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Picture us not surprised about this one: According to a new study by Chef's Pencil, New York City is home to one of the highest-priced full tasting menu restaurants in the world.
Specifically, Masa, the Upper West Side eatery manned by world-renowned sushi chef Masa Takayama, is the fifth priciest Michelin-starred destination across the world—and the only one to make the top 15 on the company's list.
According to the research, the price per person at Masa is about $800—a number that seems even steeper when considering that, when it first opened, the restaurant offered an already expensive dining experience: $300 per person for the cheapest tasting menu option (and that did not include gratuity, tax or any wine or sake).
To come up with the ranking, Chef's Pencil analyzed the menus of over 450 Michelin-starred outposts in high-priced cities the likes of New York, Paris, San Francisco and Tokyo. They then ranked the restaurants with the most expensive full tasting menus, accounting for locations that offer multiple options at different price points. Overall, for the purposes of the list, the methodology called for only taking into account the most expensive full-tasting course.
Based on those parameters, Sublimotion in Ibiza, Spain, landed on the first spot of the list—with the top tasting menu costing about $1,740 per head. Ultraviolet by Paul Pairet in Shanghai, China; Kitcho Arashimayama Honten in Kyoto, Japan; and Azabu Kadowaki in Tokyo, Japan round out the top five.
Read through the whole ranking right here and, perhaps, make a reservation for a meal at Masa as a holiday gift to yourself?