Plutocrats Run Amok

For mere $25G, Serendipity offers a bit of chocolate heaven
BY ADAM NICHOLS DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

It might leave your stomach bulging, but the world's most expensive dessert will leave your wallet $25,000 thinner. The Frrrozen Haute Chocolate mixes top-grade cocoa from 14 countries, spiced with 5 grams of edible gold and shavings of a multithousand-dollar truffle. For the price, you can afford to forget to count the calories.

"Nobody's ever tried to figure out how fattening it is," said Joe Calderone, spokesman for upper East Side eatery Serendipity 3, exclusive home to the swanky sweet. "Let's face it: It's not for everybody," said restaurant owner Stephen Bruce. "I expect people buying this would be marking a very special occasion. They'd also be extremely wealthy."

The dessert was officially recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records yesterday - although the restaurant has yet to sell the first superpricey chocolaty treat. "To qualify, it doesn't matter if it has been bought," said Guinness researcher Stuart Claxton. "It's enough that it's available for somebody to buy." The choice chocolate is the latest pricey food served up in New York restaurants, which already have $1,000 pizzas and $55 macaroni and cheese on their menus.

It is served in a goblet dressed with a golden band dripping with 1 carat of white diamonds. It is eaten with a specially made spoon, encrusted with 3 carats of diamonds. Chefs need two weeks' notice to prepare it. "The ingredients have to be flown in specially from around the world," Bruce said. "That's why it's such a special dessert."

The restaurant - a setting for the John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale movie "Serendipity" - already holds the record for the most expensive drink, the $1,000 Golden Opulence Sundae. Both expensive treats are based on the basic Frrrozen Hot Chocolate. It costs $8.50.