Customers at Zuni Cafe in San Francisco were surprised to find that their $8 dessert was nothing more than a nectarine rolling around on a plate.
Under a Chowhound post titled “Nectarine Dessert at Zuni Is Just That,” the poster praised Zuni’s “ethos of simplicity in flavors and cooking,” but thought that this was going too far. We agree. It’s no $55 mac and cheese, but it seems a bit ridiculous to charge $8 for a piece of fruit that isn’t a mangosteen.
UPDATE: Commenter Michael Belisle writes that someone from Zuni left a comment on a message board claiming the nectarine should have only been $4.50, which is less ludicrous, although still fairly pricey for a food whose only preparation was putting it on a plate. Thanks, Michael!
Nectarine Dessert At Zuni Is Just That [Chowhound via Serious Eats]
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@Cortina: Ahhh. So, technically, it’s closed, except that they have friends that keep the place open. Understandable.
We have a lot of places in Austin like that. Of course, the general theory is that they’re run by the mafia.
… Ok. I’m getting way off topic. Time for sleep. ;p
@SpiderJerusalem: I’ve been there…not impressed. EXCEPT with Yosemite, love me some national park. Redwoods and Sequoias were bad either.
@Michael Belisle: Whew! That’s much better!
@usellubuy: ‘scuse me… but it’s Oranges, Socks, Flowers and one a drizzly day, an Umbrella. Git yer facts straight!
There are white nectarines the size of a baby’s head under .80/lb about a mile away in Chinatown. I’m sure this is some rare species that was hand pollinated and sprayed with rose water its entire life or something but I doubt it tastes any better than those.
And fresh mangosteens fetch less than $8/lb.
If you read the comments on the original post, the nectarines at Zuni are really $4.50, not $8. That said, I’ve never been to Zuni in the City, but well, I’ve heard plenty about it, and it’s supposed to be fabulous.
Oh, it’s ONLY $4.50. Our mistake! That’s a TOTALLY fair price for a plain piece of fruit on a plate!
Good grief.
Not only would I be ticked about the price (even at $4.50), I would be terribly confused as to how to eat it. Do you just pick it up with your hand and eat it? Or would etiquette call for a knife and fork in a fancy place like that?
@mdoublej:
Indeed…reminds me of that scene from Roald Dahl’s Going Solo where he learns from an eccentric he’s traveling with how to peel and eat an orange with a knife and fork.
Regardless of the price, a single, unadorned nectarine on a plate is just insulting. Now, if for $4.50 they gave you a fantastic peach, a nice, clean bar towel, and let you eat it standing over the sink in the kitchen, that would be another story. At least that would be kinda avant-garde.
Anybody that goes to a restaurant and pays over $30.00 for a small plate of food is insane. I don’t care who made it or how the hell it tastes, it’s just a waste of money.
@crescentia: Take your protein pills and put your helmet on.
Seriously, if that’s not how you enjoy spending your hard-earned cash, please don’t feel obligated. Some of us truly like a good (and sometimes pricey) dining experience, and we’re not insane.
I’m not saying that a $8 raw nectarine on a plate qualifies as a good dining experience. That might be insane.
They didn’t even slice it or anything… FAIL
@crescentia: One should never bash other people’s hobbies, really. If all we did were things that were logical, we would eat bread & water, take a vitamin pill, go to work, exercise, and go directly to bed each and every day.
Anything else could easily be broken down as insane from the right point of view, including sports, television, and internet commenting.
If $100 or $500 meals are your interest/passion/hobby, then more power to you. If $500 meals are your daily form of nutrition intake, then I’m on board an insanity argument.
they should at least cut it into wedges for you.
LOL
Decades back, Dudley Moore and Peter Cook had a stage routine in which a chef’s two signature dishes were frog ala peach (a huge bullfrog stuffed with peach slices) and peach ala frog (a huge peach filled with tadpoles.)
I would gladly pay $8 for — and eat — either of those before I’d pay $8 or even $4.50 for a naked whole nectarine on a plate.
I have to wonder if they even bothered to wash it.
@SpiderJerusalem: Yah you’re right. Sorry, there’s earthquakes, mudslides, and wildfires too. LOL Just teasing you. Actually I don’t think this is a Cali. thing. I have seen pretentious, uppity restaurants like this in NY, RI, Mass, SC, NC, and VA. So yeh Cali is not the issue here. Pretentious pricks and their overpriced desserts are!
Bet the guy thought, ‘give me a nectarine on a place. I’m sure you can’t f**k that up’, and then they go and whack an $8 price tag on. Ah, touché.
I want that thing in a hatfull of perfume for $8.
Gordon Ramsay would have a field day with this.
@purplesun:
Ha ha ha, you beat me!
At least they’re not hiding the fact that they only want your money.
So did these people refuse to pay or anything? If I was served a single nectarine on a place for $8, I’d just send it back and say I wasn’t going to pay for it.
The most I’ve ever payed for fruit was the $2.50 I paid for an organic peach which was larger then my fist. It was worth every penny by the way.
Even then… $4.50 for a nectarine is EXPENSIVE!
@Quilt: Ah yes… fruits that are larger then your fist and juicy at that. You should try a dragon fruit. I found a store that sold them… they’re a bit expensive since they’re not locally grown in the US and has to be imported but they’re worth it! That and there are hundreds of types of dragon fruit… although the store i found only sold one type…
I don’t get it, even for $4.50, does like some beautiful model bring it to you? do you get it with a song? A nectarine at a fruit stand even a GOOD fruit stand is like no more than 80 cents. Well, that was just my 2 cents.
It needs more truffles.
Next time get the $5 banana. It’s more filling.
@Michael Belisle: And it even has Bluff in the name! Priceless. Or rather $8!
@Michael Belisle: “Yikes! We didn’t mean to charge an arm and leg – we meant to charge only a leg!”
@ceejeemcbeegee @usellubuy: Don’t forget the tamales. Best damn tamales you’ll ever have.
@kaleberg:
Personally I wouldn’t pay $48 ($24/person) for chicken, but it does say an hour wait on the menu.
[
Chicken For Two Roasted In The Brick Oven, Warm Bread Salad with red mustard greens, scallions currants, and pine nuts. approximately 1 hour
]
wow. just wow. and i have to remind myself why i don’t eat out much anymore? (except for cheap fast food…) i appreciate that a restaurant worker announced that this was a mistake, but even for the real price, couldn’t they have sliced it or something? anything but just put it on a plate and leave it like that?
@james: @kaleberg: .
The $48/1 hour chicken is WELL worth the wait and the price.
@suburb:
The $48/1 hour chicken is WELL worth the wait and the price.
Now you’ve got me curious — I’d like to try it but can’t imagine waiting an hour for my food once I ordered it.
It is San Francisco, so it must be the “abstract” food thing.