Most Expensive Christmas Dinner Priced at $200,000
Don't feel like cooking this Christmas? A U.K. chef is offering to cook Christmas dinner for you and three family members for about $200,000 (£125,000).
Through the website VeryFirstTo.com, which offers expensive "luxury products and experiences," including a $150,000 trip to space, chef Ben Spalding said he'll cook an elaborate Christmas Day meal using some of the most expensive ingredients in the world.
The head chef at John Salt, Spalding has worked at top restaurants Per Se, the Fat Duck and Royal Hospital Road. Eighty percent of Spalding's fee will be donated to Cancer Research U.K. and Hospitality Action.
The first course includes a $60,000 bottle of Piper Heidsieck 1907 Champagne, served in diamond-studded champagne flutes. Alma's caviar and 150-year-old balsamic vinegar are paired with the champagne. The Almas caviar is considered the world's most expensive caviar, and costs $8,000 on Spalding's menu. The cost of the balsamic vinegar is $1,700.
The second course includes a Yubari King melon served with white truffles and saffron. The melon, which looks like a cantaloupe, is priced at $4,000. A rare breed of turkey is served for the main course, with Wagyu beef and heart.
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The table centerpiece is coated in edible gold leaf and sprinkled with pistachios. The dessert course is made with whipped Kopi luwak, which is made from the beans of coffee berries that were once eaten, digested and excreted by civets.
Despite his donating most of his fee to charity and sacrificing a holiday with his family, Spalding received a few criticizing tweets about the menu. He responded, "I am not wasting any more time or energy talking about a fantasy dinner that may/may not happen. I am moving on like you should!"
In the case that no one purchases his Christmas dinner, the chef wrote he would "spend the day with my young family, and two babies. But at least I tried. "
