"I get so tired listening to one million dollars here, one million dollars there, it's so petty." - Imelda Marcos

By JOCELYN GECKER, Associated Press WriterSat Feb 10, 4:57 PM ET

It was an evening of utter decadence — a 10-course gourmet dinner concocted by world-renowned chefs at $25,000 a head.

Many of those who attended Saturday night's culinary extravaganza in Bangkok hailed it as the meal of a lifetime. But it's no easy task to eat plate after plate of Beluga caviar, Perigord truffles, Kobe beef, Brittany lobster — each paired with a rare and robust vintage wine.

"It's really amazing," said one diner, Sophiane Foster, a wealthy Cambodian who lives in Malaysia, as she eyed the dinner's eighth course — a "pigeon en croute with cepes mushrooms." "But I can't finish it. Your senses can only appreciate so much."

High-rolling food lovers flew in from the United States, Europe, the Middle East and other parts of Asia for the 40-seat dinner organized by the Lebua luxury hotel in Bangkok, grandly titled "Epicurean Masters of the World."

Cooked by six three-star Michelin chefs — four from France and one each from Germany and Italy — the menu featured complicated creations like "tartar of Kobe beef with Imperial Beluga caviar and Belon oysters" and "mousseline of 'pattes rouges' crayfish with morel mushroom infusion."

Among the talented chefs, some said they found it challenging to give diners their money's worth.

Antoine Westermann of Le Buerhiesel, a top-class restaurant in Strasbourg, France, said he shaved 3 1/2 ounces of Perigord truffles — worth about $350 — onto each plate of his "coquille Saint-Jacques and truffles."

"For $25,000, what do you expect?" he said.

I've never wished food poisoning on anybody, but...

After indulging in the extravagance that is Alinea last December, a minimum level of frivolity when it comes to dining has begun to creep into my being. Curiosity always quashed good sense. I'm glad I went, but Alinea's 24-course meal with wine pairings was hit-and-miss, mostly miss, and the place was a little too smitten with it's own preciosity.

I've never met a chef I liked as a person, always admired their modus operandi w/r/t the ethics of cooking, but could never get passed their coke-addled arrogance or piety. The (fairly) recent explosion of gastronomy has been great, but thoughts of rampant silliness can't escape my brain. Is it too much to ask to put the prices on the menu, something becoming increasingly common in the upper crust of the restaurant world. I'm beginning to think we were in a tenable position for all of three seconds. Mostly reactionary thoughts, but NYT seems to agree (RR); yet another reason to justify the hatred of rich fucks.

With Alinea, it was curious, yet revealing, to find one's limits. We love to dine out. It really is an experience that, in most cases, is worth the silliness and price that comes with it, but the Achatz and others of his ilk's 'fabulousness' tax is getting a little ridiculous. Moto and Schwa are next for us, French Laundry a dream. Happy eating...and bring a loan application.