Lumiere

[quattroporte]

I attended an Umberto Al Porto dinner, oh, about 10 years ago, and for $150 pp (wine included (Batasiolo) - 9 fantastic courses, all topped with shaved white truffles from Piedmonte. The dinner almost didn't happen - the truffles arrived late (and with armed guards) but my oh my - THAT was a truly memorable dinner (and trust me, 10 years ago, 150 bucks was a big deal for me). I doubt very much any meal served up to me at Lumiere would be worth $1000. I still haven't gotten over when they served me some very undercooked foie gras.....yuck....raw organ meat..

Maybe we should consider starting a Lumiere Lottery - $100 pp - 1 in 10 chances of winning...

[canucklehead]

How big a deal would it be for a chef to attend a meal like this? Would we expect to see say... Hawksworth, Vij, etc... to attend and sample CT's cooking?

Are any local publications going to send someone in?

Edited October 20, 2005 by canucklehead (log)

[D. Peckham]

Not that the food and wine won't be great , but to put it into a league of 1000 dollars a person is pretty lofty. With a high price tag comes high expectations hopefully no one is disappointed with their evening. I would also like to add that my girlfriend and I just ate at Alinea in Chicago 2 weeks ago. Food with wine pairing, tax and tip = around seven hundred Canadian. 28 courses. Each.

[kontemporary]

But you get a signed book from Trotter and Feenie!! and the menu signed!

Okay, maybe that's not worth it... considering you can go to Blumenthal's Fat Duck (around 250) with that and buy just under a cheap economy-class return ticket to London.

[~cayenne~]

Not that the food and wine won't be great , but to put it into a league of 1000 dollars a person is pretty lofty.  With a high price tag comes high expectations ......

←

Absolutely!

Edited October 20, 2005 by ~cayenne~ (log)

[transfattyacid]

I`ll be at modern burger that night for sure.

But i did budget for the event , so i`m spending $960 on "after dinner entertainment "

nwyles 

Is there an age limit on "young" chef ?

ditto ....

[noholdsbarred]

dont waste your money on this combo. better to have a nice holiday than....

[Memo]

It's inspiring to hear that an intuitive, self-taught chef like Charlie Trotter (having no formal chef's training) can command such a high ticket price.

Memo

Edited October 20, 2005 by Memo (log)

[tofino]

Well,

If I had the money I would definitely do this dinner. People think nothing of spending $1,000 -1500 per person to run to Mexico to stay at an all inclusive resort with a bunch of other Canadians eating average food from a buffet for a week. To have the chance to experience an evening like this is agreeably pricey, but wow, how many chances are there to dine in an event like this with two guys of that kind of reputation. I like the lottery idea, get 40 people to buy tickets for $50 a piece and the one winner gets both seats - woo-ha - that would be a great prize with better odds than my proline ticket - haha!

as a side - did anyone in Vancouver get to see a Mr. Fabien Bertrand's book called Livre D'Ors Gastronomique. This gentleman from Tahiti has travelled around the world for the past 20 years eating at the finest restaurants, and has had all the chefs of these properties sign the book with the menu inside etc. It is a who's who of cooking - especially the French entries - wow - if you have the chance to see it, have fun!! He stayed with us the past 3 days and had a chance to go through it yesterday morning - very impressive!

[shelora]

Are any local publications going to send someone in?

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Another excellent question. Who will the lucky one be?

[Ling]

I was telling my friend about this $1000/person dinner at Lumiere, and he's had a meal in Taipei at $1000/head too. It was on top of a mountain somewhere with 15+ courses (with the usual delicacies like shark fin soup). So I guess that sort of price tag isn't unheard of. It's really hard to claim the Charlie Trotter dinner is not worth the price, given that we don't know what's being served, and perhaps more importantly, which wines are being served.

[nwyles]

You need to have a little faith that Rob is on top of it. He is here for the long haul and this dinner is a celebration of ten years. As the dinner with Michel Jacob is $250, this should give you an idea of some of the wines that he will be pulling out. I really hoped there would be a menu and wine list released as to stop all of the speculation as to the value of this event. You can rest assured that this will not be a 16 liter Gala Keg event.

[James Kendal]

This is a big event with a bit of Griffin economics at play. 2 Relais Gourmand chefs, wow. This certainly helps with exposure for Vancouver.

I would certainly hope and expect that a cool g would have a charity component to the ticket price otherwise it's a bit decadent.

[mkjr]

...I would certainly hope and expect that a cool g would have a charity component to the ticket price otherwise it's a bit decadent....

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That was my first thought when I heard the price.

[nwyles]

Rob is donating 6 seats to young apprentices. That is a $6000 value right there. I would call that a donation !

[Chris Amirault]

OK, someone on eGullet must attend this event, and she'd better have fresh batteries for her digital camera. Arne, pass a hat, for crying out loud! I'll pitch in US$20. Only 49 more contributions, right?

[Mooshmouse]

OK, someone on eGullet must attend this event, and she'd better have fresh batteries for her digital camera. Arne, pass a hat, for crying out loud! I'll pitch in US$20. Only 49 more contributions, right?

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She? She? Did I hear the word "she" in conjunction with the words "digital camera"?

[Chris Amirault]

Are you volunteering, Joie?

[Daddy-A]

Are you volunteering, Joie?

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[Looks around, wondering how HE got passed over for this assignment ...]

$20 US Chris? That was worth something once.

I have to admit, I've been looking at my kids' university fund. They're never going to amount to much anyway.

A.

[Mooshmouse]

Are you volunteering, Joie?

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Have camera, will travel as an eG representative. No funds however... I'll take you up on that $20 contribution. *continues to pass the hat

[Looks around, wondering how HE got passed over for this assignment ...]

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Chris did say "she", didn't he? You gonna take one for the team and go under the knife to qualify?! Of course, you'll have to shave your legs too...

[Daddy-A]

[Looks around, wondering how HE got passed over for this assignment ...]

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Chris did say "she", didn't he? You gonna take one for the team and go under the knife to qualify?! Of course, you'll have to shave your legs too...

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Last I checked, Chris wasn't the forum host 'round here ...

[wanders off into the sunset]

Was talking with J about this dinner ... we could both thing of 4 $250 meals for 2 we'd rather do thatn this. I guess it would be more attractive if Trotter actually meant something to me. So, a question ...

Forgetting the $1000 price tag for a second, how many here see Trotter as a big draw for this dinner?

A.

[Ling]

Rob is donating 6 seats to young apprentices. That is a $6000 value right there. I would call that a donation !

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I wonder if he could extend that charity to a lucky Egullet member.

(Can I start sucking up now?)

Hi Chef Feenie, you probably don't remember me, but I ate at Lumiere many years ago--I was 18--and brought my Lumiere cookbook for you to sign. I asked you to take a picture with me too, and you graciously obliged. Michael Smith was in that day at your restaurant--he was helping you with the prep for the evening; he was in town filming for his series. Oh, and I've been watching your show since the first season, before you came up with: "Good Food Rocks!"

*crosses fingers*

[Foodie in Vancouver]

Some years ago, when I was thinking about memorable ways to celebrate my 50th birthday I thought I wanted to go to Chicago for dinner at Charlie Trotter's. This was partly based on the fact that I was reading his book "On Service" at the time and was extremely impressed with the values he and his team seem to embody. In the end, we decided not to go Trotter's the restaurant and instead spent a week trotting (literally) around Manhattan, eating in all the boroughs as we went. Each day we walked for at least 6 hours and then felt totally justified in having great meals and lots of wine with dinner.

So, is Trotter a draw is an interesting question in that what inspired me to want to eat in his restaurant was in part the reputation for the quality and uniqueness of his food but more so the service and "event" nature a meal has in his restaurant. Thus for me, I think Trotter is more about the place and his team who embody the service values that he wrote about - his respect for the customer and the need to ensure that eating at Trotter's would be a memorable event not just because of the food but because the service team is focused on the totality of the experience. If I went to this event, I would be having fine food and wine but the experience might be more that of the Lumiere approach to service. Not that that is a bad thing. It just isn't the Trotter service experience. (Who knows - maybe it is better?)

Supportive of this perspective is the Outstanding in the Field event. It was David Hawksworth who was the chef but the memory is of the event and how the service team, setting and intent of the meal is the dominant theme that remains with me. The chef is part of the equation but where the chef prepares/presents the meal can have a profound effect on how the meal is perceived. Does Charlie Trotter have the same effect in someone else's establishment? It will be interesting to hear other perspectives (in advance) and then hear the real deal after the event. Inquiring minds want to know.

[McTee]

The one thing that I am curious about, and a lot of others referenced this earlier, is which wines will be poured?

To my understanding, great chefs are reluctant to serve top notch wines with their food, risking the possibility that the wine may just overshadow the food itself.

And in my experience, great wines and great food are best consumed on their own, to enjoy everything that was intended by the winemaker or chef, respectively.

I would not be surprised at all if the $1000 is mostly for the food, and wines would be chosen not by price, but for suitability in pairing with the food. A great vintage of Chateau d'Yquem could be in there with dessert, however.

With 12 to 15 courses, even at a 2 ounce pour with 10 of the courses, that is 4 full glasses of wine for the night, which most restaurants would hesitate to serve that much alcohol per person.

I do remember my dinner at Lumiere whereby the tasting menu was $90 and the wine pairing supplement was $50 and I was familiar with every single wine that was offered. I will say that it was surprising to see how low-end the wines were that were being offered.

If that was $140 pp, I would think that if you up the number of courses from 8 or 9 to 12 or 15, serve some great (hard to obtain, but not 'special') wines and add in the Charlie Trotter (and his expenses) and 10th anniversary factors, one might say that it would end up at 7 times the price.

Am I an analytical personality, or what?

[kurtisk]

To my knowledge, they're down to their last few seats. Anyone keen might want to jump on it...

k.