Zagat Survey Discussions

By ZAGAT.com staff editors

Notable performances by restaurants in a variety of categories, from nuttiest name to kookiest concept

Call it a case of Oscar fever: now that awards season is in full swing, we thought it was time to shine the spotlight on some notable performances by restaurants in a variety of categories (all highly subjective and wide open to debate). After all, why let the Academy have all the fun? And the winners are...

Nuttiest Name

These days, restaurateurs seem to pay as much attention to what's on the marquee as what's on the plate. Naming trends range from the in-dire-need-of-a-copy-editor category (brgr, STK, Pre:Post) to the why-the-heck-did-they-call-it-that department (Feelings Cafe, Food Amongst the Flowers, Stumbling Goat). For sheer comic effect, though, it can be hard to top the impact in English of certain foreign names, like Muy Dung in Japan and – our fave – Copenhagen's head-spinning TyvenKokkenHansKoneOgHendesElsker. Named after the film The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, it strings together 33 consonants (nine more than the Greek alphabet!).

Most Eye-Catching Decor

Restaurateurs routinely spend millions trying to outdo each other in the decor department, turning dining rooms into ever more elaborate stage sets – 2,000 samurai swords are suspended from the ceiling at NYC's new Kobe Club and Chicago's recently debuted DeLaCosta is outfitted with a "solarium" lounge, as well as five private cabanas. But Moscow's Shinok may have them all beat. This 24-hour Ukrainian eatery features a glassed-in faux farmhouse in its center filled with live domestic animals – cows, hens, horses – tended to by a lady who sits and knits (shades of Madame Defarge) when not otherwise occupied with her charges. The animals are there for visual interest only so Bessie won't eventually wind up on your dinner plate. If that's not distraction enough, a clown is on hand to amuse children on weekends. Now that's entertainment!

Kookiest Concept

It's a restaurant... It's a hotel... It's a movie set... Somehow, Aphrodisiac in Los Angeles manages to offer the experience of all three. For $395 (including tax and tip), you and your date get an eight-course meal with eight wine pairings served in the "bedroom," a small chamber complete with a mirror, king-size bed covered with a crimson velvet spread, and – what else? – a video camera. Also included: your own private butler and an unedited DVD of your three-hour experience. What's on the DVD, we don't want to know.

Most Counter-Intuitive Fee

Surprising surcharges aren't uncommon in the restaurant world but how about being charged for failing to clean your plate? At Yuka, a popular New York City sushi specialist, opt for the $18.95 all-you-can-eat deal and you'll be charged an extra $1 for every piece of sushi you fail to consume (and double that for every leftover roll). But hey, at least you're not asked to leave, which surveyors say has been among the clean-your-plate strategies used by Spirite Lounge, a vegan eatery in Montreal.

Priciest Prix Fixe

For big-spender bragging rights in the U.S. it's hard to beat Masa, the Japanese superstar in New York City's Time Warner Center that charges a whopping $400 for five courses (and there's no à la carte escape route). Your bill can climb even higher if you opt for one of the sometimes-available supplements like Kobe beef. Of course, you can find even steeper options across the pond thanks to the current exchange rate. At haute cuisine haven L'Arpège in Paris, the six-course prix fixe served in spring, summer and fall will set you back 340 euros, or roughly $446. And its current winter truffle menu is priced at 420 euros, or about $551.

Tastiest Trend

In what may be the most notable marriage of high and low since Rick Bayless teamed up with Burger King, restaurants around the country are introducing gourmet spins on junk food. You may not be able to get a foie gras burger in Chicago anymore, but you can console yourself with Tavern's $11 potato chips (they're sprinkled with three flavors of tobiko – wasabi, ginger and tabasco – plus onions and crème fraîche), or, if you're really feeling down in the dumps, a $100 Beluga caviar–topped pizza at Barcello's. In DC, Charlie Palmer Steak offers gourmet riffs on street food classics, including a lobster corn dog ($9) served at the bar. And over in LA, the new Oinkster serves "slow fast food" like house-cured pastrami with Gruyère cheese, caramelized onion and red cabbage slaw ($8.50).

Biggest-Bucks Burger

Blame it on Daniel Boulud. Back in 2001, the celebrated chef debuted a short rib–, foie gras– and preserved truffle–stuffed sirloin patty at db Bistro Moderne for the then-jaw-dropping price tag of $26 (it's now $32). Others are following suit: NYC's new BLT Burger hawks a $62 Japanese Kobe beef variety. But short of a gold-plated patty, it's hard to imagine how anyone could one-up the FleurBurger 5000 – as in $5,000 – served at Mandalay Bay's Fleur de Lys. It matches the competition in choice ingredients (truffles, foie gras, Japanese Kobe), then amps the luxe factor by throwing in a bottle of 1990 Chateau Petrus poured in Ichendorf Brunello stemware (the crystal is later shipped to your home). According to a restaurant manager, two were once sold at the same table, though it's usually the casino that foots the bill for high rollers. Low rollers can always console themselves at the nearest In-N-Out.

Toughest Reservations

Sure, it's not easy to snag one of the 15 tables at per se, Thomas Keller's NYC standout, but there's no special trick involved in trying: just call the listed number and book (for months out, if necessary). But at other tough tickets, it's not quite as straightforward: Chef Vola's in Atlantic City, for example, assigns reservations for the whole year at the beginning of the year, and if you're not a regular or friendly with the owner, Louise Esposito, good luck.

At NYC's Waverly Inn, calling the listed number gets you a recording saying that the restaurant is opening in the fall – despite the fact that it's been serving boldface-named friends of co-owner Graydon Carter since mid-November. There is a secret phone number for bookings, but mere mortals who don't have it can either take a shot at getting a walk-in table or make reservations in person.