Expensive Eats - bLavish

Thomas Keller’s $835 Menu

November 20, 2010 | Posted by bLavish as Expensive Eats at 8:00 pm | Comments off

Thomas Keller is one of the most famous chefs in the world. Both of Keller’s restaurants, French Laundry in California and Per Se, are both rated three stars by the foodie bible, The Michelin Guide. Well, Keller is taking his seven man team on the road this winter for a brief appearance at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong.

For four days only, Chef Keller will be serving their contemporary American Fare at the hotel’s two restaurants, The Mandarin Grill and The Krug Room. Seating at each of these dinners is extremely limited. The 11-course dinner menu is $835 a head and includes a hearts of peach palm salad and butter-poached Maine lobster. Keller is even bringing radishes from the garden at The French Laundry. A smaller menu will be available at lunchtime for $466, including wine and service.

As pricey as this dinner is, it doesn’t compare to the one the Mandarin hosted in August. Six chefs from around the world came in for one night only. Each chef presided over a table of eight celebrities and heads of state. The cost was $1,550 per head, plus a ten percent service fee.

Issey Mikake For Evian?

November 13, 2010 | Posted by bLavish as Expensive Eats at 11:00 pm | Comments off

Over the years, Evian has collaborated with a lot of prominent designers: Christian LaCroix, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Paul Smith, most recently. But this i never imagined this pairing with Evian.

Not only does Issey Miyake seem just a little bit avant garde for Evian’s super mainstream aesthetic, but the bottle he’s designed from him doesn’t seem characteristic of his own designs, either. The simple graphic flower on the bottle in bright green, yellow, and pink is fabulous in a minimal way, just like most of Miyake’s work, I guess, but it’s a little more commercial than what I expect of him.

The flower is inspired by Mikaye’s Pleats Please line, which you can see if you look closely at the striping on it. It looks intricately pleated, just like the Pleats Please line. At $7.99 a bottle, it costs about $5 more than your average bottle of Evian, but it will also look a lot more impressive on your dining table.

Francis Francis X1 Ground Coffee Machine

November 13, 2010 | Posted by bLavish as Expensive Eats at 7:25 pm | Comments off

Coffee connoisseurs are a rare breed. Caffeinated though they may be, they usually have finely designed machines pumping out their obsessions. Despite popular belief, the finest coffee doesn’t come in a paper cup with a white and green emblem stamped on it. It’s usually made with care by an Italian machine with a covetable red label, Illy.

This Francis Francis X1 Illy Coffee Machine is the perfect blend of style and substance. The X1 has been one of Illy’s most popular designs for decades, but this latest model has been beautifully upgraded. Illy describes it as “ideal for connoisseurs who love preparing authentic espresso the traditional way, the X1 Ground features new state-of-the-art electronics and automatic boiler refill. Featuring all new electronics and updated controls, this retro-futuristic espresso machine designed by Italian architect Luca Trazzi comes in a handsome finish that makes a bold statement in any kitchen.”

It can accommodate fine grounds for espresso or regular coffee grounds. At around $700, it will make a delicious gift for your favorite foodie.

BrewDog: The World’s Most Expensive (And Bizarre) Beer

November 3, 2010 | Posted by bLavish as Expensive Eats at 5:22 pm | Comments off

Most people don’t really think of beer as a luxury item. To be honest, I’m not sure this crazy BrewDog product is going to change anyone’s mind. It’s expensive, sure, and gimmicky, no doubt. But is it luxury?

BrewDog’s “The End Of The World” beer is an 55% alcohol brew that comes in a taxidermied squirrel. No, seriously. Unfortunately, they’re sold out, but the cost was $795 a bottle. I guess that’s kind of deal since the beer comes with a squirrel.

BrewDog insists that by creating this beer, they have, “torn up convention, blurred distinctions and pushed brewing and beer packaging to its absolute limits. This beer is an audacious blend of eccentricity, artistry and rebellion; changing the general perception of beer one stuffed animal at a time.” Sounds more like a conceptual art manifesto than a beer label.

In fact, if you think of “The End Of The World” as a piece of contemporary art, it’s kind of an interesting comment on consumption and material culture. As a beer, however, I’m just not buying it.

The Most Expensive Thanksgiving Dinner

November 2, 2010 | Posted by bLavish as Expensive Eats, The Most Expensive at 9:48 pm | Comments off

The cost of the average Thanksgiving dinner is around $45. That’s for ten people, and it includes dessert. But that $45 wouldn’t have gotten you very far at Cafe Gray’s infamous Thanksgiving dinner in 2006. Dinner for 12 at their chef’s table was prix fixe at $10,000. That’s about $833 a head, compared to the average American’s $4.50 a head.

To call this legendary event a “dinner”, however, is somewhat misleading. Thanksgiving Day at Gray’s began with a breakfast of cornflake-crusted french toast, scrambled eggs, brioche, bacon, and a viewing of the famous Macy’s Day Parade on giant plasma screens. I think it’s a little bizarre to watch the parade on TV when you’re actually in New York City and can just step outside and see the whole thing firsthand, but I guess you get a lot more elbow room kicking back at the chef’s table.

Around noon, Chef Gray did a personal turkey-carving demonstration, and then the brasserie bar opened to serve hors d’oeuvres to football fans, who watched NFL games on the bespoke plasma screen TVs. Dinner began with a salad of fennel and blood oranges, drizzled in a poppy seed vinaigrette. Next came truffled butternut potage and lobster and crabmeat gratin, followed by an organic lemon-thyme roasted turkey. Finally, for dessert there was pumpkin custard, key lime pie, and something called “million dollar pie”. I’m not sure what’s in “million dollar pie”, but the name seems a fitting end to a meal that costed over eight bills a head.

La Maison du Chocolat’s 20th Anniversary In NYC

October 30, 2010 | Posted by bLavish as Expensive Eats at 7:00 pm | Comments off

La Maison du Chocalat, the legendary French chocolatier opened its doors in New York City twenty years ago this week. Since then, it’s become one of the primary destinations for gourmands and gift buyers. The store features what they call haute couture chocolates, one-of-a-kind edible creations that are made to order. These exquisite gowns are elaborate, beautiful, and delicious. Of course, they also carry a full line of less elaborate, but still amazing, chocolates.

The store will celebrate their anniversary by hosting “La Nuit de Gateau” in Manhattan on November 3rd at both of their locations, a full evening of treats and entertainment. The red carpet event will be free and open to the public. Tents outside the store will house jazz bands, and complimentary candies all around. For the first time, La Maison du Chocolat will be offering the fame chocolate eclair, a much-anticipated event among foodies.

Kim Kardashian Refuses Million Dollar Diamond Birthday Cake

October 27, 2010 | Posted by bLavish as Bling Bling, celebrities, Expensive Eats at 8:00 pm | Comments off

Kim Kardashian is the kind of celebrity that is endlessly receiving expensive gifts. She isn’t always the type to turn them down, either. But when Kardashian found out that resauranteur Nini Selimaj was planning on giving her a diamond-encrusted birthday cake, the reality show star refused to accept it.

Kardashian wrote on her blog, “I would never allow anyone to spend that much money on cake. Making a million dollar birthday cake is just ridiculous! I’d rather they gave me a cupcake and donate the rest of the money to the homeless.”

Nino Selimaj is known for his culinary pranksterism. He once offered a $1,000 pizza at Nino’S Bellissima, which was topped with caviar and lobster tail. The goal of the birthday cake was to surpass the cost of the world’s most expensive birthday cake, which was valued at $1.65 million. Kardashian’s unmade cake was planned to be decorated with over a million dollars worth of hand-chosen diamonds.

Spooky, Decadent Chocolate By Sahagun Handmade Chocolate

October 25, 2010 | Posted by bLavish as Expensive Eats at 10:37 am | Comments off

Sahagun Homemade Chocolate is a gourmet candy shop in Portland, Oregan. It was started by Elizabeth Montes, a decorative painter who began, fifteen years ago, to make chocolates for her family and friends as gifts. She named her company after a Spanish missionary, who described, in his writings, the unparalleled importance of chocolate in Aztec life. Montes, too, believes that chocolate is a gift to be savored and valued, and she strives to produce confectioneries that are beautifully edible.

Montes says of her edible pieces of art, “When people see the human thought and labor you put into making something, it’s rare that they don’t respond to it with greater attention and care.” These skeleton tablets are part of a limited edition Halloween collection for her shop. The seriously spooky candies, made of Valrhona chocolate,Ã‚Â are $10 for the bride and groom skeleton. This is, perhaps, more than you’d like to spend on treats for the kids in your neighborhood, but they make excellent gifts for co-workers and friends.

World’s Most Expensive Cheese

October 23, 2010 | Posted by bLavish as Expensive Eats at 7:32 pm | Comments off

In researching the world’s most expensive and decadent foods, I have found that many of them involve animals that you would not expect. Sometimes, as in the case of Kopi Luwak, the world’s most expensive coffee, the animal in question is rare and bizarre, but in the case of this Pule cheese, it’s just your average, everyday ass.

By ass, of course, I mean donkey. This rare Balkan cheese comes from the milk of donkeys. Donkey milk, it turns out, is quite expensive. At almost $80 a liter, it might be the most expensive milk I’ve ever heard of. The price of the milk is the sole reason for the high price of Pole cheese, which sells for about $616 a pound. If you consider the fact that it takes about 25 liters of milk to make a kilogram of cheese, the price seems infinitely more reasonable.

The Dome Restaurant, Bangkok

September 28, 2010 | Posted by bLavish as Expensive Eats at 8:20 pm | Comments off

The Dome, a collection of restaurantsÃ‚Â at Bangkok’s lebua hotel are widely famed to be some of the best in the world. Whether you’re craving Mediterranean, Italian, Asian, Indian or Lebanese, you’ll find it all housed within The Dome.

Sirocco, which boasts this spectacular view, is the world’s highest al fresco dining establishment. lebua says of their esteemed Mediterranean eaterie, “It never fails to leave one mesmerized with a breathtaking view of Bangkok and the Chao Phraya river, an amazing Skybar and quality Mediterranean fare with ingredients from the world’s best markets. Live jazz music featuring vocalists of international repute, adds to its captivating ambiance for a perfect evening.”

The Dome also has the prestige of having served what might be the most expensive dinner ever. Six chefs from around the world congregated there in 2007 to produce a 10 course, $30,000 a plate meal. The wine list was valued at over $200,000, and included rare bottles from the Rothschild vineyards. The fifteen guests were mostly bigwigs from the real estate and gaming worlds.

So, what was on the menu? Well, here’s a brief excerpt, including the names of the chef who prepared each dish and their wine pairings:

Tartar of Kobe beef with Imperial Beluga caviar and Belons oyster
Antoine Westermann
1995 Krug Clos du Mesnil

Mousseline of pattes rouges crayfish with morel mushroom infusion
Alain Soliveres
2000 Corton-Charlemagne, Domaine Jean FranÃƒÂ§ois Coche-Dury

Already you have some of the most expensive ingredients in the world, and that’s just the first four courses! I wonder if you could order this meal a la carte. That would bring the total for each dish to $3,000, quite a bargain compared to the whole meal.

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