by Neal Banks

Created on: August 01, 2008   Last Updated: December 01, 2011

You always get what you pay for.

I might call that a pearl of wisdom, or a truism perhaps. I might even go so far as to say that the statement is undeniable fact. Nonetheless, I think it holds true in virtually every aspect of our lives, since everything we get we inevitably pay for (in one fashion or another).

This is certainly true when it comes to dining out in restaurants. If you go to a gourmet eatery and invest in an all-ground-sirloin burger with hand-cut sweet potato fries, you will most certainly be parted with more of your hard-earned cash than if you had gone to a fast-food drive through and gotten a 99-cent cheeseburger. And well you should: the better the ingredients, the more you will expect to pay. You would also expect to pay more for the skill of the one preparing your meal. A classically trained and experienced chef serving haute cuisine certainly garners a higher wage than a short-order cook serving French fries. There is also the atmosphere to consider: are you being waited on by someone wearing a nametag behind a cash register, or a matre d' in black tie that brings out a chilled wine bottle and uncorks it at your table? If you're dining somewhere that has their best locations near highway gas stops or in secluded locations by the lakeside, you should always expect to get exactly what you pay for.

As a chef of three decades, however, I am of the opinion that you should get what you pay for on your plate. If I take my wife out to our favorite steak and seafood house, I know precisely what to expect. We will start with off with either the lobster bisque or the Maryland crabcakes with spicy remoulade. Entrees will consist of grilled Ivory Coast salmon over Caesar salad and charred 16 oz. ribeye steak with asparagus tips seared in garlic and lemon. A nice bottle of local Merlot will accompany the entrees: creme brulee and espresso will finish the meal. The tab should reasonably come out around two benjamin franklins: rightfully so, my taste buds have savored every last bite and my stomach is equally well-pleased.

But what has come into practice and has sadly also come to be acceptable is that at many of the world's most expensive restaurants you find yourself paying more for the privilege of dining in one of their seats. Maybe you get lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a celebrity, or maybe you are dining in the same booth as some former president the night he was shot in 1949, or maybe this was the first restaurant that so-and-so opened before

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