I've been fortunate enough to dine at the FL twice...though this was both before they raised prices on the prix frie menu so I don't know if I'd be able to afford a third trip back.
That said, they were two of the best meals I've ever had in my life in terms of a culinary experience/adventure. I mean, it's just FUN waiting to see what comes next and tasting it and as people have noted, the food there is just insanely well-prepared and what not.
The service was definitely face-melty though not nearly as intrusive as it may sound to have a 1 server to 1 diner ratio. That said, the head server did remark to me, after I complimented him on a suggestion he had made for my meal, "I enjoy helping people enjoy the better things in life." It wasn't said to be snobby but dude was laying it on a little thick.
I love that they bring you about 12 courses for dessert. Their macaroons are so good, they make it impossible for one to enjoy macaroons again anywhere else. Bastards.
I don't mean to shit on vegetarians but I just can't imagine going there and dropping $200+ for the vegetarian course.
By the way, someone's already nodded to this but if you want to understand why people get juiced to go there (besides looking at Aser's photos), read Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential" and/or the book "Soul of the Chef" both of which include chapters that make Thomas Keller sound like Jesus in the kitchen. "Soul of the Chef" especially has an extended history of the restaurant itself (my parents-in-law actually ate at the FL pre-Keller, back in the 1980s since it already had a certain cache, even then). I like the idea that all these big shot NY food critics ate at the FL and came away like it was a revelatory experience. I'm sure Ruth Reichl has written on the restaurant before.
Also, on food writing: I've always been a big fan of Jeffrey Steingarten's two books on food: "The Man Who Ate Everything" and "It Must Have Been Something I Ate." He's very funny but he also has a way of describing the eating experience that makes you want to jump on a plane and fly out to Baja for some carna asada tacos or Italy to try mantis shrimp. Damn, I'm getting hungry just reminiscing.
Lastly, I don't challenge the idea that fois gras isn't made under the nicest of circumstances but seriously, how many animals are really treated that humanely on their way from the pen to your plate? It just strikes me that protesting fois gras - but not, oh, a thousand other kinds of food products made from animals - seems to be missing the forest for a very small, elite tree.
