In 2012 Benu had two Michelin stars, price was $180 + 20% = $216. On weeknights they still offered a la carte.
Definitely
Take out the word “dining” and apply that to US culture as a whole is where I’m coming from.
Healthcare is tied to work here because that forces people to work to stay healthy. American Capitalism doesn’t benefit otherwise.
Same reason college tuition is so expensive. Either already be rich, take on tons of debt/apply for scholarships, or join the military and hope there’s no coming wars.
Someone who caters to the rich and surrounds themselves with rich people isn’t solving anything by saying expensive things should be more expensive
How can food be affordable for the common man and those who provide that food still be taken care of?
I’m not responding to you directly @paranoidgarliclover lol just bored and venting
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We had a custom tasting menu. I found the invite in my files. I also remember it being awesome. 
Same promotion we also hosted a group at iNG, Homaro Cantu’s concept in Chicago with the weird miracle berry powder he had you eat halfway through each dish which totally changed the taste.
Not true, universal health care produces a healthy workforce, benefitting employers. Like good, free public education.
American health care is a negative-sum game that hurts everyone except some amoral criminals who get rich off it, like the Sacklers. It’s Calvinist / Mammonite nonsense. Like American public education.
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Fair enough. Your point is more or less what I meant. Fear of being uninsured keeps people in the workforce. Comparing what they have in Europe to here is apples and oranges, which is why just making things more expensive does nothing to solve the problem
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I’m not sure what you’re advocating for here? Should he not be opening a restaurant? Should he bring single payer healthcare to the US j/k 
? Something else within his power as a chef/owner? Certainly, making expensive things more expensive doesn’t solve a systemic problem, but doesn’t it make things less exploitive for the people working for the business? It sounds like you’re saying because that doesn’t improve things for everyone, they shouldn’t even bother. I think that’s reductive and not what you mean, but the point it ambiguous enough that it benefits from some examples of what good is. Like is Loco’l the example?
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like i said above I’m a stupid millennial. Today was my Friday at work and this seemed like a fun conversation to jump into
I have nothing against Chef or what his ultimate message is but i do find it ignorant of many realities in the US
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He can start a whatever kind of business he likes, but if he spouts ignorant bullshit it’s fair to ridicule him.
I think eating at really expensive restaurants on a regular basis is kind of like supporting a mistress. It may be the best food/sex you’ve ever had but it will put a dent in your net worth and may cost you your marriage.
But I agree with your $195 cutoff for people who like to eat well on occasion. Beyond that you are getting into European vacation splurge restaurant situations. Fun, fabulous, but not for a regular diet.
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Do these people pay off their credit card every month?
I just said “hard sell.” In part because most times I’ve done Thomas Keller-style tasting menus with 15, 20, or more courses, well, as Joshua Skenes said:
I’ve gone out to many excellent places where you feel like shit after the meal.
A few years ago I spent $500 all in at Saison 2.0 and it was great.
Hi @clayfu
Sorry for attacking your post and turning it into a rant on society. I know nothing about you or your life. Same as I know nothing about Marcus. I hope he creates a positive change.
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wasn’t offended, nothing you said was insulting - just different interpretations of the same text. I’m an employment lawyer by trade, ITB food/bev on the side. I don’t think what he said is ignorant but my view comes through different lens.
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I know that Marcus Jernmark moved here from Sweden to sell very expensive referral-only tasting-menu experiences in Beverly Hills and ranted on Instagram about how high-end restaurants need to charge $450 so they can pay their line cooks and dishwashers better.
And he is correct (if it is doable in the US is another story)
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Prices are set by the market, not by costs. If every restaurant that charges $200-300 raised that to $450, most if not all would make less money.
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i don’t get the sense that the folks at the high-end establishments here in LA are raking it in. i wish they were more accessible to a broader array of folks. same with wine. but i don’t know how that can be accomplished.
For that some much more fundamental changes (far beyond just restaurant prices and salaries) would have to happen in the US and that is highly unlikely as current trends (e.g. abortion (and that most likely only the beginning) are pointing in a very different direction
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You’re right, I shouldn’t have used the word ignorant. BOH 1000% deserves to make more money, even if a solution is messy and tied to fundamental problems in this country
LA restaurants of a certain calibur, like our cultural institutions, are overwhelmingly reliant on local patrons, more so than NYC or London. This fact isn’t appreciated. We don’t have a strong supply of cultural tourism that $500 restaurants can feed on. This is true of our museums as well. 4/5 of LACMA’s attendance is local. The opposite is true of The Met. When these places fail, the question always falls on why Angelenos aren’t willing to pay these prices. Of course they’re not paying these prices. The median household income is $65000. That’s slightly above poverty level. Your patrons aren’t Angelenos. They’re cultural tourists.
New Yorkers are richer but I bet they’re not the reason why Per Se is still around.
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