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We're not jetsetters who flit around the world dropping in on one pricey, critically acclaimed restaurant after another. Not that we wouldn't like to, mind you. This is probably why we enjoy seeing photo sets from and reading the experiences of other bloggers who are lucky enough to stop in to these establishments from time to time. One of our very favorite wine bloggers, Dr Vino, recently had the opportunity to eat at Homaru Cantu's Moto, in Chicago.

The opportunity arose from the fact that, after a discussion of Cantu's "caramelaserized" wine between the chef and the blogger, Dr Vino wrote to Cantu to tell him that he would have the opportunity to stop by the restaurant in November and would like to try the "lazerized" wine. Cantu, very generously, sent him a note back saying "you will be my guest" for dinner. So Dr Vino went and enjoyed a meal chosen by the chef, a wine tasting and a visit to the kitchen to experience the caramelaserization technique - wine flavored with smoke produced by firing a laser at some other element, like vanilla or orange - first hand. The meal is recounted great detail and it sounds as though the food really was excellent.

But a bill was presented at the end of the night and, at over $100 per person, it was a bit of a shock to a diner who had the impression (based on the "you will be my guest" comment and the fact that the menu was chosen for them) that the diner, excluding tip, would be covered for them. Was this too much to expect, given the circumstances? Knowing that he would have had to pay for everything, Dr Vino probably would have gone only for a taste of the special wine that he wanted to sample.

[Thanks, Matt]

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