This $8 Nectarine Dessert At Zuni Cafe Is A Little Disappointing
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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Comments:
It's called "nouveau minimalist presentation." Get over it.
; )
Hilarious that the nectarine dessert is just a nectarine, but there's no way they should be charging $8 for that unless it's a joke.
I hope they at least washed it first.
OMG that's 3 dollars more than I paid for a great lunch at a Chinese hole in the wall in SF. I actually paid for 3 of us, came to a whopping $15 dollars.
There's nothing "minimalist" about $8.
They could at least slice it up for you and remove the pit!
@Tzepish: There's nothing "minimalist" about $8.
Ah, but you're wrong. The fuzz has been lovingly shaved off.
Being from CA I'll give you all a piece of advice. Don't eat anywhere with the word "cafe" in it's name. Well, unless you're the type that uses crisp $100 bills to light your cigars.
@Neecy: Only $8 nectarines have fuzz. It's what the extra $7.41 was paid for (well, the extra $.41 -- the other $7 was to take it off).
@Neecy:
Never heard of a nectarine with fuzz. Are you confusing them with peaches?
Yeah, probably. I'm not a fan of either one...
For 8 bucks I should get a full bag of nectarines, at the least. And only if they are out of season. In season at least two bags. Sheesh.
-- gc3160
website: thegc.deviantart.com
email: gc3160@NOSPAMcharter.net --
Did it at least taste good?
But, but.....it's organic and vegan!
At least poach it - poached pears are nom nom nom.
Haha, I'd say they would charge that extra 7 dollars for plating...but to throw it on the plate whole? Pleaseee
I don't care about the nectarine, but more about how it was presented on the menu. Did it say anything other then "a nectarine"?
maybe they shoulda chucked the plate in their purse or briefcase and taken it home as a way to even things out a little.
although, on second inspection, that doesn't look like a very expensive plate ...
silverware, maybe?
(i'm kidding! i'm kidding! stealing is wrong, even if in very provocative dessert situations.)
We've been big fans of the Zuni Cafe cookbook, but our visit to the restaurant was rather disappointing. For example, their signature chicken dish requires a one hour wait, but they don't tell you this until you are ready to order. We had been waiting for nearly an hour just to get our seats, so we were in no mood to wait an extra hour (or perhaps only half hour) for this dish. Having never tried their signature dish, we can only say that the rest of their menu was rather uninspiring, and the cooking sank to the occasion. Some years back, we imagine, Zuni Cafe was quite a restaurant, but nowwWe think they are just coasting on their reputation.
This nectarine dessert story does little to counter our impression.
The wholesale market price on 48-50ct nectarines is running between $16 - $17 per case right now. Even after paying the 15% - 25% markup, that's a pretty margin for the restaurant.
Many cafes and restaurants seem to have taken the phrase "The more you pay, the better it must taste" phrase litterally. Too bad so few rely on just the price to make the food taste good instead of the cooking doing the job.
Steak places have taken this to the extreme.
The price of the nectarine on a plate has gone up. A comment on Yelp this July priced it at $4.50, so they have drastically raised the price of the nectarine this month.
[www.yelp.com]
I love good food but places like this frequently end up doing themselves in because they get so ego inflated they start doing stupid things like selling $8 nectarines on a plate. If a place has a bit too much name recognition I will actively avoid it.
I, for one, welcome our new nect... err, nevermind.
This would be a funny Kitchen Nightmares
You f**king donkey! That nectarine is RAW! Close the kitchen! F**k off, the lot of you!
@SpiderJerusalem: Ah, great. Now I hear Gordon Ramsey in my head.
"*bleeping* hell. This is just *bleep* *bleep* *bleeping* pretentious *bleeping* *bleep*.
It's California... Surprise surprise.
Wow...are you sure this isn't a joke? If not, would it have put them out too much to cut it up fancily and put it on a pretty plate, or maybe toss a dollup of cool whip on it? Oh, I forgot...that would destroy the ethos. Previous poster was right; stay away from any food establishment containing the word "cafe".
@triggerh: I wish people who stereotyped CA would come out here and actually EXPERIENCE it. There's more to CA than trends.
It looks like they've lost their right to the High Life.
Must me some genetically modified nectarine that gives you superhuman powers...
Let's say, don't visit this place again. Especially as the fruit doesn't look very fresh in the first place.
Damn. And here I was, home from the grocery store and already congratulating myself on buying six fresh, ripe, perfect nectarines for three bucks at the farmer's market when they're that much per pound at the grocery!
They're fabulous, too; white nectarines that taste of honeysuckle and sunshine. I'm going to have one right now -- and I'm going to slice it, arrange it in a vintage glass bowl and eat it with a tiny, silver fork. Take that, overpriced, trendy 'cafes'!
Considering you can find various tree fruit everywhere in CA a mere nectarine is hardly anything special. Even some specific hybrid.
@krispykrink: There's tons of good places that I've been to that have the word 'Cafe' in it that was good and wasn't expensive.
I, for one, ask for descriptions of all the available desserts before I decide what to get. If the description was "unadorned raw necatrine in a bowl" I might just pass and pick the Triple Chocolate Brownie Blast instead.
$8.00 for a nectarine ?
for that price do I get to shove it up the waiter's cornhole?
It's the end of the meal and they can't spit in anything you send back. I think it would be perfectly appropriate to respond to this with "are you kidding me? I'm not paying for that!"
I've eaten at a ton of pretentious restaurants before all over NY. If any of them pulled this the chef would be wearing that peach.
Send it back. The dish is not to your liking send it back. If they fuss, tell them it's undercooked.
OUCH! I think you can spend a buck at most corner lights in CA and not only get a BAG OF ORANGES, but you might even get your windshield cleaned too! Oh wait, that windshield thing is in New York City.....but hey.....the oranges are still cheaper by the bag on the local corner in CA! Jiminey Cricket! Ya'all need to learn how to budget. I'm getting the feeling that this may be where Congress, the Senate and the President are eating. No wonder they are all out of touch with what the "rest of us" do or NEED! Anyone who would PAY $8.00 for this, deserves to be cheated, it's obvious you have way too much money and not enough common sense! ROFL!
I have to say that I just miss the days when a Consumerist story started out the Mac and Cheese story does:
Hey Consumerist! Funny night for both me and my roommate. Not only did the girl I am seeing not put out, but my roommate has a problem with his date as well. They had decided to go to dinner at a restaurant she liked in the west village...
(Well, technically that was before my time, but we can't bother ourselves with silly details like that con me?
@bohemian: Zuni says the $8 is an error, and the price really was supposed to be $4.50:
Yikes! If the customer who posted this photo was charged $8.00 for the nectarine it was definitely an error. We would love the customer to contact us with their receipt and we would be more than happy to refund the entire amount for the fruit. Checking our menus, the Blossom Bluff Summer Grand nectarine was on our dessert menu from July 29-31st for $4.50.
So I see that, after clicking on the link for the $55 mac and cheese, that blaming the OP was still a standard practice on this blog in 2006. Nice to know.
This is as bad as the dessert my family and I were served in Italy - two pineapple rings from a can on a plate. Dole International!
@OldJohnRobinson: I thought it was more interesting that, after going back and looking at and clicking around the $55 Mac and Cheese post, the restaurant in question has since gone out of business.
I guess they couldn't get enough people to pay for the mac and cheese after they ate it. ;p
@OldJohnRobinson: So I see that, after clicking on the link for the $55 mac and cheese, that blaming the OP was still a standard practice on this blog in 2006. Nice to know.
Well, it did say "truffles" on the sans prix menu. And most of those commenters have been banned, so it works out in the end.
Nice way to shit on your customers
@purplesun: Waverly Inn is still open, actually. Well, pre-opened : part of the twee game Grayden Carter et al are playing is that the Waverly has never officially opened, and is run more as a private club for their friends and for celebrities.
We need to go ahead and carpet bomb SF.