If you found a five star for 50 a plate that is quite the deal.
Culinary arts are valid.
It costs a lot because the ingredients are expensive and there's a ton of labor involved. Seriously you should see the level of chemistry, preparation, and precision that go into some dishes.
If you can't appreciate it, that's fine. Not everybody gets any given work of art and some people don't get culinary arts at all. But this "fine dining is a scam" thing I've seen in this thread and elsewhere is a bad take. It amounts to "things I don't have the capacity to appreciate are garbage because I lack the ability to understand that others experience the world differently than I do."
Does it get treated as a status symbol? Sure. But all art gets the same treatment. Picasso is no less valid because some rich asshole buys his work.
That said, there's a kernel of truth to the sentiment, but these little mom and pop local places aren't good just because they're cheap. It's that their main competitor at the price point, chain restaurants, are trashy, factory made garbage. There's a lot of mid range chains (or higher end chains, like Ruth's Chris). They make their money by leveraging economies of scale and a consistent product, but there's not any soul to that food. You can usually do better at home for less. Not to denigrate it too much; I've got chain food I like (don't we all enjoy some junk food from time to time?). Hell, I know a Michelin Star chef that has a hot wing at one of the national wing chains he craves, but then that dude eats everything.
Local mom and pops are often immigrants from other nations making food the way they know how ... which often involves more down to earth ingredients and methods instead of processed trash bought from Sysco. I've had some amazing food on the cheap from immigrants from different areas of Mexico, Ethiopia, Czechoslovakia, lots of South East Asian countries ... you name it. They're not all great, but there's been some incredible flavor : value ratios.
So try your local places, but understand that fine dining needn't be a scam if it's a chef busting his ass to be creative and delicious, even if it's very expensive.
No
I will give credit where credit is due. The best steak I have ever had was some cold leftovers from a very fancy restaurant my parents had visited for an anniversary. I dream of cuts like that again.
Local diners always have the best food. Same thing with small pizza places run by italian families.
Standalone shithole BBQ joints with a smoker visible/smellable.
Here in sweden at least legit the best food i've had is little burger/hot dog kiosks. It's very hard to beat a burger and some fries for 7 bucks.
$50 dollars a plate isn't terrible depending on how formal it is
OK Mr. Moneybags.
"fine dining" is mostly just status symbol, though there are also expensive places that are also equally as good in quality. But a lot of it is just way to get money out of those who have so much income they throw it away for fun.
I've had a dinner made privately by a Master Chef. It was a gift for my wife and I when we were on our honeymoon.
There were no gimmicks, no flamboyance, no showing off. The food was the best I've ever eaten by far and it was a more educational experience than I thought it could be. He went over each of his dishes, the best way to eat it, how each piece of the dish complements the others, and how they fit within his larger vision across the meal. They were pieces of art and were on another level of flavor.
Anyone who thinks fine dining needs to be eating chocolate syrup with your fingers, involves licking things off a table, or is drowned in gold leaf is wasting their money and dignity.
Agreed. There are a lot of false "fine dining" restaurants about. They are all flash, no substance. The good ones are absolutely amazing.
The portions are often small, because you don't NEED any more. They are an intense bit of artwork with flavours, textures and smells. The visual side acts to support that.
Interestingly, the prices often aren't actually that bad. If you go at the right time, and limit yourself to the set menu, it's only a little above a normal, decent, restaurant. While there are some that go the whole hog with fanfare and celebrities, they also charge an arm and a leg. There are also some chiefs who specialise in playing with your senses. These are more akin to a theatre trip, than a normal meal. Outside of those however are a number quietly providing an exceptional dining experience for a fairly reasonable price.
That’s exactly what fine dining is - not the chocolate fingers part - the other bit. The menu changes sometimes daily, depending on what the chef was able to find that day and if they’re feeling in the mood to try something new. The server should know every dish and ingredient. The ingredients themselves are hand-selected and top-of-the-line, and often come from a local farm.
The private chef experience can go a step beyond that in terms of service, because it’s really just the chef and sous chef(s), and your party. All of their time is yours.
- fried squid
- baked squid
- broiled squid
- braised squid
- squid; any way you like it
squidi wapapa?
Without getting in to the prices at all, there is something to be said for focus. The diner throws together great food as long as great is "salty and fried", but when it comes to more complex stuff, they tend to fall down. The large menu means the time and affort to get expert at each dish is much higher, and with any turnover at all just can't happen. Mom and pop diners can get great at their specialties, but chain diners al_ost always resort to reheating frozen product because of their large menus
Best food in town—pizza made for €7 apiece by a guy named Miroslav in his restaurant “Tuscany.”
Thank the heavens for Miroslav.
There's a restaurant in my girlfriend's town that basically says that if they have the ingredients then it's on the menu. The menu is absolutely massive.
They must have some talented cooks. That's awesome
Okay but like ... ingredients spoil. I don't want something that's been sitting in your walk-in for 3 weeks because nobody else ever orders it.
$50/person is a lot? Or is that like tapas plates?
I'd consider it a lot, but nowhere near what I'd expect for the fanciest places.
I guess it depends on where you are, but in the Bay Area a mid-to nice place is around that or a bit more (eg they’ll have some entrees in the $30-40 and others in the $50-70 range) with appetizers being another $15 each. Sides are additional at a steak place.
A nice place (Michelin-type fine dining) will have a tasting menu that goes for $200-350 per person (that’s the one where you get multiple courses of tiny dishes), and the wine pairing on top of that can be another $150/person or more. If you add in cocktails or other upgrades (like a caviar appetizer), you can be getting up around $1000 per person.
nowadays even the cheapest fast food is bloody expensive
