Vespertine: A (non-)Pictorial (mini-)Essay

After my dinner here, I’m saying the same - All said and done, the amount of people working here, the pre-construction, the upkeep, the materials, ingredients, the space, the utensils, ceramicware, stemware, tables, furniture, the few number of covers, number of seatings per night, labor intensity, wines, etc… This place probably LOSES money on each paying customer.

With that thought in mind, I see Vespertine as more of an ephemeral piece of performance/installation art which happens to involve people eating food…

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It’s okay, they’ll make it up in volume.

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There are a number of other potential revenue streams, including lunch, events held in the gardens and elsewhere in the building, movie filming, etc., but with so few seats for dinner only, it does seem hard to make money. Maybe the investors don’t care.

Precisely why I think it’s art for art’s sake.

The sense of jealousy is strong in this thread.

Seriously?! I though it was an office building. For sure, this restaurant cost a fortune.

Has there really been no reporting about Bill Chait’s involvement?

This is my impression, too (just from what I’m reading). I respect the guy for having a vision and sticking to it (although I don’t think the place is for me).

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I ate at Vespertine last night and think J_L’s review is exactly on point.

Since there’s really no way to describe the experience without sounding pretentious, I’ll just say that if you think of it less as a restaurant and more as an immersive, food-centered art installation than you’ll be properly level-set going in. That said, I found many of the dishes to be phenomenal, most good, and few of them misses. Even the misses were super interesting though.

Food aside, the architecture, the plates and cutlery, the interior design, the musical score, all were beautiful in their own right. I also found the service to be warm throughout, and not self-serious as I was worried it might be.

Definitely the most ambitious and one-of-a-kind restaurant I’ve been to.

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What was the primary meat dish?

It was turkey breast that, believe it or not, ate similar to duck. Apparently, the farm they source it from specifically breeds for higher fat / oil content. It was cooked just below medium and was really good.