$40 for an Entree
Interesting article in today's NY Times about entrees at mid-tier restaurants reaching $40. The cost of food - particularly those not easy to get (organic farmers can produce only so much of our food supply) - plus increasing rents, labor, and other restaurant costs, factor into the rising costs. Some lament the expense, but I suspect that most accept the prices without much more than a "that's the cost of fine dining".
The first thing to point out is that, well, life is expensive, especially in certain geographic locations, such as New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Vegas, etc.
But more importantly, and missed by the article, is that cooking is expensive. And time consuming. Hosting a dinner party for a group of friends can easily exceed $100, not to mention the time required to make the meal. (Please do not read this as a complaint - if I didn't enjoy designing a menu, scouring the farmer's market and grocery store for ingredients and constructing the meal, I would never invite anyone over). When, not if, I pay $40 for an entree (and I know that I have paid close, if not that amount in the past), I expect that the same degree of time, effort and expense (if not more, since I don't do some things from scratch, like broth or pasta) went into creating the meal for me in the restaurant that I would have at home.
I recently read an article in the New Yorker, which pointed out that the cost of a restaurant meal has not kept up with inflation, and in fact, dining out now is cheaper than it was 40 years ago (also a time when far fewer people dined out). Factor in employee salaries, hopefully a livable wage, rent, building upkeep, insurance to protect against the crazies looking to sue, etc and it's actually surprising that $40 entrees haven't yet hit the market in greater numbers.
I do wonder - did the NY Times article stem from an editor who just noticed the price of entrees and made his reporter write a story that's not really a story? In my former career, I had at least one call a month with a reporter who would say "I know that this really isn't a story, but my editor think it is and I'm being forced to write". It's highly likely that the $40 entree is not necessarily new, but is now news, and it certainly didn't happen overnight.
Best quote at the end of the story: “Your $40 plate?� Mr. Zagat said. “It comes with a $20 first course.�
Well, duh.