Folio · The Chartier Experience
What happens, and what it commits.
Nothing is committed until step five. Everything before that is a conversation, an estimate and a meal — and you can stop at any point without owing anything beyond a tasting you have already had.
Step 01 of 8
Build a menu, or start from one of ours
Pick one of the fourteen menus or build your own from the full catalog. Either way you get a preliminary estimate with per-person pricing on every dish, so you can see what a choice costs before you make it rather than after.
Nothing. You have not booked anything and no one has your card.
Step 02 of 8
Request your date and a consultation
Send through your date and a couple of alternates. Robert calls you to talk about the event — the venue, the timing, how the day actually runs, and whether what you have in mind is the right shape for it.
A conversation. Requesting a date does not hold it, and availability is confirmed by Robert on that call, not by the website.
Step 03 of 8
A tasting, if the event is a fit
If Robert can do the event justice, he arranges a private tasting. Up to five people, up to twelve items, cooked by him. Tastings are not bookable directly — each one is built around your menu, so it happens after the consultation and not before.
The tasting only. Your date is still not held at this point.
Step 04 of 8
The tasting fee, and what it covers
There is a $250 tasting service fee due when you book it, and the actual grocery cost is invoiced afterwards. That second part is deliberate: a tasting built around lobster and tenderloin costs more to shop for than one built around mac and cheese, and it would not be honest to average that out.
The tasting fee and the groceries for it. Nothing about the event itself.
Step 05 of 8
The agreement and the retainer
After the tasting, you sign the event agreement and pay a $1,000 retainer. This is the point at which your date is committed — not before. The retainer is nonrefundable, and it is credited toward your total rather than charged on top of it.
This is the commitment. Both sides are now bound by the signed agreement.
Step 06 of 8
Halfway, thirty days out
By 30 days before your event, your payments together need to reach half the contract value. Because the retainer already counts toward that number, this is usually smaller than people expect.
A payment milestone under the agreement you have already signed.
Step 07 of 8
The balance, a week out
The remaining balance is due seven days before the event. By then the menu is final, the counts are final, and Robert is shopping.
The final payment milestone.
Step 08 of 8
The event
Robert is there. He cooks it, he runs the service, and he breaks it down. If something needs deciding on the day, you are talking to the person who can decide it.
Gratuity is not required and is never added automatically. If you want to leave one it is genuinely appreciated.
Why the tasting is priced the way it is
Tastings are cooked to order by the owner, for a table of up to five, from up to twelve of your dishes. The $250 fee covers his time; the groceries are invoiced at what they cost. Nobody makes money on a tasting, and pricing it any other way would mean either padding it or quietly limiting what you get to try.
Next step
Requesting a date starts a conversation — it does not hold or confirm anything. Availability is confirmed by Robert directly.