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Extreme Menu Madness
Amanda McClements December 4, 2007
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Increasingly, Americans are letting chefs decide what they should eat. Tasting menus — typically with set prices—are becoming more common at America’s top restaurants. Many have done away with a la carte ordering all together.
To compile a list of crème de la crème dining experiences, we sought out the most expensive tasting menus available in the U.S. These over-the-top meals, designed by some of the world’s greatest chefs, feature pricey ingredients such as caviar, truffles and Kobe beef. They can last for hours and take quite a toll on your wallet.
See our slideshow of Extreme Menu Madness.
While plenty of restaurants across the country have broken the $100 per head threshold, that’s not enough to land a spot on our list. Manhattan’s Masa occupies the No. 1 slot with its $400 per person set menu (plus an automatic 20 percent gratuity).
With such extravagant dinner tabs, it’s no wonder that U.S. restaurant sales are expected to reach a record $537 billion this year. That’s a five percent increase from 2006, according to the National Restaurant Association. Full-service restaurants, like those on our list, account for a projected $181.6 billion in sales.
Despite the potential for sticker shock, more diners are coming to appreciate this special experience. Mylene Djaoui, a spokesperson for Thomas Keller’s Per Se and The French Laundry, both of which made our list, explained why the chef has chosen to offer only tasting menus. “Chef Keller’s definition of luxury is for the guest to not have to make any choices — these are made for you so that you can just relax and enjoy the experience.”
For chefs, the tasting menu is an opportunity to showcase their best work. “They have the flexibility of using a broad array of cooking techniques along with the very best ingredients that they have that day,” says Ms. Djaoui. “It is inspiring and challenging at the same time.” At Citronelle in Washington, DC, Michel Richard says he loves the tasting menu format because it allows him to show off his skills and creativity. His restaurant offers a “grand degustation” menu, priced at $225 per person. “Chefs love to please the guest with more flavors and textures,” the French-born chef says. “People tend to order the same things all the time. But when the guest trusts the chef to do whatever they want, they have new gastronomic experiences. Those new discoveries will stay in their mind forever.”
See our slideshow of Extreme Menu Madness.
Richard has been in the U.S. for decades, but a recent stateside influx of his native country’s top chefs has helped raise the profile — and prices — of tasting menus across the country. Take Joel Robuchon, who opened his first U.S. fine-dining restaurant in Las Vegas in 2005. His restaurant’s 16-course tasting menu costs $360. Guy Savoy, another renowned French chef, joined the Vegas line-up in 2006 at Caesars Palace.
Not surprisingly then, glamorous eateries in Las Vegas and New York dominate our list, as Sin City gives the Big Apple a run for its money as America’s top restaurant destination. The roster of celebrity chefs flocking to Vegas—Robuchon and Savoy included— surely helped nudge Nevada to the top of the heap when it comes to the restaurant sales growth. The state was forecasted to lead the country in restaurant industry sales growth: 8.1 percent in 2007, according to the National Restaurant Association.
Even if you’re ready to splurge on a decadent tasting menu, beware the fine print. Some restaurants, like The French Laundry and its sibling Per Se, include service in the price, while others, like Masa, tack on an additional charge for gratuity. And, supplemental charges for dishes made with luxury delicacies such as Kobe beef and white truffles can bump up the bill by a further $100 or more.
When it comes to washing down all that expensive food, only one of the tasting menus on our list includes wine. Located outside of Seattle, The Herbfarm builds the cost of wine pairings into the fixed price for its nine-course themed dinners. But elsewhere, if you have your heart set on a bottle of grand cru burgundy, be ready to belly up to a bulging bottom line.
For this list, we excluded chef’s tables within restaurants, which are typically limited to a certain number of guests and often exceed $200 a head. Café Gray in Manhattan, for example, runs to $225 per person at the chef’s table, and Charlie Trotter’s, a pioneer of the tasting menu-only format, charges $200 per person at its kitchen table in Chicago.
See our slideshow of Extreme Menu Madness.
