Do you tip at fine dining restaurants? Like $200+ a plate places

[TallBill]

The problem with this is that most restaurants do not hire based on qualifications (maybe for the chef(s) but often even then its likely secondary), and more based on the relationship to the person. So family, friends, hell even looks are probably higher on the scale of hiring reason when it comes to waitstaff. Even for higher end restaurants its not rocket science so they can teach them. Even the gimmicky restaurants (there's one in Vegas I think where the waitstaff performs some light magic tricks for instance and they get trained how to do that).

At the top places you need all of the above. Looks, an inside connection just to get a foot in the door for an interview, and massive amounts of skill.

 

[Chapbass]

I felt weird about taking pics, so I did not really take any. I just got them to give me copies of the menus for the night so I could remember.

Hit Le Bernardin, Eleven Madison Park (highly recommended), and Per Se but only the lounge as I could not get a reservation.

You must, must hit EMP next time you go to New York. One of the best and most fun meals I've had in a very long time.

KT

Keith, have you been to Alinea in Chicago? I've never been there but have heard nothing but amazing things. Not sure how they would compare.

 

[TallBill]

It is interesting that a waiter at a $200/person restaurant would basically have the 10x the income of a waiter at a $20/person restaurant. I recognize that the waiter at the nicer restaurant is more qualified, but enough for 10x the pay?

Also not true. You do more volume at a $20/person restaurant. At a $200/person restaurant there might be five 4-tops that two servers share, plus have a busser, a food runner. At a $20/person restaurant a good server could work 7+ 4-tops by themselves plus a busser who is also working in 4 other sections. The high end servers are going to make more, especially if they get expensive wine flowing to drive up check prices, but nowhere near ten times more. Maybe 2-3 times more.

 

[Red Squirrel]

If I was spending $200 on something I would go do some groceries (a lot of groceries at that) before I spend it on a single meal. But that's just me.

 

[TallBill]

If I was spending $200 on something I would go do some groceries (a lot of groceries at that) before I spend it on a single meal. But that's just me.

I used to eat a meal like that 2-4 times a month. Yolo

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I don't mind tipping 20%. I found a great breakfast place and only go when I get coupons. Usually around$15 for my wife and I to eat. So $3 puts me at 20%.

 

[Ns1]

If I was spending $200 on something I would go do some groceries (a lot of groceries at that) before I spend it on a single meal. But that's just me.

Nothing says "I wanna do something nice for myself" more than going to the store, buying groceries, cooking, and cleaning. A solid and relaxing Saturday night.

 

[Leros]

Also not true. You do more volume at a $20/person restaurant. At a $200/person restaurant there might be five 4-tops that two servers share, plus have a busser, a food runner. At a $20/person restaurant a good server could work 7+ 4-tops by themselves plus a busser who is also working in 4 other sections. The high end servers are going to make more, especially if they get expensive wine flowing to drive up check prices, but nowhere near ten times more. Maybe 2-3 times more.

I can accept 2-3x more.

 

[stlc8tr]

If I was spending $200 on something I would go do some groceries (a lot of groceries at that) before I spend it on a single meal. But that's just me.

You could say the same for any luxury good. That's why it's called a luxury good.

 

[waggy]

Nothing says "I wanna do something nice for myself" more than going to the store, buying groceries, cooking, and cleaning. A solid and relaxing Saturday night.

hmm i know a few where that is a great evening.


Though EVERY now and then a nice evening out for a nice dinner is worth it. I think to many just focus on the food. to be honest i think that's secondary. To me its the Service that should be tops. There is a reason you have multiple servers and such.

 

[ponyo]

I don't have a problem with the price of the food or the restaurant. But I hate dressing up in a suit just to go to dinner. I wear t-shirt and shorts to work and at home. I want the same dress code at fancy restaurants.

 

[KeithTalent]

Eleven Madison Park was fun, but it's Le Bernardin for me. Those sauces take the flawless execution of seafood prep to another blissful level. Never made it to Per Se. Did make it to Ko which I put above Atera but below EMP.

Moral of the story: go eat at all of these places, you can't go wrong.

Yeah EMP is more about the overall experience (I will never forget the card trick or the picnic basket) though some of the actual dishes were balls out amazing. Le Bernardin did have some excellent singular dishes, same with Per Se, but as an overall experience EMP was tops.

Keith, have you been to Alinea in Chicago? I've never been there but have heard nothing but amazing things. Not sure how they would compare.

Not yet unfortunately. Been meaning to go for many years since I'd been following Achatz since his days at TFL, but Chicago is not really a place I think of going for any sort of vacation, but hopefully I'll get there at some point.

KT

 

[KeithTalent]

I don't have a problem with the price of the food or the restaurant. But I hate dressing up in a suit just to go to dinner. I wear t-shirt and shorts to work and at home. I want the same dress code at fancy restaurants.

Then move to Vancouver. You can wear anything you want here even at fancy restaurants.

KT

 

[IronWing]

No, I have never once tipped at a $200+/plate diner.

 

[Ns1]

Then move to Vancouver. You can wear anything you want here even at fancy restaurants.

KT

Yeah LA fancy is jeans/button up/jacket

You could get by with less...if you're an asshole.

 

[stlc8tr]

Then move to Vancouver. You can wear anything you want here even at fancy restaurants.

KT

The SF Bay Area is very casual too. All of the tech folks wear t-shirt and jeans to dinner. Even at Michelin 2-star restaurants.

 

[KeithTalent]

Guess it's a West Coast thing. Every time I go East I have to remember to pack a suit. Not something I worry about as much when just heading down the coast.

KT

 

[yllus]

I think the last fine dining experience I had was at David Chang's new Momofuku restaurant(s) in Toronto; Shoto specifically, I believe. We tipped in the 20% range for it being a great experience. (For anyone interested, here's a review.)

 

[BarkingGhostar]

I don't think they make food I'd pay $200 for; maybe oysters with gold ingots inside...

If you think that a meal costing +$200 is all about the food then you are fooling yourself. At that price point, I expect service to be orders of magnitude different than restaurants with $50/plate meals.

But then again, it is all about your wealth, or lack thereof, when it comes to assessing the OP.

 

[Ichinisan]

I don't eat at those places.

 

[gotsmack]

Yeah EMP is more about the overall experience (I will never forget the card trick or the picnic basket) though some of the actual dishes were balls out amazing. Le Bernardin did have some excellent singular dishes, same with Per Se, but as an overall experience EMP was tops.



Not yet unfortunately. Been meaning to go for many years since I'd been following Achatz since his days at TFL, but Chicago is not really a place I think of going for any sort of vacation, but hopefully I'll get there at some point.

KT

I thought the "new" format at EMP was gimmicky and the food was nice and worth the money, but it was not even in the same league as Per Se. I did like their butter that had the fat drippings incorporated into it though. Definitely the most flavorful butter I have ever had. I felt like I got MORE value than what I paid, but it was missing that WOW factor. Before going to at EMP, I ate a Per Se a few weeks prior, so maybe that is part of why everything felt like a let down. I definitely recommend people go if they have never been before.

Per Se was "This is what awesome taste like" for every dish. This is the only Michelin starred restaurant I've been to that I felt compelled to go back to. Worth holding for 30 minutes to get that reservation!

Le Bernardin was nice, but I'm not a big seafood person.


I really want to try Alinea too, but the hard part is finding someone to go with me. Tickets are bought in pairs

 

[KeithTalent]

I thought the "new" format at EMP was gimmicky and the food was nice and worth the money, but it was not even in the same league as Per Se. I did like their butter that had the fat drippings incorporated into it though. Definitely the most flavorful butter I have ever had. I felt like I got MORE value than what I paid, but it was missing that WOW factor. Before going to at EMP, I ate a Per Se a few weeks prior, so maybe that is part of why everything felt like a let down. I definitely recommend people go if they have never been before.

Per Se was "This is what awesome taste like" for every dish. This is the only Michelin starred restaurant I've been to that I felt compelled to go back to. Worth holding for 30 minutes to get that reservation!

Le Bernardin was nice, but I'm not a big seafood person.


I really want to try Alinea too, but the hard part is finding someone to go with me. Tickets are bought in pairs

Per Se, for food alone, is probably bar none. I felt the same way when I went to The French Laundry. To this day, if someone was to ask me what my death row meal would be, it would be a Keller meal because his dishes do things nobody else does, at least nobody else that I've tried.

EMP may have been gimmicky, but it was the most fun dining experience I'd had in a while and while the actual dishes did not match what Keller does, as an overall experience it was amazing. It was the same thing at El Bulli, they were not the best individual dishes I'd had, but on the whole it was something I will never forget.

KT

 

[IAteYourMother]

I ate once paying 130 euros for the meal, but included tip. My only contribution to this thread is to say that some food is indeed worth the price of admission, even if it's triple digits.

 

[GWestphal]

It was a lovely meal. It was all really good, we had 4 waiters and a sommelier. It ended up being 15 courses, they gave us some bonus courses. 10 flights of wine. Clocked in just shy of $600 with tip, but I had a lovely 4 hours with a lovely companion. The duck bacon was quite tasty. I don't have a lot to compare it to, so I'm not sure is was "worth" it, but it was definitely the best evening/meal I've ever had.

 

[Ns1]

It was a lovely meal. It was all really good, we had 4 waiters and a sommelier. It ended up being 15 courses, they gave us some bonus courses. 10 flights of wine. Clocked in just shy of $600 with tip, but I had a lovely 4 hours with a lovely companion. The duck bacon was quite tasty. I don't have a lot to compare it to, so I'm not sure is was "worth" it, but it was definitely the best evening/meal I've ever had.

where did you go?