This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Meet The Restaurant With The Five-Year Waiting List
It's not Spago, nor Per Se. It isn't located on Rodeo Drive or in Columbus Circle. The restaurant with the longest waiting list, five-years to be precise, is a small, nondescript, 12-table basement located in Earlton, N.Y., named simply enough Damon Baehrel after its owner and chef. Its guests come from 48 countries and include such celebrities as Jerry Seinfeld, Martha Stewart and Barack Obama himself. However what makes Baehrel's restaurant the most exclusive restaurant in the world is not the decor, nor the patrons, some who fly overnight from Manhattan to pay $255 for dinner (before wine and tip), nor the hype (although all the advertising is through word-of-mouth), but the food, which is all cultivated, grown, prepared, cooked and served from and on the property, and where Baehrel is literally the only employee. "I’m the chef, the waiter, the grower, the forager, the gardener, the cheesemaker, the cured-meat maker, and, as I will explain, everything comes from this 12-acre property."
The reality is that farm-to-table dining is not exactly a revolutionary concept, although it certainly makes for a far more enjoyable eating experience. As Bloomberg reports, "even McDonald’s touts its farmers and ranchers in feel-good ads. Increasingly, though, entrepreneurial chefs are doubling down on the eat-local trend and bringing customers into their own homes (or cozy approximations thereof). At these culinary salons or underground restaurants, as they’re often called, professionally trained cooks host for-profit dinner parties in unexpected spaces. There’s Wolvesmouth in Los Angeles, where chef Craig Thornton invites patrons to come to his house and pay what they want; City Grit in Manhattan, which rotates Top Chef winners through a downtown furniture store (yes, the communal dining table is for sale); the Underground Restaurant in London; Supper Underground in Austin, Tex.; and Hush Supper Club in Washington and Chicago. The food world revolves around hype—the harder it is to get into a restaurant, the more people want to go—and so culinary tourists obsess and war over the limited space at these secret spots."
In this world of self-contained gastronomical universes, Baehrel is the most secret:
He has no staff, unless you count his wife and a tech-savvy friend, who help him manage the reservation e-mail address posted on his website. He spends no money on marketing and doesn’t have a business manager cultivating endorsement deals. There have been no profiles of him in major food magazines nor write-ups of his restaurant in any newspapers. In spite of this, or possibly because of it, the wait time just keeps getting longer.
The chef, waiter, gorager, grower (etc), never started off as one: "He learned how to cook from his mother, an avid gardener, and also from years doing odd jobs in mountain-resort kitchens in the Northeast. “I learned bits and pieces along the way, but I never did the research, never looked in a cookbook. In my family, we just learned to do it ourselves, and the inspiration came from nature,” he says. After an injury in 1985 derailed his nascent career as a professional motocross racer, Baehrel and his wife bought their land and opened a catering business specializing in foraged food. It eventually morphed into the bistro concept in 2006 and since then has relied almost entirely on word-of-mouth buzz."
And a lot of buzz there is: as Michael Chernow of New York's chain of Meatball Shops says, "With [Baehrel's] skills, it's like he's the Michael Jordan of culinary art."
So just what does the Michael Jordan of cooks serve?
Baehrel has a thing for molecular gastronomy; his small bites are dehydrated, infused, and tinctured on their way from lawn to mouth. All of that work happens in a red and white-trimmed kitchen-as-barn the chef built himself. It could pass for a rustic guesthouse. He keeps the space meticulously clean, laying down plastic sheets every few days to protect the linoleum floors. On steel prep tables sits the usual restaurant gear of blenders and food processors; neatly organized shelves store hundreds of containers of carefully labeled ingredients such as powdered bracken ferns or pickled maple leaves. “It occurred to me one day—and this was really an epiphany, 25 years ago—that everything I needed was here,” Baehrel says. “And I was going to spend the rest of my life developing and exploring what was possible.”
Not surprisingly, with an unmatched work ethic, Baehrel's concept is very lucrative.
This hyperlocal, hyperunderground strategy is paying off. Baehrel won’t provide exact numbers but says he serves a few thousand guests each year and generates annual revenue of at least $750,000. By contrast, a successful restaurant in Manhattan’s crowded West Village might break the $1 million mark, though the business model is much different. Baehrel’s expenses are less predictable each season; they can include one-off big-ticket items such as a $5,000 trailer or a $10,000 hauling cart. But with no payroll or mortgage, and no food vendors except for his wine, seafood, and meat, which is from a local farm stand, he can stay both small and successful. “The biggest risk,” he says, “is that it’s just me there.”
However, what is most unique, and why Baehrel's kudos and fame, are well-deserved, is his passion for working, cooking, that he takes no shortcuts, and that he has learned how to survive and thrive in an isolated ecosystem with zero supply-chain constraints and considerations, and with zero outside influence by the all-powerful megacorporations (although we have a nagging feeling it is only a matter of time before a major publicly-owned restaurant chain dangles a multi-million dollar check before Baehrel, acquires his 12-table basement and promptly pollutes yet another independent, clean eating concept).
“Native Harvest is more than the cuisine; it’s my way of life. It’s living off the land, and it’s fun to watch nature reveal itself,” Baehrel says. The three-bite dish has an appealingly musty mushroom taste. Sixteen dishes follow over the next five hours, some bite-size and others hearty courses of scallops, steak, and chicken. “He doesn’t use any dairy or butter in his cooking, and yet his sauces are creamy and delicious,” Chernow says. Each course is somehow improved by Baehrel’s monologue about the effort it takes to produce.
Perhaps that’s why the mainstream food world has finally started to take notice. Earlier this year, Damon Baehrel earned one of the country’s highest Zagat ratings: 29 for food and 28 for service, out of a possible 30. Baehrel also won his first James Beard nomination, as best chef in the Northeast in 2013. As it stands, the wait list for dinner stretches well into the back half of this decade. As the once-secret restaurant becomes less so, a new puzzle emerges: How does one score a table before Baehrel retires? He acknowledges that eventually he’ll have to stop taking reservations. “It’s a good problem to have.”
It's also a good problem to have for all the minimum-wage restaurant workers of America who toil day and night at various McDonalds and Burger Kings around the country, demanding a higher wage and engaging in nearly daily strikes. Here's a thought: take your passion for your job (if of course there is one) and do what Baehrel did - start a venture, open up a business, provide something new, original, fresh, and you too can attain the American dream. Or alternatively, keep on striking, and demanding more, more, more from the government, and from an uncaring corporatocracy, while lamenting your plight. Because if there is a lesson in Baehrel's experience (and this most certainly is not a promotional post), is that while the US system is doing everything in its power to crush the enterpreneurial drive and to make upward mobility impossible, for those who have a real passion about their lot in life true success is still possible.
Finally, and perhaps most important assuming the future of the world is one in which critical supply chains tear apart: Baehrel's example shows that one can lead a self-contained life of near gastronomical perfection with zero needs for 99 cent meals, and merely a few acres in which to grow and raise one's food. All it takes, of course, is a lot of work...
For the reading challenged, here is an abbreviated 3-minute video summary of the above.
»
- 66237 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
Men can cook too! Shit, I cook better than any woman I know, pick your strengths,
"Buncha sourpusses here, honestly. Let the guy rack up some coin already. He works 3x as hard as me. Yeah, it's hyped."
I have absolutely no problem with this guy making as much money as he can. In fact, as another poster wrote, he should double his prices and fleece the monkeys even more. Here's the problem: I'M JUST NOT THAT FASCINATED BY EATING AND DRINKING. I don't drink, and I eat primarily because, well, I have to. I try to eat as healthily as possible, and I enjoy a nice dinner as much as anyone, but I don't need to talk about it, or to flaunt it, or to make it some kind of goal in my life. Get it?
It could be a con of course, but reading the comments, I feel like you are missing what he has going on here.
He is taking stuff that is local, WEEDS, and figuring out the things that happen to them in nature that can make them taste good. He is then educating his patrons regarding that environment. All of us live in environments that, if we were not fucking them up and imposing/colonizing them according to our fucked up standards of so called efficiency, could sustain us. He is a real scientist/chef/shaman. He is a hybrid of ancient and new, he is paving the way to the future from the past and nature.
Every locale would develop a different restaurant according to this view of things. It costs so much, today, because we have become that alienated from the land and who and what we really are. It costs so much because he is the only one doing it where he is.
Yeah, he could be full of shit. He could also be evidence that a kind of salvation is possible, if we are willing to slow down and study what is possible, and study, really study, what is all around us. I have been learning about weeds I can grow and eat. I am starting to not weed out some things in my garden now. Someone else would say it looks sloppy but I know dandlions are good!
And so it goes.
I made fun of it because farmers do this every day. ZH's own Hedgeless Horseman is a great example. Only celebrities would think this is amazing, and I'm sure they use that exact word.
I don't fault the guy for making money....I never fault people for that! But I do laugh at the notion that there is no advertising other than word of mouth. Except for this article, right? It's pretentious, and you know what they say about an ounce of pretention.....
(No down vote from me, btw.)
Farmers do this every day? Please come to the midwest and let me show you how farmers do it.
Here is a clue......it has very little to nothing with organic for 99 percent of them.
Fellows like HH don't drive millions of dollars worth of equipment planting and harvesting organic produce.
GMO is hella lot easier to grow than the real stuff. Monsanto can take a flying leap.
Traditional Hybrids are better than heirloom yield wise, but you can acclimate your best heirloom and save that seed, I did it from brocolli that made it through the whole winter and flowered in the spring producing a lot of seed.
Since the climate is changing, I figure the plants will evolve or perish.
I'm not just talking about farmers. I'm from the South, and this is a way of life for a lot of people. It's hard work, and I have every appreciation for that, but it's nothing new under the sun. I don't fault this NY guy for making money at all. But I would LOVE a real critique of the food. I bet it tastes like crap. Although I love the bark and stone platters. Tres chic. ;)
As for organic, I really don't care one way or the other. I love Cheetos, so what do I know? ;)
You really should care about organic, or at the very least natural. Granted, I have no right to tell anyon here, you included, how to live your life. The fact of the matter is that big farma is killing the ground, and us. I could point you to several great documentaries but that won't do much good untll folks realize that we are killing ourselves with all the shit that is in our food, as well as all the nasty ass drugs out there. Our family switched to maily natural and organic about three years ago and the benefits are noticeable, and no--we are not broke as a result. It's not always doable in this area but if you look at what is on the label not impossible.
I don't say this lightly. I live in the Northwest area of Iowa. There are more fucking hogs and cattle than you can shake a stick at. Add to that corn and soybeans as far as the eye can see. Don't get me wrong, the people here are great for the most part and it's a great place to raise a family, but big farma is the name of the game. Life expectancy for the farmers is not that great with all the drugs and chemicals they handle, not to mention the fact the shit is in the ground water to a certain degree. Anyone else wonder why girls are getting breasts and periods in the 5th grade? It's all the fucking hormones in the beef for crying out loud, along with other factors of childhood obesity.
People are finally waking up to the facts that are under thier very noses, even the ethanol scam is starting to come to light in the MSM. Don't get me wrong, I love farming and it's a very huge part of life here, but something has got.to.change. Sorry for the rant, not directed at you.
ps, try the cheetos Simply line--white cheddar puffs. They have some organic ingredients and are really tasty.
Oh, I have tried those white cheddar puffs. They are yummy!
."but reading the comments, I feel like you are missing what he has going on here."
Like that's never happened on ZH before.
There is much disconnect between real and otherwise in this article.
It has a familiar taste, for sure, but not necessarily a ZH one...
did one of the Tylers write this(?)
We'll have to wait and see if there is a trend (I've noticed that some think there is).
In the meantime,
"Its guests come from 48 countries and include such celebrities..."
"It's also a good problem to have for all the minimum-wage restaurant workers of America..."
Shame on you, ZeroHedge.
"It's also a good problem to have for all the minimum-wage restaurant workers of America who toil day and night at various McDonalds and Burger Kings around the country, demanding a higher wage and engaging in nearly daily strikes. Here's a thought: take your passion for your job (if of course there is one) and do what Baehrel did - start a venture, open up a business, provide something new, original, fresh, and you too can attain the American dream. Or alternatively, keep on striking, and demanding more, more, more from the government, and from an uncaring corporatocracy, while lamenting your plight."
If this was given as advice for those with the talent to escape their situation to do so instead of feeling self-pity I would wholly agree. Presenting it as a realistic solution for all of them ... well that's just being an asshole Tyler. Most people are relatively stupid and non self-motivated ... the economy has to provide them with jobs and the ability to consume, otherwise almost no one will be able to attain the American dream. Baehrel might have done it through the 0.1%, but he's a fucking superstar (12 tables cooking and serving is almost impossible, while maintaining high quality even more so).
Pretty much all of us here got our money through the consumption classes, not the 0.1% ... ie. the class of people who make close to minimum wage, who'se discretionary income is collapsing due to cost of living increases. With the effort we put in decades ago to get where we are now we wouldn't get nearly as far had we been born into the current generation. If we throw all these people to the wolves and let them sink or swim then only people like Baehrel would be able to thrive ... and can you honestly say you are THAT GOOD Tyler?
The American dream is disappearing for most people, outliers like Baehrel dont change that.
Unfortunately you presume that everyone must own a business in order to not suffer, even if it is not something that they do comparably well at.
Attaining the American Dream != business ownership
making a 5 year reservation here sounds like Reagan's Soviet Union joke on buying a car.
So this is what Hedgeless Horseman has been up to? Where does he find the time to write here when his customers are lining up 5-years out the door?
I lost 350 lbs. JUST waiting for dinner!....
With a (purported) 5 year waiting list it's hardly a "mass marketing" enterprise. Seems the "Celebrity Chef" landscape is becoming quite congested, and there are a lot of "Big Names" who also provide an entirely organic dining experience, for a similar ball-park price tag per individual, and far less onerous booking requirements.
At the "other end" of the "Exclusivity scale" (i.e.. my end!) I can pop into our local Subway and get a very nice foot long roll, with pretty fresh ingredients, hand-assembled to my specifications and "delivered" within about 120 seconds. No five year wait, but just as nourishing a mix of protein, carbohydrate, some vitamins and minerals.
Having experienced the hype of many, many "Trendy" (i.e. expensive) Restaurants Worldwide, and experienced their often mediocre food, mediocre preparation, very mediocre service but with a far from mediocre "Price Tag", (the restaurants in Sydney, Australia being particularly bad offenders in all these categories), I'll stick to the small restaurants in the smaller towns. Consistently better food, consistently better service, and consistently far, far lower prices for just as good a dining experience.
Veggies from Fukufornia. Hmm. Their meats are double processed, and I am wondering if the roll is GMO, Yum?
Seeing as I'm referring to the Melbourne, Australia Subway franchises, I rather suspect the veggies might come from a far less "inflammatory" location, along with all the bread components (100% Austrralian Flour so their advertising reminds me)
I lost 10 lbs when I visited Sydney. LOL. LOVE the city, but I couldn't find anything to eat! Finally I found a little takeaway (their word for to-go) shop that had a good ham & cheese croissant.
I like the basics. I made roast beef po-boys tonight that would make you slap somebody. :)
Subway is awful, and of highly dubious "nourishment." Fresh shit is still shit.
."Celebrity Chef" = "Food douche".
This place is in close proximity to albany, so I could see word getting around about what he does. I think its a great concept and something worth noting and learning from. The food sounds great if only just to try it. I live downstate and I know of quite a few places like this that cater to the well to do. They dont have a name, or storefront or signs. And if they dont recognize you, you will not get through the door.
Lightly sauted cat flank, with organic back acre algie, some prison potato wine, and voila, a meal fit for Obama for only $300.
Ridiculous,
I live in the Midwest and am poor, but if I lived out east and had money, I would try it. I love cooking, and poor as I am, tonight it is sautéed lamb chops with a burgundy reduction,, and.broccoli.
Fuck that joint. We can get more value if we just do a big old rack grill and there are a couple of different ways of doing it. We can do chicken, hog and beef. Every way we might choose to prepare food is right because that is some damned good country boy food.
Really sounds great and worth a try.
Anyone know if coupons are available?
Groupon just sent me a 80% off deal for it
Does he take SNAP?
Okay lets stop grousing. Where's the Michelin star(s)? That's right zero.
Only cover major metros...
He could eat at my house. I charge lots less.
Anyone can eat at my house for the low low low price of only $75,000 (canadian $ - excellent value there) per year.
A "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" hot tip, useless from the jump. How many eyeballs for the house, is the point on this media craze-fusion.
How many people did you free today?
They could empty the non-violent natural herbers from incarceration camps to the adjoining rural area and start a food revolution from the jaws of hell.They could grow their way out of the stupid joint exercise.
When you wait 5 years for your seat, 10,000 restaurants, some better and more liberating for the dead-or-dei-ication than this one-off, regulation-free actor. His police chief eats for free no doubt. The Starfcukers abide.
Remember the Billionaire tax, one B is enough.
Do you people actually believe that fairy tale, or is that just something you tell yourself to justify the growing inequality you see? Suppose that for some rare, gifted few it is still possible to escape poverty. That has always been so, even in the most stagnant societies. The fact that some few can still overcome, however, does not alleviate the rampant oppression and injustice that makes success all but impossible for most.
Stop yur bitchin' and keep swinging that pick and shovel....
Yeah MCDonalds workers take that! Grow some fucking truffles in your section 8 slum and Jerry Seinfeld will be right over for dinner.
Why does the Horatio Alger bullshit never die? It wasn't true then, it ain't true now, every artist in the world is doing it for passion, not one in a million making a living at it.
Also fuck you Tylers for putting the video synopsis all the way at the end, forced me to read it all and whatnot.
Tautology, bitchez. Shut down this site and go get a real fucking job.
Since this guy has a captivated audience it seem like he could charge $1,000/meal and people would pay it.
By the time people leave he could be richer by thousands every night.
With all the bankster QE money floating around NY people would have no problem paying thousands per tab for his concoctions.
Go to dinner around Wall Street and you'll see people order $1,000 bottles of wine. No problem paying $1,000/person for a great meal.
People need to tell him to raise his prices. Many billionaires wouldn't think anything of impressing their wives, girlfriends or mistresses with a 2 or 3 thousand dollar tab.
Awesome. I do my own gig also but I need to rethink my idea of hard work. I'm naturally fkn lazy. I do ok but could do a hell of a lot better.
Get shroomin' dude....
So, why hasn't this guy been SWAT team raided? Why haven't state inspectors closed him down? They've done this to countless others who have marketed food products and run resturants and such using home made orangic clean food the way this guy does.
I am trying to figure out the difference between him and the various food co-ops and such but I only really see one big difference. He has "important" people for customers and the places that get raided do not.
We have a system where just going out and finding a niche doesn't work for most people. Most people end up with the heavy hand of government shutting them down. They lose their capital in the process. Some never can get the permits to even get started because meeting the regulatory start up costs is impossible for them. The food business is this way. I don't know how this guy got through the cracks but unless those minimum wage workers can come up with 30 or 40 grand just to buy the specialized machines the government demands they have, they can forget about the food business. New successful food businesses start illegally these days and build enough capital to go legit before the government takes notice. Those that get noticed lose everything.
It's all well and good to tell people to start their own businesses, but let's first recognize the system is designed to keep them working for others.
But the most famous one of this kind, which was voted The Best Restaurant in The World three times, was/is NOMA, in Copenhagen, Denmark.
This place is AMAZING, and has a mere Two year waiting list, and about 22 tables The owner was born in Macedonia, and learned to forage + cook as a child. E.g. wild chestnuts, whole milk (own cow), etc.
Now there's a world-class Survivor, who can nature's food in almost any environment into a gourmet experience. No MRE shit or mere rice & beans (NO imagination!) for these people.
Saw it on "Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown" cooking/travel show on... CNN, of all places.
LOL! Meet the "human interest" story with a 5 minute shelf life.
Thomas Jefferson said without land taxes the people could revolt from the machinations of the state by withdrawing to their farms.
I think now even with taxes this is possible.
a life of severe thrift and maximum as possible self sufficency, done as a political act, is very dangerous to the Fedgov velocity flow/junk consumerism tyranny racket we have now
What percentage of the population can afford land with sufficient water resources for self sufficiency?
I'll wager more than really want it AND can actually succeed.
Radical thrift along a Amish type level is a terroristic act against the Must Grow Fed system and the political royalists and rent seekers.
Already Fedgov can no longer meet swag payments to its sub crime legions and cement their support. Lately, first, old savers and now unionists have been thrown overboard. Young have gotten moved to the gunnels via faux Obamacare.
So a tax strike via a form of change of life style, as much as possible, by jumping off the tax hamster wheel.
I've mused a bit about this thinking about something along a church non profit organization. Mutual support, tax free religious housing in a. "Commune", donations into a retirement account and so forth all with the aim of removing tax, wealth from the federal beast.
It need not be prepper/survivalist life.
Farmland price explosion is causing trouble for the Amish BTW.
He must be part of the tribe, if not the state would shut his operation down in a heartbeat like they have done to hundreds of people that have tried the exact same thing.
Jamie and Lloyd go right to the front of the line because they are special and deserving because they do the devil's work
And the two of them are just low-class and insecure enough to think's it really cool to go to a place like this...
On the one hand, I want to say, good for this guy. $750k a year is pretty fucking good considering his formal training is in riding dirt bikes. On the other hand, I think, why are rich people so fucking stupid. With wine and tip, two people will spend close to a thousand dollars for a 15 course meal, what? This Damen guy must have hired the best PR firm in the world.
Celebrity chefs and obsession with fine dining are sure signs of empires in decline. The Roman, Spanish, and Ottoman empires all had them near the end too.
http://thetruthburns.wordpress.com/2011/03/11/whats-cookin-good-lookin-feeding-our-culinary-egos/
"All it takes, of course, is a lot of work..."
Oh no, not work! You mean you can't fantasize something like this into existence?
And "the minimum-wage restaurant workers of America who toil day and night at various McDonalds and Burger Kings around the country" can't even serve a Happy Meal correctly. Mostly, from my observation, they stand around and chat with each other.
A little hard work (for myself) never killed anybody. A lot if hard work (as an elite slave) would certainly kill me. I was born with an allergy to slavery, self imposed or otherwise.
Thank you ZH.
So the communist Nigerian has high tastes. No doubt he CONvinces himself that he is deserving to dine at the little peoples expense in return for the service he renders them (Nation destruction and such). I wonder if he takes the welfare queen Wookie with him, or just one of his preferred male sexual partners.
YIKES that is some SCHNOZZ!
I give Damon Baehrel a lot of credit for following his passion, developing a skill, and finding a niche market to run business and earn a living in.
On the flip side, it’s more sad commentary and example of how the rich have no idea what to do with all their money except what other rich do with all their money. They mostly want what the rest of us can’t have, regardless of what it is.
"On the flip side, it’s more sad commentary and example of how the rich have no idea what to do with all their money except what other rich do with all their money."
+1000
While I give the guy credit for his success independence and resourcefulness. I have to that I agree with earlier comments that the food is actually rediculous. I have eaten there only once but not ever inclined to again. Absurd environment in the guy's basement the presentation is artless the portions are so small as to be meaingless. Frankly even the concoctions are interesting as art made by children is also interesting. Compared to the French Laundry which also has a long waiting list this is nothing, but retarrded. The French Laundry does everyrthing this Basement Bistro doesn't.
I've eaten at the French Laundry and yeah it was worth it. This doesn't really appeal to me though even though it would be an interesting experience.
Did you really eat there?
26 permits/government inspections to open an average business in Chicago. I live in a suburb and was in a 61 year old busniness in the downtown business district. Our city which is drying up from inside out recently decided that all businesses needed city business licenses. This man was in the engraving and printing business. The city wouldn't pay him to print business licenses with the city logo on them. 250 bucks for a 1000 of them. They had them printed out of town no city seal, easily counterfieted. Good for business I guess. The little guys are going away. They are being crushed.
You just said it. The permit nazis are the bane of the little guy.
If a civil war-SHTF type event really kicks off, I can assure you that local and state judges, tax collectors, zoning board members, city council members, and various permitting authorities will be among the most hunted of government thugs. So many people have been screwed and robbed of their businesses and money by these individuals that people will be tripping over each other to exact vengeance.
It's interesting that this fellow can present some of this food so well and have such a reputation. I am sure a lot of folks wonder what's the big deal. Gardens are huge part of life here in the Midwest, so is hunting and fishing. If you have a passion for either or both you can eat natural and like a King for a good part of the year.
Who gives a shit? I like to eat food, not fawn over it. Can you imagine how goddamned nauseatingly pretentious a dinner at this place would be? NO THANKS.
Courtesy of "Mish" Shedlock.....
http://www.flixxy.com/how-to-open-wine-bottle-with-shoe.htm
Good on Baehrel for this apparent success.
This restaraunt is for people who make a sport of dining out. Mine own experience in this game was not very satisfying, though.
For me the Hedgeless Horseman route is favorable to the Mr. Creosote route.
Needing 60 months ahead to make a reservation for a dinner?
It's simply heavenly fabulous!!! WTF. UNbelievable. lol
The Earth is over inhabited by homo sapiens, and sheeples are indeed real, and they're everywhere!
Those portions wouldn't feed a mouse.
Hey Dawgs,
Esoteric gastronomy aside, the concept is spot-on!
Sadly it is too often [instant case] rifled from the common-folk by self-important ones who bid up the experience beyond the dreams of locals.
I ate GREAT 'from just outside the back-door' meals in Europe when I lived there, [circa 1999]. Rural Ireland Italy, Yugoslavia and Spain had a remarkable culture of 'mamma's kitchens' in villages where you just put down what you could afford and 'mamma' would see you through.
Even in Rome in the Prato next to the Vatican there was a trottoria run by an Italian woman the size of a Cinque Cento that I frequented when I needed a wheelbarrow sized portion to get me thru to the weekend.
Hey USA, you're heading back that way and it's a great day!
Regards,
PFO
I just get tired reading about these twee fucks.
Just think, the customers only needed to lay off ten employees each to pay for this 'necessary' excursion. It is good to know that when they take food out of your kid's mouths that they are doing good things with that money, no?
$1,000 meal is nothing for a billionaire. It's all relative.
The White House runs an all organic kitchen (thanks to Laura Bush).
No president will eat a GMO and this is why Michael Taylor (Monsanto's chief legal counsel) is our "Food Czar".
Let them eat cake.
Meh, looks just OK to me.
If I really wanted exclusivity with clout, I'd get in line for the 33 Club.
soon MCD's will have one employee/store and charge $250/big mac + fries and have a ten year waiting line... celebs are fucking assholes to begin with who flock like sheep to the latest exclusive fad... ill bet warren buffoon hasn't eaten there and would laugh his ass off if asked if he did or intended to...