The $40,000 Lobster Press at the Regent Grand Hotel Bordeaux

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed)
Feb 10th 2011 at 11:01AM

It's never too early to start thinking about outfitting your beach house, so might I suggest that The Regent Grand Hotel in Bordeaux, France, offers an idea worth copying.

If you love to eat those delightful sea crustaceans, and who doesn't, you will want to do like the hotel's Michelin-starred restaurant, Le Pressoir d'Argent, and acquire a lobster press.

There aren't very many of these devices in the world -- it's 90 pounds, made of silver, and looks like a cross between something Willy Wonka might dream up and a torture device -- but it's also shiny and adorned with lovely lobster sculptures as it's meant to be used tableside.

The idea is similar to a duck press -- after removing tail and claws, the rest of the lobster is inserted into the press, where a two-person team works the device to press out the lobster juices. (See the gallery for an action shot.) The result: lobster jus, much stronger in flavor than you'd get from the most developed lobster stock. At The Regent, the chef adds the jus to bearnaise sauce, and serves that on top of roasted lobster meat.

The lobster press is are custom made by Christofle, and take 150 hours of labor by ten master craftsmen to create -- they cost 30,000 Euro, just or around $40,700.

Or you can just book a table at the restaurant, and after such grand meal, you'll certainly require a room. It's hard to beat the view at the Royale Suite, which has a terrace jacuzzi -- but I like the Prestige Suites, which come with their own private wine bar within rolling distance of (the very comfy) bed.

Which, come to think of it, is another fine idea for your beach house.

Gallery: The Regent Grand Hotel Bordeaux, France