Thanks for posting! Coming (for the first time) later this month, with a few other FTC’ers, and looking foreword to it
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I appreciate what you and your husband are doing. Fine dining and tasting only menus are a tough ask in this economy. I’m wondering if your considering dedicating a more affordable/accesible option in a given week/month? For example, back in the day, Providence had done a similar thing on Mondays, iirc, where the menu $ was adjusted and corkage was free. Just an idea to drum up more business.
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Yay!
Thank you so much for your feedback.
the tl;dr version is that we would but the math isn’t mathing in a way to keep us open.
Below is my TEDtalk. Industry people - from other restaurateurs to writers - might advise against the transparency of my explanation below, but I find it interesting and think others may as well… and anyone who has spent more than five minutes with me will know that I’m painfully unfiltered:
The $175 six-course menu is our more affordable option. Our regular 12-course menu is $295. Because we only have 30 seats (and physically unable to fit more), the economics of our restaurant can’t sustain a lower price point - even for one day - no matter how many ways I crunch the numbers. 
Several factors may have contributed to another restaurant’s ability to offer lower price points back in the day, and that may have been lower minimum wage, the availability of free stages (it takes many people to make a single dish at a fine dining restaurant, and I’ll get into the significance of that in a bit), and the cost of goods which has skyrocketed beyond belief in the last couple of years.
Specifically for us, we were also unable to raise funds prior to opening for several different reasons, including our inability to hustle, and anyone who could’ve invested may have been financially hit during the writers strikes or the LA fires. Many people were also like “no way am I investing in a fine dining restaurant in this economy.”
Another reason that is a little surprising is the lack of alcohol consumption in 2025/2026 due to the rise of GLP-1s. Alcohol/beverage sales are factored into the “can we make this work?” numbers, so our price point takes into account that people just don’t really drink these days the way they used to. I tried a GLP-1 about 10 months ago (I stress ate myself into a 10% weight increase) and the receptor in my brain that was interested in alcohol fully shut off. It was shocking. I also forgot to eat for three days and fainted in my bathroom, so that’s when I stopped taking the shots. So not only are people not eating out as much, but they’re also physically incapable of drinking booze. That being said, I fully encourage everyone here to continue consuming alcohol in excess or at least our NA beverages lol.
Going back to the stages thing that I find interesting and applicable to other industries… so a stage is basically a kitchen intern. They used to be unpaid. It was about the experience and being able to put on your resume that you worked under a certain chef or at a certain restaurant, etc.
When I was 16-20 years old I interred A LOT (all for free) in the media industry. The amount of experience and connections I made was priceless and allowed me to excel and fast track in the industry at a young age. I was 19 when I got my first (paid!) byline in SPIN magazine. I was 21 and still in college and taking night/weekend classes when I got a job as the assistant to the SVP of news programming at VH1 and later that year I was also able to manage bands (my chemical romance, stellastarr) because of my connections. I was 22 when I became an editor at SPIN magazine. I was 25 when I got my first book deal at Simon & Schuster. NONE OF THIS would’ve been possible if I wasn’t able to intern for free, and if I didn’t live so close to Manhattan… but truly it was the working for free in order to gain experience aspect bc nobody was gonna pay a teenager to format copy, organize files, and tell them about cool bands.
Now that EVERYONE needs to pay for interns to work and learn, people are getting less job experience. The type of person who may have networked and been able to learn every facet of an industry is gone… just like a cook who may have been able learn under a great chef at a young age is gone. So now a restaurant is paying a person $18/hour to slice onions… If that makes sense?
Oh! And rent! If I’m not mistaken, commercial real estate property owners get some sort of tax break from empty storefronts or something. They want a lot of money in rent in order to make it worth their while.
So this is why a lower price point probably won’t work for a lot of fine dining restaurants… including us.
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Also, shout out to FOOD TALK CENTRAL! Our regulars from here (and reddit) are keeping our light on! THANK YOU
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Appreciate the thoughtful reply. I know that passion is the main driving factor and really applaud people that are willing to take the risk. Wishing you guys sustaining success.
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I believe in you all. There’s too much talent for this not to work out, first and foremost because of your husband obviously, but also due to your own passion and artistic sensibilities driving decor etc. You just need to hang in there and build momentum with Michelin etc. We’ve seen so many restaurants start off slow and then become hard to get reservations. I’m sure it’s stressful — hang in there! And I promise to get drunk yet again on good wine.
p.s. It’s not a sin to tout the good you’re doing for the community with the Alta staff and everything.
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Thanks for being so real with us Sarah. Like I mentioned above, i love the space. Not even sure you remember me, but I was the solo fella who sat to gaze at the Ok Computer before you suggested I should sit to look at the dining room. Glad I did. I revisited Enclos in Sonoma this past week and was able to chat to Chef Brian and sang praises for Daniel.
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Is Sunday lunch no more? I only see reservations on Sunday for the evening. Perhaps lunch was a hard sell for a tasting menu, but I have embarked on intermittent fasting, so it would be perfect for me! Eat all your calories by 4 p.m. At least I still want to drink alcohol, unlike on a GLP-1, which as @SarahJacaranda says kills all taste for alcohol (and frankly for everything joyful in life).
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We love you!!! For real. Having you and Peony as a guest is always a delight!
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Omg so yesterday I thought to myself how I could’ve made your experience better and I realized I had the perfect date for you this whole time!
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Sunday lunch will probably return when the weather chills down to a point where people wouldn’t rather sit poolside AND when Daniel and I decide to be masochists who will stay late for Saturday dinner service and then wake up at 7am to start lunch service on Sunday and take that into dinner. We did it for about two months so it’s not like we can’t.
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Just noticed ayu is on the online menu for Madcap in San Anselmo
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Not to keep off topic but it was a staple at Tempura Matsui in NY for a while and I’ve had at mori nozomi!
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Chef Ron Siegel beat a Japanese Iron Chef on the original Japanese show.
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Yoooooo!!! Shout out to the FTC fam who have come out in full force this past week! I loved meeting all of you and seeing some familiar faces! It’s truly a joy! Thank you thank you thank you! 
I hope to see you all again soon and meet the rest of you as well!
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Our thoughts on dinner #3 at Jacaranda were similar to before. Peony say it’s tied with Providence for her favorite restaurant in LA. I like it more than that. Everything really appeals to my tastes.
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funnily enough, Hiroyuki Sakai who lost to Ron Siegel then beat Alain Passard and went on to lose to Bobby Flay in a later program 
…and Keiji Nakazawa lost to Morimoto. entertaining show for what it is, though. definitely prefer the original version, though the dubbing can be funny at times.
on ayu, I drafted a long post about its use in Japan and challenges here, but decided it was too off topic here. maybe for another thread sometime…
back on topic, I only had chef Daniel Patterson’s cooking once years ago at COI but one impression I get even now is that there’s a quiet confidence to it that probably comes from years of fine honing at a high level. not really relying on exotic or far-flung ingredients. wishing for Jacaranda’s continued success!
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Just to be clear, Ron Siegel beat Iron Chef Sakai on the original Japanese version.
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yes, the original Japanese version was fun. but still, Keiji Nakazawa losing to Morimoto in sushi is kind of crazy, even if it’s an entertaining show.
chef Sakai’s loss to Ron Siegel and victory over Alain Passard were also in the original Japanese version, I think. only the loss to Bobby Flay was in the Iron Chef America series.
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