London hotel's 9-course, $1,480 per person meal has few takers

Washington, Dec 1 (ANI): An exclusive hotel in London's Mayfair district offers nine courses and a rare Krug champagne, but the expensive fare has few takers.

A week after launching a tasting menu that runs up to 12,000 dollars per table, The Lanesborough hasn't exactly had a flood of customers.

But Alexandre Caujolle, the Lanesborough's director of food and beverage, promises the feast is innovative and unforgettable.

"I think nowadays with the gloom and doom of our time there is a lot of difficulty, and when people can enjoy something unique like this, they do," ABC News quoted Caujolle as saying.

The nine-course offering costs customers 1,480 dollars per person-and will only be served to groups of four or eight.

Each course of the meal is paired with a rare vintage. Offerings include include scallop carpaccio, langoustine on potatoes puree and a dessert of parfait with wild berries, marshmallows and chocolate cannoli.

But extras offered at the hotel like a 6,200 dollars shot of cognac-the world's oldest, dating back to 1770 -- can run the tab considerably higher. Also available is a 2,300 dollars Cohiba Behike cigar made by Fidel Castro's personal roller.

Caujolle explains why anyone would want to indulge this far.

"Because it's unique and only made for you and few people can reach it or experience it. You've got a memory of something that remains there for a lifetime," he said.

London's Evening Standard newspaper reporter Benedict Moore-Bridger praised the restaurant's parmesan and caviar fagottelli, pasta filled with carbonara mousse, but said it was too expensive.

"They've done it as a gimmick. They create a menu that next to no one will buy and then they get publicity for themselves," said Timothy Leunig, an economic historian at the London School of Economics. (ANI)