Why are high end and expensive restaurants food portions so tiny?
Many fancy restaurants focus on providing an experience rather than providing large portions of food [1].  Customers who dine at these high end restaurants are looking for a dining experience and therefore are not necessarily focused on filling their stomachs [1].  In addition, offering smaller portions can have many benefits for a restaurant.  Smaller portions can often mean less food waste per meal, and the risk of over-portioning is reduced [4].  Chefs are able to use healthier, organic, or more exotic ingredients in their smaller portion dishes [4].  Finally, placing smaller portions on the menu can help restaurants appeal to a larger market [3].
There are various reasons high end restaurants serve smaller portions. One is that the extremely expensive ingredients are used as seasoning and are not included in all entrees [1]. Another reason is that portion control is important to keep restaurants profitable and streamline their portions to ensure consistency and healthy profit margins [2]. Portions are controlled with the correct sized serving utensils, calibrated food scales, and consistent storage sizes [2]. The saying, “less is more” and “good things come in small packages” aptly fits in the case of fine dining restaurants [3]. 

According to a study, guests get excited by looking at small portions and will be eager to try the meal to understand the subtle difference [3]. The concept of a limited portion will leave a long-lasting impression in the visitor’s mind [3]. Moreover, it is a normal human tendency to think that expensive food is of high quality, which is well-capitalized by the so-called fancy restaurants [4].