"expensive" news and stories

Ostrich brain, vodka ice luges shaped like Michelangelo's David, pearl-powder wine - it's what's on the menu at the Most Extravagant Dinner Parties in History.

Cooksden has rounded up the Top Ten, from the outlandishly extravagant dinners of camel heel, flamingo tongue and pig liver fois gras served by Roman gourmande Marcus Gavius Apicius to the 86-pound sugar creations commissioned by the Earl of Leicester to (unsuccesfully) woo Queen Elizabeth I, to the 4,000-lobster banquet held last year at the opening of the ultra-luxe Dubai Atlantis hotel.

We may be eating cabbage casserole these days, but at least we can dream (though flamingo tongue is not high on my list of fantasy foods).

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I feel like there's a new "World's Most Expensive Burger" story every year. Made with Wagyu beef, topped with foie gras, buns studded with diamond dust (OK, not really), it's a gimmick that never fails to elicit gasps. The rank-and-file shake their heads in disapproval at the decadent rich - "a $50 hamburger, what's the world coming to?" while those with money to burn get to feel very ironic and high-low (the pinnacle of this attitude can be found at Las Vegas's Palms casino, where they'll serve you a $6 Carl's Jr. burger with a 24-year-old bottle of French Bordeaux for $6,000).

For a brief history of the trend, see this story on Forbes Traveler. There's a slideshow of haute burgers, from the six-pack of Kobe sliders at the Continental in Atlantic City to the $150 truffle-stuffed version at DB Bistro Moderne to the $5,000 burger n' 1990 Chateau Petrus combo at Fleur de Lys in Vegas.

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How much would you be willing to pay for dessert? Five dollars? Ten dollars? How about $14,500? The Fortress Sri Lanka, a luxury resort in Galle has created the The Fortress Stilt Fisherman Indulgence, a dessert that costs nearly as much as my parents' first house.

Of course, the edible ingredients are not the reason this dish is so spendy. The dessert consists of a yummy sounding concoction of gold leaf Italian cassata, mango and pomegranate compote and sabayon, with a handmade chocolate fisherman. The reason it is so expensive is that it has an 80-carat aquamarine stone resting on the chocolate fisherman. According to the hotel, no one has ordered this menu item yet, but I'm sure that there's someone out there who will be, just to say that they ate the most expensive dessert in the world.

When we've seen ultra-expensive desserts and cocktails in the past and they spring up everywhere from New York City to London, but it was surprising to hear of the $1,000 brownie dessert at Brulee: The Dessert Experience, in The Quarter at Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey because Atlantic City has long been thought of as a more budget-minded alternative to other resorts and casinos. This pricey treat is a reflection of the fact that developers in AC want it to be the Las Vegas of the East Coast.

The luxe brownie is made with "hazelnuts imported from Italy, topped with gold dust, served with a vintage port wine in a $750 Baccarat crystal [atomizer] that the dessert-eater gets to keep as a souvenir" and is served as part of a three course menu. Wait - an atomizer? The port is supposed to be sprayed into the mouth (possibly by a dinner partner) in conjunction with each bite of the brownie, which allows the flavors to meld together.

Frankly, the concept does not sound that appealing or romantic - especially if you have ever glanced at the chocolate-coated teeth of someone eating a fudgy brownie. Only three servings of the decadent dessert have been sold in the past year.

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Kopi luwak, also known as civet coffee, is the most expensive coffee in the world. The name "civet coffee" comes from the fact that the coffee berries are eaten by civets, which are mongoose-like critters, in Indonesia and the coffee beans are excreted by then after digestion. The beans are then cleaned and roasted to make the coffee.

A rare brew, this coffee is not available just everywhere, but Coffee & Tea LTD in Linden Hills, Minneapolis stocks it. The shop sells the coffee for $10 per 8-ounce cup, making it one of the most expensive cups of coffee in the country, if not the single most expensive. The owner, Jim Cone, buys green beans from Indonesia and roasts them to order in a vintage 1910 coffee roaster. He compares the coffee to fine wines, noting that it "might be too much to drink everyday" and describes the coffee as "having a rich and caramel-like taste."

Interestingly, Forbes has priced Kopi luwak at $160 per pound, while Coffee & Tea LTD sells it for $420 per pound. Granted, the coffee shop roasts its own beans on site, but it still seems like there would be a cheaper way to get your hands of a pound of the coffee than to pay retail there.

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