THE NEW YORK TIMES READERS ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE WORLD OF... FOOD

This is today´s most e-mailed story in the nytimes.com web site:

Entrees Reach $40, and, Sorry, the Sides Are Extra

The picture of James Estrin has this caption:

$8 A BITE? A lobster dish of 1 3/4 ounces is offered by the Modern in New York. Its price: $42.

And Jodi Cantor explains that:

“Forty is the new 30,” said Richard Coraine, the chief operating officer of Union Square Hospitality Group, which recently began charging $42 for a 1¾-ounce appetizer portion of lobster at lunchtime at the Modern in New York. Ten percent of its lunch patrons order the dish, it says.

Well, the world is falling down but U.S. restaurants are up.