THE BAD DEAL

UrbanDaddy, the DirtyDaddy of deal sites, is charging $175 for a four-course meal of corn, clams, pork and chocolate at Mario Batali’s Eataly. They toss in four beers as well. It’s a one-night-only event that includes tax & tip. Sure, an Eataly chef teaches you how to make these dishes. BUT REALLY. We think you and your date can teach yourselves how to steam clams and toss salad for less than $350. It ain’t that hard.

Here are some BETTER BATALI deals: For $75 bucks, you can do the 7-course tasting at Esca, which serves some of Manhattan’s best seafood. Add on the formal wine pairing at you’re at $161 after tax & tip. Or you could do Babbo’s eight-course tasting for $75. Or you could order Del Posto’s five-courser for $115. None of those menus are one-night-only jobs where you lose your $$$ if you don’t show up. None of those menus mandate beverage pairings. And all of those menus have stood the test of time. So go get yourself a real Batali meal. And skip out on this DirtyDaddy offer. It’s a BAD DEAL.

# the bad deal

Here’s a photo collage of restaurants whose websites you can’t view on the iPhone or iPad, a follow up to our earlier post on menu transparency in the mobile world. We’re running with this visual element because chefs are visual people. They like to have infinite control over every aspect of every ingredient on every plate. Those chefs would likely be disappointed if they knew this is what diners saw when they logged onto their websites. The diners would likely be disappointed too. We think these chefs can do better with mobile. Editors note: in a few cases, we added a sad faces for dramatic effect. (Source: The Price Hike/The Bad Deal).

Contemplating Del Posto’s $35,000 Wedding

Gilt City is again offering a wedding deal at Mario Batali’s Del Posto. The $35,000 price is almost-all-inclusive: you get dancing, drinks, dinner, flowers, cake and a five-piece jazz ensemble. This is probably, sadly, definitely a decent enough DEAL for New York City.

Still, lets’ take a closer look: The Del Posto offer includes a standing wedding reception, a 4-course meal and a five-hour premium open bar, all for up to 120 people. That comes out to $292 per person, though Del Posto charges an extra $250 per person for up to 30 more guests, which can bring the cost to $42,500 for 150 people. That’s still well below the average Manhattan wedding cost of $66,000, if you believe the latest survey data from The Knot and The Wedding Channel.

On 20 November 2011, Mario Batali’s excellent Eataly will be selling whole white truffles to take home at $7.50/gram, while the restaurants will be offering them at a $45 shaving supplement. That’s about half of what you might pay elsewhere; these prices are as close to COST as you can get — quite frankly Eataly might even be losing money on these transactions. Think of it as a SAMPLE SALE for truffles, which is to say one of the few days a years that 99 percenters can afford this stuff. We say go for it. Last year, Bad Deal Editor Ryan Sutton wrote in his Bloomberg column about a not-so-great $129 truffle dish at Eataly’s Manzo. But that aside, the restaurants here are generally reliable, particularly Il Pesce, where fish whisperer David Pasternack sometimes practices his craft. This is a GOOD DEAL. #OCCUPYALBA

Supermarket Tasting Menu for $180

Mario Batali’s Eataly, a really awesome supermarket in Manhattan’s Flatiron District, is serving six or so courses for $180 on its one year anniversary. Here’s the catch: after each course, you’re required to get up and move to a different section of the supermarket. This will occur in seven groups of 40 people, reports Eater.com. If you liked your time in Guantanamo Bay or up the river at the Sing Sing correctional facility, where everyone is forced to do everyone at once, you might like this. Folks, this is not a tour of Italy’s diverse regions. This is not El Bulli avant-garde gastronomy, never to be served again to mortals. This is moving from the vegetable section of the supermarket to the pasta section of the supermarket.This is $180 for a supermarket tasting menu. Caligula would love this. You won’t. Get your tasting menus at Per Se, not by the olive oil section. BAD DEAL.