First Posting

As this is my first blog, perhaps i should explain. It seems that when I initially signed on to the Arcadia blog I made a mistake. So for the past three months I have been blogging on another family's blog. Imagine my embarrassment when I found out that it was a black family from Mississippi. Although the problem has been corrected, I have become attatched and plan on spending the holiday's with our new family down south.
Anyway, my first submission will be an article on gourmet and corporate excess with consequences. It reminds me of Christmas at 31 Reid circa 1988.


Five Barclays Bankers Lose Jobs Over Very Expensive Meal

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

LONDON (AP)--One summer evening, six bankers celebrated a business deal with dinner at a London restaurant. Several hours and three bottles of Chateau Petrus later, they had run up a bill of more than GBP44,000 - according to Guinness World Records, the most expensive meal per capita ever.

It is unlikely that they are still celebrating. Five of the diners - employees of Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays PLC (BCS) - have reportedly lost their jobs, and the sixth is keeping a low profile.

The Petrus restaurant released details of the bill to the media after the extravagant meal last July. But on Tuesday night, staff at the lush, low-key dining room in London's St. James's district said politely but firmly that they were not allowed to speak to the media about this issue.

According to the restaurant, the party spent GBP44,007, most of it on wine, including a bottle of 1945 Chateau Petrus Bordeaux priced at GBP11,600 pounds; a GBP9,400 bottle of the 1946 vintage; and a bottle of the 1947 Petrus at GBP12,300. The dinner was rounded off with a dessert wine costing GBP9,200 pounds.

The Michelin-starred restaurant, whose signature dishes include John Dory in mussel and tomato sauce and duck confit ravioli, did not even charge the party for the several hundred pounds worth of food it consumed.

Customers come to Petrus, named for the Bordeaux vineyard that supplies much of its wine, to eat fine food - and, especially, to drink fine wine.

Among the vintages being offered Tuesday on the 21-page wine list are a 1961 Petrus at GBP12,500 and a 1928 vintage at GBP11,600.

Tom Forrest, a wine expert at London wine museum Vinopolis, said the bankers chose well. The combination of clay soil and careful tending makes Petrus wines among the most sought-after in the world, and the vintages from the mid-1940s are especially valued.

"It is recognized as one of the great wines of the world," Forrest said. "And 1945 was a strong vintaolor:#ff6666;">
-hui-
an lar.. c 1st..

i m reli reli very tired.. but stil.. i hav to do many things.. i m reli in need of rest!!

-hui-