It wasn't the $100 Truffle Carpaccio, or the $195 Truffle Tagliolini that made up the bulk of this dinner, more the $5,000 bottles of wine and champagne that made up for most of it. Recession? What recession?

From: Email from mirkin

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Sure, maybe if it was laced with the worlds finest truffles and sprinkled with gold, but I wouldn't pay it for a stock standard pasta! Apparently some Japanese tourists got slugged with a bill of nearly 700 Euro's for two plates of pasta, a bottle of water, a bottle of wine and a fruit salad. Got a spare wad of cash you're looking to spend in Rome? You're out of luck. Authorities closed it down after they found out!

From: http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,28318,25724295-5014090,00.html

A RESTAURANT in Rome which presented a Japanese tourist with a bill for nearly 700 euros ($A1224.31) after a meal with his fiancee has been closed down by the authorities, Il Messaggero daily reported.

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... and I thought Crown Lager at AU$40/carton was expensive.... Marketed as Tasmania's most expensive beer, Moo Brew beer is being snapped up at AU$25 a bottle, AU$600 a carton. With a taste described as "...a range of flavours from different roasted malts right back through to chocolate, toffee, biscuit and toast.", wouldn't you pay $600/carton? :D

From: http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2009/06/02/77141_food-wine.html

AT MORE than one dollar a sip and $600 a carton Moorilla's newest brew is anything but the typical drink. That's especially the case for those looking to find solace in during a global recession. But devout beer lovers are defying the economic gloom and buying up big on Moo Brew's 2008 Vintage Stout at $25 per 330ml bottle.

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Related to the Pizza family, a Focaccia is quite popular in Italy and is usually seasoned with olive oil and herbs, topped with onion, cheese and meat, or flavored with a number of vegetables. Not sure how popular this one would be though with a price tag of AU$300! With every ingredient imported, this give the customer a true taste of Italy.

From: http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2009/01/21/28551_ntnews.html

YOU better be a bread-winner if you want to take a bite out of this fancy focaccia. The Focaccia Cecchio Impero Romano - signature dish of the SkyCity's new Il Piatto restaurant - will set diners back a cool $300.

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Live in the UK and want the joy and glamor of the Turducken without the hassle? Well for a cool £665 (US$990) Heal Farm will gather up 12 different birds, pluck, debone, and build them into one of the biggest roast dinners you've ever seen. The True Love Roast has a bird for each of the 12 days of Christmas. ... on the 13th day of Christmas, Heal Farms gave to me.... Triple bypass surgereeeeeeeeey.... Genius!

From: http://www.healfarm.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=621

The most outrageous multi-bird we have created yet! Made with the meat from 12 different types of bird, both land and water fowl. There is breast meat from 48 birds with 8 different types of stuffing.

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From: http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-23233092;...

Scouring the nation in search of burger perfection
By Neal Ungerleider

On May 26, millions of Americans celebrated Memorial Day with backyard barbecues. While most of our grills were filled with the usual Grade-A meat from local butchers and supermarkets, dozens of restaurants across the country served Kobe-beef burgers topped not with ketchup and mustard, but truffles and foie gras. The price tags on these wallet-busting burgers can reach $175.

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Seems New York is the place to get your Gold Flake fix. Remember the $25,000 dessert?. Well while this isn't quite as expensive as that, it's still got the bling. It's got a Kobe beef patty, lots of black truffles, seared foie gras, aged Gruyere cheese, wild mushrooms and flecks of gold leaf on a brioche bun. Apparently for those special days where you've had a great day on Wall Street!

From: http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,26058,23735057-5014090,00.html

By Daniel Trotta
ITS creators admit it is the ultimate in decadence: a $US175 ($182) hamburger.

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Got a spare $1000 in your pocket and wonder what to buy for breakfast? How about the $1000 bagel? It's topped with white truffle cream cheese and goji berry infused Reisling jelly with golden leaves. Might want to pick a better accompanying coffee than that cheap cafe up the road!

From: http://uk.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUKN0527738520071106?sp=true

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - A New York chef has come up with a luxury version of one of the city's staple foods -- the $1,000 bagel. The pricey bagel, that is topped with white truffle cream cheese and goji berry infused Riesling jelly with golden leaves, joins a list of $1,000 delicacies in Manhattan that includes an ice-cream sundae topped with a 23-karat edible gold leaf and a pizza topped with six kinds of caviar and lobster.

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If you want the World's Most Expensive Dessert, now you'll have to shell out US$25,000 at Serendipity 3 in New York! Some would argue that Serendipity started the "Most Expensive Dessert" trend back in June of 2006, when they came up with the $1,000 Sundae. Since then, the "The Fortress Stilt Fisherman Indulgence" was released at US$14,500, but Serendipity 3 has now taken the title back with a dessert containing a blend of 28 cocoas, including 14 of the most expensive and exotic from around the globe

From: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071108/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_dessert

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stephen Bruce, owner of Serendipity 3, partnered with luxury jeweler Euphoria New York to create the "Frrozen Haute Chocolate," a blend of 28 cocoas, including 14 of the most expensive and exotic from around the globe. The dessert, spelled with two Rs, is infused with 5 grams (0.2 ounces) of edible 23-karat gold and served in a goblet lined with edible gold. At the base of the goblet is an 18-karat gold bracelet with 1 carat of white diamonds. The sundae is topped with whipped cream covered with more gold and a side of La Madeline au Truffle from Knipschildt Chocolatier, which sells for $2,600 a pound.

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[via SlashFood] Cheap wooden chopsticks not quite as stylish as you'd like? Why not bling them up a little by drizzling some gold flakes on them! For the take-away connoisseur that has everything, snapping these in half over your meal will sprinkle gold flakes on the takeaway of your choice. And who says take away on a first date can't be classy?

From: http://www.kilian-nakamura.com/blog-english/index.php...

Everyone knows that chopsticks are the most important tools in Japan, so it’s no wonder that there are thousands of variations. Now a specialty store has had an extraordinary idea straight from the days when salarymen were sprinking gold on just about everything: The Kinbashi Gold Chopsticks.

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