texasholdorfold

I am going to be taking a trip to Las Vegas in January with my fiancee. My question is, is it possible to share a tasting menu with her at one of the great restaurants? Michael Mina and L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon are two that I am thinking of. The menus at these type of places usually are a hundred dollars or more and can have many courses. It is unlikely that we could each eat the seasonal discovery menu at L'Atelier, for instance. It features 9 dishes and coffee afterwards for $159-which would be a great deal to share but not so much if we each have to order the menu...I am willing to pay a nominal fee for sharing.

nyer

I haven't been to these restaurants but I'll go out on a limb and say "no" anyway.

Tasting menus have many courses, but they are not full size! Some may be just a bite or two. The point is to sample different things, not to be a good value.There would be no way to split them,in fact usualy everybody at a table has to order the menu because you can't serve 9 course to one person and 2 or 3 to another. Also, there's rarely just a "nominal fee" for anythng involving a $159 dinner.

Tasting menus are not for me, and probably are not right for you. Look for menus with small plates that you can sample and share if that's what you want, or a more modestly priced regular menu.

BeachGirl247

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon Paris would not allow sharing but they would allow you to order off of the regular menu with a tasting menu order. I would email to see what is allowed in Vegas as it could be a different policy.

The tasting menu was fantastic & the portions were just right with the amount of courses that were delivered. If that is out of your price range then they can help you pick courses to suit your palate and pocketbook. You don't have to spend a fortune there to get good service and food.

Patty

Tasting menus aren't meant to be shared anywhere. Some restaurants do allow one person to order a tasting menu while another orders a la carte or a smaller prix fixe menu.

nytraveler

Not a chance in hell. These are luxury experiences - not casual cafes. If you don;t want 2 tasting menus one of you order it and the other order from the regular menu.

But they're not going to give you a dinner of that type for half price. Why would they?

texasholdorfold

I would totally be open to ordering an ala carte and a tasting menu at L'Atelier between the two of us, but I do not want to be frowned upon whatever I do. I want to taste a variety of things and have a good time and am willing to spend a moderate amount of money; however, I do not want to break the bank on one meal or end up not eating a lot of the food. Any other ideas about how to eat in Vegas? I'm open to suggestions (excluding buffets). Also, I'm kind of wondering, does everyone usually receive good service at establishments like these, or only a certain set?

janisj

" Also, I'm kind of wondering, does everyone usually receive good service at establishments like these, or only a certain set?"

What on earth does that mean? World class restaurants have world class service. Not one level of service for one 'set' and less so for the plebs.

"I want to taste a variety of things and have a good time and am willing to spend a moderate amount of money; however, I do not want to break the bank on one meal or end up not eating a lot of the food."

A tasting menu is planned out (often w/ matching wine flights) to flow from one small course to the next -- they are not designed to be served family style/shared.

For a variety at a 'moderate' cost - maybe consider tapas or dim sum. Those ARE designed for ordering several small dishes w/o spending big $$$

NewbE

Yeah, I have to agree, a tasting menu is not meant to be shared. Restaurants with top-flight service will accommodate almost any request in the name of graciousness, but a request to share a tasting menu would be gauche, I'm afraid, so I suggest you don't ask.

I think you will be able to eat all the food on the tasting menu; as others have said, it's portioned appropriately for one person. Whether you should break the bank on one great meal is entirely up to you; I'd say if you're at all worried, don't do it. You're supposed to be having fun, right? And maybe you'd have more fun having a few excellent meals rather than one blowout. There's nothing wrong with keeping an eye on the budget.

You should expect excellent service. I know what it's like to feel insecure about how one will be treated at a fancy place, but I encourage you to feel confident that a top-flight restaurant will treat you like a valued guest because that is, in fact, what you are. I hope you have a great time and some great meals!

Rastaguytoday

My worst tasting menu experience was at the French Laundry in Yountville.

As one of her courses, she ordered the beet salad. What she got was a beet the diameter and thickness of a quarter, that was in a cup.

The server said "this is 'Thomas' interpretation of a beet salad". I don't think you could possibly share that.

My wife was totally p*ssed and the rest of the night only got worse from there.

Every course was introduced with "this is 'Thomas' interpretation of ...."

What a load of crap.

DebitNM

Be sure and check if you can in actually have one Tasting Menu and one non Tasting menu at the same table. We recently dined at Jules Verne in Paris and all 4 of us had to have tasting menu if that was the way we wanted to go. We did. We shouldn't have; would have preferred to order what we each wanted.

NeoPatrick

" Also, I'm kind of wondering, does everyone usually receive good service at establishments like these, or only a certain set?"

I too was puzzled by this comment, but I think I can interpret it. Does it mean, "if we go into a world class restaurant and insist that we are only going to order one meal and split it between the two of us and maybe get a glass of their cheapest wine and an extra glass so we can split it as well will be treated poorly?" The answer to that is "yes".

NewbE

I guess I don't think a restaurant should ever treat anyone poorly. They should honor the request, or politely decline to honor it, but to honor it and then be ugly seems unprofessional.

Brian_in_Charlotte

My guess is the OP is younger (20s or 30s) and from my experience I can tell you that yes, people of that age are often treated differently than the over 40 set in higher end restaurants. We dined out a lot in our 20s and 30s usually at at least one really nice restaurant a month and I can't tell you how many times the hostess tried to seat us by the bathrooms and wait staff otherwise treated us differently than others. Not every time, but happened enough to be noticeable. And we were not spending any less than others, and often more.

I would hope that a real top notch restaurant would not discriminate like that, but I don't think it's unreasonable to worry about it. It sucks to spend so much money and feel you've been treated poorly.

NeoPatrick

NewBe, I agree with you in principle, but the bottom line is if customers are blatantly obnoxious (and yes, I consider splitting one tasting menu as being obnoxious), it's pretty hard to believe that many servers would be able or willing to give the same level of service as they do to people who "understand" the principles of fine dining.

NewbE

Yes, Neo, I have restaurateurs in the family and I know that customers can be really obnoxious, and those customers get what they give. I don't think the OP is insisting on his right to split the tasting, though, just asking if it's done and should he ask and would he be treated badly as a result. The consensus here being no, no, and yes!

Brian, I agree with you. I struggled with how to phrase that, because I don't want to scare anyone away from a fancy restaurant. But I, too, remember some snooty behavior thrown my way years ago. And our experience is borne out by a piece Ruth Reichl wrote, in which she described being treated very differently at La Grenouille on two visits: on one she went as herself, and on the other she dressed up as a slightly daffy old lady (she was famous for her costumes and wigs when she was NYT resto critic). Not surprisingly, the daffy old lady got indifferent service and cold food--too bad.

nytraveler

Well I've been eating in the most upscale restaurants since my early 20s (a perk of the job) and we were never treated badly or differently.

That said - we had our reservations well in advance, were dressed properly for the venue, didn't make requests that indicated we were trying to do the experience "on the cheap" and tipped generously. So when we came back (and 2 of the favorites in those days were Grenouille and Four Seasons - we were welcomed with open arms.)

If you don't want to spend the money - that's perfectly legitimate. But you don;t go to a really upscale place and then and then worry about the cost of each item - or automatically order the cheapest wine on the menu.

Tasting menus are not for everyone - they are a unique experience. You can certainly go there and just each order an appetizer and main course if you want.