Crudo e Nudo Dishes. Credit: Catherine Dzilenski

The Rise of the Affordable Tasting Menu

11 Minute read

08 Jun 2026

Caitlin White

Journalist

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From Los Angeles to New York, chefs are rethinking the prix fixe, proving that ambitious multi-course dining doesn't have to cost hundreds of dollars.

In March 2025, 31-year-old chef Anthony Wang achieved a milestone many chefs spend years chasing, opening his debut restaurant in Los Angeles. Firstborn, a polished dining room in Chinatown, was a critical hit from the start. Located in the former Pok Pok space in Mandarin Plaza, Wang draws on his experience at Destroyer, Auburn, and Ink, while incorporating influences from his parents, who left Beijing in 1989 amid political unrest. The result is a style of cooking that blends mainland Chinese techniques with distinctly American interpretations.

Before Firstborn could fully find its footing, economic uncertainty began reshaping the restaurant industry. Federal layoffs, tariffs, immigration enforcement actions, and broader concerns about consumer spending created new challenges for independent restaurants across the country. In an already precarious market, diners became more cautious about discretionary spending. Wang realized he needed to adapt quickly to keep seats filled.

About a month into 2026, Firstborn introduced a new format: a four-course prix fixe menu priced at $68. At a time when a single entrée at many restaurants can approach that cost, the move stood out. “From the beginning we’ve always been considerate of the overall condition of the economy and meeting guests where they’re at,” Wang says. “A prix fixe format allows us to showcase the things that we love and really care about, and lets guests experience that in a pretty accessible way. This protects us while providing immense value.”

At Firstborn, guests choose from two or three options across three savory courses before dessert. Recent first-course offerings included chilled artichokes with mushroom dashi and wagyu beef tongue carpaccio paired with thinly sliced fermented kohlrabi. A second course of stuffed morels with young peas, or green garlic and duck sausage with apple, braised daikon, and Swiss chard, showcased the kitchen’s technical precision. Portions are smaller than a traditional entrée, but comparable to a generous appetizer, allowing diners to experience a broader range of dishes over the course of the meal.

Main courses, larger than the first two plates but still smaller than a traditional entrée, included grilled short rib and cabbage seasoned with yuxiang and black garlic, as well as roasted local fish served with glass noodles, green Sichuan peppercorn, and fennel. The dishes demonstrate the level of technique and attention to detail typically associated with far more expensive tasting menus, even though each course effectively costs about $17. For diners who reserve restaurant visits for special occasions, the thoughtful plating and attentive service deliver many of the hallmarks of a fine dining experience at a more approachable price.

While diners may appreciate the lower price point, ingredient and labor costs remain a constant challenge for restaurants. So how can Firstborn make the numbers work? “We operate on a blended margin, meaning we get our money’s worth by selling vegetables and low-cost items like tofu and mushrooms,” Wang explains. “We make really rich sauces from vegetables and animal byproducts to keep our costs low while creating a lot of impact in terms of flavor.”

Budget-Conscious Fine Dining Is Not Just Possible, It’s Here

Wang is part of a growing movement of chefs offering prix fixe menus for under $100. While an earlier generation of chef-driven tasting menus often cost $200, $300, or more, many restaurants are now embracing a more accessible approach. Electric Bleu, which opened in Los Angeles last summer, offers a French-inspired five-course tasting menu for $79.

“It was designed to make the experience feel easy and generous for the guest,” says Electric Bleu chef and owner Craig Hopson. “Rather than asking people to make a series of decisions, it allows them to settle in, relax, and let us take care of them. For the kitchen, it’s a chance to share a broader expression of what we love to cook and to showcase the ingredients, dishes, and ideas we’re most excited about in the moment.”

That same logic has led some chefs to embrace the format for years. Brian Bornemann of Crudo e Nudo has long championed Neptune’s Flight, a $95-per-person tasting menu built around the restaurant’s seasonal, fresh-caught seafood. Unlike a traditional set menu, Bornemann’s format is highly customizable, allowing guests to encounter different dishes on repeat visits.

“We always say that our Neptune's Flight is different for each table, because it is,” Bornemann notes. “We call it five courses even though the number of plates per course can vary. The menu also changes based on whether it’s a diner’s first time in, where they get all the greatest hits, versus a return flight where we explore more. All experiences are shared courses, not individually plated, but we can accommodate any allergies and restrictions, including kosher and vegetarian, with a full flight too.”

A typical Neptune's Flight might include raw preparations such as Baja oysters, bay scallops, or rockfish crudo before moving into larger plates like fried fish collars, prawns roasted à la plancha, or fish n'duja gnocchi, followed by dessert. The result is a meal that exposes diners to a much broader range of Crudo e Nudo's cooking than they would likely experience ordering à la carte.

Affordable Fine Dining Is Spreading

Similar models are emerging across the country. At Penny Roma in San Francisco, co-chefs Thomas McNaughton and Ryan Pollnow offer a family-style “dinner party” menu that spans four courses and roughly nine dishes, including cappelletti di zucca, rigatoni cacio e pepe, and pork chop with apricot mostarda. At Birdie’s in Austin, Texas, a six-course tasting menu priced at $79 is the restaurant’s only offering, ordered at the counter rather than the table. Chef Tracy Malechek-Ezekiel earned a James Beard Award for cooking that draws on French and Italian influences, including dishes such as cotechino with lentils and maccheroni alla vodka.

In New York, Ma•dé has embraced a similarly accessible format. The Lower East Side restaurant from Cédric and Ochi Vongerichten offers a family-style menu inspired by Padang-style dining, a celebratory West Sumatran tradition in which multiple dishes are served communally. The experience costs $68 per person and may include dishes such as lobster with lemongrass keluak sauce and baked razor clams with sambal butter and coconut crumbs.

For Firstborn chef Anthony Wang, one of the goals is to avoid pressuring guests into overspending or overordering. He points to restaurants that have successfully delivered ambitious tasting menus without relying on luxury ingredients as proof that the model can work. “One restaurant I always look back to in terms of inspiration was Kato way back in the day,” Wang remembers. “They were doing a very affordable eight-course tasting menu. Obviously, times were very different, but it’s still a matter of cleverness. It’s about utilizing a lot of vegetables, produce and technique, rather than focusing on luxury products.”

The Power of an Accessible Set Menu

So who are these price-conscious prix fixe menus for? Potentially, a broad range of diners. They appeal both to guests looking to be more deliberate with discretionary spending and to those who want to experience a chef’s cooking or a restaurant’s atmosphere without stretching their budget.

They may be just as important for chefs, who must balance rising ingredient costs, fair wages, and increasingly challenging operating expenses. Diners often lament the closure of beloved restaurants, wondering what they could have done to help, particularly when budget constraints make frequent dining out unrealistic.

Accessible prix fixe menus offer one potential answer. They give diners a way to support ambitious restaurants without committing to the cost of a traditional tasting menu, while allowing chefs to showcase a broader range of their cooking in a financially sustainable format. When both sides feel they are getting value, the arrangement can benefit everyone involved.