DEJA VU RESTAURANT MENU PRICES PLUS

The setting being luxe-light, the menu being generally spendy, and the question being whether we wanted “still water,” I’d made an obvious blunder.

“I think I accidentally just bought us an $8 bottle of water.” “Shoot,” I said to my friend, the two of us just barely settling into plush seats at chef Alex Stupak’s post-Empellón venture, which opened adjacent to a midtown food hall in April. I knew I’d made a mistake almost as the words escaped my lips. It’s this restaurant’s potentially hidden costs that end up vexing. Sometimes you get what you pay for, and sometimes you can’t put a price on novelty. If you or someone you know wants a $29 hot dog, to cradle it for a photo, to create a clever hashtag, or use whatever’s already been invented for maximum impact, this is the place to acquire one. The smiling wiener’s casing has a good snap and its juicy interior is tastier and better textured-a bit more dense-than any of those everyday options, if ultimately still expected.

Mischa’s fancier frank is stunt-sized at several times that weight in beef and pork, and served in a soft but substantial potato bun.

If you were to buy one in many of those green spaces, instead, it should cost $4 for about an ounce-and-a-half of meat on a squishy bun, according to 2022’s approved pushcart vendor prices. It’s also evocative of little other than orchestrated internet virality, recalling social media strategy, rather than, say, warm afternoons at the ballpark, backyard cookouts, or, more likely in NYC, grilling in the park.

It sure is big, for one, and it’s accompanied by a ramekin of chili as comforting as canned, plus five condiments (mustard, relish, kimchi, something approximating chili crisp and alleged pimento cheese that skews closer to aioli) that never quite venture too far from tasting like store-bought, but complete the appearance of abundance, nonetheless.

DEJA VU RESTAURANT MENU PRICES PLUS

Deja vu restaurant menu prices