With a unique humanitarian concept, Flavors From Afar opened its door to diners in March 2020. Located in the Fairfax district of Hollywood, L.A., this sunlit neighborhood restaurant serves culture on a plate, sharing the flavors of home-cooked meals prepared by refugees and asylum seekers. Let’s find out more about this intriguing venture.

The Restaurant

Flavors From Afar was the brainchild of Meymuna Hussein-Cattan, who opened the restaurant with cofounder Christian Davis. Each month, they tap a new chef to prepare the menu for the month. The USP is that all these chefs are either asylum seekers or refugees, who prepare home-style meals in the kitchen and share their own culture through the dishes. That’s how the joint ensures and promotes a wide diversity of cuisine hard to find in other branded comfort food joints. Most chefs for the restaurant are discovered through the Tiyya Foundation, a non-profit organization that Hussein-Cattan started in 2010 with her mother, Owliya Dima. The institution supports families of immigrants, refugees, and displaced Indigenous communities.

The Concept

Founder Hussein-Cattan explains that the restaurant is a platform to create a peer-to-peer dialogue. As an Ethiopian refugee who moved to the US in 1984, she is well aware of the potential food has an entry point for cultural exchange. According to her, all the chefs of the restaurant share a common passion for food, which helps them put their talents over their traumas, personally and collectively. Also, it’s a great way to bring back the good memories of family and childhood, to strengthen and share their own cultural roots and heritage. Fostering this concept Hussein-Cattan opened her restaurant at a time when multinational chains were forced to shut down due to the global pandemic. Ever since, her restaurant kitchen has been busy with talented refugees whipping up dishes like tender lamb shank and rice pilaf in Egyptian gravy, Lebanese ouze, Chechen manti dumplings, and Kenyan coconut tilapia.

Going out for dinner can be a treat. However, not all of us can afford luxurious dishes that end up leaving us with bills in the thousands. Here we take a look at some of the world’s most expensive dishes and where to get them.

Located in Salerno, Italy is one of the world’s most expensive dishes — the Louis XIII Pizza. The pizza is topped with some of the most decadent ingredients including buffalo mozzarella, lobster, and caviar. Invented by Chef Renato Viola, this masterpiece will only set you back $12,000.

If you think that you’re ordering Kobe beef, you might not actually be getting the real deal. In fact, SW Steakhouse is one of the only restaurants in America that serves real Japanese Kobe beef. However, if you want the real deal, get ready to open your wallet!

At SW Steakhouse, you can take your pick between four ounces of either tenderloin, New York strip, ribeye, or a rib cap. All four ounces will give you a bill of around $220. If you think you can manage a few more ounces, you can add on some more but each one will cost you $55.

If you’re traveling in Sri Lanka and have a sweet tooth, this dessert may just capture your attention! The Fortress Resort and Spa sells this incredible masterpiece for $14,500. As it is so pricey, the spa has only sold two desserts and thus is by special request only, and with 48 hours notice.

This sparkling dish features a signature fisherman made from chocolate, alongside an Italian cassata, served with mango and pomegranate compote, touched with gold leaf. The finishing touch? A showstopping 80-carat aquamarine stone.

At Scoopi in Dubai, you’re sure to get one of the finest ice cream dishes in the world. Perhaps we should also mention that it doesn’t come cheap, with a sundae this size costing $816. Until you can afford it, it may be best to stick to Ben and Jerry’s!

This sundae is made from vanilla bean ice cream that’s originally from Madagascar. It also has touches of saffron, black truffles, and 23-karat gold flakes and powder to finish off this masterpiece.

What price would you be willing to pay for a taco? Five or ten bucks? If you’re really in the mood to go all out for your next Taco Tuesday, might we suggest the Grand Velas Los Cabos Tacos? For an authentic Mexican taco, what about $25,000?

The $25,000 tacos are made of the finest ingredients — including Kobe beef, Almas Beluga caviar, and black truffle Brie cheese. These are wrapped in a gold-flaked corn tortilla with a salsa made of ostentatious ingredients. How could you eat something so expensive?!

The choice between seafood or meat can be a tough one, so why not have both? Within the Paris Las Vegas resort restaurant, Burger Brasserie is a burger that’s a combination of a delicious beef patty with heaping of toppings to meet it’s $777 price tag.

This burger is made from a Kobe beef patty and is served along with a host of toppings, including seared foie gras, pancetta, goat cheese, arugula and a special serving of Maine lobster. It’s topped with a 100-year-aged balsamic and BLT salad.

We normally associate Dubai with the rich, famous, and the most glamorous, so of course, there is a dedicated caviar restaurant. It is suited by the ocean, after all! Beluga, Dubai’s only caviar dedicated restaurant, offers a 250-gram portion of Beluga’s Almas caviar.

A 250-gram portion is sold for approximately $9,884. Almas is the king of caviar as it is the most expensive, and the rarest caviar in the world. A 24-karat gold edible cylinder that is served alongside the dish is worth $422 alone. Caviar dishes can be expensive!

If you’re hoping to get something special during your visit to Sushi Roku in Las Vegas, you might want to think about going off-the-menu. The High Roller Roll is an extremely expensive, off-the-menu dish that is available for $250.

This amazing sushi roll is made with all kinds of different ingredients — such as a lobster tail, avocado, asparagus, Wagyu beef, tuna, golden Osetra caviar, and truffle oil. The finishing touch, of course, is some added gold leaf. It’s sure to be a sushi lover’s dream!

New York City — home to overpriced apartments, expensive tourist attractions, and now one of the most expensive pizza dishes in the world! Industry Kitchen in New York came up with the concept of the 24K Pizza, however, it may not be especially appetizing to look at.

The pizza is topped with hundreds of dollars worth of edible gold lead, Osserta caviar, foie gras, imported white stilton cheese, and truffles. Don’t be fooled by its dark base and rich gold toppings, it’ll set you back $2,700!

Sometimes, dining experiences aren’t just about the food — they can also be about the restaurant atmosphere, too. Luckily, French chef, Paul Pairet, came up with a multi-sensory dining experience to accompany his 20-course meal.

If you think you have what it takes to eat 20 courses, as well as the $872 price tag that comes with the experience, then Shanghai’s Ultraviolet might be the place for you. Each course comes with its own theme music and light show, and all guests are served at the same time.

Looking for the perfect gift for the popcorn lover in your life? Do you have $2,500 to spare? Well, you might be in luck! Berco’s Popcorn comes in a hefty 6.5-gallon tub and costs around $2,500.

Each popcorn kernel is seasoned with Læsø salt, which isn’t always easily available, and then covered with caramel and 23-karat gold flakes to add an extra bit of fanciness. This purchase does help people as the proceeds are donated to a food bank and would be able to feed up to 200 people!

When you’re ordering in a restaurant, it can be good to enquire about the prices of certain dishes before you order them so that there are no surprises when it comes to paying the bill. Unfortunately, this next dish is a prime example of being more expensive than people think although it’s listed at “market price.”

The most expensive and special item on the menu at Nello is simply known as “fresh pasta with white truffle sauce,” however, most people don’t realize that it’s actually $275. If you hear truffles being mentioned as an ingredient, it’s best to ask the price.

A trip to Margo’s Pizzeria in Valetta, Malta might be in the cards for you if you want the taste of luxury. Quite a lot of pizzas feature on the most expensive dishes list, but for good reason — toppings can add to the price!

This thin-crust pizza is topped with buffalo mozzarella, white truffles, and sprinkled with 24-karat edible gold leaf. While it’s no longer the world’s most expensive pizza, the flakes of edible gold leaf certainly make it seem decadent.

If you’re in the mood to spend $1,000, you’re going to have to know two days in advance as this dish requires at least 48 hours’ notice. This incredible sundae is made from three scoops of Tahitian vanilla ice cream and a whole host of toppings.

It features, of course, an edible gold leaf — as well as almonds, caviar, and a sugar-forged orchid that takes a whole eight hours to construct. The goblet it’s served in is worth $350 alone and is also paired with an 18-karat gold spoon. One of the sweetest dishes we’ve ever seen!

Everyone wants to make sure that the restaurant they are choosing to spend their money at is the best, but this next dish comes from the world’s best restaurant in 2020. Restaurant Guy Savoy is located in the city of love, Paris, and features amazing dishes.

The prix fixe menu offers up to 13 courses and includes dishes such as duck, lobster, and artichoke soup with black truffles. The restaurant is also overlooking one of Paris’ most iconic locations, The Louvre, so the $525 price point might be worth it.

At Norma’s in Le Parker Meridien Hotel, Manhattan lies a very expensive frittata. If you’re looking for dishes that have been featured in the Guinness Book of World Records, then you’ll want to try the world’s most expensive omelet, which costs $2,000.

The omelet in question is comprised of six eggs, cream, chives, lobster, and lobster sauce. The omelet is served over a bed of Yukon gold potatoes. It wouldn’t be an expensive dish if it didn’t feature caviar, too, with the omelet being topped by ten ounces of Sevruga caviar.

Masa Takayama’s New York City restaurant, Masa, is well-known for its authentic take on Japanese dishes, but it’s probably best known for its signature dish, Masa Toro Caviar. The chef liked it so much, he named it after himself!

The Toro, the fatty underbelly of a tuna, is chopped finely until it becomes a paste. It is then topped with Osetra caviar, before lime juice and finely diced chives are added. It’s also served with grilled milk bread to give the dish some crunch.

If you’re ever taking a walk down the Las Vegas strip, you may want to stop by and see the world’s most expensive burger. Served in Fleur by Hubert Keller in Las Vegas, the FleurBurger 5000 is sure to turn heads and make mouths water.

This dish is comprised of Wagyu beef and topped with foie gras and truffles. For an added extra, it’s also served with a few portions of prime foie gras and duck fat on a freshly baked brioche bun. For $5,000, this makes it one of the world’s most expensive dishes.

If beef isn’t your vibe, then you should try some incredible pork in Las Vegas. In Chef Jose Andres’ Las Vegas temple, there are plenty of expensive dishes to choose from, but the most expensive is a suckling pig.

The suckling pig has been “nestled in a Spanish cazuela and roasted in a wood-fired oven” making the skin crispy and meat tender. You can order a quarter, which will cost you $160, but to order one for the whole table will come out to $540.

Could you imagine paying $35,000 for a dessert? If you take a trip to the Lindeth Howe Country House Hotel in England, head chef Marc Guilbert, you’ll find just the world’s most expensive dessert — which will leave you with an eye-watering $35,000 bill!

So, why is it so expensive? Not only does the quality indicate the high price, but it’s also because of the ingredients. This pudding is made from four different types of chocolate, which are exclusively imported from Belgium. It’s also served in an edible replica of a Faberge egg.

If you take a trip to Kyoto Kitcho Arashiyama in Japan, you’ll be met with several prix fixe dishes, however, the most expensive of the bunch is $599. This would be the ideal dinner for sushi fans who want the real deal while they’re in Japan.

This dinner is ten courses and features rounds of sashimi, grilled and steamed food, rice, pickled vegetables, and there’s even a dessert course to satisfy those with a sweet tooth. The dishes come in decadent shells and ornate china bowls and plates.

If you find yourself on the island of Ibiza, there’s only one place to go if you want a truly unique dining experience. At SubliMotion, chef Paco Roncero serves a 15-20 course dinner and a show, all for the price of $1,700 — more than what the average family will spend in a month on food!

SubliMotion is sure to offer diners an out of this world experience, as each course on the tasting menu comes with its own auditory and visual experience. While you’re dining on seafood, the dining room is transformed into an underwater spectacle!

A trip to Las Vegas can leave people with memories for a lifetime, so you might as well remember the food too, right? Michael Mina’s Stripsteak offers a dish that’s bound to take customers on a worldwide experience without ever leaving Vegas.

The standout dish, World Wide Wagyu, may cost $155, however, it has some of the finest pieces of beef from around the world you won’t be sorry that you ordered it. The fillets come from Japan, America, and Australia — and are all on one plate!

New York City is known for many dishes like thin crust pizza and cheesecake, however, none hold a candle to the infamous NYC bagel. While it may be hard to imagine how a bagel could be classed as one of the world’s most expensive dishes, the proof is here!

The Westin Hotel allows you to add outrageously expensive toppings to your bagel, such as white truffles, edible gold leaves, and the jelly of goji berries. If you’re a fan of truffles, you can also spread some white truffle cream cheese on your bagel!

Welcome to the world’s most expensive hot dog! With a price tag of $100, this Canadian invention blows any other luxury hot dogs out of the water. The bratwurst beauty is a foot-long and comes with an assortment of expensive toppings.

This hot dog is topped in Kobe beef seared in olive and truffle oil, fresh lobster, and a secret “Picante sauce” — which is sure to give the snack a hot kick. This may become the newest snack that all baseball fans want to chomp down on at games now.