In San Francisco, California, fine dining has gone to the dogs.
The city boasts plenty of trendy, expensive restaurants. But at Dogue (rhymes with vogue), foodies experience something new.
The tasting menu costs $75. It comes with a fancy drink and multiple courses, such as chicken skin waffles and filet mignon steak tartare with quail egg. But diners don’t use forks or knives. They dive in mouth first, slobbering over plates and licking up every last bite.
By the way—it’s a restaurant for dogs.
Rahmi Massarweh is a classically trained chef and a dog owner. He once ran a fine dining restaurant, but that job came with lots of stress. So he decided to try something different: fine dining for canines.
Dogue’s customers must love pampering their pets. They purchase pricey pastries for their prized pups, or perhaps they order the multi-course “bone appetite” meal.
One customer treated her 11-year-old miniature dachshund to a bowl of mushroom soup. “I wanted to celebrate him. He is so special to me,” she says. “We’re foodies. I guess he is now too.”
Chef Massarweh spends hours preparing his canine menu. He uses the same ingredients a chef would serve to human customers. A similar menu at a restaurant for people could cost up to $500.
“Our pastries, for example, take about two days on average to make,” says Massarweh. “I know they’re going to be eaten in two seconds.”
Which raises the question: Why treat dogs to a bank-busting brunch if they don’t even take time to savor it? Wouldn’t your pup be just as jazzed about a bowl of Kibbles ’n Bits?
As some critics point out, you could buy five big burritos from a neighborhood taqueria for the same price as Dogue’s tasting menu. It seems wrong to spend $75 on dog treats while people struggle with poverty and homelessness just blocks away.
God calls us to steward creation well. That includes creature care. But God made humans, not animals, in His image. When we confuse the roles of humans and animals, absurdity ensues. Many of Dogue’s patrons think of their pets as “fur babies.” One customer refers to her dog as her “four-legged child.” But Jesus says a single human has far greater value than many animal creatures combined. (Luke 12:7)
“Honor the Lord with your wealth,” says Proverbs 3:9. People will disagree on exactly what that means. But if you’re dropping $75 on a single doggy dinner, might you be barking up the wrong tree?
Why? When people forget God’s ordering of value in His creation, it can lead to all manner of foolishness.
