InsideLux – The Daily Luxury News & Lifestyle News Source

The world’s most famous luxury department store Harrods is now accepting bids on a bottle of legendary Glenfiddich 50 Year Old whisky to help raise money for Evalina Children’s Hospital.
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When it comes to luxury food, the UK offers some of the world’s best delicacies from companies steeped in heritage and tradition. This Cornish Yarg cheese from Lynher Dairies is a fine example of just that.

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Celsius is an American calorie burning sparkling drink that’s already favoured by Hollywood stars and was even served up at the HBO luxury lounge at this year’s Emmy Awards.

Every serving of Celsius burns on average 100 calories or more by raising metabolism temporarily over a 3 hour period. This also gives extra energy and increased alertness.

What makes Celsius different is that it’s scientifically proven to work.

The makers have analyzed the drink itself rather than the individual ingredients on their own in 5 separate clinical studies. Celsius has even been tested in controlled studies conducted by U.S. accredited scientific research facilities comparing it with a placebo.

The results of the fifth clinical study have just been released and it transpires that not only does Celsius aid weight loss it also helps to improve cardiovascular health and fitness.

According to the study carried out by The Metabolic and Body Composition Laboratory of the Department of Health and Exercise Science at the University of Oklahoma, drinking Celsius before a moderate workout boosted endurance and helped to burn more fat.

To learn more about Celsius visit www.celsius.com

As the holiday season fast approaches, the launch of luxury holiday merchandise is well underway. Among the most elegant of gifts are Mumm’s ultra-limited edition collection of three champagne trunks. Especially for Christmas and New Year 2009, the unique ‘In Case Of…’ set features three travel trunks with tailor-made caskets for Brut Cordon Rouge and Vintage 1998 available in white, red and brown leather.

The chic “Mumm Cordon Rouge” in white features a crude bottle of Mumm Cordon Rouge and two flutes for champagne. The adorable “Mini Mumm Cordon Rouge Gross,” the smallest in the collection comes in a glamorous red and features four mini bottles of Cordon Rouge.

The most opulent of the range, the “Mumm Vintage 1998 Magnum” in brown, hides a Vintage 1998 together with four flutes. Brut Cordon Rouge and Cordon Rouge Brut Mini sell for $5,094 and Vintage 1998 Magnum sells for $5,675.

Despite being one of our most basic needs, food can reach dazzling heights of extravagance. Among the most pleasurable of luxuries, fine dining is a multi-million dollar industry. Here, we explore the most expensive food items in the world, without out the consideration of restaurant settings. The question is can you really taste every penny’s worth?

1. Caviar – Long regarded as the most ilustrious delicacy, Almas Iraninan Beluga cut from the belly of the sturgeon fish, the oldest survivor of the dinosaur era and native to the Caspian Sea. The lighter the colour of the caviar, the older the fish and more valuable with Almas being a pearly white colour. This is the rarest type of caviar available, hence the most expensive at $25,000 per kilogram. Its is served on toast and handled with mother-of-pearl or ivory utensils.

2. White Truffle – European White Truffle is one of the world’s most expensive and sublime foods. The Italian white truffle comes from Langhe area of Piedmont region in Italy. These truffles are sold at an amazing price of ($1350 – $2700 per pound) €2,000 and €4,000 per kilogram . They are extracted from an open ground with the help of specially trained truffle hogs or more recently, dogs. While in the past chefs used to peel truffles, in modern times most restaurants brush the truffle carefully and shave it or dice it with the skin on so as to use most of this expensive ingredient.
3. Club Sandwich – Something that may vary ugely in price and quality, the club sandwich is a restaurant staple. But thanks to English chef James Parkinson, the von Essen Platinum club sandwich at the Cliveden House Hotel near London is also the world’s most expensive sandwich at $197. Weighing just over a pound, the triple-decker delicacy is made of the finest ingredients , including Iberico ham cured for 30 months, quail eggs, white truffles, semi-dried Italian tomatoes, and 24-hour fermented sourdough bread.
4. Most Expensive Pie – Based on a traditional English steak and mushroom pie, serving eight with a total cost around $15,900, or $1,990 per slice, which includes a glass of champagne. This dish consists of $1,000 worth of most expensive Wagyu beef fillet from Japanese cows, $3,330 worth Chinese matsutake, two bottles of 1982 Chateau Mouton Rothschild at a cost of about $4,200 each, as well as black truffles and gold leaf.
5. The Most Expensive Pizza – No ordinary Italian classic, the most pricey pizza in the world, valued at ($12,173) €8300 can be tasted in Italy. With generous toppings of expensive caviar and lobster, the pizza has a diameter of 20cm.
6. Most Expensive Omelet - The most expensive omelet in the world can be tasted at the Le Parker Meridien restaurant in New York. The $1,000 omelet consists of 10 ounces of sevruga caviar, a whole lobster, and six eggs.
7. Most Expensive Chocolate - Chocoholics beware! At $2,600 per pound, Chocopologie by Knipschildt Chocolatier of Connecticut is the world’s most decadent box of chocolates. But don’t expect to just drop in and buy one on a whim . . . they’re available on a preorder basis only.
8. Most Expensive Dessert - For those with a sweeter tooth, surely nothing can taste as good as the $1000 sundae served at Serendipity 3, a popular restaurant in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. It’s made up of 5 scoops of the richest Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream, Madagascar vanilla, 23K edible gold leaf and one of the most expensive chocolates in the world, Amedei Porceleana. Its was listed in the 2004 Guiness Book of World Records as the most expensive dessert.

We can’t wait for the TFWA World Exhibition next month as it brings the long awaited global presentation of the new coffret for Louis XIII de Rémy. The Louis XIII de Rémy has already been previewed in Chinese domestic markets this past June.

The Louis XIII de Rémy is a blend of 1,200 eaux-de-vie aged up to 100 years old which emanates from the Grande Champagne soil, an area said to produce the rarest and the most coveted grapes in the Cognac region.

The Louis XIII de Rémy Martin Cognac is without doubt the jewel in the Rémy Cointreau crown and comes in an exquisite baroque crystal decanter with a striking fleur-de-lys stopper. According to Rémy Cointreau the Louis XIII de Rémy Martin Cognac’s elegant outer carry case is inspired by Art Deco and features hand-crafted red imitation leather and dark wood with a multifaceted mirror inside that reflects the luminosity of the spirit and is designed to be more environmentally friendly; it is also Compact, robust and easy to carry.
The Louis XIII de Rémy Martin Cognac will be available for about $2,713

If there are two things to make the knees go weak it is definitely Christian Louboutin shoes and chic French pastry from Patisserie Ladurée.

The two French iconic brands have collaborated to bring us the Louboutin X Ladurée special edition macaroons. This limited edition, mouth watering macaroons aren’t the only thing you’d like to gobble because the Louboutin X Ladurée special edition macaroons come in scrumptious limited edition boxes printed with designs of Louboutin’s famous shoes.

Ingredients for the sweets were inspired by the Mediterranean summer as conceptualized by Louboutin and Ladurée’s pastry chef Philippe Andrieu and come in flavours of fig and date.

Louboutin X Ladurée special edition macaroons come in boxes of six and are available from 11 September at Ladurée Harrods and Burlington Arcade Gallery.

Now you can have your Louboutins and eat it too, what else can a girl want?

Absolut Vodka have been inspired yet again by another designer, Natalia Brilli. The company are renowned for their quirky and creative bottles, and have gone all rock and roll on us with their soon to be released Rock edition vodka. They have previously wowed customers with their disco and Masquerade bottles, and are sure to get the same response with this bold, studded leather design. It is being launched September 1, 2009 in Selfridges for £19.99. Rock On…

Eating Ice Cream in a glamorous funky boutique has just been made possible, by Entrepreneur Matt O’Connor. Exclusively for one week only, The Icecreamists Boutique will be open on September 10th in the Selfridges Ultra lounge.  The experience includes catwalk shows and DJ sets whilst choosing from a range of uniquely blended ice creams, frozen yogurts and sorbettos. It’s open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, so instead of grabbing a coffee in mid-shop, cool down underground in this unique chill out Boutique.

To celebrate the opening of Breakfast at Tiffany’s at the Theatre Royal Haymarket this September, French company Chambord has got Jeweler Donald Edge on board, to design a Chambord bottle worth a staggering $2million.  The unique bottle which always catches the public eye behind the bar, is being made and encrusted with 18 carats of gold and 1,100 diamonds. It is to be unveiled on the 22 September at London Fashion week, and put on display on the opening night of Breakfast at Tiffany’s.