Money no object? How about time no object? I’d like to be at one of Taillevent’s feasts. Or Chiquart’s, I’m not fussy.
Jeez, I can’t decide.
A caesar salad with tons of garlic and lots of croutons sounds divine, with lobster and clarified butter and hot buttered rolls with deep, dark chocolate brownie or truffles with rasperry sauce.
Or tons and tons of palak paneer, paneer tikka masala and malai kofta.
Or really well-cooked medium-rare steak with cabernet reduction and blue cheese whipped potatoes.
I also love finger foods. I love lamb dolmades (some restaurants use beef for stuffed grape leaves - I hate that), crab cakes, crab rangoon and really good cheese and baguette.
Hell, maybe I’d have a dab of everything, with really good wines - red, white and champagne, plus some port.
I wish there were some way that, in addition to there being no price limit, I could also have umlimited stomach size and alcohol tolerance. I’d hate to stumble out of my feast only to get sick on it or have a hangover the next day, and I loathe feeling over-full. 
Crab stuffed mushroom caps
Lobster
Filet mignon
Creme Brulee
And one of those fancy (read: expensive) bottles of red wine to go with it.
I’d cheat and have an all-you-can-eat buffet with all my favorite foods, and invite everyone I like over for dinner:
Muffaletta sandwich wedges from the Central Grocery Store in New Orleans, Louisiana
Mozzarella cheese sticks
Fuddrucker’s onion rings
Seven-layer dip with tortilla chips
A variety of sushi rolls (no boring California rolls, but plenty of the big combo rolls that I usually don’t order because they’re so expensive)
Platanitos maduros (sweet fried plantains)
Lasagna (my personal recipe)
A variety of thin-sliced Italian deli meats (genoa salami, prosciutto di parma, pepperoni, mortadella, capicola, and more, plus corned beef and pastrami) and cheeses (smoky provolone, etc), fried peppers and other toppings with fresh, soft focaccia bread and a grill to press our own sandwiches
Barbecue baby back ribs
Balsamic vinaigrette pasta salad
Chopped liver and Ritz crackers
Smoked salmon with cream cheese and bialys (like bagels, only better)
Stuffed cabbage
Gyros
Pasta jambalaya with shrimp and spicy sausage
Fried oysters, scallops, and shrimp with remoulade sauce
Mini Philly cheesesteak sandwiches
A variety of sausages from around the world
Dessert bar:
Fresh fruit (strawberries, pineapple, seedless grapes, nectarine and plum wedges)
Key lime pie (the real stuff, with graham cracker crust)
Hot mixed berry cobbler a la mode
Fruit-topped New York style cheesecake
Tres leches (rich, creamy Cuban dessert)
Beignets from Cafe du Monde in New Orleans, Louisiana
“thou gaudy gold, hard food for midas, I will none of thee…”
– Merchant of Venice
You know, I just ate there over Christmas. I’m a vegetarian and have been one for something like 20 years now, but I also always wanted to try one of them fancy dry-aged steaks. And since my mom’s husband was paying, I went for it. And, truthfully, all I can tell you is that it was…“steaky”. Since I’ve been a vegetarian for so long (other than the occasional snuck Arby’s Beef n’Cheddar), I didn’t really have anything to compare it to and it was wasted on me. The Bern’s experience was fun tho’; if I go again, I’m getting the vegetarian ravioli…
As far as the OP’s original question, hmmm, there’s not really anything I don’t eat because of expense. I’d probably get a pound of grilled asparagus at Whole Foods ('cuase that stuff’s pricey) and maybe some really aged sharp cheddar…
This thread had me drooling, even over the meaty bits, jjimm!
No question about it. I would fly in an Indian chef, maybe Madhur Jaffrey, who would have to bring all the essential ingredients that are unavailable where I live, and have her prepare me and my friends a vegetarian Indian feast.
I miss Indian food! I try my best, but it’s not the same.
Can’t wait to get to London!
Money’s no object? Bring me Morimoto from Iron Chef and tell him to bring caviar, Kobe beef and homard lobster. That’d just be the appetizer.
If anyone ever wants to invide me to join them at the French Laundry, I’ll be all over that invitation. Chez Panisse wouldn’t be all that bad either.
Just because of this I popped over to the little Cuban bodega across the street from my office. I only eat there occasionally, I’m usually out on the road. I had roast pork, yellow rice and beans, platanos maduros and some fresh bread little warmed with a butter wash. The best part was that I learned one of my favorite Cuban ex-employees is working in there (I got extra large portions). She’s a sweetie.
Well, if I ever hit the jackpot, you, Idlewild and I have a date at the French Laundry. My husband and I tried to eat there on our honeymoon, but we messed up the timing for reservations. We ended up at Chez Panisse instead, and it was pretty damn good.
16oz. steak medium, new potato’s tossed on a light olive oil & herb dressing, ceasar salad, french onion soup, a couple of top shelf margaritas. 1/2 a chocolate marbled cheese cake. (not half a piece, half a cake).
[Homer J. Simpson]MMMMmmmm, dinner[/Homer]
Funny thing about steak; I’m a quasi-vegetarian, which is to say I’m not at all a vegetarian–I’ll eat meat if it’s what’s around and in fact I just finished eating a turkey sandwich–but for the most part I subsist on fruits, veggies, cheese, and the like. I have a burger from my favorite pub about once or twice a month, and will occasionally get some chicken breasts for stir-fry if they’re on sale, but that’s about it. (Oh, and salmon…not gonna go without salmon, regardless.)
Anyway, I find that, expense aside, I hardly ever order steak anywhere. I don’t know if the quality of sirloin has gone down or my taste is just more refined, but ever since my days as a cook, I just don’t care for the way steak is prepared, or the cuts that are offered, or something. I’ve grilled steak a couple of times at home in the last five years and have been really disappointed with the cut; even when it’s tender and properly marbled it is nearly as flavorless as cardboard.
The last “damn good” steak I had was at a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse about seven years ago, and the last good meat-centered resturant meal (elk, as I recall, though after the pre-dinner martini and the split of cabernet my memory might be somewhat suspect) I had was at Sanford’s in Milwaukee, for my now ex-girlfriend’s 30th birthday. (sigh) I had a steak around Christmas at a place that was “highly recommended” here in Pasadena and in retrospect I wished I’d spent the money on the wine rather than the meal. I dunno…maybe if you get out of the habit of eating meat it just doesn’t taste right.
Stranger
I had a nearly perferct meal the week before last while I was in New Orleans. I went to Bayona and had their garlic and goat cheese crouton, a bowl of cream of garlic soup, pan fried leg of rabbit with braised tenderloin over greens with the creamiest grits I’ve ever eaten in my life. Dessert was hazelnut icecream with bananna fritters. It was awe inspiringly good.