Most expensive dinner?

Taco Bell.

I don't honestly remember the most expensive dinner I ever paid for. Most of the really expensive meals I ever had were meals I was treated to.

 

When I was at a public accounting firm a few of us non-partners went out for a nice dinner. We ordered several bottles of Opus One. The partner who approved the expense report was not amused.

My really expensive meals were either work related or occurred when I was dating a San Francisco law firm partner who was a big foodie, so none were paid by me.

 

I don't like wine. I can't get into it. I don't care how well it pairs with the food; I don't like wine. Would that completely ruin this kind of experience?

 

It's kind of like music.
You can spend $15 on a CD and hear all your favorite songs (cooking at home or fast food).
You can spend $50 and go to a crowded, loud concert and have a great time (eating at a place like Outback).
Or, you can spend a few hundred dollars for primo seats in a small, intimate venue and listen to a master of his craft give a tremendous performance (eating at a 5-star restaurant).
If you're into the food, there's nothing wrong with splurging once in a while for an experience you'll remember forever.

 

At my first job, I was covering the run-up to the Kentucky Derby and I hit an exacta before I left the track. Won about $400.

The Kentucky Derby media party was that night, which if you've never been, it's pretty swanky.

That night I was tipping bartenders $20s just because I could. I was a high-roller!

What a moron I was. I couldn't have been making more than $20K at the time.

 

I would think that'd be in the eye of the beholder. For me, personally, I can't see dropping more than, say, $50 for a meal when I could buy enough groceries to make a week's worth of food for that price.

 

I think $48 (including tip) is the most I ever spent solo, and it was in New Orleans, so it was worth it.

 

Do you not drink or are you not including drinks or are you incapable of having fun?

 

That was just lunch. I know the places on Bourbon Street to drink cheap.

 

As you said, it's in the eye of the beholder. Some people will think nothing of dropping $100-plus for Springsteen tickets. Some like to drop $100 on a gourmet meal. To each their own.

 

Only talking of wine, I always enjoyed it, but never quite got what the big deal was.

Then a few weeks ago, we went up to the Finger Lakes and hit the wineries. A couple of them, we tasted their ice wines.

Now I know what the big deal was, why people would drop some pretty serious bucks on a single bottle. That was a taste I had not experienced before.

There was a honey ice wine that was particularly ... orgasmic.

 

Ah, the Finger Lakes wineries. As juniors and seniors, we would get freshmen and sophomores to drive us to like 6-7 of them in an afternoon. We'd pay them off with a bottle or two of wine and have a blast. I miss those days.