You may have heard of the pay-up-front reservation concept happening at Trois Mec in L.A., Volver in Philly and elsewhere. It's where you pay for the entire experience as though you're buying a ticket to a concert. The Wall Street Journal wrote about the idea in an article they called “The Restaurant Reservation Revolution” back in May.
And now, for tomorrow night's game-meat dinner at Clay Oven in Irvine, Chef Geeta Bansal is offering a pay-up-front ticketed meal in OC. If I'm not mistaken, she's one of the first restaurateurs in OC to do so.
For a total of $195.00 ($202.82 w/service fee) that you pay for online for a Will-Call or a print-at-home ticket, you get five courses of game meats and seasonal produce accompanied with wine pairings from Trefethen Family Vineyards.
]
Here's the full menu:
Drappier Brut Champagne
First Course
Kangaroo, bone marrow, and mixed grain naan
Trefethen Harmony Reserve Chardonnay 2012
Second Course
Poussin, pistachio, Kaala chawal
Trefethen Estate Dry Riesling 2013
Third Course
Elk, root vegetables, pomegranate, paratha
Trefethen Estate Pinot Noir 2012
Fourth Course
Antelope, roses, Trinidad moruga peppers, quinoa
Trefethen Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2011
Fifth Course
Duck, chocolate, cardamom
Trefethen Late Harvest Riesling 2013
So if you have about that much to spend, and you can actually commit to it (I doubt there are refunds for no shows), you can have all this tomorrow, December 17 at 7 p.m.
The pay-up-front concept is only for this dinner though. Clay Oven maintains the usual payment scheme of a typical restaurant after this.
Follow Stick a Fork In It on Twitter @ocweeklyfood or on Facebook! And don't forget to download our free Best Of App here!
Before becoming an award-winning restaurant critic for OC Weekly in 2007, Edwin Goei went by the alias “elmomonster” on his blog Monster Munching, in which he once wrote a whole review in haiku.