Brooklyn Fare Dinner Date Will Now Run Nearly $1,300 With Wine

The Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare, the three Michelin-starred restaurant that moved from Downtown Brooklyn to Manhattan’s West Side in 2017, is getting even more “Manhattan” in what it charges for dinner. As of the new year, Cesar Ramirez’s French-Japanese counter spot costs $35 more per person than it previously did, with the menu set at $394.36 — making it one of the most expensive restaurants in the city, right behind Masa.

Previously, the price was listed as $330, inclusive of service but not tax. Now, in remarkable nod to European-style price transparency, the new, higher price is inclusive of not just service but tax as well. Virtually every restaurant in New York — and quite frankly, the country — lists the cost of dining as pre-tax. With that in mind, the most recent Brooklyn Fare dinner price represents close to a 10 percent hike. The number of courses changes from day to day, though Ramirez has previously offered 15 to 16.

Optional wine pairings, by contrast, are purchased at the restaurant and include neither tax nor gratuity. They run $195 per person. That means a full loaded dinner for two at the restaurant, which this critic awarded four stars at the beginning of 2016, will cost $1,291.

Restaurants around New York have been raising their prices as the city continues to hike its minimum wage. As of Sunday, culinary establishments and other businesses with 10 or more employees have to pay their staffers now less than $13/hour, and it tipped workers no less than $8.70/hour, before gratuities.

A spokesperson for Brooklyn Fare, however, said that the price hike “has nothing to do with the minimum wage” but rather “the cost of our luxury products.” The restaurant often includes caviar, truffles, Wagyu beef, foie gras, and other indulgences as part of its long tasting menu — but without the expensive supplements they can command elsewhere.

Few restaurants have raised their prices over the years like Brooklyn Fare. The tasting menu-only venue was practically a bargain when it charged just $135 in 2011, though service was not included then. It is now ranks behind Masa as the city’s second most expensive culinary establishment by starting price.