"Former 'Top Chef' star has revived his dream"

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-1210-dale-levitskidec10,0,3488635.story?page=1

About Dale Levitski and his trevails to becoming the chef at Sprout. Nice article.

Via the Sprout website, Dale seeks input on the restaurant's pricing. I was the first to comment.

Kennyz wrote:Via the Sprout website, Dale seeks input on the restaurant's pricing. I was the first to comment.

Are the comment moderated? I don't see any comments yet?

Yeah, mine still says "awaiting moderation". Here it is...


Nice idea to seek input, and I’m surprised no one has commented yet. You note that if you were on Randolph, you would have a la carte entrees that would be more than 35 bucks. But according to your website, you DO have a la carte entrees, and they ARE more than 35 bucks. That leaves me a little confused.

I think a 60 dollar prix fixe is fine if you plan to rely on the NY Times Travel section to draw your customers, or Phil Vettel’s ability to convince suburbanites to stop in Lincoln Park on on their way to a Saturday night on the town. Maybe you’ll also get a few DePaul students with their parents on graduation day. I’d expect weeknight traffic to be slow.

You’re a fantastic cook and a great guy, and I’m sorry I’ll probably only get to Sprout once or twice. There are other fine chefs with recent openings that put out excellent food at about 2/3 of the price. Entrees in the high 30’s and 5-course tasting menus have had their day in the culinary world. This isn’t it.

Kenny December 11, 2009 at 7:26 am
Your comment is awaiting moderation.

one more thing: I’d suggest that whoever’s in charge of Sprout’s wine program stop insulting customers by taking bottles from the Jewel middle shelf and marking them up 400-500%. Charging $90 for Wild Horse Pinot is a crime.

After reading the Trib piece, I was excited to try Sprout. Kenny's post really has me scratching my head. How could Dale possibly make the connection between Randolph Corridor restaurants and $35 entrees when nearly all of his entrees are over $35? Is the on-line menu out of date?

The on-line wine list is strange also. First, there are no vintages on the wines. I'm not a freak about vintages, but not listing them generally means there isn't anyone who knows much about wine running the program. Second, the Wild Horse is listed as "18.90". That period is meant to indicate that glasses cost $18 and the bottle costs $90 (I presume, because this isn't noted anywhere). Using a period is simply confusing, and for no good reason. It isn't hip or modern or whatever. Finally, I tend not to complain about mark-ups, but as Kenny noted, these are especially high. A $20 bottle going for $90? More important than the mark-up, though, is that this is an uninteresting wine list.

I do think that $60 for a five course meal, with "a few splashes of wine," could be a good deal. If it was a three course meal with two amuse-bouche-style tastes, I might feel a little differently (and it appears from the limited information on the blog and menu that this is what it is).

Darren72 wrote:The on-line wine list is strange also. First, there are no vintages on the wines. I'm not a freak about vintages, but not listing them generally means there isn't anyone who knows much about wine running the program. Second, the Wild Horse is listed as "18.90". That period is meant to indicate that glasses cost $18 and the bottle costs $90 (I presume, because this isn't noted anywhere). Using a period is simply confusing, and for no good reason. It isn't hip or modern or whatever. Finally, I tend not to complain about mark-ups, but as Kenny noted, these are especially high. A $20 bottle going for $90? More important than the mark-up, though, is that this is an uninteresting wine list.

Funny, $18.99 is the retail price for Wild Horse @ Binny's, so it's almost as if the glass/bottle pricing reflects the amount you can buy it retail. (Sprout is clearly not buying their wine at retail prices.) Anyway, I agree with you that the wine list provides little information. What about the vintage, but more than that, the place of origin? Or the vineyard, which may make a difference in ordering?

I hate to say it, but a 400% markup is not especially unusual these days. Do I think it's ridiculous? You betcha. The days of the 100%, even 200%, markup on wine in Chicago is over. One of the reasons why I frequent more BYO restaurants lately.

I think Aschie30 brings up a good point. BYO lets one afford a Bonsoiree or Schwa pricing, which it appears Dale is going for. I just had a bottle of Mahi Sauvignon Blanc that retails for $18, for $50 at Tru.

A year from now Sprout may be in the front ranks of Chicago restaurants. At the moment, though, it has the fascination of a train wreck, splashily disastrous opening meets meltdown celebrity chef. In these economic times, hard to justify dropping a large wad on what could as easily be the Alhambra of 2009. If Levitski's been holed up in his apartment for a couple of years he may still be out of touch with the fact that name chefs are going at least midscale (Graham Elliot, Publican) if not downscale (Belly Shack, Big Star). You can drift upward when the food justifies it (as Schwa has) but this is a moment to start modestly and prove that there's substance to your celebrity.

50 bucks for something that retails for just under 20 is acceptable. If even a place like Tru is doing that, how can Sprout think they can get away with 90? It's ridiculous. At least try to con us with something we've never heard of. But White Horse? Please.

Another thing I think Dale needs to consider is the competition: exactly one block west of Sprout, one can enjoy a fantastic, GNR-award-winning $29 three-course meal without having to worry about ridiculous wine markups.

Kennyz wrote:50 bucks for something that retails for just under 20 is acceptable. If even a place like Tru is doing that, how can Sprout think they can get away with 90? It's ridiculous. At least try to con us with something we've never heard of. But White Horse? Please.

Frankly, I'm surprised Tru's markup is so low at about 275% (probably higher when taking into account wholesale). But they may be "losing" money on that wine by pricing it below their regular markup, so that they can feature it as a "lower priced" bottle on their menu, and then make up the money up on other, more obscure, or better-known bottles. Sometimes the markups vary by bottle. Pricing wine can be a complicated, almost commodity-like endeavor that depends upon the bottle, the type of wine (if Pinot Noirs are popular, they'll get priced higher), the spread of pricing on the wine list (you have to sell some cheaper bottles, which might mean taking a hit on the profit), the amount the restaurant paid wholesale for the wine, and whether they cut a deal on certain wines by buying out a distributor's stock, which may affect the entire menu's pricing as well.

I'm not necessarily defending Sprout or saying it's right -- but, really, markups on bottles such as these are not that unusual these days, especially on Pinot Noirs.

aschie30 wrote:I'm not necessarily defending Sprout or saying it's right -- but, really, markups on bottles such as these are not that unusual these days, especially on Pinot Noirs.

data point: I had bottle of a highly-rated Bethel Heights 2007 Pinot at Sola last weekend -- $25-30 retail -- for $68.

tem wrote:

aschie30 wrote:I'm not necessarily defending Sprout or saying it's right -- but, really, markups on bottles such as these are not that unusual these days, especially on Pinot Noirs.

data point: I had bottle of a highly-rated Bethel Heights 2007 Pinot at Sola last weekend -- $25-30 retail -- for $68.

Yes, aschie30 is certainly right that Sprout is not alone with its obscene markups, but I disagree with the notion that such obscenity is unavoidable. Last night at Anteprima I had an excellent $42 bottle of wine that retails for $20, and a $33 bottle that retails for $16. Sure there are other places like Sprout, most of which have hefty bills to pay courtesy of their PR firm. They all deserve a big fat F-You.

Dale Levitski of Sprout and Frog 'n' Snail has a new project, and it's called time off. The chef, who became a household name when he was a runner-up in the third season of Bravo's "Top Chef" cooking competition, told Eater Chicago he has left the restaurants and is taking a year off. No word on who will step in to either kitchen.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... s-building