"auction" news and stories

Won't mid-week lunches pack so much more panache if a star chef like Alice Waters, Grant Achatz, Tom Colicchio or Mario Batali has a hand in 'em? You'll still have to make your own PB&J, but now you can tote it along in celeb-stamped style with a one-of-a-kind lunchbox decorated by your favorite chef.

"The Lunchbox Auction presented by Gourmet which benefits hunger-relief organizations Food Bank For New York City and The Lunchbox Fund of South Africa, kicks off live on the World Wide Web at www.thelunchboxauction.org on Thursday, December 11th at midnight and continues through Thursday, December 18th at noon. Almost 100 celebrities from film, television, fashion, art, music and the culinary world have united to remind us that food matters and that hunger is an on-going problem.

Each lunchbox reflects the personal style and individual flair of the person designing the box and no two lunchboxes are alike. Collectors will find that each box is signed and numbered, and some will even contain hidden surprises inside. The collectible lunchboxes make a great gift for the holidays!"

I've already been outbid on Grant Achatz's stainless steel and tension wire armature, and Ruth Reichl's epicurean treasure trove, yet still hold out hope for Michel Richard's mustard-gilded, postprandial bonescape. Mostly because I'd have a chance to say "mustard-gilded" all the darned time -- for charity.

[via: thelunchboxauction.org]

Chef Domenico Crolla has cooked up what could turn out to be the world's most expensive pizza, and is probably already the priciest for its size. The 12-inch pizza is worth about $2,800. Dubbed the Pizza Royale 007, it has an organic crust with a sunblush tomato pizza sauce, smoked salmon, venison medallions, cognac-marinated lobster and champagne-soaked caviar. The whole pie is topped with 24-karat edible gold.

Crolla, who is from Glasgow, worked with the British Pizza, Pasta & Italian Food Association and will auction off the pizza to raise money for the Australian Fred Hollow's Foundation, a nonprofit group that works to "prevent curable blindness in developing countries." It will be sold on eBay, where both Crolla and the BPPIFA hope that it will make at least $3,800, which would apparently break the world's record for most expensive pizza, currently held by the white truffle pizza at Gordon Ramsay's Maze Restaurant in London. Whoever wins the auction can either have the pizza prepared in one of Crolla's restaurants or have it prepared in their home.

[via Slice]

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Mario Batali will cook for you and 11 of your closest friends, if you are the highest bidder at a charity auction in Michigan next month. The "Sunday afternoon lunch in the true style of Rome", to be held on August 27th, includes a cooking lesson with as much participation as you want to have in preparing the food, wine tasting and (of course) a 10-course lunch. He auctioned a similar lunch for the group, The Conservancy, last year, which sold for $25,000. Batali says that he offers 6 to 10 such functions for charitable events every year and that most of them sell for around $50,000.

The silent auction closes on August 1st and bids can be placed online. The bidding starts at $5,000.

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At Luxist, Deidre announced that the wines collected by Jacques Chirac while he was the mayor of Paris will be auctioned later this year. The city has decided that the liability involved in keeping the collection - which could be damaged by floods or other accidents in the bowels of the Hôtel de Ville, where it is kept - is too high to make it worth the risk, not to mention the fact that the wine budget for the city has been slashed dramatically and they can't really afford the maintenance. The wine budget reduction is a reflection of the fact that the Parisians aren't drinking wine at the same rates they used to. For example, despite an equal number of receptions, only half the amount of wine is consumed now as it was during Chirac's time in office.

The 5,000 bottle collection is expected to bring in at least $600,000, as it contains many fine wines, including 191 bottles of 1976 Krug champagne and several bottles of 1990 Château Pétrus (worth more than $1,700 each).

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Getting a reservation at El Bulli, rated as the best restaurant in the world, can be very difficult. The restaurant not only has limited seating, but is open for only 6 months out of the year. Most diners have to plan at least 6-12 months in advance just to try to get a reservation - and once you have it, you're going at whatever time it's for.

Oh, you didn't know that Aunt Bessie was going to be ill when you made your resevation last July? You can't make it to dinner?

Just sell the reservation on eBay.

Evidently, one member of a party of four diners could not make the trip, so the remaining three are auctioning off the final seat at their table on eBay. The winner of the auction must find their own travel to Barcelona and accomodation while there, but they get to have dinner at El Bulli  - which normally costs €170/$215, without wine - on June 17th at 8pm. Bids start at $1,000 and the auction ends on June 14th.

You can view a photo set of a recent meal at the restaurant here to get an idea of what you're in for.

[via eGullet]

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