$100 burger takes bite out of wallet
Brian Skoloff | Associated Press
Jun 20, 2006
BOCA RATON, FLA -- A hundred bucks might buy you more than six dozen cheeseburgers from McDonald's, but none will compare to the brawny burger introduced Tuesday at the swanky Old Homestead Steakhouse.
"Delicious . . . messy . . . worth it."
Mayor Steven Abrams could barely speak between bites as he devoured the 20-ounce, $100 hamburger billed as the "beluga caviar of sandwiches."
The Tri-Beef Burger debuted Tuesday at the restaurant in the Boca Raton Resort and Club, where a membership costs $40,000, plus an additional $3,600 a year.
"We've never had a hamburger on our menu here, so we really wanted to go to the extreme," restaurant owner Marc Sherry said, calling it "the most decadent burger in the world."
At about 5 1/2 inches across and 2 1/2 inches thick, the mound of meat is comprised of beef from three continents -- American prime beef, Japanese Wagyu (Kobe) and Argentine beef.
At his New York restaurant in 2002, Sherry debuted a $41 Kobe beef burger and a year later unveiled the $19 11-ounce Kobe beef frankfurter.
The restaurant also has a location in Atlantic City, N.J.
For Tuesday's debut, the beef arrived at the restaurant in a chauffeur-driven black Hummer limousine and was carried out in packaged slabs on the shoulders of chefs.
The bill for one burger, with garnish that includes organic greens, exotic mushrooms and tomatoes, comes to $124.50 with tax and an 18 percent tip. The restaurant plans to donate $10 from each sale to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southern Florida.
The most expensive hamburger commercially available is the $120 db Double Truffle Burger served at Bistro Moderne in New York City exclusively during black-truffle season, according to Guinness World Records.
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