Meal money?

BillChin · Post by **BillChin** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 9:42 am

Someone recently paid $624k for lunch with Warren Buffett, about $70,000 per plate (nine people). The money goes to a charity for homeless people in the San Fransisco area.

What is the most you ever paid for a meal? Please tell the story if it is an interesting one.

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 10:03 am

BillChin wrote:Someone recently paid $624k for lunch with Warren Buffett, about $70,000 per plate (nine people). The money goes to a charity for homeless people in the San Fransisco area.

What is the most you ever paid for a meal? Please tell the story if it is an interesting one.

My first date with my first wife cost me quite a bit..I'm still paying on that one

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 10:06 am

less than $10 USD.

BillChin · Post by **BillChin** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 10:25 am

The most expensive meal I ever paid for was at Windows on the World, on top of what was the World Trade Center. It was a lot of money, but given the circumstance, I am glad I can say that I did it.

The most expensive meal I ever ate, was at a friend's wedding. This friend married into a wealthy family and they pulled out all the stops for the party.

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 10:42 am

I misvoted. I said $50, because when the spouse and I have what seems to us to be a rare very very nice dinner out, the tab is likely to be in the $100 range. I should have read your intro first, because we've also attended benefits for our son's school, where dinner is served but it's more about fundraising and the auction part, which I think is closer to the type of event you're describing (albeit quite a few notches down in fanciness.) The per person price for these events can be about $125, which we consider a charitable contribution to the school and a parental obligation and we don't really do any auction bidding to speak of.

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 10:49 am

I had no idea that some people spend $120+ on a single meal (I thought all those larger numbers in Bill's post were facetious, guess not). That amount of money could feed so many third world children. I wouldn't be able to eat food that expensive, I don't think.

Redwolf · Post by **Redwolf** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 10:55 am

I chose $50, but I'm taking the entire meal into consideration: appetizer, entree, dessert, wine, coffee. We spend about that much per person on our once yearly pilgrimage to Millenium in SF in honor of our birthdays. But if by "meal" you just mean entree, I'd say the max we've ever spent per person would be in the $25 range.

Redwolf

BillChin · Post by **BillChin** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 11:04 am

Cranberry wrote:I had no idea that some people spend $120+ on a single meal (I thought all those larger numbers in Bill's post were facetious, guess not). That amount of money could feed so many third world children. I wouldn't be able to eat food that expensive, I don't think.

Like Em already said, there are also fundraisers.

So far I am surprised at the low numbers. The people here are above average in education, and are probably also above average in income. Many live in urban areas with expensive restaurants. The poll isn't about regular meals, but special occasions, perhaps even once in a lifetime occasions such as a special anniversary.

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 11:21 am

BillChin wrote:The poll isn't about regular meals, but special occasions, perhaps even once in a lifetime occasions such as a special anniversary.

Yeah, that's how I'm taking it. The amounts I quoted would never be typical meals out for us, but there are plenty of places to spend big bucks if one is so inclined.
One thing is, unless you go to an extremely high-end place, it's hard to spend amounts over $50 without ordering appetizers, salad, drinks and dessert. I don't have that kind of eating capacity, and at most order an entree and dessert. Maybe wine, maybe coffee. And even then I often take something home to eat for lunch the next day.

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 11:23 am

Cranberry wrote:I had no idea that some people spend $120+ on a single meal.

In the case I mentioned, you're not spending the $ on the meal, which is usually pretty basic--you're making a donation.

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 11:25 am

emmline wrote:
Cranberry wrote:I had no idea that some people spend $120+ on a single meal.
In the case I mentioned, you're not spending the $ on the meal, which is usually pretty basic--you're making a donation.

I don't believe it's always a donation.

Paul Reid · Post by **Paul Reid** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 11:41 am

I took my small company out for a Christmas dinner a few years back - hired a limo and went to Harbour 60 Steak House. Spent about $1200 for 5 people. It was lavish and decadent - and I haven't been quite able to afford that experience again, though I have eaten in some very fine restaurants mostly on a clients' tab.

Wanderer · Post by **Wanderer** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 1:46 pm

Cranberry wrote:I had no idea that some people spend $120+ on a single meal (I thought all those larger numbers in Bill's post were facetious, guess not). That amount of money could feed so many third world children. I wouldn't be able to eat food that expensive, I don't think.

If you have wine with your meal, the price can go up considerably..

Back when I was making "internet money", I used to take my wife to eat at a place called "Taste of Texas" in Houston. It's sufficiently expensive that when you are being shown to your table, they ask what the special occasion is. If I had a bottle of my preferred cabernet (Far Niente), dinner could easily run $300.00. During that same ere, we spoke to a number of folks about licensing our technology. One dinner we went to with the World Book Encyclopedia guys, the wine alone ran around $500.

It's easier to spend a lot of money when you have a lot of it to spend. When I was less wealthy (both before and after those days, though primarily before), I would eat ramen and otherwise try to maximize my spending dollar. During that crazy time, I wouldn't think twice about buying 8 or 10 pizzas to feed "the guys" during a gaming party or something. It was just such a small drop in the bucket comparably.

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 1:51 pm

Wanderer wrote:
Cranberry wrote:I had no idea that some people spend $120+ on a single meal (I thought all those larger numbers in Bill's post were facetious, guess not). That amount of money could feed so many third world children. I wouldn't be able to eat food that expensive, I don't think.
If you have wine with your meal, the price can go up considerably..

Back when I was making "internet money", I used to take my wife to eat at a place called "Taste of Texas" in Houston. It's sufficiently expensive that when you are being shown to your table, they ask what the special occasion is. If I had a bottle of my preferred cabernet (Far Niente), dinner could easily run $300.00

How can you pay three hundred dollars for wine while you know that children in China (and Arkansas, for that matter) are starving for want of bread or rice? That's what I mean. To be fair, three hundred dollars is nothing to some of the prices Bill gave.

I bought some grapes the other day and my total came to nearly $5. I nearly choked, but that's probably why wine costs so much.

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 1:53 pm

BillChin wrote:The people here are above average in education, and are probably also above average in income. Many live in urban areas with expensive restaurants.

Not all of us.

But, yeah, I have to weigh in on the side of those who say fundraising dinners are more about making contributions than they are about decadent spending.

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