THE PRICE HIKE

Momofuku’s Ma Peche is now offering a $95 “set meal” throughout the week, according to the restaurant’s website. There’s one seating per night and the food is by chef Paul Carmichael. We’ll post more details as they come in, but for now, here’s the website screen shot (above) and the REAL COST pricing (below). 

A Yelp reviewer describes the menu as a 10-course tasting at a chef’s counter. She also says none of the courses, save dessert, are on the regular menu at Ma Peche. 

Dinner for two, after tax, tip, and beverage pairings, will run you $361-$438, depending on which beverage pairing option you choose. Reservations are now being taken. Have at it folks. And of course, let us know whether you think it’s a BUY HOLD OR SELL. The midtown Manhattan restaurant, of course, still offers its excellent a la carte menu, as well as the large format halal-style chicken and lamb.  

David Chang’s Momofuku Daisho, the Canadian equivalent of Ssam Bar (or thereabouts), is set to open at the Shagri-La Hotel in Toronto on Tuesday. Like Ssam Bar in New York, there will be bo ssam pork shoulders, along with other large format items. But those dishes will cost a bit more up north. Here’s the pricing breakdown, with quoted descriptions from the Daisho website:

Beef Shortrib (4-6 people): ”Cooked with hatcho miso, gochugang, and pears, and topped with puffed white rice. It comes with white kimchi, marinated bean sprouts, and white rice.” Price: $220 ($225 USD). This one’s not available in New York, which means the Toronto folks are LUCKY DUCKS. 

Beef Ribeye (6-8 people): This is a prime cut from McGee farms that’s been “dry-aged, and roasted for about 2-3 hours. It’s crusted with horseradish and black pepper, then served with horseradish cream, ginger scallion sauce, pan drippings, and yorkshire puddings.” Price: $600 ($614 USD).  

The de facto per person price, anywhere from $75-$100 CAD, is among the highest we’ve ever seen for a large format rib-cut. According to a Price Hike analysis, New York’s most expensive rib cuts are served at Ssam Bar (usually around $163 USD, or $82 USD per person) and at Marc Forgione ($148 USD). 

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Momofuku Shoto opens for dinner service at the Shangri-La hotel in Toronto on Saturday, as we reported yesterday. Shoto is chef David Chang’s third tasting menu-only venue, the others being Seiobo in Sydney and Ko in New York.

Shoto ain’t cheap. After wine pairings ($80 CAD), 13% sales tax & 20% tip, the REAL COST of dinner at Shoto is $612 CAD for two ($627 USD). That’s a bit pricier than Ko in New York, where dinner for two plus pairings is $567 USD. 

So given the current exchange rates, dinner for two at Shoto is up to $60 USD more expensive than at Ko. Keep in mind that exchange rates fluctuate frequently; had Shoto been open on June 1st, the wine-paired tasting for two would’ve been $588 USD after tax & tip, only $21 more than Ko. Is Shoto a BUY HOLD OR SELL? Those who care to find out can make a reservation.

Otherwise, check out my three star review of Ko for Bloomberg News. 

Shoto, the tasting menu-only restaurant at Momofuku’s new outpost in Toronto’s Shangri-La hotel, is now accepting reservations for the first week of service. Approximately ten courses will cost you $150 CAD (roughly $154 USD).

As the website is under a heavy load, bookings are also (BRILLIANTLY) being accepted through Momofuku’s Tumblr account, re-blogged here. 

We’re still trying to confirm the beverage pairing prices. For those looking for a little international perspective, recall that Momofuku Ko in New York charges $125 for its dinner tasting, or $175 for a longer omakase at lunch (sixteen or more courses, typically). Momofuku Seiobo in Sydney charges $175 AUD ($183 USD) for its dinner tasting, or $100 AUD ($104 USD) during weekend lunch. 

Is Momofuku Shoto a BUY HOLD OR SELL? We’ll find out soon enough. But we’re stoked they’re using Tumblr to make life easier for potential patrons. 

momofuku:

shōtō reservations are now live. the restaurant opens on september 22nd. our dinner menu is $150 per person consists of roughly 10 courses. we are closed on sundays and mondays.

please note: if there are no times visible under option 2, the day is completely booked.  
 

Ivan Orkin is a dude from Long Island who quit his teaching job, moved to Japan, and started cooking pretty great ramen. But on Tuesday, July 17th, he’ll be cooking what is (hopefully) pretty great ramen at Momomfuku Noodle Bar in Manhattan’s East Village. He’ll start at 5:30 pm and he’ll finish when the product is gone. Expect crowds. Because, dudeness.

As first reported by Momofuku’s “Long Play” Tumblr, Orkin will be serving the following three ramen:

• Ivan Ramen Classic Shio: Chicken + dashi, rye noodle, pork belly, egg, hosaki menma
• Ago Dashi Hiyashi Shio: Chilled flying fish dashi, tomato, chicken
• Triple Garlic Mazemen: Pork, bacon, garlic, whole wheat noodle

All three dishes will cost $16, Momofuku’s Sue Chan confirmed to The Price Hike. That’s the same price as Momofuku’s classic ramen. And that’s not too much pricier than the ¥750-¥1000 ($10-$13) noodles that Orkin serves at Ivan Ramen in Rokakoen and Ivan Ramen Plus in Kyodo. So unless you’re planning on moving to Japan anytime soon, we’re calling this one-night-only-event a STRONG BUY. A version of the regular Noodle Bar menu will also be available.

This week in my Bloomberg News column I awarded 2.5 stars to the sometimes cramped but always comfortable Mission Chinese on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Mission serves “Americanized Oriental Food,” much of it seasoned with a lifetime supply of mouth-numbing novocaine sichuan peppercorns. This is the second of four or five planned locations; the San Francisco flagship debuted in 2010; a Williamsburg outpost will likely open within the year, followed by Atlanta and Oklahoma City.

To many, Mission Chinese is about philanthropy. While some chefs take the Warren Buffet approach to giving (get rich then give it away), Mission’s Danny Bowien takes a community-based “empower-the-diner” approach: Mission donates 75 cents from the purchase of every entree to the Food Bank of New York. It also donates 75 cents from the purchase of every glass of wine or soju cocktail to a rotating series of New York-based charities, including the Bowery Mission and Edible Schoolyard.

To others, Mission Chinese is about a different form of charity — free beer while you wait, a thoughtful gesture that saves you from blowing $30 bucks at a nearby cocktail bar when your table is sixty-minutes away. There was Bud in the beginning, then Miller High-Life, and now Bowien tells me he’s working on getting a better Brooklyn-based brew. It’s a nice little courtesy to take the edge off the queue, a blue collar amuse bouche of sorts. It’s something you’d expect from a Danny Meyer restaurant, not a $15-and-under venue on the Lower East Side. It’s something that makes you feel welcome.

So for me in particular, Mission Chinese is about hospitality. We’re living in an haute-hipster era where high-end food at a (theoretical) discount reigns supreme while all other creature comforts are expendable. But Mission Chinese proves that an ambitious and affordable restaurant can maintain its street cred while still coddling the customer a little bit. I’ve consistently had better service at Mission than at other “budget gourmet” spots like Pok Pok Ny, Acme or Il Buco Alimentari. Mission is also proof that a small restaurant can accept American Express and still (presumably) turn a profit.

Of course, we like to focus on numbers here at The Price Hike, and as such it’s worth noting that not a single drink or dish exceeds $15 at Mission Chinese. No, we’re not talking about small plates; many of these items easily feed two or three guests. So given the long waits and given the low prices, Mission could clearly charge more, per to the laws of supply and demand. And given the charitable component, Mission could easily get away with hiking the prices, per the laws of philanthropy. But Mission doesn’t. 

Danny Bowien was nice enough to chat with me, over the phone, about prices. And since that stuff can get boring, we also talked about other things, like, well, women, liquor and monosodium glutamate. Here are some snippets from my hour-long conversations with Bowien (dude can talk):

• “It’s hard to tell my investors `look, I’m not going to charge $20 for a plate of food here because that’s not what we’re about’”

• “We’re opening in Brooklyn, for sure, within the next year.”

• “Oklahoma City won’t have crazy chicken hearts on the menu. It’s going to have to cater to that demographic.”

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(Note: This column was updated to reflect the fact that Seiobo’s $175 price is inclusive of 10% GST). 

David Chang, owner of the Momofuku empire of Asian-inflected American eateries (Ko, Noodle Bar, Ssam Bar, Ma Peche, Milk Bar), has started taking reservations for Seiobo in Sydney, his first restaurant outside of New York. 

The tasting menu-only venue, located in the Star Sydney Casino, serves a set menu at $175 AUD per person, or $182 USD at this morning’s exchange rate. An optional beverage pairing is $95 AUD per person. So after 10% tip (generous by Australian standards), the REAL COST of dinner comes to about $297 AUD with pairings for one, or $594 AUD for two; prices are inclusive of 10% GST.

The menu, which is “inspired by the bounty of Australian ingredients and Sydney’s diverse food culture,” involves about 15-17 courses, making it approximate to Momofuku Ko’s longer lunch service (which costs $175 USD). 

Ko, the two-Michelin-starred jewel of Chang’s empire, famously doesn’t accommodate vegetarian. Seiobo does. That’s a departure of sorts. Most of Chang’s restaurants manage to find some way to cram bacon, ham or pork into their vegetable dishes. So we asked the 34-year-old chef about accommodating vegetarians yesterday via email; he was happy to respond. We also asked him about Australian tipping and the country’s foie gras ban. 

According to the FAQ section of the Seiobo website, you’re accommodating vegetarians. Why? Simple: In nyc we have no room to offer additional stuff; we are severely limited by what we can offer; we accommodate at Ko as best we can with prior notice; here in Sydney we have so much room and kitchen space thats its really not a question. 

Would a vegetarian diner at Seiobo get an accomodated version of the regular menu or an entirely separate tasting? (i.e. like the tasting of vegetables at Per Se) Do you believe a vegetable-based version of your tasting menu at Seiobo is just as delicious as the regular version? I’ve had some lovely vegetarian dishes at Ma Peche and Ssam Bar…that said, I’ve typically understood the “Lucky Peach Way” to mean that, say, bok choy tastes better when served with XO sauce, and that vegetarian substitutions were traditionally avoided to maintain the integrity of a dish. Certainly we try to elevate anything vegetarian to be more delicious than other courses. Per Se is a perfect example. Its a challenge but we would def have options specific for vegetarians. However I’d say a quarter of our menu is already vegetarian friendly at all are restaurants. But we don’t advertise it because its just the way it is. If you ever make it to Sydney you would see why its a no brainer as to why we should accomodate for everyone. Really is an issue of space. 

Is there a recommended gratuity at Seiobo? My cursory research is telling me that people don’t really tip a whole bunch in Australian restaurants, though I understand some Aussies will leave up to 10% or thereabouts at very good restaurants. Tipping isn’t a huge part of restaurant culture, encouraged but no one really pushes for it. 10% or around there seems about right. Also most servers work on a much higher hourly wage. But tipping the way we do seems to be a uniquely american thing.

Earlier in the summer, you were telling me how food costs are higher in Australia. Is there any particular dish or ingredient in Australia that’s putting pressure on your bottom line? Or are they just higher across the board? Everything is more expensive in Australia. I bought a Diet Coke and chapstick and it cost me $9.50. 

Out of curiosity, is there any good local farmed sturgeon caviar out there in Australia? Or are you using the expensive Chinese stuff (i.e. Petrossian’s Schrencki or Kaluga)?  Only roe available that is from Australia is Trout or Sea Trout roe, most of our stuff is from Australia.

I understand it’s illegal to produce foie gras in Australia, and that the imported stuff has to be cooked/pasteurized. Are you importing pre-cooked foie from New York? That can’t be cheap. No foie gras, the imported stuff tastes not so good (David Chang). 

Transparency is the word of the day. So as a supplement to my Real Cost Dining Index published on Bloomberg.com today, here are ten suggestions that restaurants, particularly tasting-menu joints, can adopt to give diners a better idea of how much money they’ll spend. 

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