Top 5 Things To Do With $500, Instead Of Spending It At Trotter’s

As my post on Monday indicated, my colleague and I were highly annoyed last week, after we sat through a three-hour-plus tasting menu (five savory, three sweet; plus a bottle and a glass of wine, water, tax and tip) at Charlie Trotter’s. The bigger shock – in comparison to the experience – was the bill for the two of us: $500. I thought, what else could we have had for that kind of coin?

Sadly, a lot of great things came to mind, and here are my top 5:

1. Fly to New York City – with a friend – and eat like a Prince in Flushing, near LaGuardia, for incredibly vibrant Chinese food.

2. Walk in to Big Star on a Friday afternoon around 5 p.m., belly up to the bar and declare to no one in particular: “The next round is on me, everyone!” (Then proceed to buy three tacos, just so you don’t go hungry).

3. Order everything off of the menu at Avec, plus a bottle of wine; then buy beers for the staff.

4. Buy 150 meals (75 days’ worth) for one person in the Meals on Wheels program.

5. Get the “whole hog/shoulder, plus sides” experience at any number of fine establishments such as Momofuku Ssäm Bar (NYC), Lillie’s Q (pictured, above) or Chicago q, and have enough leftover for drinks and tip.

What would you do with $500 to spend on a meal? Let me know on my Facebook fan page. Best answer wins a $25 gift card to GT Fish & Oyster.