A japanese department store is offering truffle-stuffed roast chickens for 84,000 yen ($847) apiece.

Takashimaya Co has started taking orders for 12 capons to be flown in from Landes, France in time for Christmas Eve and filled with black truffles, foie gras, white sausage and chestnuts.

“People may think it’s expensive, but it would be perfect for a party,” said a spokeswoman at Takashimaya. “The meat is not heavy but juicy, and there will be truffles between the flesh and meat, making it very fragrant.”

The capons, known to be more tender than other chickens, will be prepared by French luxury food maker Fauchon and will serve six to eight people each.

Only one has been ordered so far, the spokeswoman said. “It’s still early November, so people are probably still planning their parties,” she added.

Some of you may already know Petrossian, the Paris-based caviar specialist. There are Petrossian boutiques in Paris, Monaco, New-York, Las Vegas and Los Angeles but until now, you could only order caviar from their French website (petrossian.fr).

Now online, you can also order from petrossian.com or petrossian.co.uk and receive your caviar by express shipping (within 24 hours in most destinations in the UK).

EPOS-lite is a cash register with a touch interface and a built-in menu. Its design is inspired by the Apple MacBook Air and iPhone.

It eliminates the need for a separate menu card with pricing details, and also makes it easier for the eatery to update the menu, when required. Even the payment can be handled by the same instrument. After dinner, you can enter information about dishes you ordered and pay with your credit card.

EPOS-lite is a concept yet to become a reality, but once it does the world of outside food will be very different ! The EPOS-lite was showcased at the University of Wolverhampton degree show 08 and at New Designers 08, London. The product received a great amount of positive feedback.

On the picture above, A sales assistant displays pure gold moon cakes at a department store in Yinchuan, capital of northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Moon cake is a Chinese pastry traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival falls on Sept. 14 this year. Various brands of mooncake are already on sale, but some people are complaining that the seasonal delicacies are too expensive this year.

“The mooncakes have already become gifts for exchange but some brands are expensive,” said Zhu Ji, a Beijing resident. She said that some mooncakes cost as much as 1,500 yuan (US$180) each, a sum equal to one third of her monthly salary.

On the picture below, A salesgirl shows a blinged moon cake made of pure gold at a shop in Shijiangzhuang, capital city of Hebei province, September 12, 2007

To commemorate the 41st anniversary of their luxurious oasis, the folks at Hotel Byblos, (a four-star hotel located in Saint-Tropez - South of France) have combined champagne, leather and wood to offer a limited edition treasure chest worth 100,000 Euros ($150,000).

This exclusive handcrafted leather and wood casket boasts of the Salmanazar of Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque 1999, four hand-decorated cups and a jewelry set signed by Van Cleef & Arpels.

The nine-liter Salmanazar bottle, signed by one of the greatest masters of Art Nouveau, is a genuine work of art. The blend Belle Epoque 1999 resulting from the finest Cru Champagne provides delicate taste fragrance of a bouquet of white flowers that is further improved by remarks of sweet almond and nougat.

Upscale French artisan ice-cream maker Philippe Faur has taken out the ice cream of the universe of the desserts and he indefatigably works In his workshop to create new flavours always more surprising.

After such original products as the Truffle Ice-Cream, the Roquefort ice-cream or the Foie Gras de Canard sorbet developed with Rougié (Prix International de l’Innovation 2007), he has recently made his idea of creating a caviar sorbet come true thanks to a collaboration with Alverta Royal Petrossian.