Gourmet Meal Runs $1,480 Per Person; Few Takers So Far

LONDON, Nov. 30, 2010 — -- A week after launching a tasting menu that runs up to $12,000 per table, The Lanesborough, an exclusive hotel in London's Mayfair district, hasn't exactly had a flood of customers. Time spent designing the meal: five months. Tables served: just one.

But Alexandre Caujolle, the Lanesborough's director of food and beverage, promises the feast is innovative and unforgettable, and he insists it's relevant even in these tough economic times.

"I think nowadays with the gloom and doom of our time there is a lot of difficulty, and when people can enjoy something unique like this, they do," he said.

The nine-course offering costs customers $1,480 per person -- and will only be served to groups of four or eight.

The chef, Heinz Beck, who earned three Michelin stars at the restaurant La Pergola in Rome, designed the tasting menu to accompany specially-selected Krug champagne. Each course of the meal is paired with a rare vintage. Offerings include scallop carpaccio, langoustine on potatoes puree and a dessert of parfait with wild berries, marshmallows and chocolate cannoli.

But extras offered at the hotel like a $6,200 shot of cognac -- the world's oldest, dating back to 1770 -- can run the tab considerably higher. Also available is a $2,300 Cohiba Behike cigar made by Fidel Castro's personal roller. The hotel says it's the only outlet in the world to offer the cigars by the stick.

Why exactly might people want such luxuries? Caujolle explains.

"Because it's unique and only made for you and few people can reach it or experience it," he said. "You've got a memory of something that remains there for a lifetime."

London's Evening Standard newspaper reporter Benedict Moore-Bridger sampled the menu before writing a story on the meal. Moore-Bridger said that the showstopper of the feast was Beck's signature parmesan and caviar fagottelli, pasta filled with carbonara mousse.

"It's pretty amazing, a very standout dish. When you bite it, it's sort of liquid inside," he said, adding that while the price was prohibitive, the meal was definitely impressive. "I'm sure it's going to appeal to people with disposable income."