Yes

by Ted Onulak

Created on: August 17, 2008   Last Updated: March 28, 2009

When we ask if an expensive restaurant is worth it, it seems that we are talking about some sort of cost/benefit relationship, and in the process, talking about personal preferences.

If you grew up in a home where good food was a high priority and the choice and preparation of ingredients was done with great care, you have a bit of a head start on the appreciation of good food.

But if your Mom, like many busy American Moms was a whiz with cooking chicken with canned soup, frozen broccoli and Velveeta and pizza delivery on Fridays I don't think you are going to have a fine food frame of reference.

Unfortunately, even mealtime in the home, whatever it is, is not particularly valued in contemporary society, therefore food itself is something you get when you are hungry and you just want it fast and hot. This becomes the kind of food you just get used to and begin to crave.

Food is culture. You can tell more about someone from what and how they like to eat than anything else. I really thought it was hilarious that when the Brazilian football team went to Paris to compete for the World Cup, they brought an abundant supply of black beans, rice and sun-dried meats to a city that is famous for great food. Maybe it was an athletic thing, like keeping their diet stable, or maybe they just wanted some comfort food from home around. It's probably the latter.

On a lot of levels, it's difficult to justify crazy restaurant prices. I came from a hard-working blue-collar family where we always tried to eat well on a budget. Surprisingly, that meant not going out for meals, except on special occasions.

To this day, my Mom doesn't think there is a plate of food on earth worth $20. But, she will complain like heck if the food doesn't come out hot, and be of reasonable quality. I remember one time, when she got a cold gristly piece of steak, she called the waiter and said, "I'll pay for this meal on one condition, that's if your manager will eat it in front of me!" I think she would have made a heck of a food critic.

When we took her for an expensive steak dinner at one of the more famous national steakhouse chains, she declared "This is the best steak I ever had in my life!" but when the bill came, it was more like, "What are these guys crooks (I have left out a very important adjective, for the benefit of our younger and more sensitive readers), At this price, I could feed the whole neighborhood on steak! And it would be better than this, too!"

Clearly, to that customer, there was a cost/benefit issue.

But, her point is well taken. Let's look at the price tag for a family of four. For the sake of simplicity, let's assume that everyone had the small 6 oz. Filet mignon at $30 apiece; four side orders to share at $8each, the adults share a bottle of Columbia Crest Merlot for $55 (this wine retails for $15 in supermarkets), and $ 10 for soft drinks for the kids. Let the kids have desserts for $20 while the adults just have coffee for $8. This brings you to a total of $ 245 and adding a 15% tip brings the total to $281. Of course I didn't figure local sales tax and cost of transportation to and from the restaurant, but you catch my drift. If you go to a high-end supermarket meat counter, you can buy 2 pounds of filet mignon for $50, upgrading your family to 8 oz. Pieces of filet. Four large potatoes, 2 bunches of fresh broccoli a package of Portobello mushrooms, would $10 be fair? Go to your best local bakery and bring home a beautiful apple pie for $ 20, so everyone can have 2 pieces of pie. Add $10 for coffee and soft drinks and the total is $90. You save $191. You can even get a really nice bottle of Bordeaux for $40 and still be up $150.

Grilling some filets and doing some vegetables is not beyond the skills of any decent home cook. So there might really be a cost/benefit issue here. If this is the kind of expensive restaurant that people are referring to, maybe they have a good point.

In my professional life, I met a lot of guys who thought this kind of steakhouse was the epitome of eats. The high price satisfied their egos, the menu did not challenge their own "meat and potatoes" food culture and everyone was happy. But obviously, the issues for a middle-class family are different.

But does that mean that an expensive price tag for a meal is never worth it? It is if you really love fine food. When an expensive price tag translates into superb ingredients, culinary creativity and craftsmanship, you will be in for a memorable dining experience. If you're living on the East coast and you get fresh Dungeness crabs flown in from the West coast, it's worth it. When you can eat food of such artistry and complexity, which can't be reproduced at home, it is worth every penny. A great chef I met once, told me about how he comes up with new dishes. He called it, "dancing in the kitchen". Isn't that a lovely image? Not everyone can do it, and many great chefs who have become corporate entities and have monitized their names have abandoned this philosophy.

I guess what I'm trying to say here, is that an expensive price tag doesn't guarantee a great meal either. Sometimes I think great restaurants are like great sports teams in that they can be formidable when they are "on", but inconsistent, as well. The star may not be in the lineup, the whole team maybe tired and sluggish and conditions, like quality of products may not be there. Or they might be messing too much with comfort foods, like trying to souvee a steak.

But this rarely happens in a great restaurant. If it does, just watch how the staff tries to compensate for their sub par output. I have had free bottles of wine, free coffee and dessert and even an after dinner glass of port in the same meal, to ensure my continued patronage. Once though, at what was once one of my favorite restaurants, when I was served a sub-standard meal on a busy Saturday night, I refused to pay. This started some problems with the Maitre d'Hotel and I ran through a litany of the problems with my meal in front of a lot of customers to his great embarrassment. At super expensive prices you are entitled to perfection, nothing less. The finer restaurants know this, and expect no less from their customers.

I personally love fine food. I will avoid going out just for the sake of it and save my money to treat my wife and I to the best restaurants in town. What is even more important, is that I am constantly trying to improve my palate and learn about all kinds of cuisine. Just remember to be a discriminating consumer and enjoy what you eat. Ultimately, fine food and an accompanying high price are only worth it, if you really enjoy it.

I heard that the Brazilian football team said that the food in Paris was really terrible. Not surprisingly, the French hate the food in Brazil!

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