$5,000 bowl soup. A bowl of Pho, the classic Vietnamese noodle soup, will be offered at a starting bid of $5,000 in a charity auction to benefit the USCF Benioff Children's Hospital and the Children's Hospitals of Los Angeles/Orange county.Normally this dish would only cost a few dollars, but the upscale Tiato restaurant in Santa Monica, CA created a decadent version of the soup using rare, luxury ingredients such as white alba truffles, A5 Wagyu beef, foie gras based broth, special hand-raised bean sprouts and the meat from rare blue lobsters.


A5 Wagyu beef is the highest grade of Wagyu Kobe beef, which is revered for its marbling and low melting temperature. Blue lobsters are an extraordinarily rare genetic occurrence, and their vivid, unusual color makes them more susceptible to prey, making a catch a truly remarkable event. White alba truffles are the most expensive truffles in the world, even more prized than black truffles because of the particular difficulties in cultivating them.

The owner of Tiato, which is part of House of An, plans to put and keep the $5,000 Pho on the menu at her other restaurant, Crustacean's in Beverly Hills. Profits from the Pho will continue to go to both hospital organizations.