How Much Would You Spend?

[DLB]

Dumb Ass

[crackers]

eh... that's a drop in the bucket compared to this meal. Or this one. Chump change compared to this one.

[Barbara]

There was a saying, once, that Cocaine was God's way of telling you that you had too much money. I wonder if that shouldn't be changed to something else . . .

[Hannah]

First, never underestimate the power of a really good curry. Sometimes, you want a particular dish from a particular place, and that's the only thing that'll do.

Second, it's not his money - the bill's being paid by a record company that's trying to negotiate a contract with him. Look at it as a "what are you willing to do to make me happy?" test. Compared with the potential amount of money he could make them, $4000 is chicken feed. Clearly, they're willing to make the effort.

[hillvalley]

This kind of thing pisses me off. I don't care who paid for it or why. I wonder if Kanye had demanded that the record company donate $3,000 to his elementary school or to help feed a family or __________ (insert cause of your choice here) if the company would still have dolled out the cash. I'll spare you all my speech on how this symbolizes what is wrong with our country 'cause I'm already cranky, but really, $3,000 for lunch-do you know what I could do with that money?

[Pat]

The thing that seems so nutty about this to me is not just the cost for what would be a relatively inexpensive meal but that, no matter how carefully the food is transported, it just seems like there's no way it will be as good when it arrives as if they got Indian food from a NY restaurant or ate the meal on site in London. Somehow this seems different than needing barbecue (or any particular specialty) from a certain place and having it flown in. Maybe it's the same thing, but it doesn't seem that way to me. They're importing an entire prepared meal and a chef. Flying in the chef and housing him will multiply the cost many times over.

If you really want a meal at this restaurant, then have your meeting in London at the restaurant. If you're in New York, get your food from a place there. It's not like they're in the middle of nowhere and have very limited food options. The logical followup to the story will be next month if he's in London and having a meal imported from New York .

Do they know the chef will be able to clear customs with the food? Take a lot of dry ice through airport security?

[ScotteeM]

This doesn't seem to me to be so much about the food itself, which may be wonderful, and may even travel well, as it is about the company saying, "Look at the lengths to which we will go to take care of our artists."

I'm not saying that's right, and I kind of agree with Hillvalley.

This seems to be simply a demonstration of excess.

[Pat]

This doesn't seem to me to be so much about the food itself, which may be wonderful, and may even travel well, as it is about the company saying, "Look at the lengths to which we will go to take care of our artists."

I'm not saying that's right, and I kind of agree with Hillvalley.

This seems to be simply a demonstration of excess.

It definitely seems to be about the conspicuous consumption primarily, but I can't get past my own focus on the quality of the food .

[crackers]

denied in AP report

LONDON - Kanye West is not eating any $3,900 curry, his management said Tuesday. The British Raj restaurant had said that a music promotion company was paying that princely sum, plus travel and accommodation for the restaurant's head chef, to send a fully cooked Indian meal from Wales to New York for a meeting with West and seven guests.

But the music star's publicist said West wasn't planning to be in New York during the week, and that the food wasn't for him.

"There is no meeting in New York. There never has been," spokesman Gabe Tesoriero said Tuesday. He called the story "patently false."

The restaurant confirmed Tuesday that the food was en route to New York by plane. It said the bill was being footed by a promotion company called Raw Soul. Several phone messages left for Raw Soul were not returned.

Only one thing seemed certain: SOMEONE in New York was going to eat well this week

[qwertyy]

I gotta tell ya, a couple more weeks, and I might be willing to pay that for a good steak dinner with all the fixins--Manhattan, salad, spinach, potatoes, a big Cabernet... Or--ooo! Sushi feast!

Or--hey, I'm not picky!--really just any foodstuff that's not freeze-dried or laden with E coli, and a nice non-corked bottle of wine...

[My standards have dropped significantly since moving to the Third World.]