A Real Whopper: Most Expensive Burgers

Oct. 10, 2012— -- intro: Move over, filet mignon. The hamburger, that modest mound of meat, is moving up in the world.

Joe Calderone is the creative chef at the New York City landmark restaurant Serendipity 3, which is known for its decadent desserts, including the $1,000 Golden Opulent Ice Cream Sundae. Now it has created a $295 burger dubbed "Le Burger Extravagant," which even Guinness certified as "the most expensive in the world."

Calderone said it took them about four months of trial and error to find the perfect blend of meat and ingredients.

"We started with 4 ounces each of different cuts of [Japanese] Wagyu style beef," he said. "Our secret ingredient here: salish."

Salish is sea salt that has been smoked with alderwood. Another secret, Calderone said, is that the restaurant uses truffle butter infused with 10 different herbs, and the cheese is a Montgomery cheddar.

"It's from a famous cheese maker in Somerset, England, who hand-shapes these cheeses and cave ages them," Calderone said.

And don't forget the bun, which is flecked with pure 24-karat gold flakes from Switzerland. And although fries don't come with that, a side of farm-raised caviar from China does.

While Calderone wouldn't list all of the delicious delicacies in the "Extravagant," he said all the ingredients were "top of the line."

"The meat alone ranged from $40 to $80 a pound, the black truffles, the caviar, it's all pretty top end," Calderone said.

This burger even comes with its own jewelry: a solid gold, diamond encrusted toothpick. And yes, Calderone said he has actually seen customers pick their teeth with it.

"It's meant to take home and use as a little portable toothpick," he said.

But Calderone insisted that creating the burger was not about price, but about the food experience.

"Expensive is easy to do. You just find the most expensive ingredients. You throw them together," he said. "But if they don't work together, then it's a disaster. We really wanted the flavor. We wanted it to be the best burger along with being the most expensive."

If you think spending almost $300 on a burger is a little over-the-top, you're not alone. But Serendipity isn't the only burger joint aiming to offer a meat patty for top dollar. Here's a few other pricy burgers.

ABC News' Lauren Effron and Lauren Torrisi contributed to this story.

quicklist: 1category: Most Expensive Burgerstitle: The FleurBurger 5000: $5,000url: media: 17463610 text: Hubert Keller, the founder of the acclaimed restaurant Fleur in Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay hotel, and of Top Chef Masters fame, created a burger meal fit for high-rollers.

The FleurBurger consists of a Kobe beef and foie gras patty topped with black truffles and Keller's black truffle "special sauce," and served on a brioche truffle bun. It comes with a bottle of 1995 Chateau Petrus -- one bottle usually costs around $2,500.

That's not all, the wine is served in a souvenir Ichendorf Brunello glass, imported from Sweden, that the restaurant will clean and ship to customers after the meal.

quicklist: 2category: Most Expensive Burgerstitle: The $777 Kobe Beef and Maine Lobster Burgerurl: media: text: Le Burger Brasserie Sports Grille, a French restaurant with an American twist located inside the Paris Las Vegas hotel, offers a Kobe beef and Maine lobster burger, topped with caramelized onions, imported Brie cheese, prosciutto and 100-year-aged balsamic vinegar. It's served with a bottle of Rose Dom Perignon.

quicklist: 3category: Most Expensive Burgerstitle: The $666 Douche Burgerurl: media: 17445470text: Franz Aliquo and Frank Rinaldi, founders of New York's 666 Burger food truck, are not big fans of the gourmet burger movement. In fact, they hate it.

"I thought what would really be the best way for me to show my disgust, short of burning the places down," Aliquo told "Nightline."

His answer was to create a burger that is, what he said was wasteful and useless: The $666 Douche Burger.

"I was looking for the most expensive ingredients possible and the ingredients that would make absolutely no sense together," Aliquo said.

This burger sports American Kobe beef patty stuffed with foie gras, wrapped in gold leaf, and topped with caviar, lobster and truffles. Gruyere cheese is melted on top with champagne steam and the burger is slathered with BBQ sauce made using Kopi Luwak coffee.

"It's kind of like the only joke you can eat," Rinaldi said. "It's us saying we're going to put all this rich stuff that everybody else does and use pretty much similar ingredients. But it doesn't mean the burger's going to taste good. It doesn't mean it's actually a hamburger."

quicklist: 4category: Most Expensive Burgerstitle: The db Burger Royale: $75 and $150url: media: 17446058text: The db Bistro Moderne in New York City offers the exquisite db Burger "Royale."

The db burger, created by famed chef Daniel Boulud, by itself features ground sirloin stuffed with red wine braised short ribs, foie gras, root vegetables and black truffle. It is served on a toasted parmesan and poppy seed bun is spread with a touch of fresh horseradish, oven roasted tomato confit, fresh tomato, red onions and frisée lettuce.

The "Royale" version of the burger offer an addition of fresh black truffle and truffle dressing. The burger with one layer of black truffle goes for $75, but you can spring for the "double truffle" burger at $150.

But there's a catch. The db Burger Royale will be served around the end of November to the beginning of December when black truffles are back in season.

quicklist: 5category: Most Expensive Burgerstitle: The Grand Burger: $100url: media: 17463657text: In Pensacola, Fla., McGuire Irish Pub's Grand Burger is 14 ounces of filet mignon ground into a steakburger, topped with Maytag Bleu Cheese crumbles, caviar,a merlot gravy, steak fries and fresh garnishes. Served with a magnum of Moet champagne, the Grand Burger costs $100.

quicklist: 6category: Most Expensive Burgerstitle: The Rossini Burger: $60url: media: text: Hubert Keller's Burger Bar in Las Vegas and San Francisco boasts a timid $60 Rossini burger. This Kobe beef burger is topped with sauteed foie gras and shaved truffles and served on an onion bun.