A college student treated herself to the dinner of her dreams after spending a whopping $600 on a 22-course meal for herself at one of the most expensive restaurants in America.
An Imgur user from Australia known as Hoptail saved her money to dine at Saison in San Francisco earlier this year. The pricey establishment is the most expensive restaurant in California and the second most expensive restaurant in America.
As someone who loves good food and fine dining, the student decided to share her experience at the restaurant by posting photos along with a play-by-play of every decadent dish she was served.
Restaurant: An Imgur user shared photos of her $600 meal for one at Saison in San Francisco, the second most expensive restaurant in America
Living the life: The Australian college student, known as Hoptail on Imgur, stressed that is she is ‘not well-off by any means,’ she just saves her money for fine dining
First: When she sat down, she was served tea that was made with fresh Douglas fir, yarrow, chamomile, lemon balm, anise and hyssop and seeped in hot Meyer lemon water
‘I’m not well-off by any means – I’m a college student,’ she wrote in her Imgur post. ‘But I love good food and I save up for this s**t. So please enjoy living vicariously through these photos of my dinner for one at Saison.’
When she first sat down, a server brought her tea, and she admitted it was the best tea she has ever had.
‘This was, no joke, the most heavenly tea I’ve ever had in my life and could quite cheerfully drink this every day until I died,’ she wrote.
The woman explained that the each bushel of tea had fresh Douglas fir, yarrow, chamomile, lemon balm, anise and hyssop picked from the restaurant farm before being seeped in hot Meyer lemon water.
‘It was only supposed to accompany one course but I requested that it be replenished throughout the evening. All four hours of it,’ she admitted.
Second: Next up, was baby spinach and roasted kelp prepared with clarified butter and topped with proprietary caviar
Next: After the kelp and spinach dish, she was served turbot fish two ways – sashimi style and grilled with soy glaze
Still going: Following the turbot fish, she was given geoduck, a species of very large, saltwater clam
For her second course, she had baby spinach and roasted kelp topped with proprietary caviar, a specific type that you can only have there. The spinach and kelp were cooked in clarified butter, ‘compliments of their jersey cow Bella.’
‘Can’t tell you how buttery and melty this all was,’ she wrote. ‘Even though all the textures were super different, they came together so smoothly.’
The woman’s follow course featured turbot fish that was cooked two different ways, and she gushed that the ‘sashimi was amazing.’
Calling it the ‘most tender, buttery squid you’ve ever had in your life,’ she joked that she ‘shed tears’ knowing she would never have better raw fish than that.
However, she wasn’t quiet as impressed with the second preparation of the Turbot fish.
Next course: A fresh sea urchin dish was delivered on grilled bread and she said it was ‘hands down’ her ‘favorite course’
Radish: After the fish,she was given a radish dish that featured a radish jelly vinegar reduction and cubes of marinated radish
‘The second preparation was grilled with a light soy glaze. Came with little heirloom tomatoes and some sort of deepfried flower. Was nice,’ she said.
Next up was geoduck, a species of very large, saltwater clam, and she admittedly wasn’t a fan of that either.
‘If you’ve never heard of them before, Google it,’ she wrote. ‘They are freaky looking af. Honestly, it wasn’t that good. Just kind of chewy and the marinade was super overwhelming I couldn’t actually taste the meat.’
While describing her photo, she explained that ‘this is actually three separate parts of the clam – the siphon (the freakish long, sticky-outty part of the clam), the abductor muscle and I think the inside bit.’
With so many courses, it’s unsurprising that she didn’t like them all, but she insisted that the following course was the best part of the meal.
Pumpkin: Served three different ways, the next dish was roasted pumpkin. The first option was roasted pumpkin topped with octopus flakes (pictured)
Other ways: The second preparation (left) was pumpkin slow roasted for hours with buttermilk cream and third, (right) was a pumpkin puree in cold-pressed pumpkin seed oil
‘This was, hands down, my favorite course,’ she said. ‘Fresh sea urchin, uni, on grilled bread that was basted in a sauce made of the offcuts of the bread. It was awesome.
‘I’ve never had sea urchin before, it was super creamy… like the butter of the sea. So amazingly fresh and the sauce in the bread was incredible. Definitely my favorite.’
After the sea urchin, she was given a radish dish made with clarified butter that featured every part of the root vegetable.
‘Underneath there was a sort of radish jelly vinegar reduction, the radish tops and cubes of marinated radish,’ she explained.
‘It was actually super fresh and tart and a really good transition from the richness of the previous course.’
Meat: Antelope was served with stuffed radicchio, herb salad, and biscuits
Antelope: The meat (left) was sourced from a ranch in Texas, while an antelope bone broth with sage (right) was also served
Next was roasted pumpkin, three different ways.
‘The first to the left is kind of like Agedashi tofu except it’s torn roast pumpkin topped with octopus flakes. Was actually super nice.
‘Second preparation was pumpkin hung over their in-house fire and slow roasted for like eight hours with a buttermilk cream. Caramelisation was incredible.
‘Not sure about this one. Pumpkin puree in cold-pressed pumpkin seed oil. It felt like it was kind of added as an afterthought and was way too salty. I’m not even sure how I was supposed to eat it.’
The pumpkin was followed by antelope that ‘came with stuffed radicchio, herb salad and really nice biscuits and honey butter that tasted like pancakes.’
Dessert: For dessert, smoked ice cream with ‘life-changing salted caramel’ was served
Sides: Accompanying the ice cream, was an assortment of candied toppings including walnuts, peanuts, cacao nibs and pine nuts
Although it was delicious, she admitted that she struggled to enjoy it because of the animal the meat came from.
‘Objectively, I’m sure it was nice. It was well-seasoned and had the texture of a cross between venison and beef and was perfectly medium-rare. Melt-in-your-mouth-melt-your-heart amazing,’ she explained.
‘The fact that it was sourced from a ranch in Texas did nothing to abate my Lion King flashbacks and my childhood sentimentality got in the way of really being able to enjoy this one.’
Unfortunately, there was even more antelope on the menu.
‘God make it stop. Antelope bone broth with sage,’ she wrote of the next dish. ‘It was actually really nice, but I needed to move on from Bambi’s relatives.’
Finally, it was time up for dessert, and the first treat was ice cream.
Creamsicle: After the ice cream, an orange buttermilk creamsicle was served in the actual fruit with candied oranges at the bottom
For liquor fans: Her third dessert was brandy macerated blueberries topped with blueberry sorbet and more brandy
‘This is smoked ice cream. Don’t ask me the science behind how one smokes ice cream – but it’s got something to do incorporating exotic wood embers into the cream,’ she wrote. ‘So incredible though, and came with life-changing salted caramel.’
She noted that the dish also came with an assortment of candied toppings, including walnuts, peanuts, cacao nibs and pine nuts.
The following dessert was an orange buttermilk creamsicle, which she said was ‘super smooth, really creamy and had hidden segments of candied oranges at the bottom.’
‘I’ll confess, I’d been eating for like three and a half hours at this point and picked through the ice cream to get to the wedges,’ she admitted.
‘I felt bad, but I was barely halfway through the dessert portion of the menu and was already on struggle street.
Although she was getting stuffed, she kept going, and her third dessert was brandy macerated blueberries topped with blueberry sorbet and more brandy.
‘Good if you like brandy. I don’t,’ she said.
Trick: She said the Saison ‘Snickers’ bar is an off-menu item topped with 24K gold that comes if you ‘befriend the right waiter’
Present: On her way out, she was given a swag bag full of different treats, including a fancy wax-sealed copy of the menu for memories
Lastly, she was served the Saison ‘Snickers’ bar.
‘This is an off-menu item that comes if you befriend the right waiter and mention you have a penchant for desserts,’ she explained.
‘[It was] some sort of dark chocolate and nut brownie base, salted caramel center, chocolate ganache and topped with 24K gold – because why not do that when you’re the second most expensive restaurant in the country.’
In addition to the meal, you get a ‘swag bag’ filled with different stuff on the way out of the restaurant, including a fancy wax-sealed copy of the menu.
Concluding her entire documentation of the meal, the student shared, ‘Honestly this was an awesome experience and, for me, well worth the money. The staff were absolutely amazing.’
While a meal-for-one is a whopping $600 without wine pairings, dinner for two costs over $1,000 before wine.
You cannot order part of the menu or pick and choose dishes, it comes with a set menu with a specific amount of courses based on seasonal offerings. In addition, the restaurant doesn’t accept tips and instead, they add gratuity to the total bill.
While some commentators felt the decadent meal was a waste of money, others believed the experience must have been worth every penny.