good thing, that works because I really don’t want to. no posurs.
Read the article, you’ll be amused.
If it’s hard to get, it must be good! The way things are going, homebrewers will be able to make a small fortune on ebay soon.
“FS: One bottle of Imperial Uber Stout, vintage 2006. The only bottle from the batch available for sale, ever! (as all others exploded). Lost for years but recently unearthed in a 90 degree attic. Aged in rich Mexican plastic for 15 months. Rich, roasty, vinous, acidic from a pedio infection, bottled in a corona bottle by a bearded lunatic homebrewer living in the picturesque mountains of a far off place. $900 OBO”
[quote]Arrive at 5:30 or 10:30, not any reasonable dinner hour; sit in cramped quarters on tiny chairs; eat what the chef tells you to eat, and you’ll take the damn sauce and like it. Oh, and no friggin’ photos, dirtbag!
[/quote]
I’m glad I don’t go to the places this guy eats. :o
I’m glad I don’t go to the places this guy eats. :o
[/quote]
He is describing restaurants like French Laundry, Per Se, Alinea etc. It’s obvious he has never been to any of them (for a number of reasons).
There are too many good restaurants to put up with long waits. Better yet, stay home, cook better food, drink better beer and save money.
As much as I like my cooking, there’s something miraculous about the cooking of Thomas Keller (French Laundry, Per Se) and Grant Achatz (Alinea) that I could never hope to match and love to witness very periodically.
I have always beleived that anything you can get at a restaurant you can make at home better and cheaper. That may not be 100% true but it works for me most of the time. That being said, I love to go out to eat at really nice (good not fancy) restaurants on occasion. I have not had the opportunity to get to French Laundry yet but I am looking forward to it. I did get to chez pannise a couple of years ago and it was really nice, As vegetarian the entree was lacking thoughfullness but my friends who had the fish said it was wonderful. My entree was a braised porcini which I might have mentioned is my idea of the ultimate mushroom of all time, but I felt a little like they threw it together cause they could not think of anything more interesting.
Looking at the French laundry sample menu it looks like they really focus on the vegtarian entree with as much creativity and thought as the non-veg options. So now I just have to save up 500$ to go!
Every time I spend a lot of money at a “Five Star” restaurant, I walk away feeling like a real sucker. Maybe I’m just going to the wrong places. No matter how good it is, no meal should set 2 people back $150 to $200 or even much, much more.
+1
I made the Braised Breast of Veal with Polenta Cakes, Glazed Vegetables, and Sweet Garlic from the French Laundry Cookbook for my wife’s birthday a few years ago (along with lobster bisque, a roasted pear salad, and orange-chocolate souffles). It was delicious, but took me three full days and cost several hundred dollars. Calling well in advance and paying a restaurant tab didn’t seem like a bad deal after that ordeal.
Maybe no meal should set you back that much. You spend your money, I’ll spend mine.
I own a 1996 Toyota Corolla (and it stands out in my company’s parking lot). I don’t think I should spend $60,000 and then insure $60,000 to be more comfortable on my commute. I don’t aim to enforce that decision on others, or judge them if they choose differently.
For me the best thing I can spend my money on (maybe after funding retirement) is experiences like travelling to Bamberg to drink Rauchbier or eating Matsusaka beef when I have the opportunity of working in Tokyo. You certainly do and should not have to pay thousands of dollars to drink a beer or hundreds to eat dinner, but I’m glad I do on occasion and I don’t really look at it as a beer or a meal but as an experience. I remember those things forever. If I go buy a toy, I usually really enjoy it for a week and then get desensitized to it and am no happier than before I bought it. I still buy toys, but I try to spend little money on toys and big money on experiences. My two cents and YMMV.
QFT (my truth at least)
You guys obviously have more expendable income that I do. I look at things like, do I want to spend $200 for a meal or brew many batches of good beer? If I’m the only one making the decision, the beer wins hands down, but if my wife is involved, that’s not always the case.
I wish I still had expendable income, but I will save for an experience that I want. It may take me a year or two, but it’s worth it. I still find a way to fit the beer things in. 
Yeah a 200$ meal is a once every few years kind of thing, at least for me.
As gordon says, even to make your own can cost that much, When you go to a place like French Laundry or Chez pannise, you are paying a premium for the highest quality, local, freshest ingredients prepared and served by the best people in their fields who are (hopefully) being paid enough to feel like the best in their field).
In terms of paying for an experience, that’s part of what you get. it’s not just the food. otherwise I would do it at home (and I do!) which is it’s own experience.
EDIT gordon, That sounds awesome by the way! your wife is a lucky woman.
If you want to spend that kind of money, never go to a place that calls itself five star. Get a copy of the Guide Michelin and go to any restaurant listed, even the bib gourmand. If it’s got even a single star, it’ll be one of the best restaurants you’ll have ever been to. $200 is way too much to spend per person, unless you’re at Fat Duck, El Bulli, Noma, Per Se or Alinea. And if you’re at Noma, WTF are you doing at a restaurant instead of the Mikkeller pub?
Edit to say, I say avoid five star places because normally only hotels are rated up to five stars, restaurants according to michelin are ordered up to 3 stars.
The $200 I’m referring to is for 2 people. You will never find me in a restaurant that charges $200 per person. I don’t like dining with crazy people.
Ah, well looking closer I see that he lives in LA, apparently by choice. He deserves what he gets then. ;D
+1
;D