$40,000-a-table reunion meal of endangered wildlife

$40,000-a-table reunion meal at Guangzhou hotel
Straits Times 20 Jan 08;

# Charcoal-grilled deep-sea whelk
# Braised superior shark's fin
# Supreme abalone
# Panfried Napoleon wrasse steak with truffles
# Panfried Kobe beef
# Lobster served with caviar and scallops
# Double-boiled superior bird's nest soup with wild bamboo piths
# Japanese musk melon

GUANGZHOU - AT LEAST eight people in southern China's Guangzhou city will enjoy a reunion dinner priced at 198,000 yuan (S$40,000) per table - deemed by industry sources as the most expensive reunion dinner in all of China.

So far, only one table has been reserved by an unnamed company for the dinner at the city's Shangri-La hotel, according to Sina news website.

Star-rated hotels in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, are known to whip up feasts fit for kings during the Chinese New Year.

Reservations for these upscale get-together meals at high-end hotels have already closed, three weeks before Chinese New Year which starts on Feb 7 this year.

At the Shangri-La hotel, reunion dinners costing below 8,000 yuan have been snapped up; places for for the 198,000-yuan eight-course Imperial Feast are still available though.

The hefty price-tag is the equivalent of a year's salary for a white-collar executive in Guangzhou. Still, it is a far cry from what is dubbed the world's most expensive dinner, concocted by world-renowned chefs at US$25,000 (S$36,000) a head.

The 10-course culinary decadence, organised in November last year by the Lebua luxury hotel in Bangkok, attracted food lovers from the United States, Europe, the Middle East and other parts of Asia.

Six three-star Michelin chefs were roped in to put together creations such as 'tartar of Kobe beef with Imperial Beluga caviar and Belon oysters' and 'mousseline of pattes rouges crayfish with morel mushroom infusion', all paired with a rare and robust vintage wine.

Feast fit for a king

Food

# Charcoal-grilled deep-sea whelk
# Braised superior shark's fin
# Supreme abalone
# Panfried Napoleon wrasse steak with truffles
# Panfried Kobe beef
# Lobster served with caviar and scallops
# Double-boiled superior bird's nest soup with wild bamboo piths
# Japanese musk melon

Drinks

# Each of the seven courses is paired with fine wines from the top vineyards of France: Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Chateau Latour, Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Chateau Petrus, Chateau Haut-Brion, Chateau Margaux and Chateau Cheval Blanc.