hey hey - I tried to share some fine wines with @chrishei but he was too cool =( =( =(
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Wow that seems so reasonable by today’s standards. I remember my total for two with wine pairing was well over $1k and thinking holy cow that’s a lot of money for dinner but was still such an enjoyable experience that I had no regrets. No way am I willing to pay double that for a dinner regardless of how many luxury ingredients they serve.
I remember paying $175/person at Providence for their chef’s tasting menu. 
Back in the days, it was $195/person at Mori and I had about 27 nigiri + otsumami.
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I do agree that Marcus’s perspective is driven by his ambition and goals for taking care of staff, which is admirable. Fair to debate whether the price of tasting menus should increase as much as he says, though I think market forces would ultimately sort that out (sort of like what @robert said about restaurant’s judging whether their price is too low or too high based on volume).
But I’m not sure the comparison to high-end omakase spots really helps his case. A lot of the high end sushi spots are not $550 as he suggests, but closer to the $250 to $300 range: Kaneyoshi ($300, one turn a night), Takeda ($280), Shunji ($250), Kogane ($250), Inaba ($280, one turn a night). That’s on par with higher-end western tasting menus in LA that (some of which seat more folks and turn more tables): Manzke ($260), Providence ($295), Melisse ($295). Sure, there are some outliers: SGO is $400 omakase. But SGO is exceptional, as are the western tasting menus in SF that approach $400 (Quince, TFL, etc.).
So I guess I’m just not all that persuaded that people are cutting high-end omakase spots some slack when it comes to pricing but don’t offer the same grace to western tasting menus. Pricing generally seems to reflect quality, with some exceptions at the margins that are overpriced or underpriced (in the eyes of any given diner).
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Have never been, would love to check it out. $65 is hard to beat lol.
My go-to bang for buck omakase was always shin in encino, especially when it was in the $110 to $125 range. The last couple times I went, it was a bit more than that, so I wonder if the upward price creep has continued. Still fantastic quality at that price point imo
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Service is included so it’s more like $333/person before tax & tip.
I believe service and non-alcoholic pairing are still included. If that’s the case, it’s actually a “steal” compared to similar caliber restaurants.
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$150 in March
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Maybe I’m writing too loose. what I mean is in Europe things like healthcare and social welfare aren’t entirely baked into the price someone pays for a meal. Those are funded at the national level.
In the US, to provide those things a business is largely dependent on the price paid for a service.
To just say in America we’re not aware enough of what things cost is an incredibly beneficial statement for the rich here. Same as the whole universal healthcare is socialism crap that works so well.
I’ve got nothing against Chef, just find the argument over simplified and beneficial of the status quo as a whole.
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Reposting with additional charges. Some charge for water and/or coffee etc.
Generally speaking, I think in California the price range for the most expensive omakase restaurants is similar to that of Michelin three-star places:
- Atelier Crenn: $410 before supplements + tip? service included?
- Benu: $350 + 20% = $420
- Manresa: $325-365 + tip? (+20% = $390-438)
- French Laundry: $350 service included, indoor before supplements / $1200 black truffle & caviar
- Quince: $360 base + 25% = $450
- Single Thread: $425 plus tip
They charge $100 to sit outside? Must be one heck of a view.
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I guess for $450 you get a private courtyard.
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I took a group to Benu in 2012. I know it wasn’t $350 pp. 
LOL
US dining would presumably need to create a culture in which a living wage is considered something to which all are entitled, rather than a personal “responsibility” or a value judgment.
I do not think it will happen any time soon. But we shall see.
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In 2012 Benu had two Michelin stars, price was $180 + 20% = $216. On weeknights they still offered a la carte.
Definitely
Take out the word “dining” and apply that to US culture as a whole is where I’m coming from.
Healthcare is tied to work here because that forces people to work to stay healthy. American Capitalism doesn’t benefit otherwise.
Same reason college tuition is so expensive. Either already be rich, take on tons of debt/apply for scholarships, or join the military and hope there’s no coming wars.
Someone who caters to the rich and surrounds themselves with rich people isn’t solving anything by saying expensive things should be more expensive
How can food be affordable for the common man and those who provide that food still be taken care of?
I’m not responding to you directly @paranoidgarliclover lol just bored and venting
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We had a custom tasting menu. I found the invite in my files. I also remember it being awesome. 
Same promotion we also hosted a group at iNG, Homaro Cantu’s concept in Chicago with the weird miracle berry powder he had you eat halfway through each dish which totally changed the taste.
Not true, universal health care produces a healthy workforce, benefitting employers. Like good, free public education.
American health care is a negative-sum game that hurts everyone except some amoral criminals who get rich off it, like the Sacklers. It’s Calvinist / Mammonite nonsense. Like American public education.
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Fair enough. Your point is more or less what I meant. Fear of being uninsured keeps people in the workforce. Comparing what they have in Europe to here is apples and oranges, which is why just making things more expensive does nothing to solve the problem
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I’m not sure what you’re advocating for here? Should he not be opening a restaurant? Should he bring single payer healthcare to the US j/k 
? Something else within his power as a chef/owner? Certainly, making expensive things more expensive doesn’t solve a systemic problem, but doesn’t it make things less exploitive for the people working for the business? It sounds like you’re saying because that doesn’t improve things for everyone, they shouldn’t even bother. I think that’s reductive and not what you mean, but the point it ambiguous enough that it benefits from some examples of what good is. Like is Loco’l the example?
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