I think high end restaurants have a feeling what guests like. Sometimes you can experience that 2 tables star a menu at the same time but in a different speed. I also was asked if I perfer my next course sooner or later. For me no proble, everyone should have the experience expected. For me it also depends on mood. There are evenings I enjoy my time at the restaurant and it could last for hours and sometimes (even if the food is good) I wish to have a faster meal.

Anyone try the Hong Kong Sushi Saito yet?

Grace (the now-closed 3* restaurant in Chicago) explicitly told us they had someone watching and timing the pacing at which folks were eating to calibrate the timing by table. That said, I felt it was still too fast - just because we were eating our courses relatively quickly didn't mean that we immediately wanted the next one out. As such, that was a ~1h45m experience that felt way too rushed.

Ate dinner at Benu a couple nights ago. What a fantastic meal. Very impressed they are able to incorporate pretty much every Asian cuisine into a 'fusion' dinner, although Chinese and Korean figure more prominently than others. Meal went along at what felt like a very nice pace for 2.5 hours. Half of the meal are the intro bites, which are not individually listed on the menu. $310 + 20% fixed gratuity is steep, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'd definitely revisit.

Going to Paris next month and made reservation at "LA DAME DE PIC" (1 Michelin star by star chef Anne-Sophie PIC) and "ACCENTS TABLES BOURSE" (newly-rewarded with 1 Michelin star in January 2019).

Are you aware that Pierre Gagnaire has a 90 euro lunch special (which is no longer on their website but u can write to them to confirm)? It is quite an experience and amazing food (and service of course)!

We will be in Paris during a week-end, so most restaurants (including the one you suggested) are closed. Thanks though :)

We did Gaa last night, and going to Gaggan tonight (for the 2nd time - wanted to hit it again before he closes in BKK)....we had a very enjoyable dinner at Gaa. Solid tasting menu with some interesting dishes.

Will just mention 1 thing here - dining with my wife & in-laws, as mentioned overall the meal was great...but we did have 2 incidents that kind of took me by surprise, and especially at the lack of response by the restaurant. Wanted to see what folks here think/would have done (if anything)?

Everything was going along nicely, and then on ~course 7 (the flatbread dish, if anyone has eaten here recently), the 2 servers arrived at the table with 2 dishes each, and as the one server went to place the dish to my wife, he let the 2nd dish tilt and the flatbread slide off, hit my FiL's sleeve and went to the floor. They immediately apologized, of course, and quickly cleaned, and re-served the dish (they both went back to the kitchen and returned with the dishes). As I said, it did catch me by surprise, an unusual occurrence (for me at least) at a M* restaurant, but accidents do happen.

Well not 15-20 min later, as they served the "main" course (the roasted jackfruit dish), with all the accompanying small condiment bowls, the server (not the same one) was moving my wife's wine & water glasses, and upended the water glass on the table (at least it wasn't the wine!) and it spilled down into her lap. Wow, now we were quite surprised. One server accompanied my wife as she went to the washroom, and they tidied up the table.

Here's the thing - after that, and the initial apologies, not 1 word was said further. And especially the maitre'd/sommelier (the guy seemed the be the head of service?) never came to the table again - until he presented the bill.

Now I wasn't really expecting anything more than a quick check on us, and maybe once again apology. But to not have one word said, well just struck us as interesting. As far as we could tell there were no other incidents for any other diners, so I'm sure it's not a normal occurrence.
Again, no harm was done, no clothes soiled or ruined, but the lack of acknowledgement seemed off?

Yes, been successful. My understanding is that Amex has a special relationship with this restaurant. They were able to book and confirm earlier than the typical 3 month window.

Doing a birthday dinner at an old reliable this year - Gramercy Tavern - next week. I would usually want to seek out something new (I was thinking of L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon), but the wife overruled. :p

Going to be in SFO for a day or two at the end of a Napa valley trip in April, probably will only have time to visit 1 M* restaurant before flying back, so the big question is -- Benu or Saison? Any input is appreciated!

Tough call. I would give the edge to Benu based on shear variety. But you won't go wrong either way.