O2K, please do not take that as a criticism but of the things you listed above the only ones I would have touched were the chicken breast, the chocolate dessert, the wine and the water. In mid-November 2004, the Euro was trading for $1.29, meaning that I paid $45 for those items.

Tastes vary. Note that I did not comment on what others felt about the dinner, undoubtedly many felt they got an excellent bargain -- but that was not the case for someone who doesn't like either seafood or veggies.

Moreover, it is always possible that even a person who loves everything on the fixed offering/fixed price menu is not particularly hungry (or doesn't feel well) on the night of the dinner. He, certainly, is not going to be happy to fork out a full share while he sits there and ignores almost everything on the table.

Hence my decision to always arrange these dinners where each person can order whatever the restaurant has on the menu and to pay only for what he ordered.

It is true enough that restaurants prefer going the other way. The manager might argue that it is too difficult for the kitchen to prepare such a variety (in fact, they generally do say that). It is not, however, true.

Right now, we have 64 people attending the PBI-FLL Meet. Why is it any more difficult for the restaurant to give each one what he wants than it would be for it to service 64 people who come in at the same time as individuals, couples, or families? As long as the restaurant has enough table space to handle X number of people, it also has the kitchen facilities to provide them with their personal choices from the menu.