Holy High-Priced Hamburger, Hubert!

Hubert Keller (PBS’ “Secrets of a Chef”, Bravo TV’s “Top Chef Masters” and all-around culinary demi-god), has unveiled his latest golden dish: a $5,000 hamburger. This extravagant dish can only be found at his restaurant, Fleur, located in the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas and has been christened the “FleurBurger 5000”. Even though Hubert Keller is (by far) one of the most talented chefs on the planet, I still had trouble trying to figure out what made this burger worth five grand. But here are the stats:

The patty: 100% wagyu (Kobe) beef
The toppings: Foie Gras and Truffles
The “special sauce”: made with black truffle
Served with:
- Fries
- A bottle of Château Petrus ’95 (valued at $2500)
- A pair of Ichendorf Brunello glasses (valued at $75)

The value of the burger alone is around $25-50, which only brings the price to approx. $2,600. So where does the added $2400 come from?

Hubert Keller isn’t the first to offer up a Versace-esque designer dish. NYC's Algonquin hotel sports a $10,000 martini on their cocktail menu that comes with a pre-selected diamond in the martini glass. And Arnaud restaurant in New Orleans offers their “Strawberries Arnaud” for $1.4 million – the berry dish is garnished with a 4.7-carat pink diamond ring and $30,000 liquor.

And oddly enough, Keller isn’t the first to offer a sky-high pricey burger. In 2006, Carl’s Jr. partnered with the Palms Casino to create their $6,000 burger: A Carl’s Jr. $6 burger paired with a bottle of Petrus '82 Pomerol wine (valued at $5,994).

It just goes to show, you can’t put a price on a great meal…