What We'll Pay for a Magnificent Meal

Wednesday night, I decided to celebrate the publication of What the Great Ate, a book I co-authored with my brother Mark, by dining at Citronelle -- one of Washington, D.C.'s culinary cathedrals. The fixed price menu was $105 so, yes, this was one decadent dinner. The very next day, at the "Talk" blog on the food portal Serious Eats, BaguettenBrie raised the question of how pricey a meal should be:

I firmly believe in giving oneself the opportunity to experience great chefs' work. But I have been starting to question a bit how much certain tasting menus are costing.

On the one hand, with a truly great restaurant, somewhere you probably won't return to often, money shouldn't be considered a limiting agent. However, on the other (hand), should I feel guilty about questioning the cost of just one meal?

"No" is my answer. By all means, question the cost of any menu. The issue is value for your dollar. A more expensive meal can sometimes often more value and, at other times, less value.

As for that three-course Citronelle dinner, it was absolutely wonderful. But would I have considered it less wonderful if it has cost $120 instead of $105? Probably. By the way, the crowning glory of that meal was the cherry vacherin that I chose for dessert. God, that was good.

A Shortage of Sweetness

We're used to hear economists and Wall Street insiders discuss the oil supply and potential shortages, but now it seems that a different commodity -- sugar -- is prompting a similar discussion.

Bloomberg News reports:

A global sugar shortage, which drove prices to the highest level in three decades, may peak in the third quarter this year ...

Sugar had its biggest annual (price) advance since 1974 last year as heavy rains and drought pared harvests in Brazil and India, the largest growers.

Nothing to Pop a Cork Over

It's hard to celebrate these numbers if you're operating a vineyard in France's Champagne district. According to the Wall Street Journal:

Champagne producers agreed to pick 32% fewer grapes this year, leaving billions of grapes to rot on the ground, in a move to counter fizzling bubbly sales around the world amid the economic downturn.

. . . In 2008, as the recession set in, sales slipped to 322 million bottles, the first decline since 2000.

. . . growers say they resent suffering at the hands of what they call Champagne houses' overly ambitious sales expectations.

Even in good times, champagne sales face some tough obstacles.

One problem is that champagne-drinking is associated with hors d'oeuvres or dessert. It's not something that people are encouraged to drink throughout a meal (although the French will do so on rare occasions).

Another problem is that even moderately good champagne is pricey. While cheaper wines from Australia and Spain have helped to make red and white table wines more accessible to middle-income people, the lower end of the champagne market is pretty small -- and it generally isn't fit for anything but making a Mimosa.

If you're going to invest in a $25 to $35 bottle of champagne, you need to have at least one other adult, preferably 2-3, to finish it and make it worth the investment. On the other hand, it doesn't sting so much not to finish a $9 bottle of Garnacha because you didn't shell out that much.