Whales Snack On $62 Nachos at Max's Wine Dive

One typically thinks of nachos as inexpensive, low-brow stoner fare, usually assembled at a gas station or maybe consumed at a sporting event. At their very best, nachos are tasty bar food—but in the hands of Max's Wine Dive executive chef Patrick Russell, they're an ostentatious snack for the high-roller, and a natural pairing for champagne.

Calling them nachos may be a bit of a stretch, as this dish is based on a mound of chips made from potatoes rather than tortillas, but as Russell says, it's "a play on classic caviar with creme fraiche and blinis. We used to make them all the time [when I worked] at Craft, and when I came to Max's I was thinking how could I dive that up." The $62 snack consists of a pound of freshly fried house-cut potato chips topped with housemade creme fraiche, an entire one ounce tin of American sturgeon caviar, and chives. When asked about the popularity of the dish, Russell said Max's goes through "a decent amount of them," noting that "if someone's drinking Dom or Bollinger, it's an easy sell".

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[Photo credit: Max's Wine Dive]