Hugo Hivernat's restaurant was only open for a few days before he got dragged into New York's cost of living row for pricing a half rotisserie chicken at US$40 (RM158).
For some, the cost highlights how dining out has become prohibitively expensive in one of the world's culinary capitals. But Hivernat insists that steep overheads leave little room for profit.
"We are at the mercy of the affordability crisis," he told AFP at Gigi's, a small, wooden-floored restaurant in a trendy Brooklyn neighborhood.
"Maybe people think we're driving a Porsche in the Hamptons on the weekends with our $40 chicken, but we're like everyone here," Hivernat added, referring to a wealthy beach resort in the New York area.
The cost of living is a worry across the United States and is acutely felt in New York, where leftist Mayor Zohran Mamdani was elected largely on promises to counter the problem.
Its restaurants are not immune to inflation, from operating costs to wholesale food prices.
Menu prices in the city rose by 43.6 percent in the decade up to 2023, compared to 42.8 percent nationally, according to a report this February by the state's fiscal watchdog.
"People have a very strong idea about how much things should cost in the restaurant industry, but they have absolutely no idea what the real cost is," Hivernat said.
The 36-year-old, who co-ran the esteemed Fulgurances restaurant in Paris and New York before opening Gigi's this month, said his pricing falls in line with industry standards.
He explained that 25 percent of the US$40 revenue is spent on raw ingredients – including quality chicken from upstate New York – and the rest goes toward rent, bills, salaries and other expenses.
Anything left, Hivernat added, helps pay down the half-a-million dollar debt incurred from opening the restaurant.
'Just getting by'
The chicken row gained traction after a local lawmaker alluded to the US$40 menu price in an exasperated Instagram post that received over 9,000 likes.
It prompted one local food outlet to produce a "half chicken price index" ranking the dishes from below US$10 (RM39.52) all the way to US$78 (RM308) at a French restaurant in affluent Manhattan.
However, a stream of online commenters defended Gigi's and pointed to the financial pressures for small businesses.
"Many restaurants aren't even making money. They're just getting by," Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, told AFP.
He noted a confluence of factors including insurance premiums, slow economic recovery from the Covid pandemic, and higher food costs – the latter partly due to tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.
Menu prices will inevitably reflect those pressures, Rigie said.
"It costs so much to run a small business in New York City that our beloved local restaurants are forced to charge these prices just so they can survive, not even thrive," he added.
Underscoring the issue, almost half (46 percent) of over 200 restaurants surveyed by the New York City Hospitality Alliance reported making fewer sales than expected in the final quarter of 2025.
Their chief concerns were labor costs, the price of goods and services, and a lack of customers.
At Gigi's, head chef Thomas Knodell is glad the controversy over the US$40 half chicken has prompted a much-needed conversation about affordability.
"It's blown up because it's a discussion about the cost of everything, the overall frustration that people have," he said.
"I get it, it is expensive. We agree with you, but this is the reality that we're in now, unfortunately."
Knodell, 35, believes that policy changes are needed – such as price caps on how much food wholesalers can charge – to stem the ever-growing costs at restaurants.
"It's good that it's a discussion, because, you know, that actually makes change," he said. – By Ben Turner/AFP
