Try a New Kind of Prix-Fixe at Fine Palate

Chef Vince Joseph, formerly of Le Bok Fin and currently of "Fine Palate," is changing up the time-honored tradition of a prix-fixe dinner and making it more modern and accessible.

He's calling it "coursing," and what that means is guests can stop the tasting whenever they want. There's no menu, and dishes are categorized as "savory" or "sweet." So if patrons want to eat three savory courses then switch to sweet, they can. If they want to order sweet dishes until they go into anaphylactic shock, they can do that, too. The idea is for them to surrender to whatever Joseph brings out, as long as the whole table orders the same dishes at the same time and they realize that the contents of each course are still up to the chef. It is, after all, called a "chef's tasting menu" not a "patron's tasting menu."

Each plate costs $10, and diners shouldn't worry about trusting his judgement in food, considering he's worked under Wolfgang Puck, Alain Ducasse and Joel Robuchon.