[citanul]

yugo,

i like all manner of food, and am defnitely not in to high end dining for any sort of checklist type behavior. many of my favorite restaurants are in the $15-$30 total food bill range. this just isn't a thread about those places. i enjoy going out to these high-end places for splurges, special occasions, random fridays if i'm lucky, etc, but as i said, they probably only happen a few times a year. the rest of the year i eat dinner most nights too, and usually even enjoy it.

fluff,

i hope you find answers to your question in this thread, as it was in part the question asked in the OP. i think we've seen a few common answers: service, ingredients, knowledge, details, food quality, preparation quality, uniqueness, to be shocked, entertained, etc. hopefully more answers from more people as we go along.