THE BAD DEAL

Would you spend $250 on meal tickets, valid for 8pm only, for one night only, for a wine-paired tasting menu only, at a restaurant that has not yet opened to the public, and which has not yet published its regular prices? 

UrbanDaddy, the DirtyDaddy of Bad Deals, thinks you’ll go for it. Such is the offer for Mas La Grillade in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. The deal, which includes wine, tax and tip, is $125 per person; presumably you’ll bring a date, hiking your cost to $250 — a very fair price. From a strict culinary standpoint, is this a Bad Deal? Of course not; we’re excited about Galen Zamarra’s long awaited sequel to Mas Farmhouse (where set menus run $64 per person). So here’s what we don’t like: 

• With the one night event, UrbanDaddy is manufacturing scarcity and therefore creating a false sense of demand. 
• You could lose $250 if you can’t make the September 30th event. 
• Fair pricing aside, you’ll be spending a lot of money at a joint that hasn’t had a chance to get its act together. 
• Future diners at the restaurant will have lots of choices regarding food and wine. You, as a pre-opening, pre-fixe diner, will have no choices. 
• One night-only ticketed affairs are better for a when visiting chef, say, Ferran Adria or Grant Achatz, shows up, since that’s something you wouldn’t be able to get everyday. But UrbanDaddy diners will almost definitely be getting what Le Grillade will serve everyday, to future diners who won’t be risking their money in advance. 
• You’ll have no idea how much dinner regularly costs at the restaurant (because the menus aren’t yet published), so there’s no value comparison. 

Our advice: Let Le Grillade open up, wait until some respected critics & blogs have reviewed the joint, then check it out. We suspect it’ll be awesome, so no need to risk your money. Update: The deal sold out without two hours of its debut yesterday. UrbanDaddy knows how to pick your pocket.