Special Holiday Dinner for the chi-town Foodie

[ljero]

So, we have been to Le Bernadin, Bouley, Babbo and Per Se in the past for our annual holiday dinner. We love tasting menus, pretty rooms, with a non minimalist feel--something with a warm, holiday feel welcome, too. WD-50 decor probably not best for this crowd--ages 35-80. Any thoughts? We are considering Danial and Jean Georges--which of these do you prefer and are there others that have better food/decor? We eat everything--thank you!

[kathryn]

Here is a photo gallery of the recently revamped Daniel
http://eater.com/archives/2008/09/eater_inside_daniel.php

Here's a photo of Jean-Georges
http://eater.com/archives/2007/09/eat...

[steakrules85]

I have never been to either but I always find that these places never serve you enough food. They charge extravagant prices due to the celebrity chef name and the decor, however skimp on the food even though what food they give you may be out of this world.

Do others find this to be the case? Which high end restaurants tend to actually give you a decent size portion of food? I find Babbo gives you a nice amount of food, however Del Post was a terrible joke.

[MMRuth]

I've never left Jean Georges or Daniel hungry. EMP I felt as if the portions were on the smaller side, and while I wasn't exactly hungry, and it was kind of nice to leave a good meal not feeling completely stuffed, well, I wouldn't have minded slightly larger portion sizes.

[kobetobiko]

Hi steakrules85,

I don't mean to be critical but I think most places that you complaint about portion size being too small actually served adequate size of food. It might be just that you are looking for a larger portion size than most people wanted. Therefore, you should specify that in your future requests for restaurant recommendations.

I think Babbo is serving larger than average sized portions than most of the other high end restaurants. So you should put Babbo not as the norm (I consider JG, EMP, all being the norm) but rather more than norm. Craft is another one that serves more than the norm.

[kathryn]

I think kobetobiko is right -- you just might a big eater, steakrules85. After all these restaurants are trying to please a lot of differently sized appetites (and ages). For some restaurants, I am totally full by the time the last savory course arrives (especially if I have more than one piece of bread). And then I leave stuffed after the cheese course, dessert, and petit fours. (EMP and The Modern are especially good at throwing you multiple waves of palate cleansers and bon bons and petit fours. Gordon Ramsay, too, if I remember correctly).

I think the only restaurants where I haven't left completely stuffed were Le Bernardin and WD-50. And if you're afraid you won't be full, there's no shame in asking for another course to be added to your meal.

Babbo and Craft are definitely outliers in terms of how big portion sizes are.

[steakrules85]

I highly disagree with both of you as my family and I aren't huge eaters, however I find that these "high end" restaurants really tend to skimp to get you to order more and put up the bill.

I don't know if either of you have eaten at Del Posto, but I took my mother there for her 50th and while the food was good for the price we got really no food. Like a 4 oz portion of meat or fish and no side dish to be seen!

[kathryn]

What high end restaurants besides Del Posto do you think skimp?

In my experience above, I was mainly talking about tasting menus.

[steakrules85]

I haven't really been to many "high end" restaurants. The three that I would consider high end are Babbo, Craft, Del Posto. Both Babbo and Craft were incredible but Del Posto was a joke.

I haven't been to Jean Georges, Daniel, Le Bernardin, etc. but have seen food pics and the portions always look miniscule. I guess if you are doing a tasting menu with 7-10 courses that is expected. However, what if you just want a 3 course meal- are the portion sizes justified?

[kobetobiko]

Hi steakrules,

To answer your questions, I have of course been to Del Posto many times and in fact I was the one who warned you in your Del Posto's post that the portion sizes there were very small so that you could have the mental preparation. It is supposed to be much more expensive than Babbo and even Craft, so I think you didn't set up the right expectation for the price. It supposed to be VERY expensive. If you think Del Posto is absurb, don't even consider going to L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon. You will be cursing the portion size for days.

To me, all of those fine dining restaurants mentioned above (note: I don't consider Babbo as Fine dining, but it's high end) provide enough food in a standard 3 course meal with bread and amuse and pre-dessert, petite four to fill. Le Bernardin is probably less feeling because it is mainly seafood which is less filling.

I really don't think these fine dining restaurants are trying to skimp on the portion size. I think the price and the portion size they provide are standard. Don't forget that the price that you pay also includes service and decor and environment. So the price needs to justify those components and not just food alone. I think either your expectation of size or price for these fine dining restaurants are off.

[MMRuth]

Just to clarify, my experiences at JG, Daniel and EMP are not with a tasting menu, but, if I recall correctly, with a three or four course pre-fixe, plus the other "free" courses that come along with it. I am a "good" eater, for what it's worth in terms of having quite an appetite.

[Miss Needle]

I'm going to have to side with kobetobiko and kathryn on this one. DH (who can eat large amounts of food but doesn't in his older age) and I thought portions were on the average size. Perhaps they are not as large as what you'd find in a typical steakhouse, but I think steakhouse portions are large, not average. Funny how you were peeved that at Del Posto you got a 4 oz piece of meat or fish. I was at a steakhouse where meat was priced by the oz. I thought to myself, "Great. I can order the size I want (which is more like 4 oz). and not take a whole bunch of steak home." I was dismayed to find that there was a minimum order of 8 oz.

[kobetobiko]

Agree both JG and Daniel are great, but if you want a "warm" feeling, then I agree with ChefJune that Gramercy Tavern definitely provides a more warm feeling (and less grand, so to speak) than the others.

EMP is also a great opion, more upscale in decor than GT, and the food is a little more contemporary. I prefer the food at EMP to GT.

You may also consider Gordon Ramsay at The London Hotel. Best service and first in class food!