Red Beans and Advice for Monday, June 12

Deciding which chef’s dinner to attend

Summer is almost here, and if you are a food lover, your inbox or social media stream is filling up with announcements of guest chef dinners.

Before the pandemic, these were often reasonably priced evenings when you could meet a well-known chef or cookbook author, try some dishes for which they were known, and perhaps learn about something new. They were chances to get autographs or selfies with people sometimes too busy to spend much time with diners.

Fast forward to 2023, and the invitations are plentiful, but have become more expensive. These multi-course dinners now rarely cost less than $100 and often are priced at $200 or more, especially if wine is included, or they benefit a charity.