Thursday, April 7, 2011

Culinary Black Market

Next Restaurant, a brand new restaurant in Chicago run by Chef Grant Achatz and partner Nick Kokonas, Just started selling dining seats for opening night. But they're doing things a little-- scratch that, completely different from any restaurant. Instead of the usual "pay after the meal" that were all very much used to as diners, you buy tickets for a certain time and table (less for a two top, more for a four top, and much more for the Chef's table). This is a pretty genius system because they can inflate or deflate the price based on the day and time. For example, 2 tickets would be less expensive on a Monday then on a Saturday.

This brings to mind the idea of 'scalping'. You've been to those college/pro games where you saw the guy on the corner of the stadium with a sign in his hand that says he has tickets and will sell them to you more than box office price, call it a 'convenience charge'. Well for the first time that I've ever heard of, possibly in history, this is actually happening for a restaurant. I predicted this, so the day after the tickets went on sale, I searched Craigslist for Next Restaurant, below is what I've found, which is a step above the guy on the corner with a sign, which would turn anyone off a restaurant, unlike a Cubs game.
Keep in mind, the basic tickets are ~$85. I haven't seen an exact price for the Chef's table, but I'm certain its not $3000.






Then, like sport scalpers, you have to take into effect the validity of these tickets, some are selling the tickets along with the confirmation e-mail, but that can be easily faked. I'm sure someone is going to lose money on this, unfortunately.

Chef Achatz has accepted nothing but perfection and I'm sure, even with a smaller price tag than Alinea (by about $100), that this will be no different. I'm glad someone has realized that there are people who can't afford a $400 tasting menu with wine pairing, but can enjoy the food more than those that can.

This is a new and exciting chapter in the industry and I'm sure Chef Achatz won't be the last one to use this system. Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce you to the Culinary Black Market.

19 comments:

  1. DAMN so 3000 bucks for a restaurant minus the hassle of getting a table and all of that stuff, i dig it.

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  2. Must be a classy place :P. Thanks for the good read.

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  4. That is really neat! I want to check it out when I visit chicago

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  5. More idea's for when I get super rich !

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  6. Interesting concept... not really sure, if i like the black market thing.

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  7. that sounds like an exciting experience!

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  8. My goodness I'd have to save up before dining there!

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  9. I love this! hey, I couldn't find any contact information on here, but I would love it if you would get in touch with me. I am also a chef (but a little different than the average chef) and I would love to just talk and ask you some questions! healthy.hunny@yahoo.com, my name is jasmine :) good work on the blog, I love it!

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  10. Very informative post! Thank you for sharing this :)

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  11. sounds insane. wish i was rich and living in chicago

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  12. Welcome to the seedy underworld of business!

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  13. Lol! Amusing. Is it the resuraunt doing it, or private people?

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  14. That's cool how innovative some restaurants can be. Pulling this idea from sports. Haha, who would have thought, tickets to eat.

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  15. Your blog also makes me hungry, and when I scroll down I see a hamburger ad :(

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  16. Very informative post~ Will read more!

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