Too Much Of A Good Thing

The Epicurean Masters of the World came together for the second year:

Thailand - It was an evening of utter decadence — a 10-course gourmet dinner concocted by world-renowned chefs at $25,000 a head [...]

The wine alone cost more than $200,000, Griffiths said. "Just to have one of these would be a great treat. To have 10 of them in one evening is the sort of thing that people would kill for." [...]

Some chefs confessed they were astonished by the $25,000 price tag.

"It's crazy," Westermann said. "After this, nothing can shock me."

I've spent a couple of hundred dollars for a meal, but this is ridiculous. Take note that the $25,000 doesn't include tax and tip!

Even if it was for a good cause -- organizers say the event was meant to promote tourism in Thailand and benefit two charities -- I still question the logic of it from a gourmand's point of view.

Just look at the menu: each course and wine pairing is so exceptional it demands to be savored by itself. How any of the diners could finish ten of them, much less fully appreciate any one of them, is beyond me.

I agree with one of the diners:

"It's really amazing," said one diner, Sophiane Foster, a wealthy Cambodian who lives in Malaysia, as she eyed the dinner's eighth course — a "pigeon en croute with cepes mushrooms." "But I can't finish it. Your senses can only appreciate so much.

Tags: epicurean masters of the world, food, thailand, wine

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