Would you give up your credit card information and sign a contract to eat out? Apparently some diners would.
For some food fans, a meal should be an immersive, almost sacred experience. To appreciate each flavor, each solitary bite, each aspect of a meticulously planned succession of dishes, the consumption of food should ideally come free of anything that might possibly hamper or distract a diner from experiencing total epicurean bliss, from the first pithy aperitif through the final cleansing of one’s palate.
Of course, not everyone’s that much of a purist. Some of us are a bit more relaxed about our dining, and actually like to share the joys of a good meal with our friends, our loved ones and, hell, why not the Internet? I mean, where’s the harm in capturing a little bit of that enjoyment and spreading it around? It’s only a meal, right?
Well, tough luck, you frivolous faux-foodies! There’s a new restaurant that will no longer tolerate your social shenanigans. Lovingly tailored to the most uptight of eaters, Washington D.C.’s Rogue 24 takes the presentation, the service and accompanying ingestion of its fare very seriously.
As Eater reports, prospective diners are required to sign a two-page contract in order to attain a coveted reservation to partake of one of the eatery’s tasting menus. Moreover, you better get it back to them within 72 hours of making that reservation, or you forfeit! And be sure you really want to go there, as their cancellation policy is equally draconian: If you cancel within 72 hours of the diner, you’ve gotta fork out half of the check. And if you cancel any later than that – or, God forbid, arrive more than a half-hour late for your meal – you better get ready to pony up a 100-percent charge.
And even if you manage all that and make it inside the restaurant in a pointedly punctual manner, the stipulations don’t stop at the door. During your 24- and 16-course tasting menus (they… ahem…being The Journey or The Progression, respectively), don’t you even THINK about whippin’ out your iPhone to tweet about how the iberico lomo makes you want to go home and slap your mama or snap a pic of the entirely excellent headcheese. The use of cell phones and cameras is strictly forbidden, as detailed in that contract you sweated over.
So, if you think you’re up to the challenge and can restrain yourselves during a Rogue 24 meal, bon appetit. Meanwhile, I guess I’ll see the rest of you at Olive Garden.
Would you sign a contract in order to get a reservation? Is it worth it? If it was your restaurant, what behavior would you ban?