The other day I was asked to slip down to the Bandara Hotel for a taste of one of Bangkok's finest chef's latest creations. Chef Pop is an amazing artist of the culinary arts and its always my pleasure and also my part time copy writing job, to go and test his food and then write about it for his press releases and such. The restaurant is Mason Chin and it is a beautiful venue where tables are arranged in a glass atrium where street lights glow outside allow passers by to look in with envy and allow those of us sitting within to watch the comings and goings of the bustling city folk. It's amazing.
The food, amazing. Nearly every dish is created with an international flare, spices coming from India or Thailand mixing with fish coming from the coast of Australia or even the United States. Meats imported from Australia and mixed with vegetables produced in Europe. Caviar from Russia and truffles from France, truly there is no limit to the extravagance of Chef Pop's kitchen.
We drank wine imported from Chili while enjoying 5 courses of delicious dishes. The other food reviewers were a mix of folks, I was sat next to an Indian Editor who was delightful dinner company. She was funny and seemed to know everything about food. Across from me was a young British writer. There was a Thai woman who had been educated in America and several Thai women who had been educated in England. So as we all indulgence ourselves with this delightful task, it occurred to me that there are people on the planet by the millions that will never in their life time experience a meal like this. Why? If we were paying for this meal it would have exceeded $150 dollars per person. That's not even taking into account the wine we were drinking or the tip we should be leaving. In America that wouldn't be that expensive, but imagine a nation where the AVERAGE worker makes $200 a MONTH. Because here in Thailand the guys preparing this meal are lucky to make that much. So is it right for those of us who HAVE to enjoy when so many HAVE NOT?
Hey, I was there to do my job because I have a mortgage, child support, and credit debt coming out of my ears. But lets face it, every once in a while I could splurge and have splurged for meals like this. Especially in my single days when a meal like this with the right girl probably increased my potential for success 10 fold.
My question is this, and I'll be blogging more about this in the coming days, CAN THERE BE RICH without POOR?