The Light
Last night, I watched Forbes Luxe 11: World’s Most Extravagant Meals.
It was circa 2009, a time when decadence was still in fashion, and people would stop at nothing to get the very best, and to live an extraordinary life (of course, to show off too).
Imagine, a $1,000 dollar pizza (with salmon roe, lobster, caviar), a $1,000 golden cake (literally made of gold, that is, 24 karat gold leaf), a $5,000 hamburger (with foie gras and a bottle of a really expensive wine), an executive chef cooking for you in the comfort of your own home ($10,000 for 10 people), taking a party (even a piano and a pianist, or a band!) high up into the sky (Dinner in the Sky, $50,000 – $100,000).
In these times, those luxuries would seem like a mockery (I am not sure even, that those businesses have survived – I could not bear to find out). I also could not help thinking – what could those people featured in the show be feeling now – about their indiscriminate spending and almost nonchalance or obscene behavior ($$$$$ for one meal!)? Would they have remorse – that they blew their money so carelessly for a singular experience? Would they still think that it is worth it as they have profoundly proclaimed in the show?
But I guess there is a time for everything. That time, people were powerful, money was aplenty, needs and wants were nebulous concepts.
In stark contrast to the now.
Which is a return to the basic – family, home cooked meals, more thoughtful spending, a realization that, indeed, we can survive with less.
We will still emerge the hero in this, I think. The excesses will be purged, the fat will be trimmed, and man’s heart, once filled with material pursuits, will now have a chance to see that which will really make him truly happy.
Article by Issa. Photo by Danvic. Copyright 2009-2011.
Website: www.YouWantToBeRich.com
Email: issa@youwanttoberich.com
Post Script: The restaurant selling the $1,000 pizza, which used to sell 2-10 pies a week, now sells (as of May 2011) 1 every two weeks, or 1 a month. The $1,000 Sultan’s Golden Cake seems to still be existing (at the same price) as of October 2011. But check out the other outrageously expensive desserts here. In January 2011, the creator of the $5,000 FleurBurger (with a bottle of the 1995 Chateau Petrus) opened a new restaurant in his old space, more casual, though, and less expensive, but still featuring the expensive burger (!). Chef Louis Pous still has his Little Palm Island but I wonder if he still makes house calls? On the other hand, Dinner In the Sky seem to still be in business, and no sign of discounts on its site, either.
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