Its creators admit it is the ultimate in decadence: A $175 (€113)hamburger. The Wall Street Burger Shoppe just raised its price from $150 (€97) to assure its designation as the costliest burger in the city as determined by Pocket Change, an online newsletter about the most expensive things in New York.
"Wall Street has good days and bad days. We wanted to have the everyday burger (for $4 [€2.58])... and then something special if you really have a good day on Wall Street," said co-owner Heather Tierney.
The burger, created by chef and co-owner Kevin O'Connell, seeks to justify its price with a Kobe beef patty, lots of black truffles, seared foie gras, aged Gruyere cheese, wild mushrooms and flecks of gold leaf on a brioche bun.
The eatery sells 20 or 25 per month in the fine dining room upstairs versus hundreds of $4 burgers each day at the diner counter downstairs, Mr Tierney said.
Row over national holidays
Kosovo's Parliament yesterday demanded that the government make neighbouring Albania's November 28 independence day a public holiday and ignore international overseers who fear the move will alienate the few Serbs left.
The new state, whose two million people are mostly Albanian, has sought to reach out to its remaining 120,000 Serbs since its February 17 declaration of independence from Serbia and to try to assuage their fears of a Greater Albania.
But Prime Minister Hashim Thaci faced a revolt in Parliament from the ranks of his own party and its coalition allies when he submitted for adoption a list of 11 national holidays that omitted November 28.
Parliament was due to vote on the legislation today.
A schism in Spanish cuisine
A chef with three Michelin stars has created a schism in Spanish cuisine by labelling avant-garde creations that revolutionised cooking "pretentious".
Restaurants like El Bulli near Barcelona, the world's best according to Restaurant Magazine, have dumped traditional kitchen techniques in favour of high-tech creations distilling flavours into foams and gels.
Last week Santi Santamaria, a traditionalist whose restaurant Can Fabes has three stars, ripped into dishes such as El Bulli's "paper with flowers" which he said were aimed at impressing rather than satisfying diners.
Mr Santamaria called Spanish chefs pretentious and said their use of chemicals could actually put diners' health at risk.
Rival chefs issued a news release yesterday accusing Mr Santamaria of jealousy and of endangering the hard-won reputation of Spain's kitchens.
Offers to pay with drugs
A New Zealand man had a novel idea when he found himself in a queue at a service station counter with no money: Could he pay with marijuana instead?
Unfortunately he didn't get a chance to discover whether the attendant would accept his offer, as the person behind him in the queue was a police officer, the Dominion Post newspaper reported.
The man's attempt to buy two packets of M&Ms and a packet of potato chips to satisfy his "munchies" was caught short when he was arrested. He must have been hungry, as he failed to notice the police patrol car sitting on the station forecourt being filled with petrol, the paper reported.
The 28-year old mechanic from the small North Island town of Carterton pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis in the Masterton District Court and was remanded for sentencing.
Dialect guide on food and flirting
A free guide to be distributed around Vienna to soccer fans visiting for Euro 2008 will advise them how to order Austrian cuisine, flirt with local women, and find their way to the stadium in the thick local dialect.
Essential phrases such as Ham Se an Kaiserschmoan mit Zwetschknroesta? ("Do you have a sliced sugared pancake with plum compote?") or Fia mi bitte no a Soizguakn ("another gherkin for me please") are listed with English and German translations.
Greetings include Moagn ("Good morning") and Kuess die Hand, gnae Frau, the phrase to be uttered when kissing a woman's hand at a first meeting - a traditional Austrian gesture.