Anybody heard of Food Lab?

Looks interesting...anyone know anything about these guys?

https://dinnerlab.com/aboutus.php

Looks interesting. Saw a 175 membership fee, after reading the Forbes link the meals are usually around 75 ea. which includes everything. They have one or two a week, don't tell you until the day before and they sell out quickly, at established cities 3 1/2 minutes. It's like a DT knife on BST

Bill13 said:

Looks interesting. Saw a 75 membership fee, I wonder how much the meals are usually?

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Membership cost varies by city...Dallas is $125. Meal prices generally $50-$100 including drinks, taxes, and gratuity. Tickets purchased ahead of time, no money exchanged at the venue. Seating is communal and first-come, first-served.

Zwiefel,

Edited my post to correct my membership fee error and add some things. I did a quick look online and some people loved it and others not so much. Biggest complaint was because they sell out so quickly. Those people felt that after paying a 175 fee (which is the DC cost) they should have more than 3-4 minutes to decide. I would have to agree, they are overselling the memberships. I am still tempted, however.

Bill13 said:

Zwiefel,

Edited my post to correct my membership fee error and add some things. I did a quick look online and some people loved it and others not so much. Biggest complaint was because they sell out so quickly. Those people felt that after paying a 175 fee (which is the DC cost) they should have more than 3-4 minutes to decide. I would have to agree, they are overselling the memberships. I am still tempted, however.

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Yeah....that's bordering on a ripoff.

$150 out-the-door for a date night isn't bad assuming the food is as described.

I would have to imagine that the food quality varies quite a bit depending on the chef. The location quality could be interesting too. One of the articles mentioned plastic utensils which is not cool at a 75 PP dinner. I still love the idea.

Bill13 said:

I would have to imagine that the food quality varies quite a bit depending on the chef. The location quality could be interesting too. One of the articles mentioned plastic utensils which is not cool at a 75 PP dinner. I still love the idea.

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Nononononono. ask me to use my hands before giving me plastic for a meal over $25.

Went to a non member one during Taste Talks Brooklyn this past December. Setting was decent - an abandoned Pfizer Plant. Food was mediocre and most courses that were supposed to be hot were cold by the time they arrived at table. The table setting came w/ a report card and you graded each course and could leave comments for chef to read. Think it cost $85 a person for 4-5 courses, booze was free flowing though. Overall was a decent experience, but food was nothing special.

easy13 said:

Went to a non member one during Taste Talks Brooklyn this past December. Setting was decent - an abandoned Pfizer Plant. Food was mediocre and most courses that were supposed to be hot were cold by the time they arrived at table. The table setting came w/ a report card and you graded each course and could leave comments for chef to read. Think it cost $85 a person for 4-5 courses, booze was free flowing though. Overall was a decent experience, but food was nothing special.

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Sounds like that was more about having a cool experience (which is OK too).

This started in New Orleans, and I've gone to a couple of really fun ones, but the last dinner lab I went to I got up and left.

I hate to sound like that guy, but the community surrounding Dinner Lab here in New Orleans changed. Initially it was a really good raucous crowd that was excited about food and good cooks that wanted to stretch out and do something different from their day job.

What it turned into was people who don't know or care about food using it as a status symbol and cooks that are grandstanding, digging for investors. It is a lot less fun than it used to be.

What caused me to walk out of the last one wasn't the food, It was done by a friend of mine who now runs a supper club out of her home that feels a lot like dinner lab used to. It was the pecker head next to me that after listening to his inane and sometimes offensive bull **** all night said "I call both my maids Maria, I can't remember their names, and they don't speak English anyway". I can't eat next to someone like that, and that type of person was becoming commonplace.