef, you should want to fully experience each bite. As a result, the big portions at The French Laundry and restaurants of a similar nature are about five bites, but you get 20 different courses. That makes up the same volume of food you might expect at any restaurant but gives you the opportunity to truly taste and appreciate every bite.
Right. No offense, Superhal, but “as high as $200” is not a high-end restaurant. The tasting menu at Joël Robuchon will run you $385 per person. That’s just for the food, no drinks or tip.
Here’s what you get for your $385, if anyone’s interested:
[ul]
[li]Le Caviar[/li] en infusion de corail anisée, en surprise Caviar on a fennel cream served as a surprise
[li]Le Foie Gras[/li] en duo mêlé de pomme ratte comme un carpaccio aux copeaux de truffe blanche Carpaccio of foie gras and potatoes, covered with white truffle shavings
[li]Les Champignons[/li] une fine feuille croustillante aux cèpes en gondole, une royale tremblotante au cappuccino de persil plat, thé de matsutakés au gingembre Crispy toast topped with cepes mushroom, trembling parsley royal and ginger matsutake tea
[li]La Saint-Jacques[/li] la noix poêlée, lait de coco épicé et un condiment de coriandre fraîche Seared scallops, spiced coconuts milk and fresh coriander condiment
[li]Les Crustacés[/li] le homard rôti au curry et fines graines de chou-fleur, l’oursin à la purée de pomme de terre au café “Blue Mountain” torréfié, la langoustine truffée et cuite en ravioli à l’émincé de chou vert Roasted lobster with green curry, Uni on mashed potato with roasted coffee beans, truffled langoustine ravioli with chopped cabbage
[li]Le Riz[/li] pilaf à la saveur d’une “paëlla” avec une fricassée de cuisses de grenouille et une rapée de tartuffi di Alba Paëlla style pilaf rice, fricassee of frog legs and shaved tartuffi di Alba
[li]La Châtaigne[/li] un fin velouté soyeux sur un voile virtuel de lard fumé Delicate chestnut cream with smoked lardons foam
[li]Le Bar[/li] poêlé à la citronnelle avec une étuvée de jeunes poireaux Pan-fried sea bass with a lemon grass and stewed baby leeks
[li]Le Veau[/li] en côte cuit au plat avec un gel d’herbes fraîches et une mêlée de courgette à la pistache Sautéed veal chop with herb gelée, zucchini and fresh pistachios
[li]Le Soja[/li] les jeunes pousses cuites comme un risotto aux zestes de citron vert et ciboulette Risotto of soybeans sprouts, lime zest and chives
[li]Les Fruits Exotiques[/li] en cocktail aux parfums des îles, sorbet au yogourt Exotic fruit cocktail, yogurt sorbet
[li]La Fuji[/li] pomme confite au granité Calvados, crème à la confiture de lait Fuji apple confit with Calvados granite, dulce de leche
[li]Le Moka - Le Thé[/li] escortés de mignardises
[/ul]
Gale Gand, a pastry chef who used to have a Food Network show where she made batches of the most mundane cupcakes imaginable, has a restaurant called Tru that I saw featured on some show. Tru served up odd looking, artsy, sparse plates of high end grub, for about $200 per diner.
It is my theory that if you have $200 to spend on three stalks of asparagus and a couple of sauteed scallops, that means you are a model, trophy wife, celebrity, or Mrs. Donald Trump. You go to such a restaurant to be seen, and since you probably live on 800 calories a day or have an eating disorder, a token amount of overpriced food in the latest hot spot suits you to a T.
Me? It’s my dream to go to Amish country for 7 sours and 7 sweets, and take away a doggie bag that just barely fits into the refrigerator!
I checked that Alinea link. While the food is definitely artfully presented and artistic in appearance, I don’t find a single of those pictures appetizing. So it wouldn’t matter if they serve me 25 courses, because I’m probably not eating any of them.
I’ll take a plate full of food I recognize any day.
My one fine dining experience annoyed me more than anything. I could handle the meals coming out in courses and the presentation being part of the experience. I was okay with the weird sauces and giving them a try. But when the waiter is trying to convince me that I should get my steak prepared a different way than I want it, that ticked me off. If I want a goddamn rare steak, I’ll ask for it rare. When I say I want a well done steak, I don’t mean give me a filet mignon charred on the outside and bloody on the inside (yes, it was).
I don’t think this is true at all. I know, for example, a group of four young guys, all of them working in kitchens in our very small town. They were all way into food. I don’t think any of them made more than about $25K a year, and I doubt more than 2 of them made that much.
They went to Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago and sat at the kitchen table for one of their birthdays a few years ago. $225 a head, not including drinks or tip. Or transportation to Chicago and a bed to sleep in, for that matter.
I’ve spent quite a bit on dinners as well. Not every night. Heck, not once a year. But you better believe I’ll drop $200 a plate on dinner if I have the means and desire to do so.
Contrast that with how many people have hobbies that are WAY more expensive. How many people have motorcycles? Most motorcycle, even used ones, cost many hundreds of dollars a month when you add up gas, a monthly payment, insurance, etc. Ski bums drop hundreds of dollars a year for lift tickets, accommodations, and equipment. Heck, I know parents who pay a ton of money a year for their kids to participate in sports or the cheerleading team or whatever. Lots of people manage to pull these and other costly hobbies off without being “a model, trophy wife, celebrity, or Mrs. Donald Trump.”
Food is a hobby for many of us. I cook 90% of the time, and save us a lot of money making things from scratch. And yes, I have reservations at Alinea in a few weeks (guess why I’ve been using it as an example? :D)
I can totally understand why people who are not into cooking as a hobby take one look at that menu and are not interested. But those of us who are interested are neither the super-rich or the super-crazy. It’s all a matter of what hobbies & interests you have. Mine happens to be food.
For comparison: my dinner at Le Manoir, for two, with half a bottle of wine, one kir royale and one beer, cost £300 ($495) not including tip.
My lunch for two at the Fat Duck, with only a half-bottle of wine, cost £350 ($578) not including tip. It was truly, truly, worth every penny, and my dining companion who isn’t as into crazy food as I am, agreed - she was totally blown away by the experience.
Your theory may be applicable to some people, but though I eat at some of the places you disparage, I do not fit your stereotype in any way at all. I save up a lot to do so, because I value it highly. Also, your categorization of the food available may be correct in some cases, but also perhaps ignores the astonishing creativity and skill of many of the practitioners of something that to me is high art and ground-breaking science, all rolled into one. And tastes amazing too.
