Most expensive dinner?

Gee said it perfectly. I'm a pretty damn good cook, and I want something better than I can do myself.

 

Well, why did you invite Drip anyway?



Buddy of mine was in town on Tuesday and took me and my girlfriend out on his expense account.

We went to Spaggia. This is the joint where Obama went to dinner on the Saturday after he was elected President and the Chef, Tony Mantuano, has been featured on Top Chef Masters.

It's the most expensive Italian restaurant I've ever been to. I didn't see the bill, but while we didn't go crazy, we got a $200 bottle of wine and had a full meal. The scallop appetizer, which was delicious, was $30.00 and was one scallop. My lamb entry was $46.00.

http://www.spiaggiarestaurant.com/diningroom-dinnermenu.html

Everything was delicious, but there are so many great places that are a better value, that I don't see myself going back any time soon.

Funny side note, Spaggia requires men to wear a jacket. Neither me or my friend were wearing one -- we decided to go there at the last minute & it never occurred to me that it would be requires. So, we had to wear the house jackets.

Kind of felt like an idiot.

 

Admiral's Feast at Red Lobster

 

The Bern's experience is pretty incredible. It lived up to it's billing.

Have you been to Peter Luger's? It's kind of a different experience than other Steakhouses because you pretty much just order the porterhouse for two, three, or four, but damn, it's good. Been forever since I've been there though.



In Chicago, I don't think Gibson's measures up to anything in New York. I enjoyed Gene and Georgetti.

If you're in a random city, Ruth Chris or Capital Grille are reliably good joints. Morton's too.

 

I'm with Michael Gee on this. Going out to a steakhouse for dinner doesn't make any sense. You're paying for food that a trained chimp could prepare and you're paying through the nose for it. Anyone who can cook at all can do a better job at home.

When I go out I want to eat something that I either couldn't or wouldn't prepare at home. I want to see some artistry.

 

Spiaggia has a sister restaurant, Cafe Spiaggia, which jacket is not required and there is no prix fix, YankeeFan. It's one floor down from the main dining room. The Cafe is one of my favorite restaurants in the Midwest ... definitely my fav in Chicago. I love it. The wild boar ragu is to die for.

 

I won't make a value proposition argument, and I agree that I like to eat something at a restaurant that I wouldn't/couldn't eat at home.

But, a good steak house should have better cuts of meat than you can get at your local super market. They also have ovens that cook at a much higher temperature than your oven, so you can't quite cook it like they do.

Yeah, I know about the Cafe, but we wanted to go for the whole experience.

It was a great dinner & I'm glad I went, I'm just also happy that I didn't have to pay for it.

 

I should say I have nothing against the topflight steakhouse experience. For one thing, you can't make good onion rings at home, at least I can't, and I love good onion rings. I just prefer to go in a different direction when I'm spending that much money.

 

The most expensive meal I was part of a business dinner at 40Westt in Montreal. First non chain steakhouse I had been to with super informative professional waiters instead of college kids like the Keg (Canadian steakhouse chain).

The bill was 1400 pre tip for 4 of us, appetizers, steaks, sides, wine, really felt looked after by the staff without being overbearing.

I can cook a great steak but echo what others have said on here about not having the equipment a steakhouse has. Going to a steakhouse is a treat.

 

Wow, this is really embarrassing.

The most I've ever spent on a dinner was probably $130 -- Canadian -- at the Toronto outing.

Dr. J and I went to Centro the first night we were there and had two filets, with drinks and the sushi pizza (which was the best food I've ever tasted). I think 30 of that was the tip.

 

I'm trying to figure out how you guys can afford these luxurious meals.

Me and my parents went to a decent steakhouse a few weeks ago and I about keeled over when I saw the bill was $60.